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THE   EMPRESS   EUGENIE, 


Vv9)^eXJttM  ,  trVvvJl>^    OJJfT^^ 


Court  Life  of  the 
Second  French  Empire 

1853-1870 


ITS     ORGANIZATION,    CHIEF    PERSONAGES, 
SPLENDOUR,   FRIVOLITY,   AND    DOWNFALL 


BY 

LE    PETIT    HOMME    ROUGE 


"Du  coin  d'ou  le  soir  je  ne  bouge 
J'ai  vu  le  Petit  Homme  Rouge  .  . 
Sa  voix  rauque  en  chantant  presage 
Au  Chiteau  grand  remii-ra^nage. " 

Beranger 


WITH    A    FRONTISPIECE 


NEW  YORK 
CHARLES     SCRIBNER'S     SONS 

LONDON:    CHATTO   &   WINDUS 
1908 


Bequest 

Albert  Adsit  Olemona 

Aug.  24,   1938 

(Not  available  lo:'  exchange)  - 


r'/i' 


PREFACE 

Nearly  every  royal  palace  of  any  antiquity  has  its  ghost. 
Hampton  Court  has  three — those  of  Katherine  Howard,  Jane 
Seymour,  and  Mrs.  Penn  (nurse  of  Edward  VI.).  The  old  Schloss 
of  Berlin  is  haunted  by  the  White  Lady,  Agnes  of  Orlamiinde, 
who  was  buried  alive  in  its  vaults,  and  whose  appearance  always 
forebodes  death  to  some  member  of  the  Prussian  Royal  House. 
Further,  a  spectral  Capuchin,  connected  perhaps  with  the 
monastery  where  the  Hapsburgs  have  so  long  been  buried, 
is  said  to  flit  at  times  along  the  corridors  of  the  Imperial 
Hofburg  at  Vienna.  In  France  the  Palace  of  the  Tuileries 
was  likewise  haunted  by  a  familiar  spirit.  The  Little 
Red  Man,  who,  although  he  mostly  remained  unseen  and 
unheard  while  he  prowled  through  the  splendid  chambers, 
considerately  revealed  his  presence  every  now  and  again  in 
order  to  foretell  some  great  change  or  disaster.  Occasionally, 
when  there  was  nobody  of  any  consequence  at  the  Tuileries,  the 
Little  Red  Man  went  roving.  He  followed  the  ruler  of  the 
time  to  other  palaces  and  places.  He  once  journeyed  as  far  as 
Egypt  to  advise  General  Bonaparte  to  return  to  France.  He 
also  visited  the  cliffs  of  Boulogne  to  foretell  the  failure  of  the 
projected  invasion  of  England ;  and,  again,  in  the  last  years  of 
the  First  Empire,  he  showed  himself  both  at  Fontainebleau  and 
at  Waterloo.  Madame  Lenormand,  the  so-called  Sibyl  of  the 
early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  who  is  said  to  have 
predicted  to  Josephine  Beauharnais  that  she  would  some  day 
be  Empress  of  the  French,  wrote  an  imaginative  book  on  the 


vi  PREFACE 

subject  of  the  Little  Red  Man,  in  which  she  blundered  sadly 
by  asserting  that  he  was  the  "  good  genius "  of  Napoleon, 
whereas  he  was  at  the  most  merely  his  "candid  friend."" 
Beranger,  whom  the  Red  Man  favoured  with  a  visit  about 
the  time  when  the  restored  French  Monarchy  was  collapsing, 
was  better  inspired  when  he  composed  a  ballad  warning  King 
Charles  X.  of  impending  calamity. 

The  years  passed,  and  still  the  Little  Red  Man  haunted  the 
Tuileries,  seeing  and  hearing  many  strange  things  as  he  flitted, 
invisible,  from  room  to  room,  as  well  as  giving  due  notice,  by 
occasional  appearances,  of  some  startling  changes  of  regime. 
He  saw  the  Orleans  Monarchy  collapse,  the  ensuing  Republic 
expire,  the  Second  Empire  swept  away  by  foreign  invasion 
and  national  wrath.  But,  at  last,  the  day  came  when  the 
Tuileries  itself  perished,  annihilated  by  incendiaries.  Of  course 
the  Little  Red  Man  had  known  what  would  happen,  and  had 
already  decided  to  transfer  his  quarters  to  the  Ely  see  Palace, 
which  is  still  his  address  for  national  business  purposes.  But 
during  the  last  five-and-thirty  years  he  has  led  a  less  active  life 
than  formerly.  True,  he  found  it  necessary  to  warn  Marshal 
MacMahon  that  he  would  have  to  give  in  or  go  out,  and 
President  Grevy  that  no  good  would  come  of  a  certain  great 
decorations  scandal.  He  had  to  appear,  too,  at  the  time  when 
Le  brave  General  Boulanger  threatened  the  Republic;  he  paid 
a  flying  visit  to  Lyons  when  President  Carnot  was  unhappily 
assassinated ;  and  at  the  critical  period  of  the  great  Dreyfus 
case,  he  gave  a  private  warning  to  President  Faure,  who  was 
shocked  to  such  a  degree  by  so  unexpected  an  apparition  that 
he  was  seized  with  a  fit  which  unfortunately  proved  fatal. 

Of  more  recent  times  the  Little  Red  Man  has  enjoyed  plenty 
of  leisure.  He  is  occasionally  inclined  to  think  that  his 
occupation,  like  Othello''s,  may  be  gone,  that  his  warnings  may 
never  again  be  required.  To  occupy  the  time  which  hangs 
somewhat  heavily  on  his  hands  he  meditates  on  the  past ; 
he  recalls,  somewhat  regretfully,  his   snug    old    home   at  the 


PREFACE  vii 

Tuileries,   and   it   is   not   surprising,   perhaps,   that  it  should 
have  occurred  to  him  to  pen  a  record  of  the  last  years  which  he 
spent  there — the  chequered  years  of  the  Second  Empire.     The 
Little   Red  Man  does  not  claim  to  have  witnessed  personally 
everything  which  then   occurred    (he   was   never   ubiquitous), 
but   during  his  years  of  leisure  he  has  cultivated  a  taste  for 
reading,  and,  naturally  enough,  he  has  peeped  into   virtually 
everything  that  has  been  written  about  his  old  surroundings. 
He  has  come  upon  no  little  absurdity,  no  small  crop  of  errors, 
garnered  by  outsiders,  but  he  has  also  noted  many  interesting 
facts    emanating    from    Court    gentlemen    and    ladies    whom 
he   well   remembers,   though,   as   he  himself  usually  remained 
invisible,  they  were  not  aware   of  his   presence   beside   them. 
Briefly,   piecing   together   his   own  personal   recollections  and 
those  of  the  more  reliable  men  and  women  of  the  time,  and 
adding  thereto  a  number  of  little-known  facts  and  documents, 
and  sketches  of  the  notable  people  whom  he  once  knew,  he  has 
written  a  book  on  the  Tuileries  Court  as  it  was  during  the  last 
years   of  his   residence  at  the  Palace.     He  has  described  the 
Courfs  organization,  manners,  and  customs  ;  he  has  endeavoured 
to  depict  both   its  magnificence  and  its  darker  side;   he  has 
dealt,  neither  too  harshly  nor  too  indulgently,  he  hopes,  with 
its  frivolities ;  he  has  not  forgotten  to  include  some  account  of 
its  sojourns  at  such  places  as  Compiegne,  Fontainebleau,  and 
St.  Cloud;  and  he  has  made  a  few  excursions  into  the  realm 
of  politics  in  order  that  certain  incidents   may  be  the  better 
understood.     He  here   offers  the  result  of  his  labours  to  the 
courteous  critic  and  the  indulgent    reader;   and    as   on   most 
occasions  his  appearance  in  propria  persona  is,  unfortunately, 
a  foreboding  of  trouble,  he  sincerely  trusts  that  he  will  never 
have  reason  to  visit  them  otherwise  than  in  this  present  guise 
of  print  and  paper. 

Paris,  1907. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  ^^^^ 

I.     INTRODUCTORY                  ...                ...                •••                •••                •••  ^ 

II.      MEN  OP  THE   COUP  D'eTAT — THE  NEW  COURT                   ...  23 

III.  THE  IMPERIAL  MARRIAGE— THE   EMPRESS  AND   HER  HOUSE- 

HOLD         ...                ...                ...                •••                •••                •••  ^^ 

IV.  QUEEN  VICTORIA  IN  PARIS— BIRTH  OF  THE  IMPERIAL  PRINCE  77 

V.      CONSPIRACIES— THE   TUILERIES   POLICE— A   CRIMINAL    CENT- 
GARDE       ...                ...                •••                •••                •••                ••'  ^^^ 

VI.     THE  EMPEROR  AND  HIS  PRIVATE   CABINET      ...                ...  ^29 

VII.  THE  EMPRESS  :   SOME  FEATURES  OP  HER   LIFE         ...                ...  158 

VIII.  THE  EMPEROR  AND  HIS  LOVE  AFFAIRS              ...                ...  178 

IX.     THE  IMPERIAL  FAMILY                    ...                ...,               ...                •••  209 

X.      BANQUETS,     BALLS,     AND    OTHER    COURT     FESTIVITIES— THE 

GREAT   YEAR   1867           ...                 ...                 ...                 -.  245 

XI.      THE     GRACES     OP     THE     EMPIRE  —  SOME      STATESMEN      AND 

DIPLOMATISTS          ...               ...               •••               •••               •••  275 

XII.      THE    IMPERIAL    STABLES— FEMININE    FASHIONS— SOME    FEA- 
TURES OF  PARIS  LIFE   ...                ...                ...                ■'•  300 

XIII.  THE  VILLEGIATURA  OF  THE  COURT— THE  EMPEROR'S  ILLNESS 

— CHALONS— THE  MARSHALS— THE  HUNT          ...                ...  .327 

XIV.  THE   IMPERIAL   PRINCE— LAST   DAYS   OF  THE    EMPIRE— WAR 

AND  REVOLUTION — FATE   OF   THE   TUILERIES              ...  376 

INDEX                 ...                ...                ...                ...                •••                •••  415 


SOME  EVENTS  IN  THE  LIFE  AND  TIME  OF 
NAPOLEON    III. 

1808.  Charles  Louis  Napoleon  Bonaparte  born,  April  20,  in  Paris. 

1815.  He  accompanies  his  mother  into  exile. 

1830.  Eevolution  in  France.    Louis-Philippe  King  of  the  French. 

1831.  Louis  Napoleon  visits  Paris  and  joins  the  Swiss  artillery. 

1836.  He  attempts  to  provoke  sedition  at  Strasburg  and  is  shipped  to  America. 

1837.  He  returns  to  Europe  and  loses  his  mother. 

1838.  He  takes  up  his  residence  in  London  (October). 

1840.  He  attempts  to  proclaim  the  Empire  at  Boulogne,  and  is  tried  and 
imprisoned  at  Ham. 

1846.  He  escapes  and  returns  to  London. 

1848.  Louis-Philippe  being  overthrown,  he  returns  to  France,  is  elected  in 
June  a  member  of  the  Assembly,  and  in  December  President  of  the 
Bepublic. 

1851.  He  effects  his  Coup  d'Etat  (December  2-5),  which  is  ratified  by  a 

Plebiscitum  appointing  him  President  for  10  years. 

1852.  A  fresh  Plebiscitum  ratifies    the    proposed   re-establishment    of    the 

Empire,  which  is  proclaimed  on  December  2, 

1853.  Napoleon  III.  and  Eugenie  de  Montijo  are  married  on  January  29 

and  30. 

1854.  The  Crimean  War  declared. 

1855.  Visits  of  Napoleon  and  the  Empress  to  England,  and  of  Queen  Victoria 

to  Paris.    The  Emperor's  life  attempted  by  Pianori.    First  Paris 
Universal  Exhibition.    Fall  of  Sebastopol  in  September. 

1856.  The  Prince  Imperial  born  on  March  16.    The  Treaty  of  Paris  signed. 

1867.  General  Elections  in  France.  Imperial  visit  to  Osborne.  Napoleon's 
intrigue  with  Mme.  de  Castiglione.     Tibaldi's  plot.     Indian  Mutiny. 

1858.  The  Orsini  assassination  plot.    Law  of  Public  Safety  and  stern  rule  in 

France.     Queen  Victoria  at  Cherbourg. 

1859.  War  in  Italy  from  May  to  July  (Magenta,  Solferino,  etc).    The  Empress 

Eugenie's  first  Eegency. 


xii  CHRONOLOGICAL  LIST 

1860.  Savoy  and  Nice  annexed  to  France.  Franco-British  Commercial  Treaty. 

Garibaldi  frees  Sicily  and  Naples.  The  Empress  Eugenie  visits 
Scotland.  The  Emperor  makes  parliamentary  concessions.  Advent 
of  the  "  Liberal  Empire." 

1861.  The  King  of  Prussia  visits  Compiegne.    International  intervention  in 

Mexico.  The  English  and  French  allied  in  China.  The  American 
Civil  War  begins.  The  Kingdom  of  Italy  fovmded.  Death  of  the 
Prince  Consort. 

1862.  The  French  land  in  Mexico.    Reduction  of  French  rentes  by  Fould. 

The  Schleswig-Holstein  trouble  begins. 

1863.  Maximilian  accepts  the  Mexican  crown.    The  great  Polish  insurrection 

begins.  Napoleon's  proposal  for  a  Congress  on  Italian,  Polish, 
Danish,  and  Balkan  affairs,  rejected  by  Great  Britain.  Death  of 
Billault,  his  chief  minister.  First  symptoms  of  his  illness.  The 
Greco  plot. 

186i.  The  Schleswig-Holstein  War.  Napoleon's  affair  with  Mile.  Bellanger. 
Death  of  his  secretary  Mocquard.  Convention  with  Italy  to  quit 
Rome  in  two  years.    The  Emperor  ill  in  Switzerland. 

1865.  Death  of  M.  de  Morny.    Napoleon  ill  at  Chalons.    He  visits  Algeria. 

The  Empress's  second  Regency.    End  of  the  American  Civil  War. 

1866.  War  between  Prussia  (allied  with  Italy)  and  Austria.    Koniggratz  is 

fought  on  July  4.  Napoleon  very  ill.  The  French  begin  to 
withdraw  from  Mexico. 

1867.  The  Constitution  is  modified  by  Napoleon.    Rouher,  "  Vice-Emperor." 

Neutralization  of  Luxemburg.  Second  great  Paris  Exhibition. 
Royalties  in  Paris.  Maximilian  is  shot  on  June  19.  Failly  defeats 
Garibaldi  at  Mentana.  French  conquests  and  protectorates  in  Cochin 
China,    Napoleon  has  to  abandon  treatment  at  Vichy. 

1868.  Rochefort  produces  La  Lanterne.    Unrest  in  Paris  and  other  cities. 

Death  of  Count  Walewski.    Overthrow  of  Isabella  of  Spain. 

1869.  French  general  elections.    Many  Republican  and  Orleanist  successes. 

Resignation  of  Rouher  and  others,  he  becoming  President  of  the 
Senate.    The  Constitution  again  modified.    Napoleon  extremely  ill. 

1870.  Parliamentary  rule  with  Emile  OUivier's  ministry.    Victor  Noir  shot  by 

Pierre  Bonaparte.  New  Constitution  and  Plebiscitum.  The  Beaury 
plot.  Consultation  respecting  the  Emperor's  health.  The  Franco- 
German  War  begins  (July).  The  Empress's  third  Regency.  Napoleon 
surrenders  at  Sedan  on  September  1,  and  on  the  4th  the  Empire  is 
overthrown  in  Paris. 

1871.  Napoleon  arrives  in  England  in  March. 
1873.  He  dies  at  Chislehurst  on  January  9. 

1879.  The  Imperial  Prince  killed  in  South  Africa  on  June  1. 


THE 

COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 


CHAPTER    I 

INTRODUCTORY 

A  glance  at  the  History  of  the  Tuileries — Louis  Napoleon,  Prince  President 
and  Emperor  of  the  French — The  Solemn  Proclamation  of  the  Second 
Empire — The  Restoration  of  the  Tuileries. 

Thirty-six  years  ago,  during  that  Bloody  Week  in  May,  1871 , 
when,  with  the  fury  of  despair,  the  Commune  of  Paris  battled 
vainly  against  the  army  of  Versailles,  the  chief  metropolitan 
palace  of  the  rulers  of  France  was  destroyed  by  fire.  Archi- 
tecturally inferior  to  the  Louvre,  though  some  of  its  apartments 
were  masterpieces  of  decoration,  it  was  a  massive  but  not  par- 
ticularly imposing  pile.  It  laid  no  claim  to  antiquity.  The 
site  on  which  it  stood  was,  in  the  twelfth  century,  outside  Paris, 
and  given  over  to  brick  and  tile  works,  whence  the  name  of 
Tuileries  was  derived.  About  1342  a  couple  of  pleasure-houses 
were  built  on  the  spot,  and  a  hundred  and  sixty  years  later 
these  properties  were  acquired  by  Louise  of  Savoy,  mother  of 
Francis  I.,  who  during  her  regency  in  1525  gave  them  "  for 
life"  to  Jean  Tiercelin,  master  of  the  Dauphin's  household. 
They  subsequently  reverted  to  the  crown,  and  in  1564  Catherine 
de'  Medici  ordered  the  demolition  of  the  old  houses,  to  make 
room  for  a  new  royal  palace  by  which  she  intended  to  replace 
that  of  Les  Tournelles,  which,  in  conjunction  with  her  son, 
Francis  II.,  she  superstitiously  destroyed  because  her  husband, 


2  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

Henri  H.,  had  died  there  from  the  effects  of  the  lance-thrust  he 
received  in  a  joust  with  Montgomery. 

The  original  design  for  the  palace  of  the  Tuileries  was  pre- 
pared by  the  famous  Philibert  Delorme,  and  the  building  was 
entrusted  to  him  and  another  notable  man,  Bullant,  conjointly. 
But  all  at  once  Catherine  stopped  the  work,  and  devoted  herself 
to  erecting  near  the  markets  a  mansion  which  became  known  as 
the  Hotel  de  Soissons,  and  in  the  court  or  grounds  of  which 
was  raised  the  well-known  column  whence  the  Queen  and  her 
astrologers  made  their  astronomical  observations.  There  is 
a  legendary  story  of  the  reason  why  Catherine  abandoned  the 
building  of  the  Tuileries.  It  was  predicted  to  her,  it  is  said, 
that  she  would  die  at  "Saint  Germain,"  and  on  finding  that 
the  site  of  the  new  palace  was  in  the  parish  of  St.  Germain- 
TAuxerrois,  she  fled  from  it  in  dread.  The  tale  is,  of  course, 
similar  to  that  of  Henry  VII.  of  England  and  Jerusalem,  and 
may  well  be  purely  imaginary,  although  it  is  in  keeping  with 
what  we  know  of  Catherine's  superstitious  nature.  One  thing 
is  certain,  the  palace  of  the  Tuileries  was  always  an  "  unlucky "" 
one.  None  of  the  princes  born  within  its  walls  ever  ascended 
the  throne  of  France.  The  King  of  Rome,  the  first 
Napoleon's  son,  the  Duke  de  Bordeaux,*  the  heir  of  the  House 
of  Bourbon,  the  Count  de  Paris,  the  hope  of  the  Orleans 
dynasty,  the  Imperial  Prince  born  to  the  Second  Empire — all 
these  first  saw  the  light  at  the  Tuileries.  And  none  of  them 
reigned;  all  found  death  abroad,  exiled  from  France.  Those 
who  are  given  to  superstition  might  think  that  Catherine  de' 
Medici  with  her  Italian  necromancy,  and  her  legendary  pro- 
pensity for  ill-doing,  had  cast  some  spell  over  the  palace  which 
she  left  unfinished.  Certainly  none  ever  had  a  better  claim  to 
the  name  of  Palazzo  della  Jettatura. 

Even  as  a  building  the  Tuileries  was  unfortunate.  Had  it 
been  built  on  the  lines  laid  down  by  Philibert  Delorme,  it  would 
have  been  magnificent,  but  the  plans  were  modified  again  and 
again  by  successive  generations  of  rulers  and  architects.  Few 
kings  ever  resided  there.  The  Louvre  was  the  abode  of  the  last 
Valois  and  the  first  Bourbons.  It  is  true  that  in  1572 — the 
year   of  St.  Bartholomew — Charles   IX.    gave   Lord  Lincoln, 

*  Better  remembered,  perhaps,  by  his  later  title  of  Count  de  Chambord. 


INTRODUCTORY  S 

Queen  Elizabeth's  ambassador,  a  grand  supper  in  his  mother's 
unfinished  palace,  that  being  apparently  the  first  court  enter- 
tainment associated  with  the  history  of  the  Tuileries ;  but  the 
fragmentary  piles  raised  by  Delorme  and  Bullant  were  treated 
with  great  neglect  until  Henri  IV.  thought  of  uniting  the 
Tuileries  to  the  Louvre.  He  entrusted  the  work  first  to 
Androuet  du  Cerceau,  later  to  others,  but  his  death  stopped 
it,  and  it  was  not  resumed  until  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV. 

That  prince,  during  his  lengthy  minority,  lived  chiefly  at 
the  Palais  Royal,  having  St.  Germain-en-Laye  as  his  country 
residence,  and  the  Tuileries  became  the  abode  of  Mile,  de 
Montpensier,  "la  grande  Mademoiselle,"  and  later  of  the  first 
Philip  of  Orleans.  But  before  Louis  gave  rein  to  his  passion 
for  Versailles,  he  spent  some  years  at  the  Tuileries,  and  entrusted 
to  architect  Levau  the  completion  both  of  that  palace  and  of 
the  Louvre.  Levau  destroyed  nearly  everything  which  then 
remained  of  the  work  of  the  original  builders.  The  interior 
decorations  by  Bunel  and  Paul  Ponce  were  also  obliterated  or 
removed,  and  Mignard,  Philippe  de  Champagne,  and  others 
supplied  innumerable  allegories  symbolical  of  the  glory  of  their 
young  but  already  great  monarch.  Further,  the  Place  du 
Carrousel  took  its  name  from  some  superb  jousts  which  were 
held  there  by  command  of  King  Louis,  and  at  which  three 
queens  *  distributed  the  prizes  allotted  for  dexterity.  A  little 
earlier,  in  Mile,  de  Montpensier's  time,  the  great  paved  square 
had  been  a  delightful  garden  with  superb  basins  of  pink 
marble,  some  fragments  of  which  were  discovered  about  fifty 
years  ago, 

'  The  private  apartments  of  Louis  XIV.  were  on  the  ground 
floor,  and  were  profusely  decorated  by  Mignard,  the  best  of 
whose  paintings  was  perhaps  that  which  adorned  the  alcove 
where  the  King  slept.  It  represented  the  Goddess  of  Night, 
crowned  with  poppies,  and  carrying  two  sleeping  children  in 
her  arms.  In  the  King's  cabinet,  either  in  his  time  or  a  little 
later,  was  placed  a  large  picture  which  portrayed  him  present- 
ing his  grandson,  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  to  the  Spanish  envoys, 
and  saying,  "  Gentlemen,  here  is  your  King,"  on  which  occasion, 

*  Maria  Theresa,  wife  of  Louis  XIV,,  Anne  of  Austria,  his  mother,  and 
Henrietta  Maria,  his  aunt  and  widow  of  Charles  I.  of  Great  Britain. 


4  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

according  to  the  story,  the  chief  Spanish  ambassador  exclaimed, 
"  Sire,  there  are  no  more  Pyrenees."  In  any  case  it  seems  that  it 
was  at  the  Tuileries,  and  not  at  Versailles,  that  the  first  Bourbon 
King  of  Spain  was  presented  to  the  representatives  of  his  future 
subjects.  That,  in  the  eyes  of  the  superstitious,  may  account 
for  all  the  unhappy  vicissitudes  of  the  Spanish  Bourbons.  Ever 
fatal  was  the  palace  of  the  Tuileries. 

Its  principal  inmate  after  Louis  XIV.  removed  to  Versailles 
was  the  Grand  Dauphin,  who  never  reigned.  Then,  in  succes- 
sion, various  governors  of  "  Sons  of  France ""  took  up  their 
quarters  in  the  superb  rooms  in  which  Philippe  de  Champagne 
had  depicted  the  education  of  Achilles — misfortune  of  one 
kind  and  another  meantime  pursuing  the  scions  of  the  royal 
house.  Louis  XIV.  had  intended  to  unite  the  palace  to  the 
Louvre  on  the  northern  (or,  as  some  readers  may  prefer  us  to 
say,  the  Rue  de  Rivoli)  side,  even  as  in  Henri  IV.'s  time  the  two 
buildings  had  already  been  connected  on  the  south,  that  is,  the 
side  of  the  Seine.  But  neither  of  the  Great  Monarch's  imme- 
diate successors  embarked  on  the  work.  Louis  XV.  seldom,  if 
ever,  showed  himself  at  the  Tuileries  after  his  childhood,  and 
Louis  XVI.  only  resided  there  when  he  was  forced  to  do  so  by 
the  Revolution.  In  the  earlier  period  of  the  reign,  when  Marie 
Antoinette  came  from  Versailles  to  Paris  to  witness  a  theatrical 
performance  or  participate  in  some  festivity,  she  usually  slept 
at  the  Garde  Meuble  on  the  Place  Louis  XV.,  now  the  Place 
de  la  Concorde. 

During  the  Revolution  the  Tuileries  witnessed  many  stirring 
scenes,  which  ended  in  the  memorable  attack  of  August  10, 
1792,  when  Louis  XVI.  and  his  family  quitted  the  palace,  never 
to  return  to  it.  In  the  following  year  the  Convention  installed 
itself  in  the  palace  play-house,  while  various  branches  of  the 
administration  of  those  days  found  quarters  in  one  or  another 
part  of  the  building — the  famous  Committee  of  Public  Safety 
meeting  in  the  Pavilion  de  Flore,  whither  Robespierre  with  his 
shattered  jaw  was  carried  from  the  Hotel  de  Ville  on  the  night 
preceding  his  execution.  Later,  both  the  Council  of  the 
"  Ancients  "  and  that  of  the  "  Five  Hundred ""  assembled  at  the 
Tuileries,  the  latter  in  the  same  hall  as  the  defunct  Convention, 
and  the  former  in  the  large  lofty  apartment  which,  in  our  times. 


INTRODUCTORY  5 

was  called  the  Salle  des  Marechaux,  but  which  had  been  tnown, 
under  the  old  monarchy,  as  the  Hall  of  the  Swiss  Guards. 
The  scene  in  later  years  of  many  great  gatherings,  many 
splendid  entertainments,  the  Salle  des  Marechaux  will  often  be 
mentioned  in  this  book.  Two  storeys  in  height,  and  almost 
square,  its  breadth  being  fifty-two  and  its  length  sixty  feet,  it 
embraced  the  space  occupied  by  a  superb  winding  staircase 
erected  by  Philibert  Delorme  for  Catherine  de'  Medici  but 
demolished  by  I^ouis  XIV. 

While  the  Legislature  of  the  Directory  met  at  the  Tuileries, 
the  Directory  itself  was  installed  in  a  building  raised  by  another 
Medici,  the  Palais  du  Luxembourg,*  It  was  there  that 
Barras  reigned  over  France  and  regaled  his  harem  ;  there,  too, 
that  he  and  his  colleagues  gave  a  triumphal  reception  to  General 
Bonaparte,  when  the  latter  returned  to  France  in  1797  after  his 
Italian  victories. 

Before  long,  Bonaparte,  in  his  turn,  resided  at  the  Luxem- 
bourg as  First  Consul  of  the  Republic,  but  on  February  19, 
1800,  he  and  his  colleague  Lebrun  lodged  themselves  at  the 
Tuileries — Lebrun  in  the  Pavilion  de  Flore  by  the  Seine,  and 
Bonaparte  in  that  part  of  the  palace  extending  from  Lebrun"'s 
quarters  to  the  Pavilion  de  THorloge.  The  Empress  Josephine's 
apartments  were  on  the  ground  floor  on  the  garden  side. 

Under  Napoleon  the  palace  theatre  was  re-established,  a 
meeting  hall  for  the  Council  of  State  was  built,  and  the 
northern  gallery  joining  the  Louvre  was  begun.  But  the 
Empire  fell;  the  battle  of  Paris  was  impending  when  Marie 
Louise  and  the  King  of  Rome  fled  from  the  Tuileries  to 
Blois,  and  soon  afterwards  Louis  XVIII.  installed  himself  and 
his  court  at  the  palace.  In  his  turn  he  had  to  quit  it,  and 
Napoleon,  coming  from  Elba,  was  carried  in  triumph  up  the 
palace  stairs,  kissed  on  each  step  by  fair  women,  and  acclaimed 
by  devoted  adherents.  During  those  last  hundred  days  of 
power,  however,  he  preferred  to  reside  at  the  Elysee  Palace :  it 
was   there   that   he   planned    the    campaign    which   ended    at 

*  So  called  because  an  earlier  mansion  on  the  same  site  had  belonged  to 
the  Duke  de  Piney-Luxembourg.  When  the  palace  of  Marie  de'  Medici  passed 
to  her  second  son,  Gaston,  it  became  known  officially  as  the  Palais  d'0rl6ans, 
but  the  traditional  name  of  Luxembourg  always  prevailed,  and  subsists  to-day. 


6  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Waterloo ;  and  when,  a  fugitive  from  the  battle-field,  he  once 
more  returned  to  Paris,  it  was  to  the  Elysee  that  he  again 
betook  himself,  there  that  he  signed  his  second  and  final 
abdication.  Then  Louis  XVIH.,  restored  once  more,  made 
the  Tuileries  his  residence  until  his  death.  He  was  the  only 
Kincj  of  France  that  ever  died  there. 

During  his  reign  and  that  of  Charles  X.,  the  work  of 
completing  the  palace  on  the  north  was  resumed.  But  the 
Revolution  of  1830  swept  the  senior  branch  of  the  Bourbons 
away,  and  the  Parisians  burst  into  the  Tuileries  during  the 
Three  Glorious  Days.  In  October,  1831,  after  numerous 
alterations  had  been  effected  in  the  interior  arrangements, 
Louis  Philippe  and  his  family  made  the  palace  their  abode. 
Little  harm  had  been  done  to  it  by  the  mob  in  1830,  but  at 
the  Revolution  of  1848,  when  Louis  Philippe  fled  to  England 
as  plain  "John  Smith,"  many  of  the  apartments  were  sacked 
and  badly  damaged.  The  palace  became  for  a  while  a  kind  of 
ambulance,  many  of  those  wounded  in  the  Revolution  being 
carried  to  it ;  then,  in  1849,  it  served  for  the  annual  fine  art 
exhibition,  the  "  Salon,"  as  one  generally  says. 

On  January  1,  1852,  howevei*,  a  new  master  took  possession 
of  the  royal  pile,  one  who  was  superstitious  in  his  way,  who 
believed  in  destiny,  who  at  night,  in  the  gardens  of  Arenenberg 
above  Lake  Constance,  had  heard,  or  fancied  he  heard,  voices 
telling  him  that  he  was  predestined  to  rule  France  and  restore 
the  glory  of  the  Empire.  Believing  in  that  mission,  he  gave 
no  heed  to  the  sinister  reputation  of  the  Tuileries,  no  thought 
to  the  Little  Red  Man  who  appeared  there  periodically  to 
announce  danger  to  some  prince,  downfall  to  some  dynasty. 
Besides,  his  task  was  already  virtually  accomplished  ;  success 
was  his ;  of  the  Republic  over  which  he  presided  only  the  name 
remained ;  he  had  overthrown  the  Constitution  on  December  2, 
and  all  who  were  minded  to  oppose  him  had  afterwards  been 
shot  down,  banished,  or  imprisoned.  So  he  took  possession 
of  the  Tuileries,  and  though  it  was  in  a  sadly  neglected 
state,  greatly  in  need  of  repair  and  re-decoration,  the  Govern- 
ment architects  and  other  officials  worked  so  zealously  that 
the  reception  rooms  were  got  into  a  sufficiently  clean  and 
orderly  condition  to  enable  the  Prince  President  to  give  his 


INTRODUCTORY  7 

first  reception  in  the  palace  on  the  evening  of  January  24. 
It  was  then  that  the  men  who  had  effected  the  Coup  d'Etat 
first  met  in  joyous  assembly,  congratulating  one  another  on  the 
success  of  their  enterprise,  and  raising  their  glasses,  brimful  of 
"  Veuve  Clicquot,"  to  fortune  and  the  coming  Empii-e. 

Here  let  us  pause.  This  book  is  not  intended  to  be  a  study 
of  high  politics.  Its  purpose  is  rather  to  depict  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  Court  of  the  Second  Empire,  to  chronicle 
some  of  the  magnificence  and  pageantry  that  marked  the  last 
years  of  the  life  of  the  ill-fated  Tuileries — years  which  were 
the  most  splendid  the  palace  ever  knew,  but  which,  after  some 
nine  months  of  semi-quiescence,  were  suddenly  followed  by  its 
annihilation.  The  imperial  Court  will  also  be  followed  to  St. 
Cloud,  Compiegne,  Fontainebleau,  Biarritz,  and  other  places; 
we  shall  peep  into  the  Palais  Royal,  into  the  mansion  of  the 
Princess  Mathilde,  and  some  others  of  those  days,  and  the  social 
rather  than  the  political  aspect  of  affairs  will  always  be  our 
principal  theme.  But  at  the  same  time  some  mention  of 
politics  is  necessary,  and  something  must  be  said,  too,  of  the 
physical  and  moral  characteristics,  the  careers  and  aims,  of 
the  chief  personages  flitting  across  our  pages.  Here,  at  the 
outset,  it  is  appropriate  to  speak  of  the  man  who  was  at  the 
head  of  them  all — that  is  Napoleon  III. 

At  the  time  of  the  Coup  d'Etat  of  December,  1851,  Charles 
Louis  Napoleon  Bonaparte  was  in  his  forty-fourth  year. 
Slightly  below  the  middle  height,  he  had  a  long  trunk  and 
short  legs,  in  such  wise  that  while  he  looked  almost  insignificant 
on  foot  he  appeared  to  advantage  on  horseback.  He  was  the 
third  son  of  Napoleon's  younger  brother,  Louis,  some  time  King 
of  Holland,  by  the  latter's  marriage  with  Hortense  Eugenie  de 
Beauharnais,  daughter  of  the  Empress  Josephine  by  her  first 
husband.  The  first  son  born  to  Louis  and  Hortense  died  in 
childhood,  and  the  second  succumbed  to  typhoid  fever  while 
participating  in  a  Carbonaro  rising  in  the  Romagna  in  1831, 
when  the  remaining  son  became  the  sole  heir  of  the  family.  It 
is  indisputable  that  on  more  than  one  occasion  Louis  Bonaparte 
asserted  in  writing  that  this  third  son  was  no  child  of  his.  In 
a  letter  addressed  to  Pope  Gregory  XVI,,  after  his  second  son's 
death,  he  said :  "  As  for  the  other  [the  future  Napoleon  III,] 


8  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

who  usurps  my  name,  he,  as  you  know,  Holy  Father,  is  nothing 
to  me,  thanks  be  to  God.""  In  another  communication  to  the 
same  Pontiff,  ex-King  Louis  reiterated  that  allegation,  but  the 
truth  appears  to  be  that  his  knowledge  of  his  wife's  faithless- 
ness at  various  periods  inclined  him  to  believe,  at  times,  that 
none  of  the  children  of  their  union  were  his  own.  In  more 
reasonable  moments  he  acted  very  differently,  laying  claim  to 
the  boys,  and  insisting  on  his  rights  as  their  father.  There 
was  certainly  more  than  one  quarrel,  more  than  one  period  of 
coldness,  almost  hostility,  between  the  ex-King  of  Holland 
and  the  future  Emperor  of  the  French,  but  in  their  personal 
correspondence,  at  least  so  far  as  it  has  been  published,  there 
appears  no  indication  of  any  denial  of  paternity.  Indeed,  the 
father  often  sends  the  son  his  blessing  and  advice,  and  inter- 
venes with  others  on  his  behalf. 

Again,  in  Napoleon  III/s  younger  days,  there  was  consider- 
able physical  resemblance  between  him  and  King  Louis,  neither 
being  of  the  accepted  Bonaparte  type,  owing,  perhaps,  in  King 
Louis'  case,  of  some  prepotency  on  the  maternal  side.  Moreover 
Napoleon  III.  often  evinced  a  disposition  similar  to  that  of  King 
Louis.  The  latter  was  more  or  less  a  dreamer,  one  who  shut 
himself  up  and  wrote  romances  and  poetry.  There  was  the 
same  bent  in  the  son,  who  also  dreamt  many  dreams,  and 
evinced  decided  literary  inclinations.  Further,  as  Taxile 
Delord,  no  friend  of  the  Bonapartes,  has  pointed  out.  King 
Louis,  by  his  last  will  and  testament,  virtually  proclaimed  to 
the  world  that  Louis  Napoleon  was  his  son ;  and  that  statement 
emanating  from  a  man  who  had  long  been  ailing,  and  who  knew 
that  death  would  soon  be  upon  him,  may  be  taken  as  decisive. 
One  may  therefore  assume  that  the  bitter  enmity  with  which 
Louis  regarded  the  wife  whom  he  had  married  under  com- 
pulsion, and  from  whom  he  sought  judicial  separation,*  carried 
him  at  times  further  than  was  accurate  or  just. 

It  has  been  pointed  out  that  there  was  at  one  period  a 
certain  facial  resemblance  between  King  Louis  and  his  third 

*  By  a  Judgment  of  the  Court  of  First  Instance  of  Paris,  January  19,  1816, 
his  second  (and  then  eldest  surviving)  son  was  handed  over  to  his  custody. 
He  did  not  claim  the  third,  perhaps  on  account  of  the  latter's  tender  age — 
he  was  not  eight  years  old.    StiU,  the  circumstance  is  curious. 


INTRODUCTORY  9 

son.  There  was  none,  however,  between  the  latter  and  his 
mother,  Hortense.  From  her,  as  well  as  from  his  father, 
Louis  Napoleon,  doubtless,  derived  some  of  his  literary  bent. 
She  also  transmitted  to  him  some  of  her  own  taste  for  display, 
and  partiality  for  the  frivolities  of  life.  Those  characteristics 
were  not  apparent  in  her  husband.  He  wished  his  sons  to 
be  reared  with  what  he  deemed  to  be  Spartan  simplicity,  and 
in  a  note  respecting  the  future  restorer  of  the  Empire,  he 
insisted  that  the  boy  should  be  given  plain  food,  and  drink 
only  Bordeaux  claret,  neither  coffee  nor  liqueurs  being  allowed 
him.  Further,  he  wrote :  "  My  son  is  to  wash  his  feet  once  a 
week,  clean  his  nails  with  lemon,  his  hands  with  bran,  and 
never  with  soap.  He  must  not  use  Eau  de  Cologne  or  any 
other  perfume.  .  .  .  Broad  shoes  are  to  be  made  for  him,  such 
as  serve  for  either  foot." 

In  one  respect  Napoleon  III.  proved  himself  essentially  the 
son  of  Queen  Hortense.  She,  from  her  mother,  the  adven- 
turess Josephine,  had  inherited  no  little  sensuality,  to  which 
she  repeatedly  gave  rein.  It  is  true  we  have  only  the  assertion 
of  Bourrienne  that,  prior  to  her  marriage,  she  was  the  mistress 
of  her  step-father  Napoleon,  who,  when  his  aide-de-camp,  Duroc, 
refused  to  make  her  his  wife,  forced  her  on  his  brother  Louis ; 
but  it  is  certain  that  she  subsequently  had  favoured  lovers, 
among  others  the  Count  de  Flahault,  father  of  the  child  who 
became  known  as  Duke  de  Morny.  The  amorous  passions  of 
Hortense  were  transmitted  to  Napoleon  III.,  who  had  several 
mistresses  of  English,  Italian,  and  French  nationality. 

In  spite  of  many  adverse  circumstances,  the  education  he 
received  was  fairly  good.  His  first  tutor,  Philippe  Lebas,  the 
son  of  a  friend  of  Robespierre  and  St.  Just,  was  a  man  of 
letters,  well  versed  in  classical  history  and  literature ;  the 
second,  Narcisse  Veillard,  had  been  an  artillery  officer,  and  was 
possessed  of  considerable  mathematical  attainments.  Doubt- 
less it  was  Louis  Napoleon's  association  with  M.  Veillard  which 
afterwards  prompted  him  to  enter  the  Swiss  artillery  under 
Dufour,  and  write  on  gunnery  ;  while  Lebas,  from  what  we  know 
of  his  principles,  may  have  first  suggested  to  him,  not  only  that 
veneer  of  republicanism  which  he  at  one  period  cast  over  his 
actions,  but  also  the  humanitarian  ideas  by  which  he  was  often 


10  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

haunted,  the  interest  he  took  in  the  claims  of  the  masses  to  a 
larger  share  of  material  comfort  than  they  then  enjoyed.  For 
the  rest,  the  social  question  repeatedly  came  to  the  front  during 
Louis  Philippe"'s  reign,  and  Louis  Napoleon's  perusal  of  some 
of  the  many  works  dealing  with  the  subject,  and  his  intercourse 
at  times  with  men  whose  attention  it  had  seriously  engaged, 
tended  to  keep  it  well  before  his  mind. 

He  was  governed,  however,  by  one  predominant  idea.  It  is 
certain  that  he  was  well  versed  in  the  history  of  his  great 
uncle's  career,  that  he  studied  virtually  every  writing  that  had 
emanated  from  Napoleon,  or  that  had  been  issued  with  his 
approval.  It  was  apparently  his  mother,  Queen  Hortense,  who 
first  impressed  on  him  that  he  was  predestined  to  restore  the 
Empire,  In  pursuing  that  task  he  imitated,  as  closely  as 
circumstances  permitted,  the  steps  by  which  the  Empire  had 
been  originally  founded.  He  had  no  great  victories  behind 
him,  nor  had  he  the  genius  of  his  uncle,  and  it  was  only  by 
patience  and  dexterity  that  he  could  hope  to  secure  what  the 
other  had  won  by  his  daring.  At  first  he  thought  otherwise. 
The  memory  of  the  Empire  was  recent,  the  idea  of  its  glory 
still  appealed  to  many  Frenchmen,  numbers  of  Napoleon's  old 
companions  in  arms  still  lived  :  hence  the  attempts  of  Stras- 
bourg and  Boulogne,  those  imitations — with  variations — of  the 
return  from  Elba.  They  failed,  however,  and  Louis  Napoleon 
then  realized  that  he  must  adopt  other  methods  if  he  were  to 
attain  his  object. 

It  has  been  contended  that  he  was  not  a  man  of  action. 
Nowadays  the  world  best  remembers  him  as  he  was  in  his 
declining  years,  afflicted  by  a  terrible  disease.  In  his  younger 
days,  however,  he  combined  with  a  dreamy  and  imaginative 
mind  no  little  physical  vigour  and  activity.  A  good  swimmer, 
an  expert  shot,  a  skilful  rider,  one  too  who  could  appreciate  all 
the  points  of  a  horse,  he  contended  not  unsuccessfully  against 
the  lymphatic  side  of  his  nature.  One  has  only  to  consult  the 
French  newspapers  for  the  years  1851  and  1852,  to  realize  how 
immense  was  Louis  Napoleon''s  expenditure  of  physical  energy 
during  the  period  of  preparation  first  for  the  Coup  d'Etat,  and 
later  for  the  re-establishment  of  the  Empire.  He  was  here,  he 
Avas  there,  he  was  everywhere,  he  travelled  incessantly,  when  he 


INTRODUCTORY  11 

was  not  riding  he  was  receiving  or  banquetting,  or  dancing,  or 
speaking.  Few  were  the  hours  which  he  can  have  accorded  to 
sleep  during  that  all-important  period  in  his  life. 

That  he  was  personally  brave,  heedless  of  danger  on  the 
battlefield,  is  acknowledged  by  his  worst  enemies,  but  at  the 
same  time  there  were  lacuncB  in  his  energy.  In  his  earlier 
years,  although  the  restoration  of  the  Empire  was  his  fixed  idea, 
he  would  probably  never  have  made  the  attempts  he  did  had 
he  not  been  brought  to  the  necessary  pitch  by  some  confederate 
— such  as  Fialin  de  Persigny,  probably  the  most  daring  of  his 
band.  There  is  a  tale  that  at  the  time  of  the  Coup  d'Etat  he 
momentarily  shrank  from  the  prosecution  of  his  designs,  and 
that  an  adherent — Fleury,  it  is  asserted — fearing  that  he  and 
others  would  be  left  in  the  lurch,  threatened  him  with  a  pistol, 
saying  that  it  was  too  late  to  retreat,  and  that  the  business 
must  be  carried  through.  Even  if  that  story  were  true,  however, 
it  would  hardly  suffice  to  prove  Louis  Napoleon  a  coward. 
Caesar  hesitated  to  cross  the  Rubicon  till  a  portent  appeared  to 
him,  and  the  first  Napoleon  hesitated  at  the  Coup  d'Etat  of 
Brumaire,  which  might  have  failed  had  it  not  been  for  the 
energy  of  Lucien  Bonaparte  and  Lefebvre.  Thus,  if  Louis 
Napoleon  hesitated  for  an  instant  in  December,  1851,  he  only 
followed  a  family  precedent. 

In  later  years,  when  General  Boulanger  procrastinated,  and 
had  nobody  of  sufficient  authority  beside  him  to  compel  him  to 
act,  he  lost  his  chance  irremediably.  All  Louis  Napoleon's 
various  postponements  of  the  Coup  d'Etat  in  1851  were  due 
to  circumstances,  such  as  the  incompleteness  of  the  preparations, 
the  last  one  occurring  because  Colonel  Espinasse,  who  was 
appointed  to  seize  the  Palais  Bourbon,  where  the  Assembly 
met,  required  two  days  to  study  the  interior  arrangements  of 
the  building,  when  it  was  that  he  discovered  the  still  existing 
subterranean  passage  by  which  Baze,  the  quaestor,  and  the 
other  officials  of  the  assembly  had  hoped  to  escape  in  the  event 
of  a  surprise. 

Louis  Napoleon's  Coup  d'Etat  was  an  illegality  which 
attendant  circumstances  converted  into  a  crime.  But  whatever 
considerations  guided  many  of  his  adherents,  he  himself  was 
not  swayed  by  any  motives  of  base  animosity  or  sordid  greed. 


12  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

The  Bonapartist  historians  assert  that  if  he  had  not  deposed 
the  Assembly,  the  Assembly  would  have  deposed  him  ;  whereas 
Republican  writers  maintain  that  the  Assembly  had  no  such 
intention.  But  we  believe  that  it  really  harboured  that  design, 
and  that  the  case  was  simply  one  of  Coup  d'Etat  against  Coup 
d'Etat.  The  President,  however,  held  the  trump  cards,  the  big 
battalions  were  on  his  side,  and  he  used  them. 

It  must  be  said,  too,  that  France  was  not  Republican  at  that 
time.  There  was,  of  course,  a  Republican  party,  but  it  consisted 
of  only  a  fraction  of  the  nation,  for  the  enthusiasm  of  1848  had 
been  killed  by  a  series  of  occurrences — several  great  blunders, 
and  some  deplorable  excesses.  As  for  the  Legitimists,  who  wished 
to  restore  the  senior  branch  of  the  Bourbons,  they  were  not 
numerous  enough  to  achieve  that  object.  The  Orleanists  were 
still  discredited,  in  fact,  "impossible";  and  thus  the  outlook 
generally  was  a  gloomy  one.  France  desired  a  stable  govern- 
ment, such  as  was  denied  to  her  by  the  strife  of  politicians. 
The  various  ministries  formed  by  Louis  Napoleon  as  President 
of  the  Republic  were  constantly  being  overthrown  by  one  or 
another  parliamentary  vote,  and  continuity  of  policy  was 
extremely  difficult.  Two  courses  were  open  to  the  President. 
He  might  resign  and  wash  his  hands  of  the  whole  business, 
or  he  might  follow  the  example  of  Cromwell  and  the  first  Napo- 
leon, and  make  his  power  effective.  He  took  the  latter  course,  as 
was  natural,  possessed  as  he  had  always  been  by  the  idea  that 
he  was  predestined  to  restore  the  Empire. 

If  he  had  resigned,  however,  what  would  then  have  happened, 
what  man,  what  party,  was  there,  competent  to  put  an  end 
to  the  general  unrest,  and  guide  the  national  life  into  orderly 
channels  ?  We  can  name  neither  man  nor  party,  we  can  only 
picture  confusion  and  chaos.  And  in  any  case,  although  Louis 
Napoleon's  Coup  d'Etat  was  undoubtedly  an  illegal  act,  a 
brutal  act,  attended  by  the  most  deplorable  circumstances, 
bloodshed,  violent,  wanton,  and  revengeful  deeds,  it  solved  for 
a  time  the  difficulties  in  which  France  was  plunged.  Under 
all  the  circumstances,  some  such  solution  was,  we  think,  inevi- 
table. If  Louis  Napoleon  had  not  seized  power  by  force  another 
would  have  attempted  it.  There  are  times  when  the  knot  in  a 
nation''s  life  is  so  inextricable  that  it  must  be  cut  with  the  sword. 


INTRODUCTORY  13 

Louis  Napoleon,  though  extremely  fond  of  military  pomp, 
and  an  adept  at  "playing  with  soldiers,""  can  hardly  be 
accounted  a  warlike  prince.  He  was,  we  believe,  sincere  when 
he  said  that  the  Empire  would  mean  peace — a  declaration  which 
clenched  the  question  of  the  revival  of  the  Imperial  Regime. 
Prior  to  the  act  of  force  which  made  him  dictator,  he  had 
fought  his  way  onward  chiefly  hy  finesse  and  stratagem,  and  his 
success  in  that  respect  convinced  him  that  he  was  possessed  of 
diplomatic  abilities.  In  later  years,  after  such  experiences  as 
the  Crimea,  the  war  in  Italy,  and  the  Mexican  affair,  he  seems 
to  have  placed  far  more  reliance  in  diplomacy  than  in  arms, 
but  he  was,  as  all  will  remember,  no  match  for  Bismarck  either 
before  or  after  Koniggratz. 

He  had  his  good  qualities.  He  was  faithful  to  his  friends, 
he  was  generous,  he  spent  almost  without  counting,  he  was 
always  desirous  of  finding  employment  for  the  working  classes, 
and  of  improving  the  opportunities  of  the  peasantry.  His 
policy  in  that  connection  may  be  regarded  as  one  of  bribes,  but 
the  country  undoubtedly  benefited  by  it.  Equity  requires  us  to 
say  that  with  all  allowance  for  incidental  mishaps  and  scandals, 
such  as  the  Credit  Mobilier  affair,  France  had  never  known  such 
a  period  of  material  prosperity  as  that  which  she  enjoyed 
between  1852  and  1870. 

Before  the  Coup  d'Etat  Louis  Napoleon  did  much  to  further 
public  works ;  and  during  the  ensuing  year  down  to  the  pro- 
clamation of  the  Empire,  the  pages  of  the  Moniteur  literally 
teem  with  decrees  and  announcements  relating;  to  bridges, 
buildings,  roads,  canals,  docks,  and  so  forth,  and  to  subventions 
granted  with  respect  to  them.  Other  decrees  record  more 
obvious  and  less  worthy  bribes,  some  thousands  of  people  being 
appointed  to  the  Legion  of  Honour  solely  by  way  of  securing 
or  requiting  their  political  support.  Curiously  enough  a  large 
number  of  priests  figured  in  those  decrees,  doubtless  because 
Louis  Napoleon  intended  to  employ  the  Church  as  an  instrument 
of  rule.  At  the  same  time  the  Moniteur  also  reproduced 
innumerable  addresses  from  city  and  town,  village  and  hamlet, 
asking  for  the  restoration  of  the  Empire.  Those  addresses  were 
not  of  a  stereotyped  pattern.  We  have  read  some  hundreds  of 
them  and  have  not  found  any  two   couched  in  precisely  the 


14  THE  COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

same  language,  though  all  undoubtedly  breathe  one  and  the 
same  spirit :  A  stable  government,  a  return  of  prosperity  in 
commerce,  industry  and  agriculture,  that  was  the  desire  of 
France. 

The  Empire  came,  the  Prince  President  assuming  the 
imperial  dignity  with  as  little  delay  as  possible.  Let  us  now 
return  to  what  we  think  of  him.  He  was,  as  we  have  said, 
in  his  forty-fourth  year,  and  rather  below  the  middle  height. 
He  had  dark  chestnut  hair,  and  a  colourless  countenance.  His 
eyes,  which  seldom  looked  one  in  the  face,  were  almost  black. 
In  later  years  he  kept  them  half  closed  and  expressionless.  He 
combined,  as  we  have  seen,  considerable  physical  vigour  and 
personal  courage,  with  a  dreamy,  imaginative  mind  and  a  very 
amorous,  sensual  temperament.  That  was  acknowledged  by 
one  who  knew  him  well,  and  for  whom  he  had  great  regard, 
his  foster  sister,  Madame  Cornu.  Speaking  of  his  attitude 
towards  her  sex,  she  said  that  he  had  no  moral  sense  whatever, 
but  by  reason  of  his  position  exerted  himself  to  keep  his 
passions  under  control ;  in  which  exertion,  as  is  well  known, 
he  did  not  always  succeed.  His  energy  in  that  as  in  other 
respects  was  intermittent.  There  were  moments  when  he 
needed  the  spur  or  the  goad,  the  help  of  Morny's  "  iron  hand 
in  a  velvet  glove,"  and  of  Persigny's  unscrupulous  audacity.  If 
at  times  he  thus  lacked  vigour  and  initiative,  it  was,  we  think, 
because  he  fully  believed  in  predestination.  He  was  in  no  wise 
the  savage  brute  suggested  by  Victor  Hugo''s  "  Chatiments," 
which,  while  it  contains  many  admirable  lines,  is  altogether 
surcharged  with  invective.  As  was  previously  said.  Napoleon 
certainly  had  humanitarian  leanings,  particularly  with  respect 
to  the  dissemination  of  the  comforts  of  life.  As  for  his 
diplomatic  powers,  he  overrated  them,  and  his  diplomacy 
generally  proved  more  mischievous  than  fruitful. 

In  spite  of  his  literary  leanings,  he  entertained  no  good 
opinion  of  the  press.  He  often  said  :  "  The  best  newspaper 
is  worth  nothing."  He  lacked  his  mother's  ear  for  music, 
though,  like  her,  he  was  fond  of  pomp  and  display.  At  the 
same  time  he  remained  accessible,  and  free  from  haughtiness. 
Both  before  and  for  some  years  after  he  had  become 
Emperor,  he  readily  danced  with  one  and  another  village  girl 


INTRODUCTORY  15 

at  a  country  ball,  cordially  offered  a  soldier  a  smoke,  and 
chinked  glasses  with  a  peasant  mayor.  He  could  smile  readily 
enough  at  the  period  when  his  destiny  was  still  trembling  in 
the  balance.  It  was  only  some  time  after  he  had  assumed  the 
imperial  purple  that  his  countenance  became  saturnine,  and 
his  manners  marked  by  distrust.  He  was  surrounded  by  many 
devoted  police-agents,  but  he  had  been  a  conspirator  himself, 
and  he  feared  conspirators,  attaching,  as  was  perhaps  natural, 
increased  value  to  his  life  after  the  birth  of  his  only  son,  to 
whom  he  desired  to  bequeath  a  united  and  prosperous  France. 
Further,  he  felt,  we  may  be  sure  of  it,  the  strictures  passed 
upon  him  personally  in  connection  with  the  Coup  d'Etat,  and 
brooded  over  them  more  than  once.  Thus,  before  long,  he 
grew  more  and  more  reserved,  becoming  one  of  the  most 
taciturn  of  monarchs. 

Many  years  of  his  life  had  been  spent  in  exile,  in  Italy, 
Switzerland,  Germany,  England,  and  America,  and  in  spite  of 
his  education  by  French  tutors,  there  was  always  a  suspicion 
of  a  foreign  accent  in  his  speech,  and  some  suggestion  of 
foreign  customs  in  his  manners.  He  spoke  English  and 
German  fluently,  and  his  Italian  was  nearly  as  good.  Cosmo- 
politan in  his  speech  and  his  loves,  he  evinced  a  similar  spirit 
in  his  dress.  If  his  coats  were  French,  his  trousers  were 
English — Dusautoy  making  the  former,  and  the  latter  being 
supplied  by  Poole,  who  frequently  despatched  a  representative 
to  the  Tuileries  with  patterns.  As  time  elapsed  the  Emperor 
became  more  and  more  partial  to  civilian  dress,  never  assuming 
a  uniform  unless  occasion  expressly  required  it,  whereas  before 
ascending  the  throne  his  uniforms  were  constantly  in  use. 

In  October,  1852,  on  his  return  from  the  long  tour  through 
southern  France  when  he  declared  that  the  Empire  would  mean 
peace,  he  made  a  pompous  entry  into  Paris,  escorted  by  fifty- 
two  squadrons  of  cavalry  and  several  batteries  of  horse  artillery. 
Numerous  triumphal  arches  had  been  erected  between  the 
terminus  of  the  Orleans  railway  line  and  the  Tuileries,  all  of 
them  bearing  inscriptions  which  foreshadowed  the  approaching 
change  of  regime.  On  one  appeared  the  words  :  "  Vox  Populi, 
Vox  Dei,"  on  another,  "Ave  Caesar  Imperator;"  while  on  a 
third,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Tuileries  Gardens,  the  Prince  (as  he 


in 


16  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

still  was)  could  read  this  pompous  eulogy :  "  To  Napoleon  IH., 
Emperor  and  Saviour  of  Modern  Civilization,  Protector  of 
Art,  Science,  Agriculture,  Industry,  and  Commerce,  from  the 
e-rateful  Workmen  of  Paris."  Under  that  arch  he  made  his 
way  into  the  garden,  and  so  to  the  Tuileries  Palace.  At  night 
the  city  was  ilhiminated,  and  during  the  ensuing  week  the 
Prince,  who  had  installed  himself  at  St.  Cloud,  attended  gala 
performances  at  the  Opera  and  the  Theatre  Frangais,  where 
enthusiastic  imperialist  demonstrations  were  made. 

On  November  4  the  Senate,  having  assembled  to  discuss  the 
steps  to  be  taken  concerning  what  was  styled  "the  proposed 
modification  of  the  constitution,"  nominated  a  commission  to 
report  to  it  on  the  subject.  This  report,  which  emanated  from 
a  marshal  of  France,  four  generals,  two  cardinals,  two  dukes, 
and  an  astronomer,  Leverrier,  proved  to  be  a  long  and  learned 
production  in  which  Tacitus  and  Machiavelli  (ben  trovato)  were 
freely  quoted.  Its  recommendation  was  that  the  question 
ought  to  be  decided  by  a  national  vote  or  Plebiscitum.  The 
Corps  Legislatif  was  thereupon  convoked  to  control  and 
report  on  the  returns  of  this  Plebiscitum,  which  was  taken 
on  November  21  and  22.  The  votes  recorded  for  the  re- 
establishment  of  the  Empire  were  7,864,189,  while  those 
against  it  were  but  253,145 ;  another  63,326  being  declared 
null.  The  majority  was  overwhelming,  but  one  may  point 
out  that  a  fairly  large  number  of  people  refrained  from  voting. 
In  Paris,  for  instance,  there  were  315,501  electors  on  the 
lists,  but  only  270,710  cast  their  votes,  the  number  of  ayes 
being  208,615.  The  truth  appears  to  be  that,  although  the 
opponents  of  the  Empire  were  badly  routed,  they  were  more 
numerous  than  was  shown  by  the  official  returns. 

The  result  of  the  Plebiscitum  was  laid  before  the  Prince 
in  state  at  the  chateau  of  St.  Cloud,  whither  he  had  returned 
after  a  stay  at  Fontainebleau,  where  he  had  been  conferring 
with  his  friend.  Lord  Cowley,  the  British  Ambassador,  respect- 
ing his  recognition  as  Emperor  by  foreign  Courts.  It  was  at 
once  decided  that  the  proclamation  of  the  new  Empire  should 
take  place  on  December  2,  which  was  the  anniversary  alike 
of  the  battle  of  Austerlitz,  of  the  coronation  of  the  first 
Napoleon  by  the  Pope,  and  of  the  recent  Coup  d'Etat.     For 


INTRODUCTORY  17 

that  reason  the  decision  was  a  bold  one,  for  while  it  linked 
the  new  to  the  former  Empire,  and  recalled  the  latter's  military 
glory,  it  also  showed  that  whatever  protests  had  been  raised, 
whatever  strictures  had  been  passed  on  the  overthrow  of  the 
Constitution,  Louis  Napoleon  prided  himself  on  what  had 
been  done  in  that  respect.  As  it  happened,  he  was  doomed 
to  drao;  that  date  of  December  2  after  him  all  his  life.  Far 
from  proving  an  advantage,  it  became  like  the  heavy  ball 
attached  to  a  convict's  chain ;  and  if  it  were  not  for  Sedan  it 
would  alone  suffice  to  explain  the  anecdote  related  by  Madame 
Cornu  about  a  gipsy  who  once  predicted  to  her  foster-brother 
that  he  would  rise  to  the  highest  eminence  of  power,  but  be 
killed  by  a  boulet. 

At  seven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  December  2  a  salute  of 
101  guns  burst  upon  Paris  ft'om  the  Esplanade  of  the  Invalides. 
At  ten  o'clock  the  solemn  proclamation  of  the  Empire  took 
place  on  the  Place  de  THotel  de  Ville,  and  this  time  the  salutes 
were  formidable.  One  of  101  guns  came  from  the  Invalides,  a 
second,  also  of  101  guns,  from  Montmartre,  and  a  third  of  like 
number  from  the  Place  du  Trone,  while  other  salvoes  were  fired 
by  each  of  the  forts  around  Paris. 

The  new  Emperor  left  St.  Cloud  at  noon.  The  whole  army 
of  Paris  was  on  duty ;  the  sovereign's  escort  alone  consisted  of 
four  squadrons  of  Lancers,  a  regiment  of  Dragoons,  a  whole 
brigade  of  Cuirassiers,  and  another  of  Carabineers,  with  two 
bands  of  music.  In  addition  to  many  generals,  five  Marshals, 
of  France  rode  in  the  procession :  Jerome  Bonaparte,  Vaillant, 
Leroy  de  St.  Arnaud,Castellane,and  Magnan(general-in-chief);* 
and  at  the  moment  when  Napoleon  III.,  followed  by  his  per- 
sonal aides-de-camp,  Fleury  and  Edgar  Ney,  passed  under  the 
Arc  de  Triomphe  atop  of  the  Champs  Elysees,  the  winter  sun — • 
"the  sun  of  Austerlitz,"  said  the  zealots — suddenly  shone  out 
as  if  in  greeting.  Nineteen  years  later,  early  one  mild  March 
morning,  a  little  troop  of  German  Hussars  cantered  under  that 
same  arch  raised  to  the  glory  of  "  la  grande  Armee  " — which 
was  no  more ! 

On  to  the  Tuileries  went  the  imperial  procession,  and  there, 

*  St.  Arnaud,  Castellane  and  Magnan  had  been  created  Marshals  that 
same  morning. 

C 


18  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

on  the  Carrousel,  all  the  troops  were  passed  in  review,  then 
drawn  up  to  hear  the  proclamation  of  the  Empire  which  was 
read  to  them  by  Leroy  de  St.  Arnaud,  Minister  of  War,  while 
once  again  there  arose  the  deafening  salvoes  of  101  guns.  The 
cost  of  the  affair  in  gunpowder  alone  must  have  been  consider- 
able. In  the  evening  Paris  was  ablaze  with  illuminations, 
and  the  first  imperial  reception  was  held  at  the  Tuileries. 
Napoleon  III.  was  never  actually  crowned;  he  preferred  to 
distribute  some  ,ig'10,000  among  the  Paris  hospitals  and  the 
various  foundling  establishments  of  France. 

On  the  day  of  the  revival  of  the  Empire  the  appearance  of 
the  Tuileries  was  very  different  from  what  it  had  been  on  the 
occasion  of  the  reception  held  there  in  the  previous  month  of 
January.*  A  great  deal  of  work  still  remained  to  be  done,  but 
an  army  of  architects,  artists,  and  decorators  had  long  been 
busy  in  the  palace.  Naturally  enough,  attention  had  first  been 
given  to  the  State  apartments.  Entering  the  palace  on  the 
Carrousel  side,  ascending  the  stairs,  and  turning  to  the  left  into 
the  ante-room  of  the  Salle  des  Travees,  or  "  Room  of  the  Bays," 
you  found  the  ceiling  decorated  with  the  freshly  gilded  sun 
of  Louis  XIV.,  and  restored  medalUons  of  Wisdom,  Justice, 
Science,  and  Power.  On  either  side  stood  several  short  columns 
supporting  handsome  bronze  and  porphyry  busts  of  Roman 
Emperors.  In  the  anteroom  of  the  Galerie  de  la  Paix  the 
ceiling  displayed  medallions  of  wrestling  children,  on  a  gold 
ground,  with  a  central  subject  which  depicted  Glory  holding  a 
palm  and  a  crown,  and  heralded  by  winged  boys  who  were 
blowing  their  trumpets.f  In  the  Galerie  de  la  Paix  itself  the 
Ionic  columns  and  pilasters  of  Philibert  Delorme  had  been 
restored  and  their  capitals  gilded.  Gilding  was  also  scattered 
profusely  over  the  ceiling,  the  doors,  and  the  wainscotings. 
The  marble  statues  of  L'Hopital  and  D'Aguesseau,  set  up  here 
in  Louis  Philippe's  time,  had  been  removed,  and  their  place 
taken  by  two  huge  crystal  candelabra  with  feet  of  gilded 
bronze.  Over  the  mantelpiece  appeared  a  portrait  of  the  new 
Emperor  by  Charles  Louis  Miiller,  while  at  the  farther  ©nd  of 
the  gallery  rose  a  fine  silver  statue  of  Peace.  A  few  years  later, 
after  the  Crimean  War,  when  the  Grand  Duke  Constantine  of 
*  See  a7ite,  p.  7.  t  The  work  of  Vauchelet. 


INTRODUCTORY  19 

Russia  came  to  France  and  was  entertained  at  the  Tuileries,  he 
noticed  this  statue  and  inquired  what  it  represented.  "  It 
is  Peace — in  silver,"  the  Empress  Eugenie  replied.  "  Peace, 
madam.?"  the  Grand  Duke  retorted.  "Ah,  it  ought  to  have 
been  cast  in  gold." 

Let  us  proceed,  however,  with  our  survey  of  the  palace.  The 
famous  Salle  des  Marechaux  had  been  considerably  modified. 
It  now  had  six  instead  of  four  doors,  the  view  extending  beyond 
it  into  a  long  suite  of  magnificent  rooms.  On  the  walls  hung 
fourteen  large  portraits  of  Napoleon's  marshals,  and  below  them 
were  the  busts  of  a  score  of  First  Empire  generals,  set  on  elegant 
scabelli.  There  had  formerly  been  six  imitation  windows — 
figured  by  huge  mirrors — on  the  north  side  of  this  great  hall, 
but  now  there  were  ten,  which  gave  increase  of  light.  The 
vaulted  ceiling,  whence  descended  a  huge  chandelier,  all  gold 
and  crystal,  had  become  superb,  intersected  by  four  gilded  ribs, 
which  started  from  the  four  corners,  where  you  perceived  some 
large,  gilded,  eagle-surmounted  shields,  bearing  the  names  of 
the  victories  gained  by  Napoleon  personally.  Between  the  ribs 
the  ceiling  simulated  a  sky,  and  above  the  gilded  balconies 
running  right  round  the  hall,  a  balustrade  with  vases  of  flowers 
was  painted.  The  lofty,  imposing  caryatides — plaster  copies  of 
Jean  Goujon's  work — had  been  gilded  from  top  to  bottom,  and 
between  four  of  them  appeared  a  platform  whence  the  new 
Emperor  might  view  the  revels  of  his  Court.  Green  was  the 
colour  of  the  hangings  and  upholstery — perhaps  because  it  was 
that  of  the  Bonaparte  family. 

No  little  renovation  had  been  bestowed  on  the  adjoining 
Salon  Blanc — a  guard-room  in  the  time  of  Louis  XIV.  The 
grisaille  paintings  by  Nicolas  Loyr,  representing  an  army  on 
the  march,  a  battle,  and  a  triumph,  had  been  fully  restored, 
and  the  mouldings  of  the  doors,  the  window-recesses,  the  shut- 
ters, and  the  ceiling  were  all  freshly  gilded.  On  every  side 
were  costly  hangings,  handsome  consoles,  Boule  cabinets,  superb 
candelabra  and  chandeliers — state  property,  much  of  which 
had  formerly  figured  either  at  the  palace  of  Versailles  or  at 
Trianon. 

In  the  Salon  d'Apollon  Lebrun's  great  painting  of  "Phaeton 
and  the  Nereids,"  and  Loyr's  ceiling  depicting  "The  God  of 


20  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

Day  starting  on  his  career,"  had  been  most  carefully  renovated ; 
the  dragons  and  chimerse  of  the  cornices  were  gilded ;  the 
upholstery  was  all  fine  Gobelins  tapestry  ;  there  was  a  handsome 
new  chimney-piece,  and  a  superb  old  clock  in  the  form  of  a 
terrestrial  globe  upheld  by  genii.  Entering  the  next  room — 
once  Louis  XIV/s  "  Chambre  de  Parade  " — one  found,  at  the 
further  end,  the  new  Emperor's  throne  with  its  splendid  canopy 
of  crimson  velvet,  spangled  with  the  gold  bees  of  the  Bonapartes 
and  bordered  with  a  design  of  laurel  leaves.  Overhead  was 
perched  a  great  gold  eagle  with  outspread  wings,  another  being 
embroidered  in  an  escutcheon  on  the  hangings  behind  the  Chair 
of  State.  Throne  and  hangings  alike  had  previously  served  on 
one  occasion  only — a  memorable  one — that  of  the  Coronation 
of  Napoleon  I.  at  Notre  Dame,  since  when  they  had  been  care- 
fully preserved  at  the  Garde  Meuble.  On  either  side  of  the 
throne  rose  lofty  candelabra,  bearing  above  their  lights  an  orb 
and  a  crown — insignia  of  power ;  while  on  the  vaulted  ceiling, 
finely  inlaid  with  enamel  work  by  Lemoine,  shone  the  device  of 
the  Grand  Monarque,  Nee  pluribus  impar. 

If  the  decorations  of  the  Salon  Blanc,  which  has  already 
been  mentioned,  supplied  a  very  fair  example  of  Louis  XIH. 
style,  those  of  the  so-called  Salon  de  Louis  XIV.,  following  the 
Throne-room,  furnished  an  example  of  the  Grand  Siecle.  The 
ceiling  was  a  new  and  skilful  copy  of  Lesueur's  "  Olympus,""  by 
Lesurgues,  while  the  panel  paintings  were  grotesques  by  the 
two  Le  Moines — all  delicately  restored.  Three  pictures  were 
now  hung  in  this  room,  one  a  fine  portrait  of  Louis  XIV.  by 
Rigaud,  another  a  good  copy  of  Gerard's  Philip  of  Anjou,  and 
the  third  a  copy  of  IMignard's  painting  of  Anne  of  Austria 
giving  instructions  to  her  young  son.  On  the  east  side  of  the 
room  was  a  door  leading  into  Louis  XIV.'s  so-called  winter 
apartments — first  the  eabinet  of  his  valet-de-ehamhre,  secondly 
his  own  bedroom,  and  thirdly  his  private  study  or  library. 
The  King's  bedroom  had  afterwards  been  that  of  Napoleon  I,, 
Louis  XVIII.,  and  Charles  X.,  and  the  decorations  were  not 
of  Louis  XIV.'s  time,  having  been  much  modified  early  in  the 
nineteenth  century,  in  such  wise  that  they  supplied  a  free 
example  of  the  so-called  Empire  style.  On  the  ceiling,  painted 
in  grisaille,  appeared  Jupiter,  Apollo,  Mars,  and  Minerva,  amid 


INTRODUCTORY  21 

a  number  of  genii  and  griffins.  In  a  cavity  in  the  wall  of 
the  adjoining  sumptuous  bath-room,  fitted  by  Napoleon  I.,  was 
found  in  revolutionary  days  the  famous  armoire  de  fer,  in 
which  the  unfortunate  Louis  XVI.  kept  his  compromising  secret 
papers. 

The  bedroom  and  the  dressing-room  of  Queen  Marie  Therese, 
wife  of  Louis  XIV.,  became  in  the  first  Napoleon's  time  his 
study  and  his  secretary"'s  workroom.  In  the  autumn  of  1852 
their  seventeenth  century  decorations  were  carefully  cleaned 
and  renovated.  The  paintings  were  chiefly  by  Jean  Nocret  and 
Jacques  Fouquieres.  Minerva  was  depicted  on  the  ceiling  of 
the  dressing-room,  above  the  doors  of  which  appeared  subjects 
showing  women  at  Avork  on  embroidery,  tapestry,  and  so  forth ; 
while  over  the  mantelpiece  Minerva  again  rose  up,  attended 
this  time  by  Neptune.  Beside  the  chimney-piece  was  painted 
a  fine  figure  of  Immortality,  in  front  of  it  you  saw  Vigilance, 
then  Minerva  at  her  toilet ;  while  on  the  window  side  Plistory 
was  symbolized.  Mercury,  the  Arts  and  Sciences,  Wisdom, 
and  many  other  allegorical  figures,  as  well  as  the  gold  sun  of 
Louis  XIV.,  adorned  the  adjoining  bedroom  of  Queen  Marie 
Therese,  whence  you  passed  into  her  salon,  later  that  of 
Napoleon  when  he  was  First  Consul.  Here  the  Louis  XIV. 
style  was  more  marked  than  in  the  previous  apartments.  Fine 
Gobelins  tapestry  covered  the  panels,  and  paintings  by  Nocret 
— Glory,  Fame,  and  once  again  Minerva,  this  time  carried  aloft 
by  her  priestesses — adorned  the  ceiling  and  the  cartouches  above 
the  doors.  Similar  in  style  was  the  decoration  of  the  Queen''s 
ante-room,  the  subjects  here  symbolized  by  Nocret  being 
Wisdom,  Peace,  and  Architecture,  to  which  were  added  some 
landscapes  by  Fouquieres.  All  the  paintings  had  literally  been 
exhumed  from  beneath  layers  of  dust,  greatly  to  the  advantage 
of  Nocret's  reputation.  L^nhappily  everything  was  destined  to 
perish  at  the  fall  of  the  Commune  in  1871. 

In  the  old  guard-room,  re-christened  Salon  de  Mars  in  the 
first  Napoleon's  time,  when  it  was  decorated  with  grisaille 
paintings  (the  chief  one  showing  Mars  in  his  chariot,  surrounded 
by  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac),  comparatively  little  work  had  to 
be  done  in  1852,  but  great  care  Avas  taken  in  cleaning  the  fine 
Galerie  de  Diane,  known  under  Louis  XIV.  as  the  Salon  des 


22  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

Ambassadeurs.  This  was  the  only  apartment  of  the  palace  in 
which  the  paintings  and  the  accessory  decorations  harmonized 
properly — everything  having  been  conceived  in  the  same  spirit  by 
the  desire  of  Colbert,  under  whose  supervision  the  original  work 
was  executed.  Forty-one  mythological  paintings  adorned  the 
ceiling,  the  walls,  and  the  cartouches  over  the  doors — twenty-one 
of  them  being  skilful  seventeenth  century  copies  of  Annibale 
Caracci's  famous  fi-escoes  at  the  Farnese  Palace,  notably 
the  subjects  showing  Diana  with  Pan  and  Endymion,  these 
giving  the  gallery  its  name.  It  was  not  an  apartment  seen  to 
advantage  in  the  daytime,  for  the  lighting  was  defective,  but 
it  was  used  chiefly  as  a  dining  and  supper-room,  and  on  the 
gala  nights  of  the  Court,  in  the  radiance  shed  by  hundreds  of 
wax  lights  burnins:  in  chandeliers  and  candelabra,  it  looked 
splendid  indeed.  When  the  guests  were  comparatively  few, 
and  would  have  seemed  lost  in  such  a  spacious  gallery,  a  portion 
of  it  was  shut  off  by  means  of  a  cleverly  contrived  movable 
partition. 

About  two  months  and  a  half  towards  the  end  of  1852  were 
spent  on  the  early  restoration  work  at  the  Tuileries,  such  as 
we  have  described.  Architecturally  it  was  in  the  charge  of 
Visconti,  but  Basset  and  Haro  were  chiefly  responsible  for  the 
renovation  of  the  paintings.  Subsequently  the  private  apart- 
ments of  the  Empress  were  superbly  decorated  by  Lefuel  and 
Charles  Chaplin.  Only  a  short  time  was  to  elapse  before  the 
installation  of  an  Empress  at  the  palace,  but  at  the  end  of  1852 
there  was  as  yet  none.  With  that  exception,  everything  was 
ready  for  the  revival  of  Court  life  on  a  splendid  scale.  The 
new  Emperor  had  already  decided  who  should  be  his  great 
dignitaries  of  State,  who  should  be  added  to  his  immediate 
entourage.  Let  us  now  see  of  whom  that  entoiwage  already 
consisted,  and  then  pass  en  to  the  composition  of  the  new 
Court. 


CHAPTER  II 


.^^ 


MEN  OF  THE  COUP  D  ETAT THE  NEW  COUET 

Napoleon  III.'s  half-brother,  the  Duke  de  Morny — The  first  Napoleon's  son, 
Count  Walewski — Marshals  St.  Arnaud,  Magnan,  and  Castellane— Persigny 
and  Fleury — The  Imperial  Household  :  its  Minister  Fould — The  Civil  List 
and  Dotation  of  the  Crown — The  Imperial  Family's  Allowances — Vaillant, 
Great  Marshal  of  the  Court— General  Eolin,  Adjutant-General — The 
Prefects  of  the  Palace — The  Great  Chamberlain,  Bassano,  and  his  sub- 
ordinates— The  Court  Domestics — The  Great  Master  of  Ceremonies  and 
his  assistants — The  Military  Household — General  Roguet — Aides-de-camp, 
Orderlies,  and  Cent-gardes— The  Equerries — The  Great  Almoner  and  the 
Palace  Chapel — The  Emperor's  Confessor — The  Medical  Service. 

In  constituting  the  Empire  and  forming  both  its  Administra- 
tion and  its  Court,  Napoleon  III.  was  prepared  to  reward  right 
lavishly  all  who  had  helped  him,  first,  to  effect  the  Coup  d'Etat 
of  1851,  and  secondly,  to  transform  the  nominal  Republic  into 
the  regime  he  desired.  There  was,  however,  one  man  who 
suddenly  drew  aside,  throwing  up  office  and  declining  honours, 
and  this  was  none  other  than  the  Coup  d'Etafs  chief  artisan, 
the  new  Emperor's  half-brother,  M.  de  Morny.  His  parentage 
was  no  secret.  He  was  the  son  of  Queen  Hortense  by  her  lover, 
General  Count  de  Elahault  de  la  Billarderie,  who  was  descended 
from  an  ancient  Picard  house.  Elahault  was  a  distinguished 
soldier :  he  received  his  baptism  of  fire  at  Marengo,  acted  as 
Murat's  aide-de-camp  at  Austerlitz,  and  as  Napoleon's  after  the 
return  from  Elba.  He  also  shared  the  hardships  of  the  retreat 
from  Moscow,  and,  further,  he  fought  at  Waterloo,  gaining 
successive  steps  in  rank,  titles,  and  other  honours,  at  the  point 
of  his  sword.  Later  he  turned  to  diplomacy,  becoming  Louis 
Philippe's  ambassador  in  England  from  1842  to  1848.  Already 
in  1815  he  had  tried  to  prevent  the  Bourbon  Restoration  and 


S4.  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

proclaim  Napoleon  II.,  and  thirty- three  years  subsequently  ho 
was  one  of  the  first  to  offer  his  services  to  Louis  Napoleon  on 
the  latter''s  arrival  in  France  after  the  downfall  of  the  Orleans 
Monarchy.  Flahault  was  in  the  secret  of  the  Coup  d'Etat,  and 
figured  conspicuously  in  the  Prince-Presidenfs  escort  on  that 
eventful  morning  when  the  coming  Emperor  reviewed  the  soldiery. 
His  liaison  with  Queen  Hortense  was,  of  course,  a  very  old 
affair.  It  dated  from  1810-1811,  when  Flahault  was  only 
some  twenty-five  years  of  age.  Later,  in  1817,  he  married  the 
daughter  of  Admiral  Viscount  Keith,  who  became  in  her  own 
right  Baroness  Keith  and  Nairne.*  This  lady  would  never 
admit  her  husband's  natural  son,  Morny,  to  her  presence,  in 
spite  of  his  father''s  predilection  for  him,  and  the  high  position 
to  M'hich  he  attained. 

Born,  like  his  legitimate  brother  Napoleon  III.,  in  Queen 
Hortense''s  mansion  in  the  Rue  Cerutti — now  Lafiitte — in  Paris 
(the  house  being  at  the  present  time  the  residence  of  the  chief 
of  the  French  Rothschilds),  Morny  was  promptly  removed  to 
Versailles,  and  there  registered  as  "Charles  Auguste  Louis 
Joseph  Demorny  (sic)  born  in  Paris,  October  23,  1811.'"  He 
was  "fathered,""  as  the  saying  goes,  by  an  old  military  man, 
described  in  the  official  register  as  Auguste  Jean  Hyacinthe 
Demorny,  landowner  on  the  island  of  San  Domingo,  residing 
at  Villetaneuse,  near  Versailles.  It  is  said  that  this  Demorny 
had  served  in  the  Prussian  army,  and  that  he  joined  the  allies 
in  1814,  when,  for  his  services  against  the  Empire,  Louis 
XVIII.  created  him  a  Chevalier  of  St.  Louis.  In  any  case, 
he  was  a  very  needy  man,  and  Queen  Hortense,  in  considera- 
tion of  his  "fathering"  her  illegitimate  offspring,  agreed  to 
pay  him  an  annuity  of  £240.  He  died,  however,  at  the 
hospital  of  Versailles,  soon  after  the  Empire''s  fall.  The 
entry  of  Morny's  birth  further  stated  that  his  mother  was 
Louise  Emilie  Coralie  Fleury,  wife  of  the  aforesaid  Demorny, 
but  no  such  person  has  ever  been  traced,  and,  indeed,  the  many 
researches  made  respecting  her,  need  not  have  been  undertaken, 

*  The  Countess  de  Flahault  was  well  known  in  Paris  during  the  second 
Empire.  She  died  at  the  Palace  of  the  Legion  of  Honour  (her  husband  being 
Chancellor  of  the  Order)  in  1867.  Her  daughter  Emily  married  the  fourth 
Marq^uess  of  Lansdowne,  and  became  the  mother  of  the  present  Marquess. 


MEN    OF  THE   COUP  D'ETAT  25 

there  being  no  doubt  whatever  that  the  child's  real  mother  was 
Queen  Hortense. 

The  name  was  speedily  changed  from  Deraorny  to  De 
INIorny — a  more  aristocratic  form — and  the  child  was  placed  in 
the  charge  of  M.  de  Flahaulfs  mother,  who,  having  married 
the  Portuguese  minister  in  France,  was  then  known  as  the 
Countess  de  Souza.  M.  de  Flahault  himself  had  no  great 
means  at  that  time,  the  family  having  been  ruined  during  the 
Revolution,  when  his  father  was  guillotined ;  but  Queen  Hor- 
tense entrusted  Mme.  de  Souza  with  a  sum  of  £8000  by  way 
of  provision  for  the  son  she  abandoned.  Unfortunately  the 
lady  had  a  bad  failing ;  she  was  a  gambler,  and,  although  bridge 
was  not  played  in  those  days,  she  contrived  to  lose  her  ward's 
money  either  at  cards  or  at  rouge-et-noir.  He,  Morny,  in  later 
years  also  became  a  gambler  (though  a  very  successful  one),* 
and  that  trait  of  his  character  may  well  have  been  inherited  by 
him  from  his  grandmother,  Mme.  de  Souza.  f  He  spent  his 
early  years  at  her  residence  in  the  Rue  St.  Florentin.  Later, 
being  taken  in  hand  by  his  father's  former  aide-de-camp,  General 
Carbonnel,  he  was  sent  to  the  Staff  College,  whence  he  emerged, 
in  1832,  as  a  sub-lieutenant  of  Lancers.  Through  Carbonnel 
he  secured  the  favour  of  some  of  the  Orleans  princes,  and 
notably  of  the  young  Duke  who  met  with  such  an  untimely 
death  in  a  carriage  accident  at  Neuilly.  Proceeding  to  Algeria, 
Morny  there  gained  the  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honour  by 
helping  to  save  General  Trezel's  life  at  the  siege  of  Con- 
stantine.  Later  he  became  orderly  officer  to  General  Oudinot. 
But  in  1838  he  left  the  army  and  returned  to  Paris,  where,  in 
spite  of  his  precarious  circumstances,  he  began  to  lead  the  life 
of  a  viveur. 

D'Alton-Shee,  peer  of  France,  and  a  close  acquaintance  of 
Morny 's  in  those  days,  has  described  him  as  then  being  a  man 
of  distinguished  bearing  and  extremely  elegant  appearance, 
with  a  shrewd,  pleasant  expression  of  face,  and  a  way  that  made 

*  Sir  Eobert  Peel  called  him  the  greatest  speculator  in  Europe,  at  a  time 
when  the  term  speculator  verged  on  one  of  opprobrium. 

t  His  literary  leanings  may  have  come  from  the  same  source,  for  Mme.  de 
Souza  was  a  prolific  novelist,  writing  many  now  forgotten  books,  such  as 
"  Ad^le  de  Senange,"  "  La  Comtesse  de  Fargy,"  "  Eugene  de  Eothelin,"  etc. 


26  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

him  a  great  favourite  with  women.  He  had  many  love  affairs, 
and  M^as  more  than  once  the  successful  rival  of  the  young  Duke 
of  Orleans.  For  a  man  of  society,  says  D'Alton-Shee,  Morny 
possessed  considerable  knowledge,  he  had  a  taste  for  idleness 
bat  a  capacity  for  work,  absolute  faith  in  himself,  boldness, 
bravery,  sangfroid,  clear  judgment,  gaiety,  and  wit.  He  was 
inclined  more  to  good-fellowship  than  to  friendship,  he  was 
disposed  to  protect  rather  than  serve,  he  was  fond  of  pleasure, 
and  resolved  to  enjoy  luxury,  he  was  at  once  both  prodigal  and 
greedy,  and  more  venturesome  than  truly  ambitious.  Moreover, 
while  keeping  his  personal  engagements,  he  was  never  influenced 
by  any  political  creed  or  principles  of  humanity.  Such  princely 
characteristics  as  dissimulation,  indulgence,  and  contempt  for  his 
fellow-men  were  also  his  portion.  He  subordinated  everything 
to  the  object  which  he  might  have  in  view,  not  for  the  benefit 
of  any  religion,  system,  or  idea,  but  solely  for  the  furtherance 
of  his  own  particular  interests. 

Women  and  speculation  were  his  stepping-stones  to  fortune. 
After  supplanting  the  Duke  of  Orleans  in  the  affections  of  the 
Countess  Lehon,*  next  door  to  whose  mansion  in  the  Champs 
Elysees  he  took  up  his  abode  in  a  smaller  house,  nicknamed  by 
those  who  derided  him  La  niche  a  Fidele  ("  Faithful's  kennel  "), 
he  obtained  money  from  the  lady  to  start  some  beetroot-sugar 
works  at  Clermont-Ferrand,  and  used  her  influence  to  secure  his 
election  as  a  deputy  (1842),  in  which  capacity  he  took  a  not 
inconsiderable  part  in  debates  on  financial  and  economic  ques- 
tions. When  the  Orleans  monarchy  fell,  Morny  still  remained 
one  of  its  adherents.  At  that  time  he  had  no  intercourse  with 
his  brother  Louis  Napoleon,  indeed  it  is  doubtful  whether  they 
had  ever  conversed  together.  It  is  said  that  whenever  Morny 
was  in  London  during  the  forties  (his  father,  Flahault,  then 
being  ambassador  there),  he  immediately  rose  and  withdrew 
from  any  drawing-room  in  which  he  found  himself  if  Prince 
Louis  Napoleon  were  announced, f 

Later  he  set  himself  against  his  brother  politically.  He 
was  a  declared  royalist  candidate  at  the  elections  of  1849,  and 

*  They  fought  a  duel  on  account  of  her. 

t  Morny  was  proud,  however,  of  his  descent,  and  indulged  in  armes 
parlantes,  his  escutcheon  bearing  a  hydrangea  (French  =  hortensia)  barred. 


MEN   OF  THE   COUP  D'ETAT  27 

as  such  he  was  bitterly  though  unsuccessfully  opposed  by  the 
Bonapartists  and  Republicans.  But  he  was  also  a  shrewd  man, 
and  soon  saw  which  way  the  wind  was  blowing.  Thus  he  was 
one  of  the  first  to  foretell  the  restoration  of  the  Empire.  His 
own  affairs,  moreover,  were  becoming  very  much  involved,  and, 
not  wishing  to  be  swept  away,  he  felt  it  not  only  advisable  but 
necessary  to  place  himself  on  what  he  cleverly  called  the  side 
of  the  broom  handle.  He,  the  illegitimate,  and  Louis  Napoleon, 
the  legitimate,  son  of  Queen  Hortense,  were  brought  together 
then  by  Count  Walewski,  the  illegitimate  son  of  Napoleon  I.  by 
that  devoted  Polish  mistress  who  clung  to  the  fallen  conqueror 
through  the  distressful  days  of  Fontainebleau,  and  betook  her- 
self to  him  with  her  boy  during  his  sojourn  at  Elba.  Marie 
Lonczynska,  Countess  Colonna-Walewska,  subsequently  married 
General  Count  Ornano,  by  whom  also  she  had  a  son,  who 
became  attached  to  the  Court  of  Napoleon  HI. 

Alexandre  Florian,  her  son  by  the  great  Emperor,  rose  to 
be  ambassador  in  London  at  the  time  of  the  restoration  of  the 
Empire,  and  like  Lord  Cowley,  the  British  representative  in 
Paris,  he  did  much  to  secure  Great  Britain's  prompt  recognition 
of  the  change  of  regime  in  France.  Count  Walewski,  though 
essentially  his  mother's  son  in  character,  was  physically  far 
more  like  his  father  than  the  ill-fated  Duke  de  Reichstadt  ever 
was ;  in  fact,  the  Napoleonic  cast  of  Walewski's  countenance 
was  only  slightly  less  marked  than  that  of  the  Emperor's 
nephew.  Prince  Napoleon  Jerome.  Twice  married,  first  to  an 
English  Montagu,  and  secondly  to  a  Ricci  of  Florence,  Walewski 
played  an  important  part  as  ambassador,  minister,  and  president 
of  the  Legislative  Body  until  his  death  in  1868.  He  favoured 
the  transformation  of  the  "  personal "  into  the  "  liberal " 
Empire,  and  it  was  he  who  largely  induced  Emile  Ollivier  and 
the  latter's  band  to  support  and  effect  that  change. 

Morny,  being  brought  by  Walewski  into  close  connection 
with  the  Prince-President,  fully  espoused  his  interests — with  a 
view,  of  course,  to  the  furtherance  of  his  own.  He  rid  himself 
of  his  financial  embarrassments  by  the  sale  of  his  house  and 
pictures,  won  many  men  over  to  the  imperialist  cause  by  his 
address  and  plausibility,  and,  taking  possession  of  the  Ministry 
of  the  Interior  at  the  Coup  d'Etat,  he  carried  that  measure  to 


28  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

a  successful  issue  throughout  France.  The  vain-glorious  and 
extolled  De  Maupas,  Prefect  of  Police,  in  spite  of  his  big, 
sturdy  frame,  and  his  healthy,  florid  face,  was  in  reality  a  very 
nervous  and  apprehensive  individual,  and  proved  a  mere  instru- 
ment in  Morny's  hands.*  Moreover,  to  the  suggestions  of  the 
Minister  of  the  Interior,  even  St.  Arnaud  and  Magnan  were 
largely  indebted  for  the  strategy  they  employed  in  the  Paris 
street  fighting. 

Much  better  looking  and  better  built,  more  courtly,  more 
of  a  grand  seigneur  in  appearance  than  his  half-brother 
Napoleon  IH.,  Morny  was  also  the  abler  man  of  the  two.  Had 
he  been  honest  he  might  have  been  a  great  one.  Shrewd  and 
strong-minded,  as  D'Alton-Shee  indicated,  "  a  hand  of  iron  in 
a  velvet  glove,*"  he  was  also  possessed  of  no  little  culture — real 
artistic  perception,  genuine  literary  ability,  and  great  expertness 
of  speech.f  But  the  Empire  was  scarcely  re-established  when  he 
abruptly  withdrew  from  office.  This  man,  who  figured  in  many 
shady  financial  transactions,  and  who  had  not  hesitated  to  rob 
his  friend,  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  of  various  mistresses,  under 
circumstances  by  no  means  over  clean,  was  either  genuinely 
disgusted  by  the  seizure  of  the  Orleans  private  property — 
confiscated  by  a  decree  dated  January  22, 1852 — or,  at  least,  he 
regarded  that  spoliation  as  a  stupendous  political  blunder. 
The  latter  view  is,  of  course,  more  in  keeping  with  his  character. 
In  any  case  (like  a  few  others,  notably  M.  Rouher),  he  resigned, 

*  Maupas  was  rewarded  for  his  services  at  the  Coup  d'Etat,  during  which 
he  more  than  once  lost  his  head,  by  being  created  a  Senator  and  Minister 
Secretary  of  State  for  General  Police,  a  post  of  more  prominence  than  real 
authority.  For  the  Prefecture  of  Police  the  right  man  was  found  in  M.  Pietri. 
Maupas  was  a  Burgundian  who  had  been  an  advocate  and  a  departmental 
prefect,  from  which  latter  post  he  was  dismissed  for  inventing  a  bogus  political 
plot,  whereupon  he  turned  to  the  Bonapartist  cause.  Later  in  life,  after 
serving  as  French  Minister  at  Naples  and  Prefect  at  Marseilles,  he  secured  the 
grand  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honour,  but  the  advent  of  the  "  Liberal "  Empire 
prevented  his  further  employment.  He  published  two  vokimes  of  memoirs, 
and  died  in  Paris,  in  1888. 

t  He  wrote  numerous  plays,  etc.,  performed  either  publicly  or  at  the 
private  theatre  at  his  residence  as  President  of  the  Legislative  Body.  "  M. 
Choufieury  restera  chez  lui,"  with  OSenbach's  music,  was  a  deserved  success, 
and  long  held  the  stage.  Other  pieces  were  "Les  Bons  Conseils"  and  "  Les 
Finesses  du  Mari,"  both  comedies ;  "  La  Succession  Bonnet,"  a  vaudeville  ;  and 
"  Pas  de  Fum6e  sans  un  peu  de  Feu,"  a  proverbe.  Morny's  literary  pseudonym 
was  St.  K6my. 


MEN   OF  THE   COUP  D^ETAT  29 

and  had  no  share  in  the  lavish  distribution  of  favours  which 
attended  the  re-establishment  of  the  Empire.  For  some  time, 
availing  himself  of  the  influence  he  retained  in  spite  of  his 
apparent  secession,  he  devoted  himself  to  speculation,  and  it 
was  only  in  1854  that  he  again  came  to  the  front  politically, 
this  time  as  President  of  the  Legislative  Body. 

From  that  period  till,  his  death  in  March,  1865,  Morny  was 
regarded  as  the  chief  pillar  of  the  Empire,  the  power  standing 
behind  the  throne,  though  he  never  relinquished  his  gambling 
proclivities,  readily  turning  from  politics  to  promote  banks, 
railway,  mining,  and  industrial  companies,  speculating,  too,  in 
land,  founding  the  fashionable  seaside  resort  called  Deauville, 
and  conducing,  by  his  connection  with  the  issue  of  the  Jecker 
bonds,  to  the  development  of  that  unfortunate  Mexican  affair, 
which  shook  the  regime  so  severely.  Even  when  Morny  went 
to  Russia  as  ambassador  extraordinary  for  the  coronation  of 
Alexander  II.,  his  business  instincts  prompted  him  to  convey 
thither  an  immense  amount  of  saleable  property,  such  as 
jewellery  and  lace.  He  well  knew  that  by  diplomatic  privilege 
his  baggage  was  not  liable  to  duty  ;  and  it  followed  that,  as 
France  paid  for  all  his  magnificence  in  Russia,  he  returned 
home  wealthier  than  he  had  departed,  in  possession,  too,  of  a 
Russian  bride,  for  he  had  contrived  to  fascinate  a  young  lady 
of  a  princely  Lithuanian  house,  albeit  he  looked  old  enough  to 
be  her  grandfather.  The  Princess  Sophie  Troubetskoi,  as  his 
bride  was  called,  was  a  charming,  slim,  graceful,  black-eyed 
blonde,  with  a  face  fit  for  a  cameo.  Subsequent  to  IMorny's 
death  this  lady,  who  was  much  admired  and  esteemed,  married 
the  Duke  de  Sesto.* 

Such,  then,  was  the  half-brother  whom  Napoleon  III. 
ultimately  raised  to  ducal  rank,  but  who,  after  making  the 
restoration  of  the  Empire  possible,  preferred  to  stand  aside  for 
a  time,  officially  unrewarded.  Others  put  less  restraint  on  their 
appetite  for  power  and  honour ;  but  it  so  happened  that  several 
did  not  appear  fit  for  the  highest  places,  and  had  to  remain 
content  with  subordinate  ones.  The  three  marshals  created  on 
the  day  of  the  proclamation  of  the  Empire  retained  their  posts 
— Leroy  de  St.  Arnaud  as  Minister  of  War,  Magnan  as  com- 

*  For  further  particulars  of  Morny  and  his  wife,  see  ^ost,  p.  289  et  setj. 


80  THE   COURT  OF  THE   TUILERIES 

mander  in  Paris,  and  Castellane  as  commander  at  Lyons.  The 
last  named,  who  belonged  to  a  famous  old  noble  family,  has  left 
an  interesting  "  Journal,"  which  shows  that  he  was  privy  to  the 
Coup  d'Etat,  and  supported  it  in  Southern  France  with  alacrity 
and  zeal.  The  two  others  have  been  greatly  attacked  by  all 
save  Bonapartist  writers  for  their  share  in  the  events  of  the 
period.  It  has  been  stated  repeatedly  that  Leroy  de  St. 
Arnaud  was  not  entitled  to  the  latter  part  of  that  name,  but  he, 
his  brother  and  the  other  members  of  their  family,  were  formally 
authorized  to  assume  it  by  a  decree  of  Louis  Philippe,  dated 
May  12,  1840,  and  they  did  so  ;  though  eleven  years  later  only 
the  Marshal  was  singled  out  for  taking  a  name  alleged  to  be  "  not 
his  own."  As  for  the  standing  of  the  family,  St.  Arnaud's  father, 
Leroy  (or,  as  he  originally  wrote  it,  Le  Roy),  had  been  an  advocate 
at  the  bar  of  the  Parliament  of  Paris  prior  to  the  Revolution, 
no  mean  position,  and  later  a  Prefect  under  the  Consulate  and 
the  First  Empire.  He  died  in  1809,  at  which  date  his  eldest 
son,  the  future  marshal,  was  eight  years  old.  Two  years  later 
Le  Roy's  young  widow,  originally  a  Mile.  Papillon  de  La  Tapy, 
married  a  M.  Forcade  de  la  Roquette,  and  a  son  she  had  by  this 
second  marriage  became  President  of  the  Council  of  State  and 
Minister  of  the  Interior  under  Napoleon  IIL — being  doubtless 
indebted  for  some  of  his  political  advancement  to  the  fact  that 
he  Avas  St.  Arnaud's  step-brother. 

From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  seen  that  there  was  really  no 
basis  for  the  innuendos  respecting  St.  Arnaud's  origin  which 
were  repeated  in  Kinglake's  "History  of  the  Crimean  War" 
after  figuring  in  a  dozen  French  pamphlets  by  writers 
antagonistic  to  the  men  of  the  Coup  d'Etat ;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  seems  clear  that  St.  Arnaud  did  at  one  moment  seek  to 
disguise  his  identity  by  assuming  the  Christian  name  of  Achille 
instead  of  those  of  Armand  Jacques,  given  to  him  at  his 
baptism.  And  it  appears  equally  clear  that  he  wished  certain 
episodes  of  his  earlier  life  to  be  buried  in  oblivion.  Some  men 
manage  to  "  live  down  "  the  sins  of  their  youth,  others  are  ever 
pursued  by  them.  It  is  certain  that  St.  Arnaud,  while  a 
member  of  the  Royal  Bodyguard  of  Louis  XVIII.,  became 
financially  involved,  and  was  dismissed  from  that  corps  d'elite 
and  drafted  into  the  Corsican  Legion,  and  later  into  a  Line 


MEN   OF   THE   COUP   D'ETAT  31 

regiment.  But  he  joined  the  Bodyguard  when  he  was  only 
sixteen  years  of  age,  and  he  was  barely  a  man  when  he  was 
dismissed  from  it ;  and  it  is  unfair  to  lay  stress  upon  youthful 
folly,  particularly  when  it  can  be  pleaded  that  the  transgressor 
was  quite  without  parental  guidance.  Of  St.  Arnaud's  military 
ability  there  can  be  little  doubt.  In  that  respect,  General 
Trochu  (no  admirer  of  things  imperial),  who  was  his  last  senior 
aide-de-camp,  speaks  highly  of  him  in  his  Memoirs,  and  we 
are  inclined  to  think  that  with  some  guidance  in  his  youth 
St.  Arnaud's  career  might  have  been  not  only  successful  but 
distinguished. 

If  in  1827  he  quitted  the  French  army  it  was  to  escape 
dreary  garrison  life  without  prospect  of  promotion,  for  he  was 
more  or  less  a  marked  man,  by  reason,  as  his  antagonists  say, 
of  his  bad  reputation  in  money  matters,  or,  as  his  partisans 
have  alleged,  of  the  imperialist  sympathies  which,  as  the  son  of  a 
former  official  of  the  Empire,  he  took  no  pains  to  conceal.  At 
all  events,  he  was  anxious  to  see  foreign  service,  and  going  to 
Greece,  he  fought  there  under  Capo  d'lstria.  Later,  however,  he 
drifted  into  a  life  of  adventures  and  shifts,  a  harum-scarum 
career  in  the  East,  in  Italy,  and  in  England,  becoming  at  one 
moment  a  strolling  player  under  the  name  of  Florival,  and  at 
another  earning  some  kind  of  a  living  as  a  fencing-master  at 
Brighton. 

But  on  the  establishment  of  the  Orleans  Monarchy  St. 
Arnaud  applied — as  a  victim  of  Bourbon  vindictiveness — for 
reinstatement  in  the  French  army,  and  this  he  secured  early  in 
1831.  He  became  orderly  officer  to  General,  afterwards  Marshal 
Bugeaud,  and  his  well-known  hostility  to  the  Bourbons  (due,  no 
doubt,  to  his  early  dismissal  from  the  Royal  Bodyguard),  led  to 
his  being  chosen  to  watch  over  the  imprisoned  Duchess  de 
Berri  after  her  failure  to  stir  up  insurrection  in  La  Vendee. 
Later,  he  passed  over  to  Algeria,  where  he  rose  to  be  a  general  of 
brigade,  and  whence,  after  a  prearranged  campaign  against  the 
Kabyles  to  enable  him  to  distinguish  himself  (which  he  did  by 
"smoking"  natives  in  their  caves,  thus  following  Pelissier's 
example),  he  returned  to  France  as  one  of  the  chosen  instru- 
ments of  Louis  Napoleon's  Coup  d'Etat.  Thin,  pale,  haggard, 
already  suffering  from  an  incurable  malady,  he  looked  the  last 


32  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

man  in  the  world  for  any  such  adventure,  but  he  possessed  an 
indomitable  spirit,  as  many  have  testified.  Later,  when  he  was 
French  generalissimo  in  the  Crimea,  the  battle  of  the  Alma 
gave  him  fame,  and  soon  afterwards  he  died.* 

Marshal  Magnan,  who  commanded  the  army  of  Paris  at  the 
Coup  d'Etat  and  afterwards,  was  a  man  of  different  stamp. 
Tall,  imperious,  heavily  whiskered,  and  loud-voiced,  although 
originally  a  notary's  clerk,  he  had  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the 
first  Napoleon's  time,  and  had  fought  at  Waterloo  ;  but  in  1831, 
on  being  sent  as  a  colonel  to  quell  an  insurrection  against  Louis 
Philippe  at  Lyons,  he  acted  so  "  mildly  "  that  he  was  deprived 
of  his  command  by  the  advice  of  Thiers  and  other  ministers, 
whereupon,  proceeding  to  Belgium,  he  took  service  there  until 
he  was  reinstated  in  the  French  army  in  1839.  His  exclusion 
from  it,  or  at  least  from  active  service  in  it,  had  been  a  severe 
lesson,  which  was  to  recoil  ultimately  on  those  who  had  given  it 
to  him,  for  he  was  resolved  that  nobody  should  ever  charge  him 
with  mildness  and  fear  of  bloodshed  again.  In  1848  he  tried  to 
save  the  monarchy,  escorting  the  Duchess  of  Orleans  to  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies,  in  the  hope  of  securing  the  proclamation 
of  her  young  son  as  King.  Later,  he  put  down  "  Red  "  risings 
in  Paris  and  Lyons  with  vigour,  sparing  nobody. 

Quite  destitute  of  private  means,  but  married,  with  a  family 
of  several  children,  he  was,  unfortunately,  always  in  debt,  which 
circumstance  designated  him  to  the  attention  of  Louis  Napoleon. 
One  of  the  latter's  emissaries  had  tried  to  secure  Magnan's 
adherence  to  the  cause  already  at  the  time  of  the  Boulogne 
attempt  in  1840,  and  it  is  said  that  Magnan  then  gave  the  envoy 
encouragement,  but  the  evidence  on  the  point  is  unsatisfactory, 
and  at  Louis  Napoleon's  trial  by  the  Chamber  of  Peers, 
Mao-nan  certainly  protested  that  although  he  had  been  offered 
a  bribe  he  had  resolutely  refused  to  take  it.  Pie  showed  himself 
less  scrupulous  at  the  time  of  the  Coup  d'Etat,  for  his  services 
on  which  occasion  he  became,  like  St.  Arnaud  and  Castellane,  a 
marshal  and  a  senator — the  latter  appointment  alone  meaning 
considerable  addition  to  his  income.  Subsequently  he  was 
created  Great  Huntsman,  the  duties  of  which  office  he  never 

*  We  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  of  the  St.  Arnaud-Cornemuse  affair 
hereafter. 


MEN  OF  THE  COUP  D'ETAT  ^3. 

really  performed,  though  he  carefully  pocketed  the  large  salary 
attached  to  it.  Nevertheless,  he  was  never  able  to  extricate 
himself  from  his  debts,  a  large  part  of  which  Napoleon  III. 
discharged  after  his  death. 

All  the  foregoing  men  being  well  known  to  the  new  Emperor, 
he  selected  none  of  them  to  organize  and  direct  his  Court,  nor 
did  he  choose  the  two  boldest  members  of  his  band,  men  whose 
venturesome  audacity  exceeded  even  that  of  St.  Arnaud  and 
Magnan.  These  were  Persigny  and  Fleury.  Even  as  St. 
Arnaud's  original  name  had  been  Leroy,  so  Persigny's  had  been 
Fialin.  But  there  was  this  difference :  the  former  had  been 
legally  entitled  to  his  new  name  since  1840,  whereas  the  second 
was  not  legally  Persigny  till  he  was  created  Duke  de  Persigny 
by  Napoleon  III.  The  Fialin  family  was,  however,  an  old  one 
of  Dauphine,  which  had  passed  first  into  the  Lyonnais  and  later 
into  Forez.  According  to  a  work  on  the  last-named  province,* 
Persigny's  grandfather  sold  several  of  his  fiefs  in  1749,  but 
retained  the  manor  of  Persigny  in  the  parish  of  Cremeaux  ;  and, 
though  the  father  and  the  uncle  of  the  third  Napoleon's  acolyte 
were  simply  called  Fialin,  the  former  possession  of  the  Persigny 
fief  was  held  to  justify  a  change  of  appellation. 

Jean  Gilbert  Victor  Fialin  de  Persigny,  as  he  claimed  to  be, 
was  born  in  1808.  His  father,  according  to  some  accounts,  was 
a  provincial  Receiver  for  the  Treasury  under  the  first  Empire, 
and  according  to  others  he  was  killed  fighting  at  the  battle 
of  Salamanca  in  1812.  In  any  case  the  future  adherent  of 
Napoleon  III.  was  brought  up  by  an  uncle,  passed  through 
the  cavalry  school  of  Saumur,  and  became  a  non-commissioned 
officer  of  Hussars.  But  after  being  dismissed  the  army  for 
alleged  "republicanism,"  he  soon  blossomed  forth  as  a  zealous 
Bonapartist,  recruited  a  number  of  adherents  to  the  cause,  and 
helped  to  organize  Louis  Napoleon's  attempts  at  Strasburg  and 
Boulogne.f  Briefly,  he  exerted  himself  in  all  ways  and  on  all 
occasions  in  the  interest  of  the  future  Emperor.  He  was  to 
have  been  Minister  of  the  Interior  at  the  Coup  d'Etat,  but 
almost  at  the  last  moment  his  somewhat  harum-scarum  audacity 
and  the  violence  of  some  of  his  writings  suggested  that  he 

*  "  Les  Fiefs  du  Forez  avant  1789,"  by  D'Assier  de  Valenches.   Paris,  1858. 
t  The  latter  in  conjunction  with  Count  Orsi. 


34  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

might  not  be  altogether  acceptable  to  the  bourgeoisie^  and  thus, 
though  he  had  already  signed  several  drafts  of  the  intended 
proclamations,  his  place  was  taken  by  Morny.  When,  however, 
the  latter  retired  in  1852,  Persigny  succeeded  him.  Shortly 
afterwards  he  married  Mile.  Egle  Ney  de  la  Moskowa,  then  barely 
out  of  her  teens,  on  which  occasion  Louis  Napoleon  made  him 
a  private  present  of  ^£'20,000.  The  bride  and  bridegroom  seemed 
very  much  attached  to  each  other  at  first,  and  Persigny  was  freely 
twitted  for  neglecting  official  duties  and  ceremonies  in  order  to 
hide  himself  away  with  his  young  wife.  But  stormy  days  ensued, 
for  the  lady  developed  a  trying  temper  and  eccentric  inclinations.* 
Persigny  held  office  as  minister  and  ambassador  (in  London) 
at  various  periods  of  the  Empire,  and  became  in  course  of  time 
the  determined  adversary  of  Rouher,  whose  superior  in  shrewd- 
ness he  undoubtedly  was,  though  he  failed  to  supplant  him, 
and  repeatedly  found  his  private  advice  to  the  Emperor  treated 
with  neglect.  To  Persigny's  credit  it  may  be  said  that  he  was 
one  of  the  very  first  to  apprehend  the  dire  consequences  of  the 
Franco-German  war,  and  the  errors  made  in  the  disposition  of 
the  French  forces. f 

Emile  Felix  Fleury,  whom  Napoleon  III.  made  a  count,  a 
general  and  an  ambassador,  was  as  audacious  as  Persigny,  but  in 
his  earlier  years  more  of  a  man  of  pleasure.  His  father  had 
amassed  a  handsome  fortune  in  trade,  but  the  property,  he  tells 
us  in  his  "  Souvenirs,"  was  squandered  by  his  mother,  who, 
after  his  father''s  death,  married  a  man  of  title.  Fleury 
acknowledges  that  he  took  to  dissipated  courses  when  he  was 
young,  and  that  he  was  at  last  constrained  to  enlist  as  a  private 
in  the  Spahis.  It  was  Persigny  who  first  presented  him  to 
Louis  Napoleon  in  London  in  or  about  1838.  Eleven  years 
later  he  became  the  Prince's  orderly  officer,  and  it  was  he  who 
recruited  the  services  of  St.  Arnaud,  Magnan,  and  other  strong- 
handed  men,  for  the  purposes  of  the  Coup  d'Etat.  After  the 
proclamation   of    the    Empire,    Fleury    was    appointed    First 

*  Ten  months  after  Persigny's  death  there  was  a  scandalous  lawsuit 
between  her  and  her  mother,  the  Princess  de  la  Moskowa,  who  vainly  tried  to 
prevent  her  from  marrying  a  young  advocate  named  Lemoyne.  She  did  so, 
however,  and  after  his  death  married  yet  again,  surviving  till  1890,  when  she 
died  at  Cannes. 

t  He  died  at  Nice,  in  January,  1872. 


MEN    OF  THE   COUP  D'ETAT  35 

Equerry,  and  higher  distinctions  followed  during  the  ensuing 
years.  His  diplomatic  services  were  by  no  means  despicable ; 
he  negotiated  the  meeting  between  Napoleon  III.  and  Francis 
Joseph  of  Austria,  which  led  to  the  armistice  of  Villafranca 
in  1859;  he  also  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the  cession  of 
V'enetia  to  Italy  in  1866.  Later  he  was  sent  specially  to  Victor 
Emmanuel  to  prevent  an  Italian  advance  on  Rome  ;  and  sub- 
sequently as  Ambassador  in  Russia  he  sent  valuable  if  futile 
warnings  to  France  concerning  the  policy  of  Bismarck.  Fleury 
possessed,  however,  one  talent  in  particular — he  was  as  good  a 
judge  of  horseflesh  as  could  be  found  anywhere.  The  Emperor's 
stables  were,  therefore,  placed  under  his  control,  and  he  made 
them  famous. 

Altogether  there  is  no  doubt  that  he  was  an  able  man,  with 
less  cause  to  blush  for  his  past  than  some  others.  His  years 
of  dissipation,  as  he  himself  calls  them,  were  brief.  Long  before 
he  entered  Louis  Napoleon's  service  he  had  been  wounded  three 
times  in  action,  and  mentioned  five  times  in  orders  of  the 
day — thus  he  was  no  craven.  Again,  his  marriage  with  Mile. 
Josephine  Galley  de  St.  Paul  (whose  father  was  long  prominently 
connected  with  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior)  proved  extremely 
happy,  for  he  became  a  model  husband.  Tall,  fair,  and  pre- 
possessing in  appearance,  ever  bright,  affable  and  ready,  even 
after  the  hardest  day's  work,  he  won  the  good  opinion  of  many 
who  by  no  means  shared  his  strong  political  views.  He  and 
Mocquard,  Napoleon's  Chef-de-cabinet,  knew  virtually  all  the 
Emperor's  private  secrets,  and  it  became  necessary  for  Fleury 
to  intervene  more  than  once  in  the  affaires  de  femmes  in  which 
his  imperial  master  entangled  himself.  That  was  one  of  the 
unfortunate  obligations  of  his  position,  and  he  at  least  en- 
deavoured to  act  tactfully  in  such  matters. 

All  the  men  who  have  been  passed  in  review,  were  either 
soldiers  at  the  time  of  the  Coup  d'Etat  or  had  previously 
seen  service.  In  constituting  the  Imperial  Household  Napo- 
leon III.  chose  a  soldier  for  the  chief  ornamental  position,  that 
of  "  Great  Marshal  of  the  Court,"  held  in  his  uncle's  time  by 
Duroc.  However,  he  rightly  placed  the  supreme  management 
in  the  hands  of  one  whom  he  knew  to  be  an  expert  financier, 
that    is    his    recent    Minister    of    Finances,    Achille    Fould, 


36  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

previously  a  partner  in  the  banking  firm  of  Benoit,  Fould  &  Co. 
It  had  originally  been  intended  to  ask  the  Senate  for  a  Civil 
List  of  =£'480,000  per  annum,  a  figure  which  Fould  favoured ; 
but  Persigny,  who  was  one  of  the  hungry  men  of  the  imperalist 
band,  felt  that  such  a  sum  would  be  quite  inadequate,  and  by 
an  ingenious  stratagem,  involving  the  telling  of  a  barefaced  lie 
(frankly  admitted  in  his  "  Memoirs "),  he  contrived  that  the 
amount  should  be  increased  to  one  million  sterling.  In  after- 
years,  says  he,  the  Emperor  often  expressed  to  him  his  gratitude 
for  his  action,  exclaiming :  "  What  should  I  have  done  if 
merely  the  amount  originally  proposed  had  been  granted  ! " 

After  all,  a  million  sterling  was  the  sum  which  had  been 
agreed  upon  in  the  case  of  Louis  XVI.  at  the  earlier  period  of 
the  Revolution,  and  subsequently  adopted  for  Louis  XVIII., 
Charles  X.,  and  Louis  Philippe.  In  addition,  there  was  the 
dotation  or  endowment  of  the  Crown,  estimated  to  represent 
£200,000  per  annum.  This  dotation  included  first  the  palaces 
of  the  Tuileries,  the  Elysee,  the  Louvre,  and  the  Palais  Royal, 
with  a  house  in  the  Rue  de  Rivoli,  a  mansion  on  the  Place 
Vendome,  and  stables  in  the  Rue  Montaigne;  secondly,  the 
palaces,  chateaux,  and  other  buildings,  land,  farms,  woods  and 
forests  of  the  state  domains  of  Versailles,  Marly,  St.  Cloud, 
Meudon,  St.  Germain-en-Laye,  Compiegne,  Fontainebleau, 
Rambouillet,  Pau,  and  Strasbourg,  to  which  were  added  pro- 
perties at  Villeneuve  TEtang,  near  St.  Cloud,  and  La  Mothe- 
Beuvron  and  La  Grilliere  in  Sologne,  which  the  Emperor  had 
previously  arranged  to  purchase  privately,  and  which  the  law- 
required  to  be  included  in  the  general  endowment.  Thirdly, 
the  dotation  embraced  the  state  porcelain  manufactory  of 
Sevres,  and  the  tapestry  works  of  the  Gobelins  and  Beauvais, 
the  Garde  Meuble  or  state  furniture  depository  at  the  He  des 
Cygnes  on  the  Seine,  and  the  woods  or  forests  of  Vincennes, 
Senart,  Dourdan,and  Laigue.  Large  as  the  dotation  may  seem, 
it  was  less  considerable  than  it  had  been  in  Louis  Philippe's 
time,  when  it  had  further  embraced  all  the  Orleans  private 
property,  the  revenue  then  being  quite  .£280,000. 

As  "  Ministre  de  la  Maison  de  FEmpereur,"  Fould  had  every 
household  matter  under  his  financial  control,  and  exercised 
supreme    authority    over    all    buildings,    estates,    furnishings, 


THE   NEW   COURT  37 

imperial  libraries,  museums  and  manufactories,  as  well  as  over 
the  Paris  Opera-house,  the  administration  of  which  was  at  that 
period  vested  in  the  Crown.  Fould  also  dealt  with  all  the 
many  horse-racing,  exhibition,  and  other  prizes  given  by  the 
Emperor,  with  all  applications  for  pensions,  the  appointment 
of  all  purveyors  to  the  Emperor,  and  the  granting  of  such 
privileges  as  the  Crown  could  accord. 

Eould  was  a  man  of  very  abrupt,  curt  ways,  one  who  soon 
sent  importunate  solicitors  to  the  rightabout,  and  who  dis- 
charged his  duties  with  zealous  care.  Prior  to  the  Coup  d'Etat 
he  had  rendered  an  important  service  to  the  Emperor  or  Prince 
Louis  Napoleon,  as  he  then  was.  The  Prince  had  contracted  a 
good  many  debts,  notably  in  England,*  and  his  adversaries 
wished  to  secure  his  unpaid  acceptances  and  create  a  scandal, 
such  as  might  damage  him  badly  and  even  lead  to  his  arrest 
for  debt.  A  certain  English  printer  and  publisher  heard, 
however,  of  what  was  brewing  and  communicated  with  Plon,  the 
eminent  French  publisher,  who  was  a  warm  Bonapartist  and 
issued  Louis  Napoleon's  writings.  It  thus  happened  that  while 
the  agent  of  the  Cavaignac  party,  a  certain  Fillineau,  was 
haggling  with  the  holders  of  the  unpaid  bills,  Plon  conveyed 
the  information  he  had  received  to  Fould,  whom  he  knew  well, 
and  Fould,  forestalling  the  dilatory  Fillineau,  purchased  the 
acceptances  and  tendered  them  to  Louis  Napoleon  without  any 
question  of  payment. 

However,  in  spite  of  Fould's  high  ability  and  strictness  of 
management  as  Minister  of  the  Household,  the  Civil  List  was 
soon  in  debt.  The  constitution  of  endowments  for  various 
members  of  the  imperial  family  and  the  expenses  of  the 
Emperor's  marriage  in  1853  resulted  in  a  deficit  of  .£'280,000. 
When  Fould  resigned  in  1860,  the  amount  owing  by  the  Civil 
List  was  still  nearly  .£'215,000,  and  throughout  the  reign  the 
indebtedness  was  never  extinguished.  At  the  fall  of  the  Empire 
it  again  stood  at  the  figure  of  1853,  and  was  only  met  by  the 
sale  of  all  sorts  of  property.f 

*  For  the  purposes  of  the  Coup  d'Efcat  he  borrowed  £20,000  of  the  Spanish 
Marshal  Narvaez.  His  raistress,  Miss  Howard,  also  helped  him  financially 
about  that  time,  and  others  gave  similar  assistance. 

t  Alphonse  Gautier's  "  La  Liste  Civile  en  France  " — the  authoritative 


S8  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

The  Constitution  formally  provided  for  the  creation  of  a 
jointure  or  dower  in  the  event  of  the  Emperor  marrying ;  but 
the  Empress  Eugenie  repeatedly  refused  to  allow  that  provision 
to  be  made,  for  she  had  no  desire  for  personal  wealth;  and 
Napoleon  IH.,  in  a  like  spirit,  declined  any  special  allow- 
ance for  the  Imperial  Prince.  But  the  other  members  of  the 
imperial  family  were  very  handsomely  treated.  Capital  sums 
amounting  to  .£480,000  were  distributed  among  them,  in 
addition  to  annual  allowances.  Apart  from  those  made 
officially  to  the  Jerome  branch  of  the  Bonapartes,  whose 
members  being  in  the  appointed  line  of  succession  to  the  throne 
ranked  as  Imperial  Highnesses,  a  large  number  of  grants  were 
made  to  the  other  Princes,  Princesses,  and  family  connections. 
We  shall  refer  to  them  in  some  detail  hereafter,*  and  for  the 
moment  it  need  only  be  mentioned  that  throughout  the 
duration  of  the  Empire  from  <£'45,000  to  ^£'50,000  were  paid 
annually  to  relatives  and  connections  (Bonapartes,  Murats, 
Baciocchis,  Primolis,  Gabriellis,  e  tutti  quanti)  out  of  the  Civil 
List.  This,  too,  was  in  addition  to  special  presents  at  times 
when  these  relatives  or  connections  were  in  pecuniary  difficulties, 
owing  to  their  ridiculous  extravagance.  It  was  often  not 
incumbent  on  the  Emperor  to  make  those  allowances,  but  he 
was  a  genuine  oncle  cfAmerique^  as  one  says  in  Paris,  an  ideal 
"  rich  relation,""  with  an  ever-open  purse. 

But  let  us  pursue  our  review  of  the  Civil  List.  A  sum  of 
,£^240,000  a  year  was  apportioned  among  the  various  branches 
of  the  Imperial  Household :  the  departments  of  the  Great 
Almoner,  the  Great  Marshal  of  the  Palace,  the  Great 
Chamberlain,  the  Great  Equerry,  the  Great  Huntsman,  and 
the  Great  Master  of  Ceremonies.  The  expenses  included  not 
only  the  salaries  of  the  aforementioned  officers  of  State  and 
their  assistants  and  servants,  but  all  the  outlay  attendant  on 
living,  linen,  plate,  horses,  carriages,  balls,  receptions,  theatrical 
performances,  the  chapel  and  chamber  music  services,  the 
medical  attendance  to  the  Crown  and  the  Emperor''3  Private 
Cabinet.     Next  a  sum  of  ^£'480,000  was  devoted  to  the  repair 

work  on  the  subject.    M.  Gautier  was  the  general  secretary  of  the  Imperial 
Household. 

*  See  ;post,  Chapter  IX.,  p.  209  ct  seg. 


THE   NEW  COURT  39 

or  upkeep  of  the  palaces  and  other  buildings,  manufactories, 
libraries,  agricultural  establishments,  forests  and  estates  of  the 
dotation — this  being  .£'280,000  more  than  the  dotation  yielded 
in  revenue.  Further,  ^£'240,000  were  allotted  annually  for 
grants,  gifts,  or  pensions — to  the  aforementioned  members 
or  connections  of  the  imperial  family,  to  old  servants  of  the 
First  Empire,  to  members  of  the  clergy  and  army,  scientists, 
literary  men  and  artists,  workmen  also,  and  particularly 
inventors,  the  latter  receiving  during  the  reign  very  consider- 
able sums  of  money  as  well  as  other  support.  This  was  one 
of  the  good  traits  of  the  third  Napoleon's  character ;  he 
willingly  received  and  encouraged  inventors,  and  never  wearied 
of  doing  so,  though  more  than  one  tried  to  impose  upon  him. 
Another  source  of  expense  was  the  Imperial  Bodyguard,  known 
as  the  Cent-Gardes,  which  cost  the  Civil  List  from  dS'lSjOOO  to 
<£*! 6,000  per  annum  over  and  beyond  a  War  Office  grant  of 
.£12,000.  Further,  the  Grand  Opera  (Rue  Le  Peletier)  cost 
between  .£8000  and  £12,000  each  year  from  1854  to  1866,  at 
which  latter  date  the  management  was  detached  from  the 
Household,  Nevertheless  the  Emperor  afterwards  granted  a 
private  subvention  of  .£4000,  by  way,  said  he,  of  "  paying  for 
his  box.""  Again,  in  the  one  year,  1867 — the  great  year  of  the 
first  Champ  de  Mars  Universal  Exhibition — a  sum  of  £48,000 
was  spent  on  entertaining  foreign  sovereigns  and  princes,  over 
and  beyond  the  usual  outlay  of  the  Court. 

Under  Fould,  the  Minister,  but  otherwise  at  the  head  of 
the  Household,  was  the  Great  Marshal  of  the  Palace,  Marshal 
and  Senator  Count  Vaillant.  In  1860,  when  Fould  resigned, 
the  two  offices  were  united,  Vaillant  becoming  Minister  as  well 
as  Great  Marshal.*  He  was  an  able  man,  a  Burgundian,  born 
in  1790,  and  had  begun  his  career  as  an  officer  of  engineers 
under  the  first  Napoleon.  He  had  participated  in  the  retreat 
from  Moscow,  and  had  fought  at  the  battles  of  Paris  (when  he 
was  wounded),  of  Ligny  and  of  Waterloo.  He  afterwards  took 
part  in  the  expedition  to  Algiers — indeed  it  was  he  who  blew 
up  the  so-called  "  Fort  de  TEmpereur,"  thereby  compelling  the 
Dey  to   surrender  to   Marshal   Bourmont.     Subsequently,   in 

*  The  Ministry  of  Fine  Arts,  under  the  superintendence  of  Count  da 
Nieuwerkerke,,  was  then  attached  to  that  of  the  Imperial  Household, 


40  THE   COURT   OF   THE   TUILERIES 

conjunction  with  Dode  de  la  Brunerie,  Vaillant  directed  the 
erection  of  the  fortifications  of  Paris,  all  the  part  north  of  the 
Seine  being  his  work.  He  afterwards  became  President  of 
the  Comite  des  Fortifications  for  the  whole  of  France,  and  he 
was  the  real  director  of  the  siege  of  Rome  in  1849.  A  zealous 
Bonapartist,  bearing  in  his  heart  the  memory  of  the  great 
Napoleon  who  had  decorated  him  on  the  battlefield,  Vaillant 
naturally  proved  a  warm  partisan  of  the  restoration  of  the 
Empire,  but  we  do  not  find  that  he  took  any  active  part  in  the 
Coup  d'Etat,  although  he  soon  afterwards  received  his  Marshal's 
baton  from  Louis  Napoleon.  At  all  events,  nobody  ever 
breathed  a  word  against  Vaillant's  personal  honour.  He  did 
not,  in  his  later  years,  evince  much  affability  or  graciousness, 
but  he  was  a  man  to  whom  no  princely  visitor  or  diplomatic 
envoy  could  possibly  take  objection.  He  was,  moreover, 
learned  alike  in  mathematics  and  the  natural  sciences,  being  a 
member  of  both  the  Academie  des  Sciences  and  the  Bureau  des 
Longitudes,  as  well  as  President  of  the  Societies  of  Protection 
to  Animals,  Acclimatisation  and  Horticulture.  Roses  were  his 
particular  passion,  and  he  promoted  the  raising  of  several  new 
varieties. 

A  man  who  loves  flowers  can  hardly  be  a  bad  one.  Nor 
was  Vaillant.  His  different  offices  gave  him  an  income  of  over 
cflOjOOO  a  year,  but  he  spent  so  much  of  the  money  on  scientific 
or  semi-scientific  pursuits,  all  more  or  less  useful  in  their  way, 
that  one  could  scarcely  reproach  him  with  the  high  figure  of 
his  emoluments.  He  was  a  good  and  careful  steward  of  the 
Imperial  Household,  and  at  times  he  remonstrated  successfully 
with  the  Emperor  respecting  the  latter's  "  impulsive  and  incon- 
venient acts  of  munificence."  The  Duke  de  Conegliano,  a 
prominent  official  of  the  Imperial  Court,  relates  that  in  1862 
the  Emperor  desired  that  the  Civil  List  should  immediately 
provide  £32,000  for  some  particular  purpose.  Vaillant  replied 
that  this  could  not  possibly  be  done,  but  observing  how  vexed 
the  Emperor  appeared,  he  straightway  lodged  a  number  of  his 
own  securities  with  his  bankers  as  security  for  a  loan  of  the 
required  amount,  and  carried  out  the  Emperor''s  wishes. 
Napoleon  III.  heard  indirectly  of  the  Marshal's  action,  and 
going  up  to  him  on  leaving  the  palace  chapel  on  the  following 


THE  NEW  COURT  41 

Sunday,  he  exclaimed :  "  What !  Marshal,  are  you  ruining 
yourself  in  my  service,  as  you  have  to  borrow  money  of  your 
bankers  ? ""  Then,  pressing  the  old  soldier's  hand,  he  added  : 
"  I  must  certainly  set  my  finances  in  order ;  I  shall  keep  it  in 
mind."  Whether  he  did  so  or  not,  however,  the  Civil  List,  as 
we  have  previously  mentioned,  was  never  out  of  debt. 

Vaillanfs  office  as  Great  Marshal  included  the  military 
command  of  the  household  and  of  all  the  imperial  palaces,  the 
exercise  of  a  general  supervision  over  them,  the  distribution  of 
quarters  to  guests,  officers  and  servants,  the  kitchen,  table, 
heating  and  lighting  services,  the  plate,  linen,  liveries,  and  so 
forth.  The  salary  of  this  particular  office  was  d£'2000  a  year, 
with  free  quarters  and  table.  Immediately  under  the  Great 
Marshal  was  the  Adjutant-general,  this  being  General  Alexandre 
Rolin,  who  had  acted  as  aide-de-camp  of  Count  Gerard,  and  had 
seen  service  under  Napoleon  I.  Rolin  held  office  at  the  Tuileries 
until  he  died  in  1869,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  General  de 
Courson.  The  Adjutant-general,  whose  Court  salary  was  .f'lSOO 
a  year,  with  free  quarters  and  table,  transmitted  the  Emperor's 
orders  to  all  general-officers  or  officers  of  State;  he  acted  also 
as  chief  of  the  Sovereign's  staff  at  all  reviews  ;  and  the  Colonel 
of  the  Cent-Gardes  and  the  Chief  of  the  Palace  Police  were 
under  his  immediate  orders.  General  Rolin  was  a  very  amiable 
and  obliging  man,  with  whom  the  present  writer's  family  often 
came  in  contact. 

The  Prefects  of  the  Palace  were  civil  officers  under  the  Great 
Marshal's  control.  There  were  originally  four  of  them,  each 
receiving  £400  a  year,  and  they  did  duty  in  rotation,  for  a 
week  at  a  time  in  Paris,  and  for  a  month  when  the  Court  was 
elsewhere.  Among  those  who  filled  these  prefectoral  offices  at 
various  times  were  Counts  de  Lawoestine  and  Merle,  Barons 
Morio  de  I'lsle,  de  Menneval,  de  Maussion,  de  Varaigne-Dubourg 
and  de  Montbrun — the  last  named  being  a  son  of  the  first 
Napoleon's  famous  cavalry  general.  There  was  also  a  quarter- 
master-accountant, M.  Bidos,  who  received  .£'400  a  year  with 
free  quarters  and  board.  Of  the  other  quartermasters  {rnarechaux 
de  log'is)^  who  prepared  apartments  for  guests,  and  exercised 
supervision  over  the  furniture  and  other  appointments  of  the 
imperial  residences,  for  which  purpose  they  attended  the  Court 


42  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

not  only  at  the  Tuileries,  but  also  at  St.  Cloud,  Compiegne, 
and  its  other  places  of  sojourn,  the  chief  was  Colonel,  later  General 
Count  Lepic,  aide-de-camp  to  the  Emperor.  As  First  Mare- 
cJial  de  Logis  he  received  ^£'800  a  year,  and  he  had  four  assistants 
with  salaries  of  £S20  under  him.  Count  Lepic,  who  afterwards 
became  Superintendent  of  the  Imperial  Palaces,  was  a  man  of 
great  artistic  taste  (which  he  transmitted  to  his  son,  the 
painter),  learned,  moreover,  in  all  questions  of  furniture, 
tapestry,  and  other  hangings,  and  under  his  direction  the 
private  apartments  of  the  Empress  became  extremely  beautiful. 
Major  Oppenheim,  one  of  Lepic's  subordinates,  was  likewise  a 
man  of  great  artistic  taste  and  perception,  notably  with  respect 
to  bibelots  and  china. 

Although  the  palace  kitchens  and  cellars  were  in  the  Great 
Marshal's  department,  it  is  preferable,  perhaps,  that  we  should 
speak  of  them  elsewhere,  in  connection  with  the  State  banquets 
of  the  Court,  and  we  may  here  pass  to  the  "Service  de  la 
Chambre.""  The  Great  Chamberlain  (with  a  salary  of  c^lGOO  a 
year,  free  residence  and  table)  was  the  Duke  de  Bassano,  the 
son  of  the  first  Napoleon's  Foreign  Secretary,  Maret.  Tall  and 
slim,  carrying  himself  very  erect,  M.  de  Bassano  looked  a 
striking  figure  in  his  richly  embroidered  scarlet  coat  and  plumed 
cocked  hat,  with  the  gold  key  of  his  office  depending  from 
a  chain  formed  of  gold  and  green  acorns.  He  had  served 
as  French  Minister  at  Baden  and  Brussels,  and  was  married 
to  a  Belgian  lady,  who  became  one  of  the  Empress's  dames 
d'honneur.  All  applications  for  audiences  came  before  M.  de 
Bassano,  who  after  preparing  a  list  of  them  submitted  it  to 
the  Emperor.  The  latter  then  marked  the  names,  indicating 
those  applicants  whom  he  would  receive  personally,  and  those 
whom  one  or  another  official  was  to  see  on  his  behalf. 

More  numerous  were  the  duties  of  M.  de  Bassano's  nominal 
subordinate,  the  First  Chamberlain,  Count  Marius  Joseph 
Baciocchi,  who  was  a  connection  of  the  Bonapartes  through  the 
first  Napoleon's  sister  Elisa.  Born  in  Corsica  in  1803,  Count 
Baciocchi  had  married  a  lady  of  that  island,  a  member  of  the 
famous  Pozzo  di  Borgo  family.  He  occupied  a  small  suite  of 
rooms,  decorated  with  a  nice  collection  of  pictures,  on  the 
ground  floor  of  the  Tuileries;  and  he,  his  secretary  Bertora, 


THE    NEW   COURT  4.3 

and  his  valet  and  factotum  Nicolas,  were  besieged  every 
morning  by  artists,  authors,  actors,  dancers  and  vocalists,  for 
all  the  artistic  side  of  the  Court,  and  notably  its  theatrical 
patronage  and  the  superintendence  of  the  Opera,  etc.,  were  in 
Baciocchi's  department.  It  was  his  duty  to  attend  every  first 
performance  given  in  Paris,  and  to  report  on  it  to  the  Emperor 
or  the  Empress.  An  easy-going,  good-natured  man,  Baciocchi 
was  extremely  partial  to  the  stage,  and  also  to  pretty  actresses  ; 
but  as  time  elapsed  he  became  bloated  and  unwieldy,  afflicted 
also,  says  the  Duke  de  Conegliano,  with  a  disorder  which 
kept  him  perpetually  on  the  move,  in  such  wise  that  he  could 
no  longer  sit  down  of  an  afternoon  to  play  his  favourite  game 
of  piquet  at  the  Cercle  Imperial,  and  those  who  interviewed  him 
had  to  pace  up  and  down  the  room  by  his  side. 

In  addition  to  the  Great  and  the  First  Chamberlains  there 
were  at  first  eight,  and  eventually  twelve,  others,  each  of  whom 
was  in  receipt  of  £4^80  a  year.  Among  those  who  thus  held 
office  during  the  reign  there  were  not  only  numerous  members 
of  the  Imperialist  noblesse,  but  also  several  scions  of  the  old 
French  aristocracy,  who  went  over  to  the  Empire  often  to  the 
great  disgust  of  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain,  where  the  cult  of 
the  Legitimist  Monarchy  was  piously  preserved.  Among  the 
third  Napoleon''s  chamberlains  one  found,  then,  not  merely  such 
Bonapartist  names  as  Macdonald,  Duke  of  Tarento,  Count 
d'Ornano,  De  Labedoyere,  and  Moncey,  Duke  of  Conegliano, 
but  such  others  as  Marquis  de  Chaumont,  Marquis  de  Gricourt, 
Marquis  de  Belmont,  Marquis  d'Havrincourt,  Count  de  Rien- 
court,  Count  d'Ayguesvives,  Viscount  Walsh  and  Viscount  de  La 
Ferriere.  The  last  named,  an  ex-hussar  officer  and  a  very  hand- 
some and  courteous  man,  has,  since  those  days,  made  himself  a 
high  literary  reputation  by  his  historical  writings.  He  served, 
we  remember,  at  one  time  as  chamberlain  to  the  Empress,  and 
was  promoted  to  Baciocchi's  post  after  the  latter's  death  in 
1866. 

There  will  be  occasion  to  speak  of  the  officials  of  the 
Emperor"'s  Private  Cabinet  in  describing  the  usual  course  of  the 
sovereign^'s  daily  life.  Those  officials  were  only  nominally  under 
the  control  of  the  Great  Marshal  and  the  Great  Chamberlain. 
The  palace  ushers,  however,  should  be  mentioned  here.     The 


M  THE   COURT,  OF  THE   TUILERIES 

chief  one,  who  always  took  the  head  of  the  imperial  cortege  to 
announce  the  Emperor,  was  a  tall,  finely  built  man  named 
Thovex,  in  receipt  of  =£'196  a  year.  He  had  ten  subordinates, 
whose  wages  ranged  from  =£^100  to  dfi'llO,  with  allowances  for 
quarters.  The  Emperor's  private  usher,  Felix  Werwoort,  who 
had  followed  him  from  England,  and  who,  by  the  way,  always 
carved  for  him  at  dinner,  received  as  much  as  £M0  per  annum, 
but  then  he  was  quite  a  confidential  servant.  The  wages  of  the 
valets-de-chanibre  (six  of  the  first  and  six  of  the  second  class) 
ranged  from  £^80  to  =£100;  while  £^^  was  the  stipend  of  the 
chief  of  the  gargons  cTappartement^  who  had  eight  men  under 
him. 

Besides  the  servants  already  mentioned  there  were  eight 
suisses,  who  with  powdered  hair,  cocked  hats  with  green  and 
white  plumes,  red  baldricks  and  short  side-swords,  stood  at  the 
doors  of  the  chief  rooms  in  the  palace,  and  struck  the  floor  with 
their  staves  while  exclaiming  aloud,  "  The  Emperor ! "  "  The 
Empress  ! "  "  The  Imperial  Prince  ! "  whenever  one  or  the  other 
passed  in  or  out.  Then,  too,  there  was  the  little  army  of 
footmen,  forty,  divided  into  two  classes,  with  four  brigadiers  at 
their  head.  The  suisses  received  £10,  the  brigadiers  of  the 
footmen  £1^,  and  the  footmen  themselves,  according  to  their 
class,  from  ^£'58  to  £63  a  year.  Very  splendid  looked  the  footmen 
on  gala  occasions,  with  their  powdered  hair,  their  gallooned  and 
plumed  hats  e7i  bataille,  their  green  coats  a  la  frangaise  with 
gold  on  every  seam,  their  gallooned  scarlet  waistcoats  and 
breeches,  their  gold  garters,  their  white-silk  stockings  and  their 
patent-leather  shoes  with  buckles  again  of  gold. 

Another  branch  of  the  Imperial  Household  was  that  of  the 
Great  Master  of  Ceremonies,  the  Duke  de  Cambaceres,  a  nephew 
of  the  Archchancellor  of  the  First  Napoleon''s  Empire.  Tall, 
thin,  clean-shaven  and  solemn,  the  Duke  was  the  very  man  for 
his  post.  With  some  assistance  from  Fleury  he  regulated  all 
the  ceremonial  at  the  imperial  wedding,  the  baptism  of  the 
Imperial  Prince,  the  State  receptions  of  Queen  Victoria  and 
other  sovereigns  and  royalties,  the  presentation  of  the  Golden 
Rose  to  the  Empress  Eugenie,  and  the  conferring  of  birettas  on 
various  French  cardinals  appointed  by  Pius  IX.  He  was 
also   to   the   fore  whenever   addresses  were   presented    by  the 


THE   NEW   COURT  45 

Legislature  and  other  public  bodies.  With  a  large  private 
fortune  of  his  own  and  a  wealthy  young  wife  of  boiirgeois  birth, 
who  was  as  short,  as  lively  and  as  amiable  as  he  was  long,  frigid 
and  severe,  M.  de  Cambaceres,  besides  being  lodged  by  the 
crown,  received  .£'1600  a  year  for  his  services. 

Under  him  was  a  First  Master  of  Ceremonies,  Count 
Rodolphe  d'Ornano*  (salary  <£'800),  and  several  subordinate 
masters,  assistant-masters,  and  secretaries,  among  the  first 
being  Baron  Feuillet  de  Conches,  chief  of  the  Protocole  at  the 
Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs,  and  also — as  testified  by  his  many 
writings  and  compilations — a  most  fervent,  zealous  admirer  of 
Marie- Antoinette,  to  which  circumstance,  in  particular,  he  owed 
the  favour  of  the  Empress  Eugenie.  M.  Feuillet  de  Conches 
retained  office  after  the  fall  of  the  regime,  becoming  Introducer 
of  Ambassadors  to  both  Thiers  and  MacMahon. 

The  Emperor's  Military  Household  was  composed  of  a 
Commander  and  several  aides-de-camp  and  orderly  officers. 
The  aides-de-camp,  who  were  generals  of  divisional  or  brigade 
rank — or  occasionally  vice-admirals — received  £480  per  annum 
for  their  attendance  on  the  sovereign,  which,  as  the-"e  were 
always  four  (and  at  times  six)  in  office,  and  each  performed  a 
week''s  duty  in  rotation,  did  not  cover  a  period  of  more  than 
three  months  in  any  year.  The  position  of  the  Commander  of 
the  Military  Household  was  permanent,  however,  being  held 
from  1852  till  1865  by  General  Count  Roguet,  originally  an 
officer  of  engineers  and  son  of  a  distinguished  soldier  of  the 
First  Empire.  General  Roguet  was  in  attendance  on  the 
Emperor  on  the  occasion  of  Orsini  and  Pierri's  attempt  at 
assassination,  and  was  somewhat  seriously  wounded  by  one  of 
the  bombs  which  were  then  thrown.  He  belonged  essentially 
to  the  inner  circle  of  the  Tuileries,  being  one  of  the  men  in 
whom  Napoleon  placed  most  confidence,  and  his  services  were 
rewarded  with  a  senatorship  and  the  rank  of  Grand  Officer  of 
the  Legion  of  Honour. 

Three  officers  who  became  Marshals  of  France  f  were  aides- 
de-camp  to  the  Emperor  at  one  or  another  time.      These,  to 

*  The  son  of  Countess  Walewska  (sometime  mistress  of  Napoleon  I.),  by 
her  second  marriage.     See  ante,  p,  27. 

t  For  the  Marshals  generally,  see  post,  p.  345  et  seg. 


46  THE   COURT  OF  THE   TUILERIES 

give  their  names  in  order  of  merit,  were  Niel,  Canrobert,  and 
Leboeuf.  It  was  the  first  named  (originally  an  engineer  officer) 
who  adopted  the  Chassepot  rifle,  and  armed  the  French  infantry 
with  it,  besides  devising  the  force  known  as  the  Garde  Mobile, 
which,  however,  owing  to  his  untimely  death,  was  not  organized 
as  he  had  intended  it  should  be.  Canrobert's  name  is  more 
familiar,  perhaps,  to  most  readers  on  account  of  his  survival 
until  comparatively  recent  times,  and  of  his  prominence  in  the 
Crimea,  where  he  succeeded  St.  Arnaud.  Originally  a  light 
infantry  and  zouave  officer,  he  was  noted  for  his  dash  and 
zest,  but  he  was  a  much  overrated  man,  deficient  in  the  ability 
required  for  high  command.  His  appearance  was  eccentric, 
for  he  had  a  short  figure  and  a  big  head,  which  looked  all  the 
larger  owing  to  the  mass  of  long  hair  waving  around  it. 
Canrobert  often  showed  himself  to  be  a  rattling  raconteur,  but 
his  language  was  usually  better  suited  to  a  guardroom  than  a 
salon  by  reason  of  the  unnecessary  expletives  with  which  he 
interlarded  what  he  said.  He  was  married  to  a  lady  much 
younger  than  himself,  a  Macdonald,  who  rightly  ranked  as  one 
of  the  beauties  of  the  Empire.  Leboeuf,  the  third  Marshal 
whom  we  have  named,  became  War  Minister,  and  a  little  later 
"Major-General"  of  the  Army  of  the  Rhine,  for  neither  of 
which  offices  he  was  fitted.  But  he  was  a  superb-looking  man, 
with  wonderful  moustaches,  and  it  should  be  acknowledged 
that  he  was  a  clever  artillerist.  He  ought  never  to  have  left 
that  branch  of  the  service. 

Among  other  aides-de-camp  to  the  Emperor  were  General 
Count  de  Goyon  (who  at  one  time  commanded  the  French 
army  of  occupation  at  Rome),  Generals  Lannes  de  Montebello, 
Count  Pajol  (in  attendance  at  Sedan),  de  Castelnau,  and  Mollard. 
The  last  named,  a  native  of  Savoy,  had  a  very  distinguished 
record  in  the  Sardinian  service,  having  commanded  a  brigade 
both  at  the  Tchernaya  in  the  Crimea,  and  at  Solferino  in  1859, 
when  with  a  handful  of  men  he  for  several  hours  kept  some 
thousands  of  Austrians  under  Benedek  at  bay.  Mollard  was 
largely  instrumental  in  promoting  the  annexation  of  Savoy  to 
France,  and  became  a  French  senator  as  well  as  a  Grand  Officer 
of  the  Legion  of  Honour.* 

*  He  was  a  near  relative  of  the  present  writer's  wife.    In  1870,  despite  his 


THE   NEW  COURT  47 

Another  notable  aide-de-camp  of  the  Emperor's  was  General 
Fave,  a  distinguished  scientist,  who  (like  Reffye)  had  much  to  do 
with  the  invention  of  the  mitrailleuse  and  the  general  transforma- 
tion of  the  French  artillery.  He  also  largely  assisted  Napoleon  in 
writing  the  Life  of  Caesar.  Then,  too,  General  Felix  Douay, 
who  commanded  the  7th  Army  Corps  at  Sedan — the  corps 
whose  fortunes  are  chronicled  in  the  novel  "La  Debacle"" — had 
served  for  a  time  as  an  imperial  aide-de-camp.  So  too  had 
Frossard,  the  beaten  commander  at  Forbach  in  1870,  before  he 
became  (in  1867)  Governor  to  the  Imperial  Prince.*  So  also 
had  M.  de  Failly,  who  defeated  Garibaldi  at  Mentana — when, 
said  he, "  the  chassepots  did  wonders  " — and  who  in  his  turn  was 
routed  at  Beaumont  just  before  Sedan.  Again,  among  the  ex- 
aides-de-camp  to  the  Emperor,  one  finds  the  unlucky  Bourbaki, 
who  commanded  the  Army  of  the  East  during  the  latter  part  of 
the  Franco-German  War ;  while  yet  another  who  became  pro- 
minent at  that  time,  as  commander  of  the  12th  Army  Corps, 
was  Lebrun,  a  diminutive,  simple,  modest,  hard-working  man, 
who  fought  gallantly  at  Bazeilles,  and  whose  revelations  during 
these  later  years  have  proved  that  although  Prussia  may  have 
forced  on  the  war  in  1870,  France  and  Austria  fully  intended  to 
attack  her  early  in  the  following  year,  by  which  date  their 
armies  were  to  have  been  ready.  It  was  as  Napoleon's  aide-de- 
camp and  secret  envoy  that  Lebrun  entered  into  all  the  arrange- 
ments at  Vienna.  Finally,  among  the  notable  aides-de-camp 
to  be  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  war  was  Count  Reille, 
who  carried  the  Emperor's  letter  of  surrender  to  the  King  of 
Prussia,  on  whom  he  had  been  in  attendance  in  Paris  in  1867. 
Such  is  the  irony  of  fate. 

Plentiful  as  were  the  aides-de-camp  who  became  conspicuous 
in  1870-71,  only  three,  inclusive  of  Canrobert,  had  figured 
prominently  in  the  Coup  d'Etat.  The  other  two  were  Espinasse 
and  Beville.  The  former,  who  then  seized  the  Palais  Bourbon, 
became  Minister  of  the  Interior  and  General  Safety  after  the 

advanced  age,  Moliard  again  took  service,  and  placed  Grenoble  in  a  state  of 
defence. 

*  Frossard  was  in  many  respects  a  very  able  man,  and  his  defeat  in  1870 
was  due,  we  believe,  far  more  to  the  scattering  of  the  French  forces,  and  the 
lack  of  support  which  he  had  a  right  to  expect,  than  to  any  personal  incom- 
petence for  command. 


48  THE   COURT  OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Orsini  affair,  when  his  harshness  made  him  so  unpopulfir  on  all 
sides  that  his  death  at  Magenta  a  year  afterwards  seemed  a 
positive  deliverance.  General  Baron  de  Beville,  for  his  part, 
had  occupied  the  National  Printing  Works  at  the  Coup  d'Etat, 
and  directed,  in  conjunction  with  St.  Georges,  the  printing  of 
Louis  Napoleon''s  proclamations.  In  addition  to  a  military 
position  beside  the  Emperor,  Beville  became  chief  of  the 
private  topographical  service.  Among  the  naval  aides-de-camp 
one  need  only  record  the  name  of  Vice- Admiral  Jurien  de  la 
Graviere,  sometime  Minister  of  Marine,  but  best  remembered, 
perhaps,  as  a  writer  on  naval  history  and  warfare. 

The  Emperor's  orderly  officers  were  selected  from  among 
captains  in  the  army  set  down  for  promotion.  They  usually 
served  two  years  in  the  Imperial  Household,  which  they  quitted 
with  a  step  in  rank.  On  appointment  they  received  <£'400  for 
an  outfit,  and  besides  the  ordinary  pay  of  officers  of  their  rank 
stationed  in  Paris,  they  had  an  annual  salary  of  £SW  and  were 
lodged  and  boarded  when  on  duty.  Each,  however,  was  required 
to  provide  two  horses  of  his  own.  Many  distinguished  names 
are  to  be  found  in  the  long  list  of  Napoleon''s  orderlies : 
Cambriels,  Berckheim,  Espeuilles,  Aubigny,  Ney  d'Elchingen, 
Clermont  -  Tonnerre,  La  Tour  d'Auvergne,  Friant,  Quelen, 
Excelmans,  Schmitz,  Verchere  de  Reffye,  Stoffel,  and  last  but 
not  least,  Galliffet. 

It  was  Captain,  eventually  General,  Schmitz  who  attended 
Napoleon  HI.  in  Italy  and  brought  back  and  presented  to  the 
Empress  Eugenie,  in  solemn  audience,  the  various  Austrian 
flags  taken  at  Magenta  and  Solferino ;  whereupon,  in  accord- 
ance with  State  ceremonial,  she  rewarded  him  for  his  mission 
with  what  was  officially  styled  an  accolade,  vulgo  a  kiss.  He 
was,  we  believe,  the  only  man  so  distinguished  during  the  reign. 
Schmitz  also  served  as  Chief  of  the  Staff  to  Cousin-Montauban 
(otherwise  Palikao)  in  China,  when  the  Summer  Palace  was 
looted ;  and  during  the  siege  of  Paris  in  1870  he  became  General 
Trochu's  right-hand  man.  Verchere  de  Reffye  for  his  part 
became  director  of  the  Meudon  artillery- works  and  the  inventor 
or  perfecter  of  mitrailleuses,  breech-loading  and  rifled  guns, 
besides  assisting  his  imperial  master  with  the  latter''s  Life  of 
Cassar.     Stoffel  is  best  remembered  as  French  military  attache 


THE   NEW   COURT  49 

at  Berlin,  whence  he  forwarded  to  Paris  such  valuable  but 
unheeded  reports  respecting  the  military  progress  of  Prussia. 
As  for  the  Marquis  de  Galliffet,  Prince  de  Martig^ies,  his 
service  as  an  Imperial  orderly  dated  from  the  early  sixties  after 
he  had  won  a  captaincy  in  the  Spahis  in  Algeria.  He  quitted 
the  Court  when  he  volunteered  for  service  in  Mexico,  where, 
as  we  shall  presently  have  occasion  to  relate — in  his  own  words 
— he  was  very  seriously  wounded  by  an  exploding  shell.  That, 
however,  as  we  all  know,  did  not  prevent  M.  de  Galliffet  from 
resuming  duty,  and  subsequently  participating  in — we  do  not 
say  commanding — the  great  cavalry  charge  at  the  battle  of 
Sedan.  That  the  Marquis  had  a  sound  constitution  and  much 
physical  vigour  was  shown  already  in  his  early  years  by  his 
ardour  in  the  pursuit  of  pleasure.  Of  average  height,  with  an 
elegant  figure,  and  a  bright  face,  almost  as  full  of  colour  as 
MacMahon's,  he  was  indefatigable  both  as  a  rider  and  a  dancer, 
and  could  sit  up  night  after  night,  playing  cards,  and  supping 
at  matutinal  hours,  without,  to  quote  a  popular  expression, 
"  turning  so  much  as  a  hau\"  His  wife,  a  woman  of  most  gentle 
and  amiable  disposition,  was  one  of  the  chief  beauties  of  the 
Empire,  and,  after  the  Empress  herself,  one  of  the  foremost 
leaders  of  fashion  of  the  time.*  The  marriage  was  not  satis- 
factory, and  eventually  Mme.  de  Galliffet  lived  apart  from  her 
husband. 

In  addition  to  the  aides-de-camp  and  orderlies,  the  Emperor's 
military  household  included  a  cavalry  corps,  which,  though 
known  as  the  Ceut-Grardes,  or  "  Hundred  Guards,"  f  was  at  no 
time  of  exactly  that  strength,  its  numbers  having  varied  from 
54  to  208,  or  221  inclusive  of  ostlers  and  farriers.  The  organizer 
of  the  corps  was  Lieut.-Colonel  Count  Lepic,  Avho  in  1859  was 
succeeded  in  the  command  by  Major,  later  Colonel,  Baron  Verly, 
an  officer  of  Creole  origin,  who  had  risen  from  the  ranks  in  the 
Guides,  and  who,  with  his  lofty  figure,  his  martial  face,  and 
his  splendid  uniform,  all  aglitter  with  foreign  decorations,  was 
a  conspicuous  figure  at  the  Tuileries  until  the  war  of  1870, 
when  he  accompanied  his  sovereign,  and  was  taken  prisoner  at 
Sedan  with  three  of  his   subordinate  officers  and  half  of  the 

*  See  post,  p.  275  et  seq. 

t  See  ante,  p.  39 ;  and  post,  pp.  121  et  seg_.,  and  130. 


50  THE   COURT  OF  THE   TUILERIES 

1st  squadron  of  the  corps.*  This  was  instituted  by  a  succession 
of  decrees  in  1854,  the  quarters  assigned  to  it  being  the  Caserne 
de  Pan  them  ont  in  the  Rue  de  Bellechasse.  The  officers  were 
twelve  in  number ;  the  chief  commander  received  ^^^OO  and  the 
men  =£'40  a  year.  The  minimum  stature  necessary  for  incorpo- 
ration was  fixed  at  about  5  feet  11  inches ;  but  although  some 
of  the  men  were  6  feet  2  inches,  and  even  6  feet  4  inches  in 
height,  it  was  at  first  difficult  to  recruit  a  sufficient  number 
reaching  the  minimum  figures,  as  only  cavalry  "  non-coms."  of 
the  most  irreproachable  character  were  eligible.  Eventually 
several  drum-majors  with  cavalry  experience  were  incorporated, 
as  well  as  privates  with  good  records. 

The  men's  duties  were  a  great  deal  more  arduous  than  was 
generally  supposed  by  those  who  merely  saw  them  escorting  the 
Emperor,  A  detachment  guarded  the  Tuileries  inside  and  out 
every  night,  and  the  men  were  in  constant  requisition  for 
reviews,  public  ceremonies,  official  receptions,  imperial  visits 
to  the  theatres,  and  journeys  into  the  provinces.  They  attended 
the  Emperor  not  only  in  1870,  but  also  during  the  war  in  Italy 
in  1859.  They  were  helped  with  respect  to  the  grooming  of 
their  horses,  but  their  superb  uniforms  demanded  close  personal 
attention.  These  Cent-Gardes  were,  of  course,  quite  distinct 
from  the  Imperial  Guard,  which  was  also  instituted  in  1854,t 
its  first  commander  being  Regnault  de  St.  Jean  d'Angely,  and 
its  last  Bourbaki.  The  Guard  was  a  mixed  division  of  infantry, 
cavalry,  and  horse  artillery — the  first  named  including  two 
regiments  of  Grenadiers,  two  of  Voltigeurs,  and  one  of  Chas- 
seurs ;  the  second,  a  regiment  of  Cuirassiers,  one  of  Horse- 
Gendarmes  and  one  of  Guides — hght  cavalry  of  the  Hussar 
type,  but  armed  with  carbines. 

These  Guides  were  first  organized  and  commanded  by  Count 
Fleury,  who,  as  previously  indicated,  also  held  the  office  of  First 
— and  eventually  of  Great — Equerry  to  the  Emperor,  the  higher 
post  being  originally  assigned  to  Marshal  St.  Arnaud.  It 
carried  with  it  a  salary  of  .£'1800  a  year,  with  .£480  for  expenses 
and  residential  quarters  at  the  Louvre.  $     St.  Arnaud's  duties 

*  The  other  half,  which  escorted  the  Imperial  Prince  to  the  Belgian 
frontier,  was  commanded  by  Lieut,  Watrin. 

t  We  mention  it  here,  but  it  did  not  belong  to  the  Household. 

X  In  the  histories  of  the  Second  Empire  it  is  frequently  asserted  that  St. 


THE   NEW   COURT  51 

were  merely  nominal,  all  the  work  from  the  outset  being  done 
by  Fleury  *  and  his  coadjutors,  among  whom  was  an  English- 
man, Mr.  Gamble,  who  was  long  in  direct  charge  of  the  horses 
ridden  by  the  Emperor  personally.  Respecting  them  and  the 
splendid  equipages  of  the  Court  we  shall  have  something  to  say 
as  our  narrative  proceeds.  Among  the  equerries  under  Fleury 
were  M,  de  Valabregue,  who  was  in  attendance  on  Napoleon  III. 
when  Pianori  attempted  the  latter's  life  in  the  Champs  Elysees ; 
M.  Raimbeaux,  who,  when  Berezowski  fired  at  Czar  Alex- 
ander II.  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  in  1867,  rode  forward  to 
screen  the  monarch,  and  whose  horse  was  thereupon  shot  through 
the  nostrils ;  Count  Davillier,  who  was  on  duty  at  Sedan,  Baron 
de  Bourgoing,  Baron  Lejeune,  Count  de  Castelbajac,  Mr.  de 
Burgh  (an  Irishman — perhaps  of  the  Clanricarde  family  f),  and 
the  Marquis  de  Caux. 

The  name  of  the  last  is  well  remembered  from  the  fact  that 
he  became  the  first  husband  of  Madame  Adelina  Patti,  now 
Baroness  Cederstrom.  The  Marquis  de  Caux,  who  when  quite 
young  inherited  a  large  fortune,  was  of  a  very  gay  and  impulsive 
disposition,  and  ran  through  most  of  his  money  in  a  few  years. 
He  thereupon  turned  to  diplomacy  for  a  livelihood,  and  was 
attached  to  the  French  embassies  at  Florence  and  Rome.  After 
becoming  an  equerry  to  the  Emperor,  he  added  no  little  gaiety 
to  the  Court  life.  An  expert  dancer,  he  conducted  the  cotillons 
at  the  State  balls  during  several  successive  seasons.  It  was  his 
passion  for  music,  and  his  consequent  intimacy  with  the 
Strakosch  family,  Avhich  led  to  his  acquaintance  with  Madame 
Patti.  At  the  time  of  their  marriage,  whatever  the  difference 
of  fortune  might  be,  there  was  every  reason  to  believe  that  the 
union  was  one  of  genuine  affection  on  both  sides.  But 
separation  eventually  came. 

Yet  another  branch  of  the  Imperial  Household  which  we 

Arnaud,  like  others,  received  £4000  a  year  for  Ms  Court  post.  That  is  quite 
erroneous.  All  the  figures  we  give  are  the  official  ones  as  they  are  to  he  found 
in  the  Civil  List. 

*  Before  he  became  Great  Equerry  he  received  £1200  a  year,  with  a 
residence  adjoining  the  Imperial  stables  in  the  Avenue  Montaigne. 

t  We  have  not  been  able  to  identify  him  fully.  The  Duke  de  Conegliano 
states  that  he  was  "honorary  equerry,"  received  £480  a  year,  and  came  to 
France  from  time  to  time  to  ride  in  State  processions. 


52  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

must  mention  was  that  of  the  Venerie  or  Hunt.  Though 
Marshal  Magnan  held  the  post  of  Great  Huntsman,  the  duties 
were  always  discharged  by  Count  Edgar  Ney,  who  took  Magnan''s 
place  in  1855,  and  on  the  death  of  his  elder  brother  two  years 
later  assumed  by  imperial  decree  the  title  of  Prince  de  la 
Moskowa.  The  subordinate  officers  of  the  Huut  (of  which  we 
shall  have  to  speak  in  connection  with  the  Court's  sojourns  at 
Compiegne,  Fontainebleau,  and  elsewhere)  were  the  Marquis 
de  Toulongeon,  Colonel  Baron  Lambert,  the  Marquis  de  la 
Tour  Maubourg,  the  Baron  de  L^ge,  and  M.  de  la  Rue.  Prince 
Edgar  de  la  Moskowa  was  a  good-looking,  unaffected  man,  on 
the  most  intimate  terms  with  the  Emperor,  who  invariably 
"  thee'd  "  and  "  thou'd  "  him,  and  addressed  him  by  his  Christian 
name. 

We  have  yet  to  speak  of  both  the  Almonry  and  the  Medical 
Service  of  the  Court.  Louis  Napoleon's  first  chaplain — at  the 
Elysee  in  1848 — was  Abbe  Laisne,  a  curate  of  the  Madeleine 
church.  In  1853  the  Emperor  appointed  Mgr.  Menjaud, 
Bishop  of  Nancy,  to  be  his  First  Almoner,  and  four  years  later 
a  "Great  Almoner  or  Archchaplain  of  the  Imperial  Chapel" 
was  instituted  by  a  Papal  brief,  the  post  being  assigned  to 
Archbishop  Morlot  of  Paris,  and  later  to  his  successor,  Mgr. 
Darboy,  the  high-minded  and  unfortunate  prelate  who  was 
murdered  by  the  Paris  Communards  in  1871.  Among  the 
salaries  attached  to  the  Almonry  and  chapel  services  were  the 
following:  Great  Almoner,  .^'IGOO ;  First  Almoner,  ^800; 
Almoner,*  .^^SO ;  chaplains  (all  canons  of  St.  Denis  and  in 
receipt  of  salaries  as  such),  d^240.  Auber,  the  famous  com- 
poser, also  received  .£'600  a  year  as  Director  of  the  Imperial 
Chapel  and  Chamber  Music.  He  chose  all  the  pieces  which 
were  to  be  executed,  presided  at  all  rehearsals,  organized  the 
concerts  given  at  the  Tuileries  during  Lent  (when  dancing  was 
not  allowed),  and  was  very  regular  in  his  attendance  at  the 
palace  chapel  on  Sunday  mornings. 

From  1848  onwards  the  tall,  ascetic-looking  but  devoted 

*  This  was  Mgr.  Tirmache,  Bishop  of  Adras,  who  had  known  Louis 
Napoleon  when  the  latter  was  a  prisoner  at  Ham.  It  was  Mgr.  Tirmache 
who,  in  conjunction  with  Abh6  Laisne,  actually  discharged  most  ot  the 
duties  of  the  Almonry. 


THE   NEW  COURT  53 

Abbe  Laisne,  Vicar-general  of  the  Imperial  Chapel,  acted  as 
confessor  to  the  Emperor,  whom  he  accompanied  to  Italy  in 
1859.  In  1870,  however,  as  he  had  then  become  Chaplain- 
general  of  the  French  Army,  M.  Laisne  deputed  his  confessor- 
ship  to  Abbe  Metairie,  who  followed  the  sovereign  to  Sedan, 
Napoleon  always  figured  at  divine  service  on  Sunday  mornings 
in  full  uniform,  and  attended  by  the  officers  of  the  Household. 
It  was  on  his  behalf  that  every  year,  on  August  15  ("St. 
Napoleon's  Day  "),  the  Prefect  of  the  Palace  on  duty  presented 
the  consecrated  bread  at  mass  at  St.  Germain  TAuxerrois.  the 
Tuileries  parish  church.  It  was  then  borne  thither  proces- 
sionally  by  footmen  of  the  Household  in  gala  liveries,  preceded 
by  ushers  also  in  gala  attire. 

The  most  notable  clerics  who  preached  before  the  Court 
in  the  Tuileries  chapel  were  Fathers  de  Ravignan  and  Ventura, 
Archbishop  Darboy,  Mgr.  Bauer,  and  Abbe  Deguerry  of  the 
Madeleine.*  Although  Darboy  was  a  learned  theologian,  his 
Court  sermons  were  marked  by  great  simplicity  of  diction,  and 
imbued  with  a  spirit  of  plain,  straightforward  Christianity,  based 
on  the  teachirigs  of  the  Gospels.  No  political  allusion  ever 
passed  his  lips,  and  all  disputations  were  reserved  for  his  private 
chats  with  Marshal  Vaillant,  who  was  somewhat  of  a  free- 
thinker. 

The  first  physician  of  the  Court  Medical  Service  was  Dr. 
Franpois  Rene  Conneau,  the  trusty  friend  who  had  attended 
Queen  Hortense  in  her  last  moments  and  had  enabled  Louis 
Napoleon  to  effect  his  escape  from  the  fort  of  Ham.  Born  at 
Milan,  Conneau  married  a  Corsican  lady  of  the  Pasqualini 
family,  and  their  son,  brought  up  at  the  Tuileries,  became  the 
playmate  and  friend  of  the  Imperial  Prince.  Conneau's  own 
medical  attainments  were  not  of  the  highest  order,  as  he  himself 
freely  acknowledged,  saying  that  it  was  more  as  a  friend  than 
as  a  doctor  that  he  remained  beside  the  Emperor.  However, 
he  fully  organized  the  medical  service,  in  which  he  enlisted 
some  of  the  ablest  men  of  the  time.  Adjoined  to  him,  and 
residing  also  at  the  Tuileries,  was  Dr.  Baron  Corvisart  (a 
great  nephew  of  the  first  Napoleon''s  medical  attendant),  who 

*  The  last  named  was  murdered  at  the  same  time  as  Darboy,  by  the 
Communards  of  1871. 


54  THE  COURT  OP  THE  TUILERIES 

accompanied  the  Emperor  during  the  campaign  of  1870,  and 
was  one  of  the  three  men  in  close  attendance  on  the  despairing 
monarch  when,  riding  forth  from  Sedan  to  La  Monceile,  he 
advanced  beyond  the  brick  and  tile  works  there,  into  the  open, 
shell-swept  space,  where  he  long  but  vainly  courted  death. 
The  two  who  accompanied  Napoleon  and  Corvisart  were  General 
Count  Pajol,  aide-de-camp,  and  Count  Davillier,  first  equerry. 
The  escort  was  formed  of  Cent-Gardes.  As  will  be  remem- 
bered, both  Corvisart  and  Conneau  were  present  when  the 
Emperor  died  at  Chislehurst. 

The  Medical  Service  also  included  four  physicians  and 
surgeons  in  ordinary,  each  receiving  £3^0  a  year,  among  them 
being  (at  one  or  another  time)  Arnal,  Andral,  Darralde,  Fauvel, 
Baron  Larrey,  and  Nelaton.  There  were  also  six  honorary 
consulting  physicians  and  surgeons,  including  Bouillaud,  Levy, 
Ricord,  See,  Velpeau  and  Tardieu — celebrities  of  the  healing 
art.  Then,  after  the  imperial  marriage,  Dr.  Baron  Paul  Dubois, 
son  of  the  Dubois  who  attended  Marie  Louise  at  the  birth  of 
the  King  of  Rome,  was  appointed  surgeon-accoucheur  to  the 
Empress  Eugenie.*  For  the  personnel  of  the  Court  there  were 
eight  medical  men  doing  duty  in  rotation,  and  each  in  receipt 
of  £^'iO  a  year.  Two  of  them,  with  one  of  the  head  doctors, 
were  always  in  attendance  at  the  Tuileries.  Court  officials 
and  domestics  were  also  visited  free  of  charge  at  their  homes, 
accounts  being  kept  too  with  pharmaceutical  chemists  in 
various  parts  of  Paris.  But  there  was  also  a  well-appointed 
pharmacy  at  the  Tuileries,  in  the  charge  of  M.  Acar,  whom 
the  Emperor  had  known  at  Ham,  and  who,  in  addition  to 
permanent  quarters  and  board,  received  £^4^0  a  year. 

As  the  reader  will  have  perceived,  we  have  not  here  entered 
fully  into  the  cost  of  maintaining  the  Imperial  Court — we  have 
postponed,  for  instance,  such  matters  as  the  Emperor's  private 
cabinet,  the  palace  kitchen  and  table,  the  equipages,  horses, 
and  hunt,  and  we  have  not  yet  come  to  the  organization  of  the 
households  of  the  Empress  and  the  Imperial  Prince;  but 
enough  has  been  said  already  to  show  that  Napoleon  III.  had 

*  Subsequently  a  medical  attendant  in  ordinary  to  the  Imperial  Prince 
vras  appointed,  with  a  salary  of  £320.  We  should  have  mentioned  that  £1200 
was  Conneau's  and  £800  Corvisart's  salary. 


THE   NEW   COURT  55 

few,  if  any,  opportunities  for  saving  money.  Large  emoluments 
certainly  went  to  men  of  very  indifferent  character ;  but,  taking 
the  Court  in  its  ensemble,  the  artisans  of  the  Coup  d''Etat  were 
decidedly  in  a  minority,  and  death  soon  thinned  their  ranks. 
The  majority  of  the  others  were  neither  better  nor  worse  than 
the  average  Frenchman  of  those  times,  while  some  were  men  of 
real  distinction  and  merit.  The  legend  that  the  Court  of  the 
Tuileries  was  formed  exclusively  of  profligate  banditti  is  utterly 
absurd.  The  Court  had  its  scandals  undoubtedly,  and  of  some, 
including  the  worst,  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak ;  but  if  only 
a  quarter  of  all  the  alleged  scandals  had  been  true,  the  regime 
would  have  been  swept  away  long  years  before  the  downfall  of 
Sedan.  To  imagine  the  contrary  would  be  a  gross  libel  on  the 
French  nation. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE    IMPERIAL    MARRIAGE — THE    EMPRESS    AND    HER 
HOUSEHOLD 

The  Emperor's  first  Matrimonial  Negotiations— Opposition  to  the  Alliance 
with  Mile,  de  Montijo — The  Speculations  of  Fould  and  St.  Arnaud— The 
tragic  Camerata  Scandal — Mile,  de  Montijo's  first  glimpse  of  Louis 
Napoleon — Her  juvenile  sympathy  with  him  at  Ham — Intercourse  of  the 
Montijos  with  the  Prince  during  his  Presidency — The  Proposal  of  Marriage 
— Position  of  the  Jerome  Branch  of  the  Bonapartes — The  Parentage  of 
the  Empress  Eug6nie— The  Empress's  Beauty  at  the  time  of  her  Marriage 
— Her  sister,  the  Duchess  d'Albe — The  Wedding  Preparations — The  Civil 
Marriage— Prince  Napoleon  in  Mourning— The  Bridal  Dress  and  Jewels— 
The  Ceremony  at  Notre  Dame — Favourable  popular  Impression— The 
Empress's  Household — The  Great  Mistress,  the  Lady  of  Honour  and  the 
Ladies  of  the  Palace — The  Maids  of  Honour  and  the  Lady  Reader— The 
Great  Master  of  the  Household  and  the  Chamberlains — The  Secretary  and 
the  Librarian. 

Some  time  elapsed  before  the  Imperial  Household  was  com- 
pletely constituted  and  set  in  working  order ;  but  it  had  been 
planned  by  Count  Fleury  (who,  as  he  tells  us,  took  the  Court 
of  Napoleon  I.  as  his  model),  and  the  plans  had  already  been 
largely  carried  out,  prior  to  the  Emperor's  marriage.  On  the 
other  hand,  Louis  Napoleon  had  turned  his  thoughts  to 
matrimony  even  before  the  restoration  of  the  Empire  was 
officially  proclaimed.  There  is  a  legend  that  he  asked  Mile,  de 
Montijo,  later  the  Empress  Eugenie,  to  become  his  bride 
prior  to  the  Coup  d'Etat ;  but  the  facts  are  different.  It  is 
known  that  Count  Walewski,  French  ambassador  to  England, 
approached  Queen  Victoria,  in  December,  1852,  on  the  subject 
of  a  marriage  between  the  new  Emperor  and  the  Princess 
Adelaide  of  Hohenlohe,  a  niece  of  her  Majesty,  and  that 
although  the  Queen   did   not   seriously  object,  the   Princess's 


THE  IMPERIAL  MARRIAGE  57 

father  did,  on  account  not  only  of  difference  of  religion,  but 
also  of  Napoleon's  reputation  from  the  moral  standpoint. 
Further,  about  the  same  time,  the  Emperor's  cousin,  Count 
Tascher  de  la  Pagerie,*  carried  on  some  negotiations  elsewhere, 
perhaps  in  Bavaria,  to  which  country  he  had  for  many  years 
belonged;  while  Fleury,  as  recounted  by  himself  in  his 
"  Souvenirs,"  set  out  on  a  mission  to  secure  the  hand  of  Carola 
Frederika,  Princess  Wasa,  daughter  of  Prince  Wasa,  the  son  of 
Gustavus  IV.  of  Sweden. t  Whatever  Fleury  may  allege  to  the 
contrary,  it  seems  that  Napoleon  III.  hoped  to  succeed  in  that 
quarter,  for  the  Princess  Carola's  grandmother,  on  the  maternal 
side,  was  a  Beauharnais,  a  daughter  of  Count  Claude  of  that 
name,  and  a  first  cousin  of  Queen  Hortense.  Napoleon  I.  had 
adopted  her,  and  she  had  espoused  the  Grand  Duke  of  Baden.  J 
Nevertheless,  however  favourably  she  might  be  disposed  towards 
Louis  Napoleon,  Fleury's  mission  failed,  because,  says  he,  the 
Princess  Carola's  hand  had  been  virtually  promised  already  to 
Crown  Prince  Albert  of  Saxony.  That  may  be  so,  for  six 
months  later  she  married  that  Prince,  and  eventually  rose  with 
him  to  the  Saxon  throne. 

Napoleon,  according  to  Fleury,  was  relieved  by  the  failure 
of  the  negotiations,  but  the  case  is  very  suggestive  of  the  fable 
of  the  fox  and  the  grapes.  It  is  certain  that  the  majority  of 
the  Emperor's  advisers  wished  him  to  marry  a  foreign  Princess. 
When  the  alliance  with  Mile,  de  Montijo  was  first  mooted,  it 
was  opposed  by  Persigny,  then  Minister  of  the  Interior ;  Drouyn 
de  Lhuys,  the  Foreign  Secretary ;  Abbatucci,  the  Keeper  of  the 
Seals ;  Fortoul,  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  ;  Bineau,  the 
Minister  of  Finances  ;  Troplong,  the  President  of  the  Senate  ; 
Walewski,  and  several  others — in  fact,  by  far  the  greater  part 

*  Of  the  family  of  the  Empress  Josephine.     See  post,  p.  74. 

t  The  reader  may  be  reminded  that  Gustavus  IV.  was  deposed  and  suc- 
ceeded by  his  uncle,  Charles  XIII.,  who  adopted  as  his  successor  Bernadotte, 
from  whom  the  present  Swedish  royal  house  is  descended.  According  to 
legitimist  doctrine,  the  Prince  Wasa  mentioned  above  was  by  right  King  of 
Sweden. 

X  Her  record,  as  regards  the  occupation  of  thrones  by  her  posterity,  is 
almost  as  remarkable  as  that  of  the  Danish  royal  house.  From  the  Grand 
Duchess  Stephanie  are  descended  the  Kings  of  Saxony,  Portugal,  and 
Eoumania,  the  Grand  Duke  of  Baden,  the  Princes  of  HohenzoUern- 
Sigmaringen,  the  Prince  of  Monaco,  and  the  Count  of  Flanders,  as  well  aa 
the  Dukes  of  Hamilton. 


58  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

of  the  administration ;  its  only  partisans  being  Fleury,  Morny, 
St.  Arnaud,  Edgar  Ney,  Toulongeon  (the  Emperor's  orderly), 
and  Fould,  the  Minister  of  the  Imperial  Household.  Fould, 
however,  seems  to  have  played  a  double  game  in  the  affair. 
Aware  as  he  was  that  the  outside  world  anticipated  that  the 
new  Emperor,  should  he  decide  to  marry,  would  contract  some 
great  alliance,  he  resolved  to  profit  by  what  would  happen,  and 
when  the  public  announcement  of  the  marriage  with  Mile,  de 
Montijo  almost  led  to  a  panic  on  the  Bourse — a  fall  of  two 
francs  in  Rentes,  and  a  drop  in  most  other  public  securities — 
he,  having  played  for  the  fall,  reaped  very  large  profits,  whereas 
St.  Arnaud — an  inveterate  gambler — who  had  done  his  utmost 
to  support  the  market,  was  hit  so  badly  that  (according  to  the 
Archives  of  the  Prefecture  of  Police)  he  narrowly  escaped 
"execution,"  and  was  only  extricated  from  his  difficulties  by 
the  liberality  of  the  Emperor,  to  whom  he  excused  himself  for 
his  misfortune  by  attributing  all  the  blame  to  the  "bearing" 
tactics  of  Fould.* 

A  connection  of  the  imperial  house,  young  Count  Camerata, 
a  grandson  of  the  first  Napoleon's  sister  Elisa,  also  speculated 
disastrously  on  that  occasion,  and  after  vainly  appealing  for 
assistance  both  to  his  mother.  Princess  Baciocchi,  and  to  Prince 
Jerome  Bonaparte,  who,  it  has  been  asserted,  owed  him 
money  at  the  time,  he  committed  suicide.  His  death  was 
followed  a  few  days  afterwards  by  that  of  a  promising  young 
actress  of  the  Vaudeville  Theatre,  Elisa  Letessier,  who  appeared 
professionally  under  the  name  of  Mile.  Marthe.  She  and 
Camerata  were  much  attached  to  each  other,  and  she  would 
not  survive  him,  but  put  an  end  to  her  life  by  means  of  a  pan 
of  charcoal.  All  the  theatrical  notabilities  of  Paris  followed 
the  young  artiste  to  her  grave. 

But  we  must  not  anticipate.  The  early  matrimonial 
negotiations  with  foreign  Courts  having  failed.  Napoleon  was 
evidently  of  opinion  that  others  would  have  a  similar  result, 
and  he  thereupon  seriously  turned  his  thoughts  to  the  question 
of    wedding    Mile,   de    Montijo.      She    and    her   mother,  the 

*  Fleury  tells  the  story  in  his  own  fashion,  and  informs  us  that  he  defended 
St.  Arnaud  against  the  charge  of  being  a  gambler.  But  it  wasi  Fleury's 
business  to  defend  his  Coup  d'Etat  confederates. 


THE  IMPERIAL  MARRIAGE  59 

Countess,  were  frequently  in  France.  They  had  first  gone 
there  during  some  of  the  troubles  in  Spain  in  1834,  when,  as 
Marshal  de  Castellane  relates  in  his  "  Diary,"  he  met  them  at 
Perpignan.  During  Louis  Napoleon's  presidency  of  the 
Republic  they  had  been  frequent  guests  at  his  entertainments. 
The  first  time,  however,  when  they  caught  sight  of  the  futura 
Emperor  was  after  the  Strasburg  affair  in  1836,  when,  being  in 
Paris,  they  happened  to  call  at  the  Prefecture  of  Police  to  see 
the  Prefect's  wife,  Mme.  Delessert,  a  Spaniard  by  birth  and  a 
family  friend,  on  which  occasion  they  saw  the  Prince  passing  in 
the  custody  of  several  policemen.  Eugenie  de  Montijo  was 
then  only  a  child,  some  ten  years  old,  but  the  incident  impressed 
her,  and  when  Louis  Napoleon  was  imprisoned  at  Ham,  after 
the  Boulogne  affair,  she,  "  being  always  inclined  towards  those 
who  suffered,  interested  in  all  the  oppressed,  and  nourishing  a 
secret  sympathy  for  the  Prince,  urged  her  mother  to  go  and 
carry  the  captive  such  consolation  as  might  be  possible.  The 
Countess  de  Montijo  had  decided  on  that  pious  pilgrimage 
when  she  was  diverted  from  her  object  by  unlooked-for 
circumstances.""  *  The  first  actual  meeting  only  took  place 
during  the  Prince's  Presidency  at  a  dance  at  the  Elysee  Palace, 
to  which  Mme.  de  Montijo,  by  her  connections  in  society,  easily 
obtained  an  invitation. 

Virtually,  from  that  time  forward,  wherever  the  Prince 
President  stayed,  whether  at  St.  Cloud,  Fontainebleau,  or 
Compiegne,  the  Montijos  were  among  his  most  frequent  guests. 
One  constantly  finds  their  names  in  the  various  lists  of  invites 
published  at  the  time.  They  also  attended  all  the  reviews, 
whether  at  the  Carrousel,  the  Champ  de  Mars,  or  Satory. 
Castellane,  meeting  them  one  day  at  St.  Cloud,  remarked  with 
some  surprise  that  the  fair  Eugenia  was  still  unmarried,  although 
extremely  d  la  mode.  The  position  of  the  young  lady  was 
certainly  somewhat  invidious,  though  then,  as  ever,  she  con- 
ducted herself  with  great  propriety.  Ill-natured  people  are  apt 
to  talk,  however,  when  a  young  lady  is  long  in  "  going  off,"  and 
Mile,  de  Montijo  was  no  longer  a  mere  girl  in  years.     Whether 

*  Prom  an  article  in  Napoleon  III.'s  organ,  Le  Dix  Ddccmhre,  De- 
cember 15,  1868.  The  MS.  of  this  article,  in  the  Emperor's  own  handwriting, 
was  found  at  the  Tuileries  after  the  revolution  of  1870, 


60  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

she  made  it  her  express  purpose  to  fascinate  Louis  Napoleon — 
as  many  French  and  Enghsh  writers  have  asserted — or  whether 
she  did  not,  he  at  all  events  fell  in  love  with  her.  We  ourselves 
do  not  think  that  she  needed  to  exert  herself  in  order  to  please. 
Napoleon  was  extremely  susceptible  to  female  charms,  and  she 
was  extremely  beautiful.  And  we  are  quite  ready  to  believe 
that,  while  she  was  willing  to  become  Empress  of  the  French, 
she  was  also  prepared,  as  Fleury  states,  to  quit  France  and 
return  to  Spain  at  the  slightest  sign  of  disrespect. 

When  Napoleon  first  told  his  friend  Fleury  that  he  was  in 
love  with  Mile,  de  Montijo,  Fleury  at  once  advised  him  to 
marry  her.  But  knowing  what  we  do  of  the  third  Napoleon's 
character — he  was  still  entangled  with  an  English  mistress,  Miss 
Howard — it  is  certain  that  love  in  his  case  did  not  necessarily 
mean  marriage.  It  appears  from  Fleury's  narrative  that  the 
INIarchioness  de  Contades,  daughter  of  Marshal  de  Castellane, 
sounded  her  friend  Mile,  de  Montijo  respecting  her  sentiments 
towards  Napoleon,  and  communicated  the  result  to  Fleury ;  and 
when  the  matrimonial  negotiations  with  foreign  Courts  had 
failed,  the  Emperor  suddenly  made  up  his  mind  and  asked  for 
Mile,  de  Montijo's  hand.  It  is  said  that  in  the  first  instance 
he  addressed  himself  to  the  young  lady  herself  on  a  favourable 
occasion  in  the  reserved  park  of  the  Chateau  of  Compiegne. 
But  the  definite  official  proposal  was  made  by  the  Minister 
of  his  Household,  Fould.  It  would  have  been  more  in  accord- 
ance with  French  social  usage  if  Mme.  de  Montijo  had  been 
approached  by  a  Princess  of  the  Emperor's  house ;  and,  indeed, 
the  Princess  Mathilde,  daughter  of  the  first  Napoleon's  brother, 
Jerome,  sometime  King  of  Westphalia,  was  thought  of,  and  it 
is  stated  in  several  works  that  the  official  proposal  was  actually 
made  by  her.  Even  Fleury  asserts  it  in  the  first  volume  of  his 
"  Souvenirs,"  but,  corrected  by  the  Princess  herself,  acknowledges 
his  error  in  the  second.  The  fact  is,  that  the  duty  would  not 
have  been  a  pleasant  one  for  the  Princess  Mathilde,  for  the 
Emperor's  marriage  was  likely  to  deprive  her  brother,  Prince 
Napoleon,  of  his  chance  of  succeeding  to  the  throne. 

For  that  very  reason  many  people  were  delighted  that  the 
Emperor  should  have  decided  to  marry.  In  framing  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  Empire,  the  Senate  had  deliberately  modified 


THE   IMPERIAL   MARRIAGE  61 

a  proposed  clause  setting  forth  that  in  the  event  of  no  direct 
issue  the  crown  should  pass  to  the  Jerome  branch  of  the 
imperial  family.  In  lieu  of  adopting  that  stipulation,  the 
Senators  had  left  to  the  Emperor  the  duty  of  designating  his 
successor,  taking  that  course  because  they  were  unwilling  to 
co-operate  in  the  selection  of  Prince  Napoleon,  whom  most 
of  them  cordially  detested  on  account  of  his  pretensions  to 
radical  republicanism  and  free-thought.  The  result  was  that 
old  Prince  Jerome,  then  President  of  the  Senate,  resigned  that 
post  in  a  huff — while,  of  course,  assigning  another  reason  for  his 
action — and  that  he,  his  son  Prince  Napoleon,  and  his  daughter 
Princess  Mathilde,  were  only  placated  by  a  decree,  which  the 
Emperor  himself  issued,  establishing  the  succession  in  their 
branch  of  the  family  in  the  event  of  his  demise  without  leaving 
a  son.  That  decree  was  dated  December  18,  1852,  but  the 
pleasure  of  the  Jeromites  was  short-lived,  as  on  the  22nd  of 
the  following  January,  Napoleon  III.,  having  overridden  the 
objections  of  the  majority  of  his  Ministers,  announced  to  the 
great  bodies  of  the  State  assembled  at  the  Tuileries  his 
approaching  marriage  ;  the  Moniteur  adding,  almost  unneces- 
sarily, on  the  morrow,  that  Mile,  de  Montijo  was  the  sovereign's 
choice.  It  is  true  that  the  Emperor  had  not  named  her  in  his 
speech,  but  he  had  designated  her  clearly  enough.* 

Several  years  ago  a  number  of  French  newspapers  were  con- 
victed of  publishing  an  erroneous,  even  libellous,  account  of  the 
Empress  Eugenie's  origin.  They  wrongfully  asserted  that  she 
and  her  sister,  the  Duchess  d''Albe  (Alva),  were  the  daughters 
of  Doiia  Maria  del  Pilar  de  Penansanda,  who,  after  marrying 
Don  Joaquin  de  Montijo,  captain  in  the  Regiment  of  Segovia, 
in  February,  1810,  was  divorced  from  him  in  France  in  1813, 
but,  on  the  divorce  being  annulled  in  Spain,  lived  with  him 

*  It  was  an  impertinence  on  the  Emperor's  part,  after  vainly  soliciting  the 
hands  of  two  foreign  princesses,  to  sneer,  as  he  did,  in  the  marriage  announce- 
ment at  alliances  with  European  royalties.  In  remarkably  bad  taste  was  the 
allusion  to  the  Duke  of  Orleans  (son  of  Louis  Philippe),  whom  the  new  ruler 
pictured  as  having  fruitlessly  solicited  an  alliance  with  one  and  another 
sovereign  house,  and  "  securing  at  last  the  hand  of  a  princess  of  only  secondary 
rank  and  a  different  religion."  He,  Napoleon  III.,  had  been  refused  even  by 
princesses  of  less  than  secondary  rank.  On  the  other  hand,  his  reference  to 
himself  as  a  parvenu  was  not  misplaced,  though  it  was  greatly  disliked  by 
many  leading  imperialists. 


62  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

affain  until  his  death  on  October  30,  1823.  The  date  of  the 
Empress  Eugenie's  birth  being  1826,  it  followed  that  she  could 
not  be  the  daughter  of  Don  Joaquin.  That  story,*  and  the 
conclusions  which  were  drawn  from  it,  met,  however,  with 
annihilation  during  the  legal  proceedings  which  took  place,  it 
being  shown  that  the  Empress  had  never  claimed  to  be  the 
daughter  of  the  aforesaid  Don  Joaquin  and  Doiia  Maria  del 
Pilar.  In  an  anonymous  brochure,  issued  by  the  Empress''s 
desire  and  written,  it  is  believed,  by  M.  F.  Masson,  the  real 
facts  were  set  forth,  with  certificates  of  birth,  baptism,  and  other 
documentary  evidence.  Nevertheless,  in  later  years  another 
romantic  account  of  the  Empress's  origin  has  appeared  in  some 
French  works,  it  being  asserted  that  she  and  her  sister  were  no 
Montijos  at  all,  but  the  children  of  Queen  Christina  of  Spain — 
the  wife  of  Ferdinand  VII.  and  mother  of  Isabella  II. — who 
induced  the  Countess  de  Montijo  to  bring  them  up  as  if  they 
were  her  own  offspring !  Queen  Christina  is  not  accounted  a 
virtuous  woman  by  historians,  but  not  a  shred  of  evidence  of  the 
slightest  value  has  ever  been  tendered  in  support  of  the  above 
story.  The  facts,  indeed,  are  such  as  were  stated  in  the  legal 
proceedings  and  the  pamphlet  already  mentioned.f  The  father, 
then,  of  the  Empress  Euge'nie  was  Don  Cipriano  Portocarrero, 
Palafox,  Lopez  de  Zuniga,  Rojas  y  Leiva,  Count  of  Montijo 
(Conde  del  Montijo),  Duke  of  Periaranda,  Count  of  Miranda  del 
Castailar,  etc.,  and  grandee  of  Spain,  He  inherited  most  of  his 
titles  from  his  elder  brother,  Don  Eugenio,  seventh  Count  of 
Montijo,  who  died  without  issue  in  1834.  Before  then  Don 
Cipriano  was  generally  known  by  the  names  of  Guzman, 
Palafox  y  Portocarrero.  He  was  a  Napoleonist  Spaniard,  served 
in  the  French  artillery  as  Colonel  Portocarrero,  received  the 
Legion  of  Honour,  was  severely  wounded  at  Salamanca,  and 
again  at  the  battle  of  Paris  in  1814.  He  ultimately  became  a 
Spanish  senator,  and  died  at  Madrid  on  March  15,  1839. 

On    December    15,    1817,    he    had    married    Dona    Maria 
Manuela   Kirkpatrick   y   Gi-evigne,   the   daughter  of  William 

*  We  refer  to  it  chiefly  because  it  is  still  preserved  in  certain  books, 
notably  in  Hamel's  "  Histoire  du  Second  Empire  " — in  spite  of  the  legal 
proceedings. 

t  "  L'lmp^ratrice  :  Notes  et  Documents,"  SvOj  Paris,  1877. 


THE   IMPERIAL  MARRIAGE  63 

Kirkpatrick  *  y  Wilson,  Consul  of  the  United  States  at  Malaga. 
Kirkpatrick's  wife  was  Dona  Francisca  Grevigne,  whose  family 
had  originally  belonged  to  Liege,  and  whose  sister,  Doiia 
Catalina,  married  Count  Mathieu  de  Lesseps,  Commissary- 
General  of  the  French  Republic  in  Spain  from  1800  to  1802, 
and  father  of  the  famous  Count  Ferdinand  de  Lesseps,  who  was 
thus  a  second  cousin  of  the  Empress  Eugenie  on  the  maternal 
side. 

By  his  marriage  with  William  Kirkpatrick's  daughter,  Don 
Cipriano  de  Montijo  had  two  children,  both  born  at  Granada : 
the  elder,  Maria  Francisca  de  Sales  Cipriana,  on  January  29, 
1825,  and  the  younger,  Maria  Eugenia  Ignacia  Augustina,  on 
May  5,  1826.  It  was  the  latter  who  became  Empress  of  the 
French.  Her  sister,  Francisca  de  Sales,  was  married  in  February, 
1844,  to  a  lineal  descendant  of  James  II.  of  Great  Britain,  that 
is,  Don  James  Stuart  FitzJames,  Ventimiglia,  Alvarez  de 
Toledo,  Belmonte  y  Navarra-Portogallo,  eighth  Duke  of  Berwick, 
fourteenth  Duke  of  Alva,  Duke  of  Leiria,  Jerica,  Galisteo, 
Montoro  and  Huesca,  Count-Duke  of  Olivares,  Count  of  Lemos, 
senior  grandee  of  Spain,  twelve  times  a  first-class  grandee,  con- 
stable of  Navarre,  etc.  The  bride's  father,  it  may  be  mentioned, 
had  been  eight  times  a  count,  twelve  times  a  viscount,  four 
times  a  grandee  ;  but  in  giving  the  Count  de  Montijo's  name  we 
spared  the  reader  a  full  enumeration  of  his  titles.  It  is  certain, 
however,  that  his  two  daughters  were  of  high  lineage,  coming  as 
they  did  on  his  side  from  the  ancient  houses  of  Guzman  and 
Palafox. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  elder  daughter  married  the  Duke  of 
Berwick  and  Alva  when  she  was  only  nineteen,!  whereas  her 
sister  was  nearly  twenty-seven  when  she  espoused  Napoleon  III. 
In  all  the  official  documents  of  that  time  Eugenie  de  Montijo  is 
described  (like  her  mother)  as  "her  Excellency,"  and  the  title 
of  Countess  de  Teba  and  other  places  is  assigned  to  her.  Both 
desicrnations  were  correct.     When  her  father  succeeded  his  elder 

*  He  belonged  to  the  Kirkpatricks  of  Closeburn,  and  seems  to  have  been 
born  at  Dumfries. 

t  She  died  young,  in  1860,  as  we  shall  have  occasion  to  relate;  her 
husband,  who  was  about  four  years  her  senior,  survived  till  1881.  In  France 
they  were  always  known  as  the  Duke  and  Duchess  d'Albe  [Alva],  by  which 
titles  we  propose  to  refer  to  them. 


64  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

brother  as  Count  de  Montijo,  certain  entailments,  which 
stipulated  that  the  countships  of  Montijo  and  Teba  should  never 
be  held  by  the  same  person,  had  compelled  him  to  relinquish  the 
latter  to  his  younger  daughter,* 

The  bride  of  Napoleon  III.  was  more  beautiful  than  her 
sister,  the  Duchess  d'Albe,  and,  though  on  placing  photographs 
of  them  side  by  side  one  is  immediately  struck  by  the  resemblance 
of  one  to  the  other,  this  was  not  in  reality  so  marked  as  might 
be  supposed.  Not  only  were  the  Duchess's  features  less  delicately 
chiselled,  not  only  was  her  figure  shghter  than  the  Empress's, 
but  her  hair  was  dark,  whereas  her  sister's  was  of  a  golden 
chestnut  hue.  In  all  respects,  indeed,  the  Empress  Eugenie 
was  of  a  fairer  complexion,  with  skin  of  a  transparent  whiteness, 
dehcately  tinted  cheeks,  and  fine,  bright,  blue  eyes,  shaded  by 
drooping  lids  and  abundant  lashes.  Her  nose,  if  somewhat  long, 
was  slender,  aristocratic ;  her  mouth  was  small,  and  lent  itself 
to  an  engaging  smile.  Slightly  above  the  average  height  of 
Frenchwomen,  she  had  a  graceful  and  supple  figure,  an  easy  and 
yet  dignified  carriage.  Her  neck,  her  shoulders,  and  her  arms 
were  delicately  statuesque,  her  feet  worthy  of  her  Andalusian 
birth.  But  to  many  she  suggested  rather  the  famous  Venetian 
type  of  beauty,  and  it  was  often  said  that  if  Titian  had  been 
alive  he  would  have  gone  on  his  knees  to  beg  her  to  sit  to 
him.  It  is,  perhaps,  a  pity  that  the  great  painter  was  not  a 
contemporary,  for  we  might  then  have  been  spared  the  Jadeurs 
of  Winterhalter  and  others.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Empress 
had  less  ease  of  manner,  gaiety,  and  charm  of  disposition  than 
her  sister.  The  Duchess  d'Albe  was  a  woman  whom  everybody 
immediately  liked  and  appreciated,  while  often  contenting 
themselves  with  admiring  the  Empress. 

The  marriage  having  been  decided  on,  all  open  hostility  to 
it  among  the  Emperor's  entourage  ceased  immediately,  that  is 
to  say,  excepting  in  one  quarter  :  Miss  Howard,t  who  had 
aspired  to  the  7-6le  of  La  Pompadour,  was  extremely  irate. 
Money,  huge  sums  of  money,  did  not  pacify  her,  and  at  the 
time   of  the  ceremony  the  devoted  Mocquard,  the  Emperor's 

*  Teba  is  in  the  heart  of  Andalusia,  north  of  Ronda,  whereas  Montijo  is  in 
Estremadura,  between  Merida  and  Badajoz. 

t  For  some  account  of  Miss  Howardj  see^os^  p.  182  et  scg. 


THE  IMPERIAL  MARRIAGE  65 

private  secretary  and  confidant,  had  to  keep  her  away  from 
Paris.  The  preparations  were  pushed  on  with  all  possible 
speed.  While  the  bride-elect  and  her  mother  took  up  their 
residence  at  the  Elysee,  Fleury,  the  chief  stage-manager  of  the 
regime,  exerted  himself  to  organize  the  nuptial  cortege  with 
proper  splendour.  Nearly  all  the  gala  carriages  of  the  State 
dated  from  the  time  of  Charles  X.  and  Louis  Philippe,  and 
bore  the  Bourbon  or  Orleans  arms,  which  had  to  be  effaced. 
Moreover,  the  gilding,  the  painting,  the  upholstery  required 
renovation,  while  there  was  also  a  deficiency  both  of  horses  and  of 
trappings.  As  for  horses,  Fleury  ingeniously  met  the  difficulty 
by  hiring  a  large  number  of  the  best  animals  which  the  London 
jobmasters  could  supply.  They  were  promptly  sent  across  the 
Channel,  while  at  the  State  carriage  depot  at  Trianon  and  in 
Paris  a  little  army  of  painters,  gilders,  decorators,  embroiderers, 
saddlers,  and  so  forth,  worked  zealously  both  day  and  night  in 
order  that  all  other  requisites  might  be  ready  in  time. 

The  civil  marriage  took  place  at  the  Tuileries  on  the  evening 
of  January  29,  1853.  At  eight  ©""clock,  Cambaceres,  Great 
Master  of  Ceremonies,  went  to  the  Elysee  to  fetch  the  bride 
and  her  mother.  They  entered  the  Tuileries  by  the  Pavilion 
de  Flore,  and  were  received  in  the  vestibule  by  St.  Arnaud, 
Fleury,  two  masters  of  ceremonies,  and  others,  who  conducted 
them  upstairs,  first  to  the  family  drawing-room,  at  the  door  of 
which  they  were  welcomed  by  Prince  Napoleon  and  Princess 
Mathilde.  Of  all  those  assembled  on  the  occasion.  Prince 
Napoleon  was  the  only  man  who  wore  neither  uniform  nor 
official  costume  of  any  kind.  He  was  simply  attired  in  black 
evening  dress,  as  if,  indeed,  he  were  in  mourning  for  his  chance 
of  succession  to  the  throne.  But  that  was  a  fashion  which,  with 
pretended  Republicanism,  he  affected  during  the  early  period 
of  the  Empire,  and  the  story  runs  that  when  he  was  suddenly 
created  a  General  of  Division,  though  he  had  never  served  a 
single  hour  in  the  army,  the  Emperor  took  that  course  chiefly 
in  order  to  compel  him  to  wear  a  uniform  on  official  occasions,* 

*  We  have  given  the  above  anecdote  because  it  is  amusing ;  but  Prince 
Napoleon  became,  we  think,  a  senator  at  an  early  date,  and  had  no  real  excuse 
for  not  wearing  at  least  the  senatorial  dress  on  official  occasions.  Several 
writers  of  the  time  agree  in  stating,  however,  that  the  Prince  affected  plain 

F 


66  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

The  Prince  revenged  himself  on  his  cousin,  however,  by  taking 
the  matter  seriously  and  insisting  on  being  sent  to  the  Crimea, 
whence  he  returned  to  Paris  with  a  reputation  which  was 
anything  but  favourable. 

Uniform  or  no  uniform,  however,  gay  at  heart  or  secretly 
mourning,  Prince  Napoleon  contrived  to  do  his  duty  at  the 
imperial  wedding.  He  and  his  sister  conducted  Mme.  and  Mile, 
de  Montijo  from  the  salon  de  Janiille  to  the  salon  d''honnetcr, 
where  the  bridegroom,  wearing  the  order  of  the  Golden  Fleece 
and  the  collar  of  Chief  of  the  Legion  of  Honour  (which  had 
belonged  to  Napoleon  I,),  was  awaiting  them.  Marshals, 
admirals,  ministers,  officers  of  State  and  of  the  Household, 
pressed  around,  and  finally,  a  procession  being  formed  in  strict 
accordance  with  the  rules  of  precedence  and  etiquette  prescribed 
during  the  first  Empire,  the  whole  company  betook  itself  to  the 
Hall  of  the  Marshals. 

Thither  had  been  brought  the  old  Register  of  the  Imperial 
House,  preserved  since  the  great  Napoleon's  downfall.  The 
last  signed  entry  in  it  recorded  the  birth  of  the  King  of  Rome. 
Achille  Fould,  as  Minister  of  State  and  the  Household, 
officiated.  He  went  through  the  usual  formalities,  inquired  of 
the  bride  and  bridegroom  if  they  were  willing  to  take  each  other 
in  marriage,  and  on  receiving  their  assent,  pronounced  them 
to  be  man  and  wife :  "  In  the  name  of  the  Emperor,  the  Consti- 
tution and  the  law,  I  declare  that  his  Majesty  Napoleon  III., 
Emperor  of  the  French  by  the  Grace  of  God  and  the  National 
Will,  and  her  Excellency  Mademoiselle  Eugenie  de  Montijo, 
Countess  de  Teba,  are  united  in  marriage."  Then  the  register 
was  signed,  and  the  newly  married  pair  and  the  w^hole  company 
passed  into  the  palace  theatre  to  hear  a  cantata,  specially  com- 
posed by  Auber,  with  verses  by  Mery,  the  Provencal  writer, 
who  congratulated  Spain  on  having  formed  the  new  Empress 
out  of  one  of  its  splendid  sunrays. 

After  the  concert  the  bride  was  re-escorted  to  the  Elysee, 
where  early  on  the  morrow  she  attended  a  low  mass.  But  at 
noon  she  returned  to  the  Tuileries  amid  the  roar  of  the  guns 

black.  Perhaps,  remembering  the  instance  of  Wellington  and  the  decora- 
tions at  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  he  imagined  that  somebody  would  repeat 
Metternich's  remark  :  Ma  foi,  c'est  bien  distingu6 1    If  so,  he  was  mistaken. 


THE   IMPERIAL  MARRIAGE  67 

of  the  Invalides.  Her  long-trained  bridal  gown  was  of  rich 
white  silk,  covered  with  exquisite  Alengon.  As  she  had  legally 
been  Empress  since  the  previous  evening,  the  Crown  jewels  of 
France  had  been  placed  at  her  disposal,  and  she  thus  wore 
a  houcle  de  ceinture  simulating  a  sun,  the  historic  Regent  or 
Pitt  diamond  *  forming  the  planet,  and  three  hundred  other 
brilliants  figuring  its  rays  or  hanging  as  aiguillettes.  Further, 
a  diadem  of  six  hundred  brilliants  bedimmed  the  effulgence 
of  her  hair,  whence,  from  under  a  spray  of  orange-blossom, 
fell  a  veil  of  Brussels  point.  A  rope  of  pearls,  her  own  pro- 
perty, was  wound  four  times  around  her  fair  young  neck.  And 
to  all  the  splendour  of  jewels  and  raiment  was  added  the  grace 
of  a  born  queen. 

A  decree  constituting  the  new  Empress''s  Household  had 
been  signed,  and  she  was  attended  by  her  Great  Mistress,  the 
Princess  d'Essling,  Duchess  de  Rivoli,  of  the  Massena  family, 
her  Lady  of  Honour  the  Duchess  de  Bassano,  and  her  first 
Chamberlain,  Count  Charles  Tascher  de  La  Pagerie.  The 
Great  Master  of  her  Household,  the  senior  Count  Tascher  de 
La  Pagerie,  nephew  of  the  Empress  Josephine,  and  her  Equerry, 
Baron  de  Pierres,  were  in  attendance  on  the  Countess  de 
Montijo.  We  lack  the  space  to  describe  in  detail  the  cortege 
which  proceeded  by  way  of  the  Carrousel,  the  Place  du  Louvre, 
and  the  Rue  de  Rivoli  to  Notre  Dame.  Fleury,  whose 
resplendent  regiment  of  Guides  figured  conspicuously  on  the 
occasion,  had  planned  such  a  show  as  the  Parisians  had  not 
witnessed  since  the  earlier  years  of  the  century.  The  Emperor 
and  Empress — he  in  full  uniform  and  again  wearing  the  collar 
of  the  Legion  of  Honour  and  the  Golden  Fleece — ^went  together 
in  a  great  coach,  surmounted  by  an  imperial  crown  and 
elaborately  gilded  and  adorned  with  paintings,  which  had  been 
built  for  the  wedding  of  Napoleon  I.  and  Marie  Louise.  But  at 
the  outset  a  curious  and  ominous  mishap  occurred.  The  bridal 
pair  had  taken  their  seats,  and  the  vehicle  was  passing  from 
under  the  vaulted  entrance  of  the  Tuileries  into  the  courtyard, 
when  the  imperial  crown  suddenly  fell  from  the  coach  to  the 
ground.  The  eight  horses  were  at  once  halted,  the  crown  was 
picked  up,  and  in  some  fashion  or  other  set  in  place  again, 
*  An  incli  and  a  half  long,  an  inch  wide ;  weight  136  carats. 


68  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

Meantime,  as  the  Emperor,  surprised  at  the  delay,  inquired  the 
cause  of  it,  Fleury,  approaching  the  coach,  quietly  informed  him, 
whereupon  the  Emperor  replied  that  he  would  tell  him  an  anec- 
dote some  other  time.  But  the  First  Equerry  knew  it  already. 
A  virtually  identical  accident  had  occurred  with  the  same  coach 
and  the  same  crown  at  the  marriage  of  Napoleon  I.  and  Marie 
Louise.     Infaustum  omen  ! 

It  was  not  the  only  inauspicious  augury  that  day.  A 
Spanish  lady  who  witnessed  the  wedding  expressed  her  amaze- 
ment that  the  Empress,  being  a  Spaniard,  should  have  ventured 
to  wear  a  rope  of  pearls,  for,  according  to  an  old  Castillian 
saying,  "The  pearls  that  women  wear  on  their  wedding-day 
symbolize  the  tears  they  are  fated  to  shed." 

Fifteen  thousand  candles  were  burning  in  the  fane  of  Notre 
Dame  de  Paris,  and  the  ancient  edifice  was  crowded  with  digni- 
taries, officials,  diplomatic  representatives  and  ladies,  when 
the  procession  arrived  there.  According  to  the  poets,  on  the 
coming  of  Helen  to  Troy,  the  inhabitants  who  flocked  to  con- 
template her  recoiled  in  amazement,  wonderstruck,  almost 
frightened,  by  the  sight  of  such  incomparable  beauty.  In  some- 
what similar  fashion,  a  great  wave  of  emotion  swayed  the 
spectators  in  Notre  Dame  when  they  saw  the  young  Empress 
enter.  Slowly,  to  the  strains  of  grave  soft  music,  the  bridal 
pair  stepped  along  the  nave  under  a  canopy  of  red  velvet  lined 
with  white  silk.  Holy  water  and  incense  were  offered  them, 
and  they  took  their  places  on  a  throne-like  platform,  whither 
Archbishop  Sibour  of  Paris  *  came  to  salute  them.  Then  they 
proceeded  to  the  altar,  and  the  ceremony  began.  The  Bishop 
of  Nancy  presented  the  offering  of  gold  pieces,  tendered  the 
wedding  ring  for  the  Archbishop's  blessing,  and  with 
the  Bishop  of  Versailles  held  the  canopy  over  the  bridal  pair, 
who,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  marriage  rites,  returned  to  the 
platform  while  mass  was  celebrated.  The  register  was  after- 
wards signed,  the  witnesses  to  the  Emperor's  signature  being 
Prince  Jerome  and  Prince  Napoleon,  and  to  the  Empress's,  the 
Marquis    de    Valdegamas,    Spanish    ambassador,    and    several 

*  Four  years  later,  Mgr.  Sibour  was  stabbed  to  death  in  the  church  of  St. 
Etienne  du  Mont  by  a  priest  named  Verger.  We  shall  have  occasion  to 
recount  that  crime. 


THE  IMPERIAL  MARRIAGE  69 

grandees.  It  was  to  the  strains  of  Lesueur  s  Urhs  heata  that  the 
Emperor  and  Empress  quitted  the  cathedral,  and  when  they 
appeared  at  the  entrance  deafening  applause  arose  from  the 
waiting  crowd.  They  returned  by  way  of  the  quays  to  the 
Tuileries  Palace,  where  a  State  banquet,  a  concert,  and  many 
presentations  ensued.  Finally,  the  newly  wedded  pair  escaped 
to  the  little  chateau  of  Villeneuve  FEtang,  adjoining  the  park 
of  St.  Cloud,  and  there,  and  in  excursions  to  Versailles  and 
Trianon,  they  spent  the  first  days  of  their  union. 

On  the  whole  the  marriage  was  certainly  popular.  The 
Parisians,  however  lively  they  may  be  as  a  community,  are  but 
poor  applauders,  as  everybody  knows.  On  that  first  day  and 
for  some  time  afterwards,  however,  the  Empress''s  beauty 
repeatedly  stirred  them  from  their  wonted  reserve.  Said  one 
man  of  the  people  to  another  on  the  wedding  day,  as  the  cortege 
passed :  "  Well,  at  all  events,  he  [meaning  the  Emperor]  has 
good  taste.  He  can  tell  a  pretty  woman  when  he  sees  one."" 
"  Sapristi,  yes,"  the  other  replied ;  "  shouldn't  I  like  to  be  in 


ace 


I" 


his  pi 

Apart,  however,  from  the  bride''s  attractiveness,  a  distinctly 
favourable  impression  had  been  created  by  her  refusal  of  a 
diamond  jparure  which  the  Administrative  Commission  of 
Paris  *  proposed  to  offer  her  at  a  cost  of  <£*2  4,000,  which  sum 
she  preferred  to  see  devoted  to  some  charitable  work,  and 
notably,  said  she,  to  the  establishment  of  a  school  where  poor 
girls  might  receive  a  professional  education.  Eventually  the 
money  was  used  to  found  the  Orphelinat  Eugfene-Napole'on. 
With  respect  to  a  sum  of  ^£'10,000  which  the  Emperor  placed 
in  his  bride's  corheille  de  mariage,  she  divided  it  among  various 
hospitals  for  incurables  and  maternity  societies.  Apart  from 
those  pecuniary  matters,  however,  the  marriage  had  a  good 
effect  because  the  Emperor  deigned  to  "  pardon  "  3000  persons 
who  had  been  arrested,  transported  or  exiled  for  daring  to 
oppose  or  disapprove  of  his  illegal  Coup  d'Etat.  For  that 
offence  41,000  persons  had  been  apprehended  or  prosecuted,  and 

*  There  was  no  real  Municipal  Council  in  those  days.  Paris  was  not 
allowed  to  have  elected  representatives.  It  was  ruled  by  a  Prefect  and  a 
Commission,  which  was  appointed  by  Government  and  composed  exclusively 
of  fervent  Bonapartists,  on  whom  the  supremo  authorities  could  rely. 


70  THE  COtTRT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

29,000  of  them  convicted  and  sentenced  by  courts  martial,  or 
ordinary  courts,  or  arbitrary  mixed  commissions.*  The  figures 
had  been  diminished  by  successive  decrees  of  pardon,  but  at  the 
time  of  the  imperial  marriage  there  still  remained  some  6000 
persons  imprisoned  at  Lambessa,  at  Cayenne  or  in  France,  or 
else  exiled  from  the  country.  It  was  with  satisfaction  therefore 
that  people  heard  of  the  new  decree  which  considerably  reduced 
the  number  of  the  Coup  d"'Etat"'s  victims. 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  a  Household  had  been  constituted 
for  the  new  Empress.  The  Princess  d"'Essling,  who  was  appointed 
its  Great  Mistress  with  a  salary  of  ^^1600  a  year,  was  a  daughter 
of  General  Debelle.  Short  and  slight  of  figure,  with  fair  curly 
hair,  she  nevertheless  had  a  very  dignified  bearing,  in  fact  she 
was  inclined  to  frigidity  and  curtness  of  manner.  She  did  not 
live  at  the  Tuileries,  but  called  there  every  day  to  take  the 
Empress"'s  orders.  She  attended  her,  of  course,  at  all  state 
ceremonies,  banquets,  and  receptions,  and  was  charged  with  the 
presentation  of  ladies  at  Court.  In  her  absence  her  duties  were 
undertaken  by  the  Empress's  Lady  of  Honour,  a  post  held  at 
first  by  the  Duchess  de  Bassano,  nee  Hoogworth,  wife  of  the 
Emperor's  Great  Chamberlain,  and  a  lady  who  contrasted 
strikingly  with  the  Princess  d'Essling,  for,  like  a  true  Fleming, 
she  was  tall  and  buxom,  and  possessed  of  a  very  amiable  smile 
and  disposition.  Even  the  most  scurrilous  of  the  scandal- 
mongers of  the  Empire  never  assailed  the  Bassano  menage. 
Husband  and  wife  were  regarded  as  patterns  for  the  whole 
Court,  and  the  Duke  was  grievously  afflicted  when  Mme.  de 
Bassano  died  still  young,  leaving  three  children  in  his  charge. 
She  was  succeeded  in  her  office  by  a  beautiful  Florentine, 
Countess  Walewska,  who  was  very  amiable,  indeed  (according 
to  Lord  Malmesbury  and  others)  too  amiable — particularly 
with  the  Emperor.  Of  no  lady  of  the  Court  have  the  anec- 
dotiers  of  the  Empire  related  more  amazing  and,  probably, 
mendacious  stories. 

Besides  the  Great  Mistress  and  the  Lady  of  Honour  there 

were  six  so-called  Ladies  of  the  Palace  (with  salaries  of  ^£'480 

a  year)  in  attendance  on  the  Empress.     Among  their  duties 

were  those  of  accompanying  her  when  she  went  out,  and  of 

*  Eeport  discovered  at  the  Tuileries  after  the  fall  of  the  Empire. 


THE  EMPRESSES   HOUSEHOLD  71 

introducing  lady  visitors  into  her  presence.  They  did  not  reside 
at  the  Tuileries,  but  attended  in  rotation  week  by  week,  there 
being  always  one  "  Dame  de  grand  service"  and  one  "Dame  de 
petit  service "  on  duty.  Among  the  first  appointed  was  the 
Countess  de  Montebello,  nee  de  Villeneuve-Bargemont  and  wife 
of  General  de  Montebello,  sometime  ambassador  at  the  Papal 
Court.  A  fervent  catholic  and  a  great  friend  of  the  Empress's 
sister,  the  Duchess  d'Albe,  Mme.  de  Montebello  was  extremely 
attractive  and  elegant ;  but  towards  the  end  of  the  Empire  she 
fell  into  a  decline,  and  passed  away  almost  on  the  eve  of  the 
Franco-German  war.  Next  one  may  mention  the  Baroness  de  ^^ 
Pierres,  wife  of  the  Empress's  first  Equerry.  She  was  of  American 
birth,  her  father,  Mr.  Thorne,  having  been  one  of  the  early 
millionaires  of  the  United  States,  one  who  had  dazzled  Paris 
with  his  wealth  during  the  reign  of  Louis  Philippe.  It  was 
through  Mme.  de  Pierres  that  more  than  one  American  lady 
obtained  the  entree  to  the  Court  of  the  Tuileries,  for  it  must  not 
be  forgotten  that  beauties  and  heiresses  of  the  new  world  were 
cordially  welcomed  there  very  many  years  before  they  succeeded 
in  invading  the  Court  of  St.  James.  The  Baroness  de  Pierres 
was  a  splendid  horsewoman — in  fact,  one  of  the  best  riders  in 
France. 

Another  Lady  of  the  Palace,  the  INlarchioness  de  Las  Maris-  ^.^ 
mas,  was  a  famous  Court  beauty,  with  fair  golden  hair,  a  bright 
dazzling  complexion,  and  a  most  graceful  figure.  But  she  was 
gradually  borne  down  by  successive  misfortunes.  First  her 
husband,  a  naturalized  Frenchman  of  Spanish  origin  and  ex- 
tremely wealthy,  lost  his  reason,  whereupon  she  would  not 
suffer  him  to  be  removed  to  any  asylum,  but  watched  over  him 
until  his  death.  A  new  life  seemed  to  be  opening  for  her  when 
by  special  dispensation  she  married  her  deceased  husband's 
brother.  Viscount  Onesime  Aguado,  but  she  lost  in  succession 
her  lovely  daughter  Carmen,  Duchess  de  Montmorency,  then 
both  her  sons,  and  her  second  husband  also.  It  is  not  sur- 
prising that  she  should  have  ended  her  life  in  close  and  sorrowful 
retirement.  At  one  time,  however,  the  Aguado  mansion  in  the 
Rue  de  TElysee  witnessed  some  of  the  most  splendid  enter- 
tainments given  in  Paris,  while  the  Aguado  equipages  were 
renowned. 


72  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Among  the  very  first  Ladies  of  the  Palace  who  were  appointed 
was  the  Countess  Feray,  daughter  of  Marshal  Bugeaud,  who, 
being  extremely  proud  of  her  birth,  found  Court  duties  and 
habits  of  deference  irksome.  She  therefore  soon  withdrew  from 
the  post.  The  Countess  de  Lezay-Marnesia,  a  very  amiable 
woman,  who  was  another  of  the  first  ladies-in-waiting,  also 
resigned,  but  in  consequence  of  failing  health ;  whereupon  the 
Empress  selected  as  her  successor  the  beautiful  Madame  Carette, 
grand-daughter  of  Admiral  Bouvet,  and  for  some  years  her 
Majesty's  reader.  Mme.  Carette's  husband  was  a  prominent 
landowner  and  agriculturist  of  northern  France.  Of  recent 
years  she  has  penned  various  volumes  of  recollections,  which  we 
have  consulted  and  quoted  from  in  this  narrative. 

The  Marchioness  de  Latour-Maubourg,  a  granddaughter 
of  Marshal  Mortier,  was  also  a  Lady  of  the  Palace.  She  was 
tall,  good-tempered,  and  witty,  had  little  taste  for  display,  but 
was  extremely  attached  to  her  husband,  a  tall  and  handsome 
man,  who  held  office  in  the  Imperial  Hunt.  A  succession  of 
misfortunes,  similar  to  those  of  the  Aguados,  fell  upon  the 
family,  and  Mme.  de  Latour-Maubourg,  the  last  survivor, 
ended  by  seeking  refuge  in  a  convent.  Among  her  colleagues 
at  Court  were  the  two  daughters  of  the  Marquis  de  la  Roche- 
Lambert,  sometime  Ambassador  at  Berlin — first  the  Countess 
de  La  Bedoyere,  and  secondly  the  Countess  de  La  Poeze.*  The 
former,  a  radiant  blonde  with  a  fine  figure,  is  often  mentioned 
by  the  anecdotiers  of  the  time.  Becoming  a  widow,  she 
married  Edgar  Ney,  Prince  de  la  Moskowa,  but  after  her 
second  marriage  she  was  always  ailing,  and  died  comparatively 
young.  Her  sister,  Mme.  de  La  Poeze,  was  of  slighter  build 
and  less  beauty,  but  she  possessed  a  very  lively  wit. 

The  Baroness  de  Malaret,  noted  for  her  taste  in  dress,  was 
only  for  a  short  time  in  attendance  on  the  Empress,  having 
followed  her  husband  to  Turin  when  he  received  a  diplomatic 
appointment  there.  Mme.  de  Sancy  de  Parabere,  a  daughter 
of  General  Lefebvre-Desnouettes,  and  therefore  a  family  con- 
nection of  the  Bonapartes,  appeared  upon  the  scene  in  1855, 
when  she  was  still  very  young.  A  woman  of  the  highest 
distinction,  witty  and  high-minded,  expert   too   in   retaining 

*  See  p.  355  for  further  references  to  these  ladies. 


THE  EMPRESS'S   HOUSEHOLD  73 

her  beauty  in  spite  of  the  lapse  of  years,  she  became  one  of 
the  Empress's  favourites.  Her  colleague,  Mme.  de  Saulcy, 
a  daughter  of  Baron  de  Billing,  was  very  charming,  tall,  slim 
and  graceful,  with  a  gentle  face.  Her  husband  was  a  writer 
of  repute  on  the  Holy  Land  and  Jewish  history.  The  Baroness 
de  Viry  de  Cohendier,  a  handsome  young  woman  with  large 
dark  eyes,  for  which  Marshal  Vaillant  very  bluntly  expressed 
his  admiration,*  only  became  a  lady-in-waiting  after  the 
annexation  of  Savoy,  to  which  province  she  belonged.  She 
was,  without  reason,  very  jealous  of  her  husband,  a  tall,  pale, 
frigid  man,  who  was  appointed  an  honorary  chamberlain  and 
mooned  about  the  palace,  making  friends  with  nobody. 

The  Countess  de  Lourmel,  another  Lady  of  the  Palace,  was,  ^"^ 
says  the  Duke  de  Conegliano,  plain,  but  very  gay  and  amiable. 
Perhaps  so — with  gentlemen.  But  Mme.  Carette,  while  men- 
tioning that  the  Countess  was  quite  destitute  of  beauty,  differs 
from  the  Duke  in  other  respects,  for  she  rather  spitefully 
describes  Mme.  de  Lourmel  as  vain  and  irritable,  and  en- 
deavouring fruitlessly  to  become  the  Empress's  favourite. 
She  was  generally  known  as  the  "lady  with  the  emeralds," 
owing  to  a  wonderful  parure  which  she  was  fond  of  wearing, 
and  which  was  supposed  to  be  composed  of  false  stones,  as  her 
private  circumstances  were  slender.  She  died  towards  the  end 
of  the  Empire  after  losing  her  reason.  The  Tuileries  was  an 
unlucky  palace,  as  we  have  said  before. 

There  were  two  Maids  of  Honour  in  office.  At  first  Mile. 
Bouvet  (Mme.  Carette)  and  Mile,  de  Kloeckler,  who  were  , 
succeeded  by  Mile.  Marion  (later  Countess  Clary)  and  Mile, 
de  Lermont.  The  post  of  reader  to  the  Empress  was  occupied 
at  various  periods  by  Mile.  Bouvet,  the  Countess  de  Pons  de 
Wagner,  a  somewhat  eccentric  old  lady,t  and  Mme.  Lebreton 

*  According  to  Mme.  Carette's  "  Souvenirs,"  he  told  the  lady  that  she 
reminded  him  of  "  Juno  with  the  cow's  eyes."  If  he  had  left  out  the  last  four 
words  the  Baroness  would  have  felt  flattered,  but  she  disliked  the  allusion  to 
a  four-footed  animal,  particularly  the  one  mentioned, 

t  Mme.  Carette  relates  that  Mme.  de  Wagner  usually  wore  a  plain  dark 
wig,  but  that  on  one  occasion,  when  Hortense  Schneider  was  turning  every- 
body's head  in  Paris  with  her  golden  tresses  as  la  Belle  H616ne,  the  old  lady 
arrived  at  the  Tuileries  wearing  a  new  and  curly  wig  of  the  fashionable  aureate 
hue.  Mme.  Carette  rushed  from  the  room  laughing  at  the  sight,  and  the 
Empress,  v<'ho  met  her  and  ascertained  the  cause,  sent  orders  that  Mme.  da 


74  THE   COURT  OF  THE   TUILERIES 

(sister  of  General  Bourbaki),  the  well-remembered  and  devoted 
attendant  who  followed  the  Empress  Eugenie  into  exile.  The 
Maids  of  Honour  (and  eventually  the  Empress's  reader)  lived 
at  the  Tuileries,  and  one  or  other  was  on  duty  every  morning, 
and  accompanied  her  Majesty  on  her  private  visits  to  hospitals 
and  charitable  establishments.  Much  time  was  also  given  to 
classifying  and  putting  away  the  Empress's  correspondence,  the 
greater  part  of  which  is  still  in  existence,  in  her  Majesty's 
custody.  It  may  be  added  that  the  reader  never  actually  read 
to  the  Empress — who  preferred  to  do  her  reading  herself, 
perusing  several  newspapers  regularly — but  she  penned  many 
letters  such  as  the  Empress  did  not  care  to  have  written  by  her 
"  Secretaire  des  Commandements." 

It  was  a  rule  that  the  Court  ladies  should  wear  low-necked 
dresses  every  evening,  but  that  their  toilettes  should  be  simple 
and  their  jewels  few,  unless  there  happened  to  be  some  grand 
entertainment.  The  rank  of  the  Great  Mistress  of  the  House- 
hold was  indicated  by  a  superb  medallion  which  she  wore  on 
her  breast,  and  which  had  a  portrait  of  the  Emperor  on  one 
side  and  of  the  Empress  on  the  other.  After  the  birth  of  the 
Imperial  Prince  the  "Governess  of  the  Children  of  France" 
displayed  a  similar  medallion.  The  Ladies  of  the  Palace,  for 
their  part,  wore,  on  the  left  side  of  their  bodices,  a  jewel 
bearing  the  Empress's  initial  in  diamonds  set  in  blue  enamel. 
All  the  insignia  mentioned  were  surmounted  by  the  imperial 
crown  in  brilliants,  and  hung  from  ribands  striped  blue  and 
white. 

The  men  of  the  Empress's  Household  were  first  Count 
Tascher  de  la  Pagerie,  the  Great  Master,  and  his  son,  Count 
Charles,  the  First  Chamberlain.  They  received  dS'lGOO  and 
=£•1200  a  year  respectively.  The  former,  born  at  Martinique 
in  1787,  had  fought  at  the  battle  of  Eylau  and  in  Portugal 
under  Junot.  He  had  subsequently  attached  himself  to  the 
fortunes  of  Eugene  de  Beauharnais,  and  followed  him  to 
Bavaria.     He   returned  to  France  in  1852  at  the  request  of 

Wagner  was  to  take  of£  her  golden  wig  at  once  and  never  come  to  the  palace 
in  it  again.   M.  de  Piennes,  one  of  the  chamberlains,  persuaded  the  astonished 
.  old  lady  (who  had  expected  to  be  much  admired)  to  take  the  wig  back  to 
the  coiffeur  of  whom  she  had  purchased  it. 


THE  EMPRESSES   HOUSEHOLD  75 

Napoleon  HI.,  who  thereupon  made  him  a  senator.  He  had 
spent  so  many  years  in  Bavaria,  however,  that  he  had  become 
more  a  German  than  a  Frenchman.  His  duties  as  Great 
Master  were  few  and  light,  but  being  very  gouty  he  left  them 
almost  invariably  to  Count  Charles,  who  was  still  more  of  a 
German,  having  been  born  in  Bavaria  in  1822.  Very  ill 
favoured  as  regards  his  looks,  and  fond  of  grimacing,  he  had, 
as  the  Duke  de  Conegliano  rightly  says,  no  taste  at  all,  as  was 
shown  when  he  arrayed  the  male  members  of  the  House- 
hold in  vivid  Bavarian  blue.  He  was  very  intimate  with  all 
the  secretaries  and  attaches  of  the  various  German  embassies 
in  Paris,  and  entertained  them  freely  at  his  residence.  His 
sister.  Countess  Stephanie  Tascher  de  la  Pagerie,  a  Canoness  in 
Bavaria,  was  far  more  tasteful  and  much  brighter.  She  held 
no  Court  office,  merely  residing  with  her  father  at  the  Tuileries, 
but  she  organized  several  of  the  most  successful  entertainments 
given  at  the  palace,  and  has  written  an  interesting  account  of 
her  life  there.* 

The  chamberlains  of  the  Empress,  each  in  receipt  of  ,£'480 
a  year,  were  Count  de  liezay-Marnesia,  husband  of  the  lady 
we  previously  mentioned  and  a  connection  of  the  Bonaparte 
family,  the  Marquis  de  Piennes  and  Count  Artus  de  Cosse- 
Brissac.  The  Marquis  d'Havrincourt  also  served  for  a  short 
time.  The  three  others  Avere  all  of  artistic  tastes.  The  first 
painted  in  oils,  the  second  was  a  sculptor,  the  third  a  good 
draughtsman.  M.  de  Marnesia,  who  was  tall,  fair,  and  very 
good-looking,  succeeded  Count  Charles  Tascher  as  First 
Chamberlain  in  1869.  He  was  fond  of  dabbling  in  politics, 
like  his  colleague  M.  de  Piennes,  who  married  the  daughter 
of  Marshal  MacMahon.  Count  Artus  de  Cosse-Brissac  be- 
longed to  a  famous  house  with  which  Court  functions  were 
hereditary  under  the  old  French  monarchy ;  for  in  addition 
to  the  four  of  its  members  who  became  Marshals  of  France, 
one  was  Great  Almoner,  four  were  Great  Falconers,  while  no 
fewer  than  ten  successively  became  Great  or  First  Pantlers  to 
the  King — the  last  only  giving  up  his  office  in  1789.  Count 
Artus,  the  Empress"'s  chamberlain,   was  a  man  of  lively  and. 

*  Botli  the  Counts  Tascher  de  la  Pagerie  died  at  the  Tuileries,  the  elder  iu 
1861,  the  younger  in  1869. 


76  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

open  disposition.  His  wife  was  nee  La  Mothe-Houdancourt, 
another  famous  name  in  the  days  of  the  old  regivie. 

It  is  said  that  when  the  selection  of  a  Secretaire  des 
Commandements  to  the  Empress  was  mooted,  she  suggested 
Merimee  for  the  post,  and  that  Napoleon  IH.  was  unwilling 
to  appoint  the  author  of  "  Carmen "  and  "  Colomba."  The 
story  runs  that  the  suggestion  really  emanated  from  Madame 
de  Montijo,  with  whom  Merimee's  name  was  often  associated 
in  a  very  invidious  manner.  In  any  case  the  appointment  was 
not  made,  the  post  being  given  to  a  certain  M.  Damas-Hinard, 
a  little,  bald-headed,  smiling  old  man,  who  was  always  faultlessly 
arrayed  in  a  glossy  dress-coat  and  a  white  cravat,  while  that 
of  librarian  went  to  a  M.  de  St.  Albin,  who  delighted  in  very 
ancient  hats  and  well-worn  clothes,  so  creased  and  untidy,  that 
it  seemed  as  if  he  slept  in  them. 

The  Empress"'s  chief  maid  was  Mme.  Pollet,  her  assistants 
including  the  Demoiselles  Bayle,  daughters  of  the  Emperor''s 
jailer  during  his  imprisonment  at  Ham.  Something  will  have 
to  be  said  of  Mme.  Pollet  when  describing  the  routine  of  the 
Empress's  daily  life.  It  is  now  best  to  pass  to  some  of  the  chief 
incidents  which  marked  the  Court's  earlier  years. 


CHAPTER  IV 

QUEEN   VICTORIA   IN   PARIS — BIRTH   OF   THE    IMPERIAL 

PRINCE 

The  Corps  L^gislatif  and  its  Dancing  Bears — The  Crimean  War  and  the 
"  Entente  Cordiale  "  with  Great  Britain — The  Prince  Consort  at  Boulogne 
— The  first  Paris  International  Exhibition — The  Emperor  and  Empress 
visit  Queen  Victoria — The  Despair  of  the  Empress's  Hairdresser — The 
first  Lord  Mayor  seen  by  the  Parisians — Queen  Victoria's  State  Visit  to 
France — The  Emperor's  narrow  Escape  from  Death— The  Queen's  Eecep- 
tion  in  Paris — The  Visit  to  the  First  Napoleon's  Tomb — Queen  Victoria 
and  the  Battle  of  Fontenoy — The  Great  Fete  at  Versailles — The  Queen's 
Departure — ^Victor  Emmanuel  in  Paris — Chevalier  Nigra — The  Birth  of 
the  Imperial  Prince — Mishaps  of  the  Empress  Eugenie — The  Layette  and 
the  Cradles — The  Pope's  quandary  about  baby-linen — The  Governesses 
and  Nurses — Twenty  Hours  of  Suspense — The  Guns  of  the  Invalides — 
Appearance  of  the  Imperial  Prince — Th^ophile  Gautier  and  Camille 
Doucet  celebrate  his  birth — Civil  List  Benefactions — The  Private  and  the 
Public  Baptism — The  Empress  and  the  Golden  Rose. 

HowEVEU  great  were  the  gaieties  of  the  Second  Empire,  there 
was  always  a  little  rift  in  the  lute  even  amid  festivities  which 
seemed  the  most  likely  to  prove  harmonious.  Not  long  after 
the  imperial  marriage  the  deputies  of  the  Corps  Legislatif  gave 
a  ball  in  honour  of  the  Empress.  The  hall  of  the  Palais 
Bourbon  where  they  met  was  transformed  for  the  occasion  into 
a  magnificent  dancing  saloon,  and  both  as  an  entertaining 
spectacle  for  those  who  did  not  dance  and  as  a  source  of  per- 
sonal physical  enjoyment  for  those  who  did,  the  fete  was  a 
brilliant  success.  Rabelais'  "  uncomfortable  quarter  of  an  hour  " 
ensued,  however.  It  had  been  arranged  that  the  entertain- 
ment should  be  a  subscription  affair,  each  deputy  paying  his 
quota  of  the  expenses.  The  total  outlay  being  about  6^4,800, 
it  followed  that  the  deputies  were  called  upon  to  pay  some  six- 
teen guineas  apiece.    At  that  time  they  were  being  remunerated 


78  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

at  the  rate  of  dS'lOO  a  month  for  as  long  a  period  as  any  session 
lasted ;  nevertheless  a  good  many  of  them  made  somewhat 
wry  faces  when  their  dancing  bill  was  presented.  Ultimately, 
with  but  one  exception,  they  all  "paid  up" — the  exception 
being  the  famous  Catholic  politician  the  Count  de  Montalem- 
bert,  who,  having  refused  to  attend  the  entertainment  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  quite  indecent  for  deputies  to  disport 
themselves  on  the  light  fantastic  toe,  also  refused  to  pay  any 
subscription.  At  the  same  time,  not  wishing  to  appear 
niggardly,  he  decided  to  send  sixteen  guineas  to  the  mayor 
of  Besanpon  (which  town  he  represented  in  the  Chamber), 
requesting  him  to  add  the  amount  to  some  apprenticeship  fund 
which  had  been  recently  established  there.  The  mayor,  how- 
ever, dreadfully  shocked  at  the  idea  of  dealing  in  that  fashion 
with  money  which,  said  he,  ought  to  have  been  employed  in 
ministering  to  the  pleasures  of  the  Empress,  immediately  sent 
it  back  to  M.  de  Montalembert,  who  had  to  expend  it  in 
private  charity.  Such  was  the  press  regime  of  those  times  that 
the  newspapers  scarcely  dared  to  comment  on  the  affair  either 
one  way  or  the  other ;  still  one  of  them  ventured  to  remark : 
"  It  used  to  be  said  that  the  National  Assembly  of  the  defunct 
Republic  was  like  a  bear-garden,  and  indeed  we  remember  many 
occasions  when  the  representatives  of  the  people  were  within  an 
ace  of  clutching  and  clawing  one  another.  We  have  progressed 
since  then,  as  everybody  is  aware.  And  frankly,  for  our  part, 
we  infinitely  prefer  to  see  our  bears  tamed  and  dancing."  That 
season,  in  those  circles  of  Parisian  society  which  were  inimical 
to  the  Empire,  the  deputies  of  the  Legislative  Body  were  freely 
called  "  the  dancing  bears." 

In  September  that  year  (1853)  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
went  on  a  tour  through  parts  of  Normandy  and  northern 
France.  They  next  betook  themselves  to  Compi^gne  and 
Fontainebleau,  where  for  a  while  no  little  gaiety  prevailed. 
But  clouds  were  gathering,  and  early  in  the  following  year 
the  Crimean  War  began.  The  French  Republicans  were  not 
displeased  to  see  the  Empire  (which  was  to  have  been  Peace) 
already  embroiled  with  a  foreign  power,  for  they  anticipated 
complications  that  would  give  them  an  opportunity  to  over- 
throw the  regime.      Victor   Hugo,  "  perched  on  the  rock  of 


QUEEN  VICTORIA   IN   PARIS  79 

Jersey,"  expressed  himself  in  that  sense  in  some  grandiloquent 
apocalyptical  verses ;  while  others  declared  that  the  Empire  was 
evidently  in  sore  straits,  as  it  recognized  that  it  must  speedily 
collapse  unless  it  could  secure  a  baptism  of  glory. 

No  matter  what  may  have  been  said,  however,  by  the 
"  irreconcilables "  of  that  time,  or  by  Frenchmen  generally  in 
these  later  years  of  the  more  or  less  stable  Russian  alliance,  it 
is  certain  that  the  Crimean  War  was  popular  with  the  great 
mass  of  the  nation.  Moreover,  the  rapprocheinent  with  England 
which  had  been  going  on  ever  since  the  Coup  d'Etat  (in  spite  of 
the  outspokenness  of  the  English  press  with  respect  to  the 
Emperor  and  many  of  those  around  him),  was  gradually  meeting 
with  greater  and  greater  favour.  Several  little  incidents 
contributed  to  that  result.  The  British  Government  had  pre- 
sented the  will  of  Napoleon  I.  to  the  new  Emperor ;  cordial 
speeches  had  been  exchanged  on  the  occasion  of  the  visit  of 
some  of  the  chief  London  merchants  to  Paris  ;  a  project  for  the 
piercing  of  a  Panama  canal  with  British  capital  and  French 
support  had  been  mooted  with  some  success;  and  pleasant 
courtesies  had  attended  the  reception  of  the  English  colony  at 
Boulogne  during  an  imperial  visit  to  that  town. 

Various  matters  of  that  kind,  coupled  with  the  agreement 
of  the  French  and  English  Governments  on  the  Russo-Turkish 
question,  helped  to  draw  the  two  nations  together.  There 
was,  of  course,  no  unanimous  approval  of  the  rapprochement. 
Unanimity  was  impossible.  There  were  still,  on  both  sides,  too 
many  people  alive  who  retained  a  vivid  memory  of  Waterloo, 
which  was  then  only  thirty-nine  years  old.  Besides,  French- 
men barely  of  middle  age  readily  recalled  all  the  trouble  over 
Mehemet  Ali,  the  Spanish  marriages,  the  Pritchard  affair  and 
other  matters,  which  had  repeatedly  endangered  the  enteiite 
cordidle  of  the  two  countries  during  the  reign  of  Louis  Philippe.* 
But  Waterloo  alone  was  a  terrible  memory,  such  as  it  is  hardly 
possible  for  people  of  the  present  generation  to  conceive  ;  and, 
curiously  enough,  while  on  the  one  hand  the  Second  Empire 

*  According  to  Littre,  the  expression  entente  cordiale,  as  applied  to  the 
relations  of  France  and  Great  Britain,  was  first  employed  in  1840,  in  an 
Address  of  the  French  Chamber  of  Deputies  to  the  Crown.  We  believe,  how- 
ever, that  it  originated  a  few  years  previously. 


80  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

sought  to  obliterate  it,  on  the  other  it  lent  it  continuity  of  life 
by  its  repeatedly  declared  ambition  to  "  tear  up  the  treaties  of 
1815."  We  now  live  at  a  much  faster  pace  than  we  did  then. 
Never  was  the  saying  "  here  to-day  and  gone  to-morrow  "  more 
appropriate  than  it  is  at  present.  Yet  there  are  things  which 
remain  unforgotten  even  amid  the  helter-skelter  of  these  quick- 
change  days.  In  Finance  the  memory  of  Sedan  abides  even  as 
did  the  memory  of  Waterloo,  and  who  can  tell  when  it  will  pass 
away  ?  Not,  perhaps,  for  many  years.  Little  interest  may  now 
attach  to  the  Crimean  War,  but  it  is  a  question  whether  Lord 
Salisbury's  dictum,  about  putting  "  money  on  the  wrong  horse," 
ought  not  to  be  qualified.  In  any  case,  that  war  was  not 
without  its  happy  consequences,  for  it  did  more  than  anything 
else  to  bring  Frenchmen  and  Englishmen  together.  There  was 
trouble  again  between  them  not  long  afterwards,  but  only 
passing  trouble.  The  sting  of  Waterloo  was  virtually  healed 
by  Alma  and  Inkermann. 

In  the  autumn  of  1854  the  Emperor  was  at  Boulogne  inspect- 
ing and  reviewing  the  forces  there.  In  one  of  his  addresses  to 
the  troops  at  that  time  he  remarked,  sagely  enough  :  "  Any 
army  whose  different  parts  cannot  be  united  in  four  and  twenty 
hours  is  an  army  badly  distributed."  The  aphorism  was  based 
on  the  dicta  of  the  first  Napoleon,  and  it  was  a  pity  for  France 
that  the  third  one  did  not  remember  it  sixteen  years  afterwards. 
While  he  was  at  Boulogne  he  received  a  visit  from  the  Prince 
Consort,  in  whose  honour  various  manoeuvres  took  place.  A 
little  later  the  Empress  arrived  from  Biarritz,  and  accompany- 
ing Napoleon  on  horseback,  participated  in  the  reviewing  of  the 
troops.  Then  came  a  brief  period  of  rejoicing,  for  the  victory 
of  the  Alma  tended  to  the  belief  that  the  war  would  be  short. 
But  St.  Arnaud  died,  the  Russians  retired  on  Sebastopol,  and 
in  spite  of  Inkermann  all  hope  of  a  speedy  peace  departed. 
Thus  there  were  no  fetes  at  Compiegne  or  Fontainebleau  that 
autumn  ;  the  Court  was  almost  in  mourning. 

In  the  spring  of  1855  public  attention  was  in  a  measure 
diverted  from  the  Crimea  by  the  first  of  the  Paris  international 
exhibitions,  for  which  a  company  erected,  at  a  cost  of  half  a 
million  sterling,  the  huge  building,  some  900  feet  in  length, 
known   as   the   Palais   de   Tlndustrie   and   for   many   years   a 


QUEEN  VICTORIA  IN  PARIS  81 

conspicuous  feature  of  the  Champs  Elysees.*  A  raohT;h  before 
the  inauguration  of  this  world-show  (in  which  Russia,  naturally, 
did  not  participate)  the  Emperor  and  Empress  went  to  England 
on  a  visit  to  Queen  Victoria.  This  was  quite  an  event.  In 
attendance  on  Napoleon  were  Marshal  Vaillant,  the  Duke  de 
Bassano,  General  de  Montebello,  Edgar  Ney,  Count  Fleury, 
and  M.  de  Toulongeon,  while  the  Empress's  retinue  included 
the  Princess  d'Essling,  the  Countess  de  Montebello,  the  Baroness 
de  Malaret,  and  Count  Charles  Tascher  de  la  Pagerie.  Fleury, 
who  made  all  the  arrangements  for  the  journey,  blundered 
badly  by  dividing  the  retinue  into  various  sections,  for,  as  the 
yachts  in  which  the  imperial  party  crossed  the  Channel  became 
separated,  the  Emperor  and  Empress  had  already  reached 
London  when  some  of  their  attendants  were  barely  landing 
at  Dover.  A  special  train  conveyed  the  belated  ones  at  full 
speed  to  the  metropolis,  though  not  in  time  to  overtake  the 
others,  who  had  already  left  for  W^indsor. 

As  Fleury  was  getting  into  the  court-landau  which  was 
to  carry  him  to  Paddington  he  was  accosted  by  an  individual 
with  a  greenish  hue  and  woebegone  expression  of  countenance 
whom  he  did  not  recognize,  but  who  earnestly  entreated 
permission  to  get  up  behind  with  the  footmen.  "But  who 
may  you  be  ? "  Fleury  somewhat  sharply  inquired.  "  I  am 
Felix,  her  Majesty  the  Empress's  hairdresser,"  was  the  reply, 
"  and  I  am  in  despair  at  being  left  behind !  What  her 
Majesty  will  do  without  me  I  cannot  tell,  but  I  feel  like 
cutting  my  throat ! "  The  position  was  indeed  serious  :  the 
Empress  already  at  Windsor  and  no  coiffeur  to  dress  her  hair 
for  dinner  !  What  a  disaster  !  "  Quick,  then,  get  up  behind," 
said  Fleury,  and  away  the  party  went.  When  they  arrived  at 
Windsor  Fleury  hastened  to  inform  the  Empress  of  the  incident. 
"  Tell  Felix  not  to  distress  himself,"  said  she,  laughing ;  "  he 
must  on  no  account  commit  suicide.  We  want  no  aifaire 
Vatel  here.t  My  maids  have  done  their  best  for  me  in  his 
absence." 

*  Other  buildings,  costing  another  quarter  of  a  million  sterling,  were  also 
erected.  The  enterprise,  though  successful  in  many  ways,  resulted  in  a  heavy 
deficit  for  the  company,  which  was  only  extricated  from  its  difficulties  by  the 
purchase  of  the  Palais  de  I'lndustrie  by  the  State. 

t  The  reader  will  remember  that  Vatel,  the  Prince  de  Conde''s  cook,  spitted 

G 


82  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

At  this  time  Napoleon  appears  to  have  created  a  favourable 
impression  on  Queen  Victoria,  and  she  was  especially  pleased 
with  the  Empress,  whose  manner  was  "  the  most  perfect  thing  " 
she  had  ever  seen,  "so  gentle  and  graceful  .  .  .  the  courtesy 
so  charming,  and  so  modest  and  retiring  withal."  The  stay  at 
Windsor  was  marked  by  a  review  of  troops  under  Lord 
Cardigan  of  Balaclava  fame,  and  by  a  council  of  war  which  pro- 
nounced unanimously  against  a  project  then  entertained  by  the 
Emperor  of  proceeding  in  person  to  the  Crimea,  in  order  to 
hasten  the  military  operations.  For  the  time  he  was  unwilling 
to  relinquish  that  scheme,  though  he  ultimately  abandoned  it, 
as  we  shall  see.  During  his  sojourn  at  Windsor  he  was  installed 
with  all  pomp  and  ceremony  as  a  Knight  of  the  Garter,  a 
distinction  which,  as  a  parvenu  Emperor,  he  rightly  prized. 
The  French  Moniteur,  when  publishing  a  grandiloquent 
account  of  the  proceedings,  laid  particular  emphasis  on  the  fact 
that  Queen  Victoria  had  distinguished  his  Majesty  by  giving 
him  the  accolade  on  either  cheek,  instead  of  merely  tendering 
him  her  hand  as  was  her  custom  when  other  Knights  of  the 
Garter  were  installed.  Later,  upon  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
going  to  London,  they  were  banqueted  by  the  Corporation  of 
the  City,  when  the  most  cordial  speeches  were  exchanged  in 
celebration  of  the  Franco-British  alliance.  All  this  had  effect 
on  public  opinion,  not  only  in  England  and  France,  but  also  on 
the  continent  generally.  The  authority  of  Napoleon  III.  as  a 
sovereign  was  enhanced,  consolidated,  both  amang  his  own 
people  and  in  foreign  states — such  was  the  benefit  reaped  by 
those  who  secured  the  favour  of  Great  Britain,  such  her  prestige 
under  Palmerston. 

Bat  there  was  more  to  come.  After  the  opening  of  the  Paris 
Exhibition  on  the  return  of  the  imperial  party  to  France,  the 
Lord  Mayor  of  London  and  numerous  members  of  the  corporation 
went  in  state  to  the  French  capital,  where  their  visit  awakened 
great  interest  and  curiosity.  The  Lord  Mayor  of  that  time. 
Sir  Francis  Graham  Moon — the  famous  fine-art  publisher  who 
did  so  much  to  popularize  Wilkie,  Eastlake,  Landseer,  Roberts, 
Stanfield,  Cattermole,  and  others — had  often  been  in  France 

himself  with,  his  sword  because  the  fish  was  late  in  arriving  on  the  occasion  of 
Louis  XIV.'s  famous  visit  to  Ohantilly. 


QUEEN   VICTORIA   IN  PARIS  83 

previously  as  a  private  individual,  but  this  was  the  first  time 
that  the  Parisians  were  privileged  to  gaze  upon  a  "  Lor'  Maire '' 
arrayed  in  all  his  pomp  and  glory,  with  his  chain  of  office 
hanging  from  his  shoulders,  and  his  attendant  mace-bearer, 
sword-bearer  and  trumpeters,  besides  all  such  satellites  as 
sheriffs,  aldermen,  and  common  councillors  robed  in  scarlet  or 
mazarine.  Frenchmen  knew  very  little  about  the  Corporation 
of  London,  but  their  novelists  had  taught  them  to  regard  it  as 
a  wonderful,  mysterious  survival  of  the  middle  ages,  and  Milor' 
Maire's  authority  in  England  was  supposed  to  be  second  only 
to  that  of  the  Queen  herself.  Sir  Francis  Moon  and  his  family 
were  sumptuously  lodged  at  the  H6tel  de  Ville,  the  other 
visitors  were  suitably  provided  for,  and  receptions,  balls,  and 
banquets,  in  which  the  Imperial  Court  as  well  as  the  Parisian 
municipality  participated,  became  the  order  of  the  day. 

If  that  were  the  first  time  that  Paris  had  ever  gazed  upon  a 
Lord  Mayor,  some  four  and  a  half  centuries  had  elapsed  since 
a  reigning  sovereign  of  England  had  set  foot  within  the  city's 
walls.  Since  the  departure  of  the  infant  Henry  VL,  crowned 
at  Notre  Dame,  only  two  exiled  English  sovereigns — Charles  II. 
before  the  Restoration  and  James  II.  after  the  Glorious  Revo- 
lution— had  been  seen  in  the  French  capital.  Now,  however, 
Queen  Victoria,  still  further  cementing  the  alliance  of  the  two 
countries,  came  to  visit  Paris  and  the  Exhibition.  Accompanied 
by  the  Prince  Consort,  the  Princess  Royal  and  the  Prince  of 
Wales  (now,  of  course,  Edward  VII.),  she  crossed  the  Channel 
from  Osborne  to  Boulogne,  where  she  was  received  by  Napoleon 
III.,  who  had  resolved  to  escort  her  to  his  capital. 

On  the  morning  of  August  18,  before  the  royal  yacht  and 
the  attendant  British  squadron  were  sighted  from  the  port,  the 
Emperor,  accompanied  by  Marshal  Baraguay  d'Hilliers,  rode 
to  the  heights  to  ascertain  if  from  that  point  of  vantage 
anything  could  be  discerned  of  his  visitors'  approach.  Halting 
his  horse  at  a  short  distance  from  the  overhanging  cliff,  he  let 
the  reins  hang  on  the  animal's  neck,  while,  with  both  hands,  he 
raised  a  pair  of  field  glasses  to  his  eyes.  All  at  once,  the  horse, 
startled  perhaps  by  some  action  on  the  part  of  a  few  men  who 
were  digging  a  trench  near  by,  bounded  forward,  the  Emperor's 
hat  flew  off,  and  he  precipitately  dropped  his  glasses  in  order  to 


84  THE   COURT  OF  THE   TUILERIES 

seize  the  reins  and  check  the  impetuous  animal.  He  was  an 
expert  equestrian — indeed,  little  as  he  might  look  it,  he  had 
been  quite  a  dare-devil  rider  in  his  younger  days,  as  Lord 
Malmesbury  and  others  who  then  knew  him  have  testified — still 
his  danger  was  real,  and  it  was  only  with  the  very  greatest 
difficulty  and  by  the  combined  force  of  skill  and  muscles  that 
he  was  able  to  pull  his  horse  back  upon  its  haunches  when  it 
was  within  but  a  foot  or  two  of  the  depths  yawning  beyond 
the  cliff.  In  after  years  Napoleon  referred  more  than  once  to 
that  incident.  He  had  never  feared,  said  he,  the  bombs  or 
bullets  of  would-be  assassins,  but,  for  just  one  second,  on  the 
cliff  of  Boulogne,  he  had  felt  that  he  could  see  death  staring 
him  in  the  face.* 

That  same  afternoon  at  two  o'clock  the  Queen  landed  at 
Boulogne,  and  shortly  before  seven  she  made  her  entry  into  Paris. 
For  several  days  people  had  been  flocking  into  the  city ;  £12 
was  the  lowest  price  for  a  window  overlooking  the  Boulevards, 
and  the  footways  were  packed  for  miles  with  enthusiastic  sight- 
seers. The  decorations  inside  and  around  the  railway  station, 
the  triumphal  arches  on  the  Boulevards,  were  such  as  only 
Parisian  taste  can  devise.  It  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  on  the 
undoubted  warmth  of  the  reception  given  to  the  Queen  as  she 
drove  by  in  an  open  carriage  drawn  by  four  horses — the 
Princess  Royal  sitting  by  her  side,  and  the  Prince  Consort  and 
the  Emperor  sharing  the  front  seat.  Cannon  boomed,  flags 
fluttered,  bands  played  the  National  Anthem,  soldiers  presented 
arms,  and  ladies  waved  their  handkerchiefs,  while  Paris  cheered 
as,  within  the  memory  of  its  oldest  inhabitant,  it  had  never 
cheered   before.      Night   was   setting  in  when   the   procession 

*  It  is  unprofitable  to  speculate  on  the  "  ifs  "  of  history,  but  it  may  be 
pointed  out  that  a  curious  situation  would  have  arisen  had  the  Emperor  met 
with  a  fatal  accident  on  the  occasion  referred  to.  The  Empress  was  then 
enceinte,  but  as  yet  the  Constitution  contained  no  provision  respecting  a 
Eegency.  Such  provision  was  only  made  in  1856  (Senatus-consultum  of 
July  17).  As  matters  stood  in  1855,  it  seems  as  if  the  Ministers  in  office 
would  have  had  to  form  themselves  into  a  "  Government  Council,"  which 
would  have  exercised  Regency  powers — perhaps  until  the  Imperial  Prince 
attained  his  majority.  Even  the  Senatus-consultum  of  1856  left  several 
points  in  uncertainty,  to  dispel  which  the  Emperor,  on  February  1,  1858, 
expressly  issued  Letters  Patent  designating  the  Empress  Eugenie  as  Regent 
in  the  event  of  his  death. — "  Organisation  politique  de  I'Empire  Fran9ais." 
Paris,  1867. 


QUEEN  VICTORIA  IN  PARIS  85 

reached  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  but  the  troopers  of  the  escort 
had  been  provided  with  torches,  which  they  lighted  and  carried 
aloft  as  they  rode  before,  beside,  and  after  the  carriages  through 
the  broad  avenues  going  towards  St.  Cloud. 

It  was  there  that  the  royal  party  was  to  stay,  there  that 
the  Empress,  then  in  an  interesting  state  of  health,  was  waiting. 
Beautiful  rooms  had  been  assigned  to  the  Queen,  and  every 
possible  provision  made  for  her  comfort,  one  of  the  State 
upholsterers  having  proceeded  some  time  previously  to  Windsor 
in  order  that  the  appointments  of  the  royal  bed-chamber  might 
include  everything  to  which  the  Queen  was  accustomed.  In 
fact,  the  Emperor  carried  his  solicitude  so  far  as  to  order 
careful  replicas  of  her  favourite  reading-chair  and  table — the 
sight  of  these  replicas  on  her  arrival  at  St.  Cloud  fiUing  her 
with  astonishment.  General  de  Montebello,  the  Marquis  de  La 
Grange,  Count  Fleury,  Mme.  de  Saulcy,  and  the  Countess  de 
La  Bedoyere  were  attached  to  the  Queen's  person  during  her 
stay,  which  was  spent  in  a  round  of  sight-seeing,  receptions 
and  entertainments.  Wherever  she  appeared,  at  the  Exhibition, 
in  the  streets  of  Paris,  or  in  the  grounds  of  Versailles,  she  was 
received  with  the  warmest  acclamations,  but,  as  usual,  there 
was  a  little  rift  in  the  lute. 

It  became  known  at  the  Tuileries  that  the  Queen  wished  to 
visit  the  tomb  of  Napoleon  I.  at  the  Invalides,  of  which  old 
Prince  Jerome  was  Governor.  At  that  time  he  was  staying  at 
Havre,  and  when  the  Emperor  requested  him  to  return  to 
Paris,  in  order  that  he  might  do  the  honours  of  the  Invalides 
to  the  Queen,  he  feigned  illness  to  avoid  obeying  the  command. 
Unfortunately,  he  could  not  control  his  tongue,  and  the  truth 
leaked  out.  "  He  had  fought  at  Waterloo,"  said  he,  "  and  he 
was  not  going  to  exhibit  his  brother's  tomb  to  the  descendants 
of  those  who  had  sent  the  great  man  to  perish  on  the  rock  of 
St.  Helena.  He  had  no  fancy  for  crocodile's  tears,  such  as 
those  English  royalties  would  doubtless  shed."  Meantime,  the 
Emperor  had  suggested  to  Marshal  Vaillant  that  he,  in  default 
of  Prince  Jerome,  should  receive  the  Queen  at  the  Invalides  ;  but 
that  old  soldier  of  the  first  Empire,  though  frequently  in  contact 
with  the  royal  visitors,  was  apparently  influenced  by  feelings 
akin  to  Jerome's.    At  all  events,  he  eluded  the  duty  by  pleading 


86  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

that  it  was  surely  one  which  a  Prince  of  the  Imperial  House 
ought  to  discharge.  Eventually,  the  visit  was  made  in  privacy, 
and  just  before  the  Queen's  departure.  Prince  Jerome,  alarmed 
by  threats  of  the  Emperor's  displeasure,  came  from  Havre  to 
St.  Cloud  to  pay  her  his  respects. 

Apropos  of  those  incidents,  mentioned  here  because  they 
illustrate  previous  remarks  on  the  memory  of  ^Vaterloo,  it  may 
be  added  that  on  one  occasion,  when  the  Queen  was  confronted 
by  the  souvenir  of  former  hostilities  between  the  two  nations, 
she  met  the  difficulty  in  a  happy  manner.  It  was  in  the  Galerie 
des  Batailles  at  the  Palace  of  Versailles.  "And  what  is  that 
engagement  ? "  she  inquired,  as  she  passed  along,  indicating  a 
painting  in  which  an  army  was  shown  retreating  in  disorder, 
hard-pressed  by  a  victorious  foe.  Napoleon  III.  was  momen- 
tarily embarrassed.  He  replied,  however,  "  It  is  the  battle  of 
Fontenoy.  Your  Majesty  must  overlook  it — such  subjects  are 
scarce  with  us."  "  I  wish,"  the  Queen  retorted,  "  that  for  the 
sake  of  both  our  countries  all  such  warlike  subjects  were  scarcer 
still." 

The  three  principal  entertainments  which  marked  the  royal 
visit  were  a  gala  performance  at  the  Paris  Opera-house,  a  ball 
at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  and  another  at  Versailles.  The  scene  on 
the  last  occasion  was  magical.  For  a  few  hours  the  great 
deserted  palace  became  as  animated,  as  crowded,  as  full  of  state 
and  splendour  as  in  the  palmiest  days  of  Louis  XIV.  There 
were  flowers  everywhere,  banks  of  flowers  lining  every  staircase, 
festoons  of  flowers  hanging  around  every  room.  The  great 
Galerie  des  Glaces — where  flfteen  years  later  the  victorious 
King  of  Prussia  was  to  be  hailed  as  German  Emperor^ — pre- 
sented, amid  the  blaze  of  thousands  of  wax  candles,  as  brilliant 
a  scene  as  Cochin  depicted  in  that  engraving  which  is  his 
masterpiece.  True,  no  cardplay  was  in  progress,  there  was 
no  Louis  Quinze  turning  up  the  ace  of  hearts,  no  Madame  de 
Pompadour  beside  him,  no  bewigged  courtiers  standing  around, 
with  their  hands  thrust  in  their  muffs.  But  the  ladies  in  their 
crinolines  recalled  the  old-time  ladies  in  their  lace-flounced 
hoops,  particularly  as,  that  year,  1855,  white  silk  and  satin 
covered  with  the  costliest  Chantilly  were  the  grande  mode  for 
evening  wear.     And  at  Versailles  the  Queen,  the  Empress,  and 


QUEEN  VICTORIA  IN   PARIS  87 

all  the  other  ladies  displayed  as  many  diamonds  as  ever  flashed 
upon  any  great  gala  gathering  of  the  old  regime.  The  Queen 
danced,  as  she  had  done  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  opening  the  ball 
with  the  Emperor,  while  the  Prince  Consort  and  the  Princess 
Mathilde  were  their  vis-d-vis.  The  Empress,  however,  was  not 
allowed  to  disport  herself  in  that  fashion.  She  had  contrived 
to  attend  the  fete  in  defiance  of  her  physicians,  but  they  asserted 
their  authority  when  the  question  of  dancing  was  mooted. 
After  all,  the  ball  was  only  one  part  of  the  entertainment,  for 
the  gardens  of  Versailles,  like  the  palace  itself,  were  wonderfully 
illuminated.  The  fountains  seemed  to  be  throwing  myriads  of 
rubies,  topazes,  emeralds,  and  sapphires  into  the  air,  and  the 
basins,  across  which  glided  the  gondolas  of  fairyland,  coruscated 
like  rippling,  seething  masses  of  molten  gems.* 

During  her  stay  in  France,  Queen  Victoria  was  at  the 
Tuileries  on  various  occasions.  She  lunched  there  one  day,  and 
afterwards  called  there  to  take  formal  leave  of  the  Empress  and 
the  French  Court.  Her  departure  was  an  imposing  ceremony. 
On  quitting  the  palace,  although  she  was  simply  attired  in  a 
plain  grey  silk  travelling  costume,  she  entered  the  great  state 
coach,  all  gilding  and  carving,  which  had  done  duty  on  the 
occasion  of  the  imperial  wedding.  This  time,  fortunately,  the 
crown  on  the  summit  did  not  fall  off.  At  measured  pace  went 
the  huge  vehicle,  drawn  by  eight  splendid  horses,  richly  capari- 
soned, and  bestridden  or  attended  by  postilions  and  grooms  in 
gala  liveries.  Other  superb  equipages  followed,  and  there  was 
a  dazzling  escort  of  Carabineers  and  Guides  and  Hussars  com- 
manded by  Marshals  and  Generals  arrayed  in  full  uniform,  and 
mounted  on  milk-white  chargers,  all  going  in  pompous  procession 
towards  the  railway  station,  amid  plaudits  every  whit  as 
enthusiastic  as  those  which  had  greeted  the  Queen's  arrival 
The  Emperor  and  Prince  Napoleon  accompanied  the  royal 
visitors  to  Boulogne,  where  50,000  troops  were  reviewed  before 
the  farewell  dinner  at  the  imperial  pavilion.  At  last,  at 
eleven  o'clock  that  night,  the  Queen,  amid  the  crash  of  artillery, 

*  There  was  also  a  great  display  of  fireworks,  the  principal  set-piece  of 
which  was  a  representation  of  Windsor  Castle,  with  the  royal  standard  waving 
over  it,  and  the  legend,  "God  save  the  Queen."  The  Imperial  Civil  List 
spent  £20,000  on  this  one  f6te  at  Versailles. 


88  THI^  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

went  on  board  the  Victoria  and  Albert,  and  the  memorable  visit 
was  at  an  end. 

There  were  again  gay  doings  in  Paris  a  few  weeks  later, 
the  news  of  the  fall  of  Sebastopol  being  received  with  popular 
rejoicings  and  a  solemn  "  Te  Deum  "  at  Notre  Dame.  Another 
great  pageant  ensued  in  November,  when  the  Emperor  distributed 
the  awards  to  the  prize-winners  of  the  Exhibition.  About 
this  time  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Brabant  (the  former  now 
King  of  the  Belgians)  came  on  a  visit  to  the  Tuileries,  and 
were  followed  by  Victor  Emmanuel  of  Sardinia,  attended  by  his 
astute  minister  Cavour.  The  Italian  party  afterwards  crossed 
over  to  England,  but  when  Cavour  was  returning  to  Turin  he 
left  his  young  secretary.  Chevalier  Nigra,  behind  him  in  Paris 
to  act  as  Sardinian  Minister  there.  Possessed  of  several  artistic 
gifts,  and  somewhat  of  a  Bohemian  in  his  ways.  Chevalier  Nigra 
Avas  nevertheless  a  diplomatist  of  great  talent — one  who  as 
Cavour's  alter  ego  at  the  side  of  Napoleon  III.  contributed  in 
no  small  degree  to  the  Liberation  of  Italy.  A  conspicuous 
figure  at  the  Court  of  the  Tuileries,  he  contrived  to  secure  the 
favour  of  the  Empress  Eugenie,  although  he  was  the  unflagging 
supporter  of  political  interests  which  were  absolutely  opposed 
to  those  she  had  at  heart.  Many  a  secret  battle  was  waged 
between  them  over  the  Italian  question  in  its  relations  to  the 
independence  of  the  Pope,  yet  Nigra  with  his  bright  smile,  his 
clean-cut  face,  his  triumphant  moustache,  and  his  soft  voice,  was 
ever  persona  gratissima  in  the  petits  appartements  when  the 
Empress  gathered  her  more  particular  friends  around  her.  At 
the  supreme  hour  of  her  distress  in  1870  he,  like  Prince  Richard 
Metternich,  the  Austrian  ambassador,  hastened  to  her  help. 
It  was  they  who  escorted  her  out  of  the  Tuileries  to  the  vehicle 
in  which  she, drove  to  Dr.  Evans's,  an  Empress  no  longer  but  a 
fugitive. 

Victor  Emmanuel  had  an  enthusiastic  reception  in  Paris,  less 
(at  that  period)  on  account  of  French  sympathy  with  the  cause 
of  Italian  independence  than  on  account  of  the  participation  of 
the  Sardinian  contingent  in  the  Crimean  campaign.  A  little 
later  (in  December,  1856)  the  Parisians  celebrated  the  return 
of  the  Imperial  Guard  from  the  war.  Then,  early  in  the  new 
year,  while  the  Peace  Conference  assembled  at  the  Quai  d'Orsay, 


BIRTH   OF  THE   IMPERIAL  PRINCE  89 

public  attention  was  turned  to  the  Empress,  who  was  known 
to  have  been  enceinte  since  the  previous  summer.  There  had 
been  reason  for  her  to  expect  the  birth  of  a  child  twice  previously, 
but  a  mishap  had  occurred  on  each  occasion.  As  early  as 
April  30,  1853,*  the  Moniteur — the  official  journal  of  the 
Empire — published  the  following  announcement :  "  Her  Majesty 
the  Empress,  who  had  been  enceinte  for  two  months  past  and 
who  during  the  last  few  days  had  been  feeling  somewhat  in- 
disposed, had  a  miscarriage  yesterday  evening,  April  29.  Her 
Majesty's  state  of  health  is  as  satisfactory  as  is  possible  under 
the  circumstances."  This  announcement  took  everybody  by 
surprise,  for  no  official  notification  of  the  Empress's  condition 
had  ever  been  issued,  and  Viel  Castel,  in  his  "  Memoirs,"  very 
properly  trounces  the  Court  functionaries  for  publishing  the 
mishap  to  the  world  in  the  way  they  did.  We  believe  that  on 
the  second  occasion  there  was  no  official  announcement  at  all, 
either  one  way  or  the  other,  though  of  course  the  truth  leaked 
out  and  became  known  to  a  considerable  number  of  people. 
Those  two  mishaps,  it  should  be  mentioned,  had  awakened  the 
kindly  interest  of  Queen  Victoria,  who  when  the  Emperor  and 
Empress  visited  Windsor  insisted  that  the  latter  should  consult 
Sir  Charles  Locock,  one  of  the  royal  physicians.  Further,  if  we 
remember  rightly,  the  Queen  sent  the  Marchioness  of  Ely  to 
France  to  be  in  attendance  on  the  Empress  when,  early  in 
1856,  she  again  expected  the  birth  of  a  child. 

Throughout  the  first  fortnight  in  March  Paris  did  not  cease 
wondering  whether  the  Emperor  would  be  presented  with  a  son 
or  a  daughter.  The  birth  of  a  girl  would  make  no  difference 
in  the  appointed  order  of  succession  to  the  throne,  for  the 
Second  Empire  had  retained  the  Salic  Law  which  adjudges 
women  to  be  unworthy  of  the  crown.  Thus,  if  a  Princess  should 
be  born,  the  Jerome  branch  of  the  Bonapartes  would  retain  the 
right  of  succession,  and  such  was  its  unpopularity  that  every- 
body hoped  the  expected  babe  would  be  a  boy.  Meantime  all 
needful  preparations  were  made  for  the  auspicious  event.  Day 
after  day  the  Rue  Vivienne  was  blocked  with  the  carriages  of 
ladies  anxious  to  view  the  costly  layette,  which  had  been  ordered 

*  The  marriage,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  taken  place  on  January  29-30 
that  year. 


90  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

of  the  renowned  Mme.  Felicie,  and  which  included  everything 
that  a  child,  boy  or  gh'l,  could  possibly  require  until  it  was  two 
years  old.  There  was  also  an  ormolu  bassinet  costing  .£'1000, 
with  hangings  of  blue  silk  and  Mechlin  lace,  sheets  edged  with 
Valenciennes,  and  a  white  satin  coverlet  embroidered  with  the 
imperial  crown  and  eagle  in  gold — these  representing  another 
£1600.  The  state  cradle  was,  however,  a  far  more  expensive 
affair,  being  a  marvel  of  the  goldsmith's  art  executed  by  Froment 
Meurice  at  the  expense  of  the  city  of  Paris,  in  whose  name  it 
was  presented  to  the  Empress.  A  ship,  it  will  be  remembered, 
appears  on  the  city's  escutcheon,  and  this  cradle  took  the  form 
of  a  vessel,  at  whose  poop  stood  a  silver  figure  of  Paris  robed  in 
gold  and  raising  an  imperial  crown  of  the  same  precious  metal, 
whence  fell  the  cradle's  curtains.  Beneath  the  figure  of  Paris 
were  two  sea-deities  glancing  in  a  kindly  protecting  way  towards 
the  interior  of  the  cradle,  while  lower  still,  at  each  corner  of 
the  hull,  appeared  mermaids  with  tails  entwined.  Right  at  the 
stern  a  shield  of  gold  was  emblazoned  Avith  the  arms  of  Paris, 
around  which  went  a  scroll  with  the  city's  motto,  Fluctuat  nee 
mergitiir.  Tlie  ship's  prow  was  supported  by  a  golden  eagle 
with  open  wings,  and  on  either  side  of  the  rosewood  hull,  inlaid 
with  silver,  were  medallions  of  blue  enamel  figuring  Prudence, 
Strength,  Vigilance,  and  Justice.  The  interior  was  lined  with 
pale  blue  satin ;  and  the  most  beautiful  lace  formed  or  adorned 
the  curtains,  coverlet  and  pillow. 

Prior  to  the  Empress's  accouchement  the  widow  of  Admiral 
Bruat,  the  gallant  officer  who  had  commanded  the  French  fleet 
in  the  Black  Sea,  was  named  "  Governess  of  the  Children  of 
France,"  the  widows  of  General  Bizot  and  Colonel  de  Brancion 
— both  killed  before  Sebastopol — becoming  "  Under  Governesses." 
Further,  from  among  a  large  number  of  candidates  from  all 
parts  of  France  the  Court  physicians  carefully  selected  as  wet- 
nurse  a  bright,  comely,  intelligent  peasant  woman  of  Macon, 
who,  pending  the  Empress's  delivery,  continued  suckling  her  own 
child,  a  boy  about  two  months  old.  The  Emperor,  however,  as 
will  be  remembered,  had  long  lived  in  England,  and  had  there 
formed  a  very  favourable  opinion  of  the  manner  in  which  English 
children  were  reared,  so  he  decided  that  an  English  woman  should 
be  chief  nurse,  and  engaged  a  lady,  named  Shaw,  for  the  post. 


BIRTH   OF  THE  IMPERIAL  PRINCE  91 

So  general  was  the  anticipation  that  the  expected  child 
would  be  a  boy  that  thousands  of  people  signed  a  petition 
praying  the  Emperor  to  bestow  the  title  of  "  King  of  Algeria  " 
on  the  infant,  in  imitation,  of  course,  of  that  of  "King  of 
Rome  "  given  to  the  son  of  Napoleon  I.  The  latter  title  would 
naturally  have  been  out  of  place  in  the  case  of  the  third 
Napoleon's  heir — the  more  so  as  it  had  been  arranged  that 
Pope  Pius  IX.  was  to  be  godfather  of  the  expected  babe.  An 
amusing  story  was  circulated  respecting  that  sponsorship. 
Although,  as  we  have  already  mentioned,  a  very  sumptuous 
layette  had  been  ordered  in  Paris,  his  Holiness  thought  it  his 
duty  also  to  provide  one ;  but  when  the  question  of  the  articles 
which  it  ought  to  include  and  their  cost  was  mooted  at  the 
Vatican,  neither  the  Pope  nor  any  of  the  Cardinals  who  were 
called  into  council  was  able  to  give  an  opinion.  Had  they  been 
married  men  they  would  soon  have  been  extricated  from  the 
difficulty  by  their  wives,  but  they  had  none,  and  when  it  was 
suggested  that  a  certain  Monsignore  should  make  inquiries  at  a 
Roman  baby-linen  warehouse,  the  poor  man  nearly  succumbed 
to  an  attack  of  apoplexy  in  his  alarm  as  to  what  might  be 
thought  of  him  if  he  were  to  carry  the  suggestion  into  effect. 
Eventually  one  of  their  Eminences  remembered  that  he  had  a 
married  sister,  whose  services  were  duly  requisitioned. 

On  the  morning  of  Saturday,  March  15,  1856,  it  was 
believed  that  the  birth  would  take  place  before  the  day  had 
elapsed.  The  Princess  d'Essling,  as  Great  Mistress  of  the 
Empress's  Household,  at  once  sent  word  to  the  Princes  of 
the  Imperial  Family,  who  betook  themselves  in  all  haste  to 
the  Tuileries.  The  news  sped  through  Paris  like  lightning, 
and  while  crowds  of  people  assembled  on  the  Place  du 
Carrousel,  in  the  Tuileries  garden,  and  in  the  Rue  de  Rivoli, 
preparations  for  illuminating  the  city  in  the  evening  were 
hurried  forward  in  every  direction,  and  all  day  long  the  old 
artillerymen  of  the  Invalides  stood  to  their  guns,  with  matches 
in  readiness  to  fire  the  salute  directly  the  signal  flame  should 
go  up  from  the  Tuileries.  None  was  seen,  though  hour  after 
hour  went  by.  The  whole  day  passed,  the  Emperor,  the 
Countess  de  Montijo,  the  Princess  d'Essling,  the  doctors  and 
the  nurses   staying  with  the  Empress  all  the  time,  while  the 


92  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

Princes  of  the  Bonaparte  family,  the  great  dignitaries  of  the 
Empire,  the  aides-de-camp  and  other  officers  remained  in 
adjacent  rooms,  installed  there  virtually  en  permanence,  and 
scarcely  venturing  to  absent  themselves  for  a  few  minutes 
to  snatch  a  bite  of  food.  The  evening  fell,  then  night,  and 
still  everybody  was  waiting.  Special  services  were  held  in  the 
churches,  special  prayers  were  offered  up  on  the  Empress's 
behalf.  At  last,  about  half-past  two  o'clock  on  the  morning 
of  the  16th  (Palm  Sunday),  the  decisive  moment  seemed  to  be 
near,  and,  in  accordance  with  the  prescribed  ceremonial,  the 
Minister  of  State  and  the  Keeper  of  the  Seals,  with  Prince 
Napoleon,  Prince  Charles  Bonaparte,*  and  Prince  Lucien  Murat, 
were  ushered  into  the  Empress's  chamber,  that  they  might 
witness  the  birth  of  the  imperial  offspring.  The  sudden  arrival 
of  so  many  people,  however,  had  a  most  unfortunate  effect  on 
the  patient,  the  course  of  nature  was  suspended,  and  the  doctors 
were  compelled  to  resort  to  surgical  treatment.  At  last,  at  a 
quarter  past  three  o'clock,  the  child,  a  boy,  was  brought  into 
the  world. t 

For  hours  and  hours,  all  through  the  day  and  through  the 
night,  the  crowd  had  been  waiting  outside  the  Tuileries. 
Suddenly  two  lights  appeared  at  a  window  of  the  palace  on 
the  Carrousel  side,  and  a  loud  acclamation  immediately  arose. 
If  there  had  been  but  one  light  it  would  have  meant  that  a 
Princess  had  been  born,  but  two  lights  signified  the  birth  of 
a  Prince.  However,  the  people  who  were  massed  on  other  sides 
of  the  palace  and  who  saw  nothing  of  those  lights  were  still  in 
uncertainty,  and  waited  for  the  salute.  At  last  the  guns  of 
the  Invalides  began  booming,  and,  as  on  March  20,  1811,  when 
the  King  of  Rome  came  into  the  world,  and  September  30, 
1820,  when  the  widowed  Duchess  de  Berri  gave  birth  to  the 
"  Child  of  the  Miracle,"  so  now,  again,  the  attentive  multitude 
counted  report  after  report.  A  salute  of  twenty-one  guns 
would  mean  a  girl,  a  salute  of  a  hundred  and  one  a  boy.     One 

*  Representing  his  father,  Prince  Louis  Lucien,  who  had  met  with  a  bad 
accident, 

t  Baron  Dubois,  the  Empress's  surgeon-accoucheur,  received  a  fee  of 
£1200  for  his  services.  Although  the  Empress  appeared  in  public  again 
within  a  few  months,  a  very  long  time  elapsed  before  her  health  was  com- 
pletely re-established. 


BIRTH   OF  THE  IMPERIAL  PRINCE  93 

after  another  the  detonations  rang  out  with  the  utmost 
precision,  under  the  wild  March  sky.  Twenty-one — then 
silence.  For  a  moment  the  listeners  felt  grievously  dis- 
appointed. But  all  at  once  a  twenty-second  report  was 
heard,  and  then  the  salute  continued  with  the  same  precision 
as  before.  As  the  Parisians  finally  turned  their  steps  home- 
ward, many  of  them  wondered  why  there  had  been  a  pause 
after  the  twenty-first  report.  On  the  morrow  the  newspapers 
enlightened  them.  An  old  wooden-legged  artillei-yman  of  the 
first  Napoleon,  who  was  among  those  firing  the  guns  at  the 
Invalides,  had  stumbled  and  fallen  at  the  critical  moment  of 
the  salute,  and  this  had  caused  the  brief  delay. 

The  etiquette  of  the  Tuileries  Court  did  not  require  that 
a  newly  born  infant  of  the  imperial  house  should  be  at  once 
deposited  on  a  gold  salver  and  exhibited  to  all  the  assembled 
functionaries  of  the  State,  as  we  once  saw  an  Infanta  of  Spain 
exhibited  immediately  after  her  birth  ;  nevertheless  Mme.  Bruat 
ceremoniously  presented  the  Imperial  Prince  to  his  father  and 
the  relatives  and  ministers  assembled  in  the  Empress's  apart- 
ments. Then  due  entry  of  the  birth  was  made  in  the  imperial 
register,  and  telegrams  were  despatched  to  the  Pope,  the  Queen 
of  Sweden  (the  godmother),  the  Grand  Duchess  of  Baden,  Queen 
Victoria,  and  others.  It  was  then  barely  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  it  was  regarded  as  a  curious  circumstance  that 
congratulatory  answers  to  the  telegrams  should  have  been 
received  within  a  couple  of  hours — for  this  testified  to  the 
activity  of  the  world's  great  personages  at  a  time  when 
the  community  at  large  is  usually  wrapped  in  slumber.  The 
members  of  the  Senate  and  the  Legislative  Body  had  remained 
waiting  at  their  respective  palaces  until  half-past  one  o'clock — 
having  their  wives  and  daughters  with  them  to  keep  them 
company,  and  indulging  both  in  music  and  champagne  to 
beguile  the  tedium  of  the  hours.  At  last  a  message  from  the 
Tuileries  sent  them  home,  but  at  8  a.m.  they  re-assembled  to 
receive  official  notification  of  the  great  event. 

The  ill-starred  Imperial  Prince,  whose  advent  was  enthusi- 
astically celebrated  in  so  many  directions,  was  at  birth  a  well- 
developed  child,  with  an  abundance  of  dark  hair,  resembling  his 
father's,  and  features  that  in  an  infant  seemed  of  an  unusually 


94  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

marked  character.  During  his  early  childhood,  indeed,  the 
Empress  often  said  of  him  to  Count  Fleury :  "  Louis  will  be 
dreadfully  ugly ;  he  already  has  a  nose  like  a  man's."  But  it 
happened  that  he  grew  up  fairly  good  looking,  with  a  virile 
face,  no  doubt,  yet  with  something  of  his  mother's  expression 
to  soften  the  features  which  he  had  derived  from  his  father. 

After  mass  in  the  chapel  of  the  Tuileries  at  noon  that 
day,  the  ondoiement,  or  private  baptism,  of  the  new-born  "  Son 
of  France"  took  place  there.  Four  Cardinals,  all  the  great 
dignitaries  of  the  State,  the  Emperor,  and  the  Princes  of 
the  Blood  were  present.  It  was  the  Bishop  of  Nancy,  First 
Almoner  of  the  Household,  who  officiated,  pouring  the 
baptismal  water  on  the  infant's  head  from  a  golden  ewer. 
The  boy  was  named  Napoleon  and  Louis  after  his  father, 
Eugene  after  his  mother,  Jean  after  the  Pope,  and  Joseph 
after  the  Queen  of  Sweden,  his  godmother,  her  name  being 
Josephine.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  ceremony  he  was  carried 
in  state  to  his  apartments,  and  this  time  a  whole  host  of 
officials  was  able  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  new  heir  to  the 
throne.  Paris,  of  course,  illuminated  her  monuments  and  her 
houses  that  night,  though  the  rain  fell  incessantly ;  and  in  the 
meantime  addresses  of  congratulation  poured  in  from  all  parts 
of  the  provinces.  It  was  a  repetition  of  what  had  happened 
when  the  King  of  Rome  and  the  Duke  de  Bordeaux  and  the 
Count  de  Paris  were  born.  They,  also,  had  been  saluted  as 
the  hope  of  the  country,  as  its  future  rulers,  yet  none  of  them 
had  reigned.  Still,  in  that  month  of  March,  1856,  people 
fancied  that  Fate  must  surely  be  weary  of  pursuing  the  heirs 
of  France.  The  poets,  for  their  part,  entertained  no  fears  for 
the  future.  In  the  Moniteur,  on  the  morrow  of  the  Imperial 
Prince's  birth,  The'ophile  Gautier  sang  as  follows  : — 

Au  vieus  palais  des  Tuileries, 

Charge  d^ja  d'un  grand  destin, 
Parmi  le  luxe  et  les  faeries, 

Un  enfant  est  ni§  ce  matin. 

Aux  premiers  rayons  de  I'aurore, 

Dans  les  rayons  de  I'Orient, 
Quand  la  ville  dormait  encore, 

II  est  venu,  frais  et  riant.  .  .  , 


BIRTH   OF  THE   IMPERIAL  PRINCE  95 

Et  le  canon  des  Invalides, 

Tonnerre  mel6  de  rayons, 
Fait  partout  aux  foules  avides 

Compter  ses  detonations. 

Au  bruit  du  fracas  insolite, 

Qui  fait  trembler  son  pi6destal, 
S'emeut  le  glorieux  Stylite 

Sur  son  bronze  monumental.* 

Les  aigles  du  socle  s'agitent, 

Essayant  de  prendre  leur  vol, 
Et  leurs  ailes  d'airain  palpitent, 

Comme  au  jour  de  S6bastopol. 

Mais  ce  n'est  pas  une  victoire 

Que  chantent  cloches  et  canons. 
Sur  I'Arc  de  Triomphe  I'Histoire 

Ne  salt  plus  oii  graver  les  noms. 

C'est  un  J^sus  a  tete  blonde, 

Qui  porte  en  sa  petite  main. 
Pour  globe  bleu,  la  pais  du  monde 

Et  le  bonheur  du  genre  humain. 

La  creche  est  faite  en  bois  de  rose, 

Ses  rideaux  sont  couleur  d'azur, 
Paisible,  en  sa  conque  il  repose, 

Oar  fluctuat  nee  mergitur. 

Sur  lui  la  France  6tend  son  aile. 

A  son  nouveau-ne,  pour  berceau, 
D^licatesse  maternelle, 

Paris  a  pretd  son  vaisseau. 

Qu'un  bonbeur  fidMe  accompagna 

L'enfant  imperial  qui  dort, 
Blanc  comme  les  jasmins  d'Espagne, 

Blond  comme  les  abeilles  d'or  !  f 

Camille  Doucet  was  yet  more  emphatic  with  respect  to  the 
destiny  of  the  imperial  infant,  and  declared  roundly  that  the 
days  of  mischance  and  instability  were  quite  past : 

Trois  fois,  depuis  quarante  ann^es, 

S'est  rempli  le  berceau  des  rois ; 
Et  trois  fois  se  sont  d6tourn6e3 
Les  infid^les  destinies. 

Qui  I'avaient  salue  trois  fois. 

*  Napoleon  I.  on  the  Vendome  column. 

t  The  bees  of  the  Bonapartes.     Gautier  was  wrong,  however,  in  calling  the 
Prince  blond.    He  had  a  fresh,  clear  complexion,  but  his  hair  was  dark. 


96  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

Pareil  au  berceau  de  Moise, 

Sur  les  flots  battu  sans  espoir, 
Toujours  une  vague  insoumise, 
Lui  fermant  la  terre  promise, 

L'emportant  sans  qu'il  put  la  voir  : 

La  France,  apres  mille  naufrages, 

Impatiente  de  repos, 
S'^lancjait  vers  tous  les  rivages, 
Souriait  a  tous  les  presages, 

S'abritait  sous  tous  les  drapeaus. 

C'est  la  fin  des  heures  de  doute, 

Des  foUes  instabilit^s, 
Plus  de  perils  que  Ton  redoute, 
Plus  de  berceaux  perdus  en  route, 

Plus  de  trones  d6sli6rit6s  !  .  .  . 

Dors,  enfant,  et  que  Dieu  t'inspire ! 

Dormez  aussi,  m^re  sans  peur. 
La  France,  qui  pour  vous  conspire, 
Vous  donnait  nagu^re  un  empire, 

Vous  lui  donnez  un  Empereur  1 

In  celebration  of  the  Prince's  birth,  the  Emperor  and 
Empress  offered  to  act  as  godfather  and  godmother  to  all  the 
children  born  in  France  on  the  same  day  as  their  son.  The 
number  was  no  less  than  3000,  nevertheless  presents  were  sent 
to  all  the  parents.  There  were  also  handsome  donations  from 
the  Civil  List  to  the  poor  relief-offices  of  the  municipalities,  and 
to  the  various  associations  of  authors,  composers,  painters,  and 
actors.  A  still  more  pleasant  feature  was  the  granting  of 
freedom  or  of  permission  to  return  to  France  to  all  the 
remaining  political  prisoners  or  exiles  of  the  Coup  d'Etat  who 
would  undertake  to  submit  to  the  Government  of  the  country 
and  respect  the  laws.  A  good  many  accepted  that  condition, 
but  the  irreconcilables,  led  by  Victor  Hugo,  contemptuously 
spurned  the  Emperor's  offer.  It  was  the  little  rift  in  the  lute 
again.  Some  jarring  note  always  made  itself  heard  amid  the 
most  enthusiastic  strains  of  the  Empire's  partisans. 

Early  in  April,  1856,  the  Treaty  of  Paris  being  at  last  signed, 
the  Court  and  the  city  celebrated  the  restoration  of  peace.  Then, 
disastrous  inundations  occurring  in  the  south  of  France,  the 
Emperor  hastened  thither  for  the  purpose  of  alleviating  the 


BIRTH   OF  THE   IMPERIAL  PRINCE  97 

distress,  which  was  great  indeed.*  But  he  was  back  in  Paris  for 
the  state  baptism  of  his  son,  which  had  been  deferred  until 
June  14.  Pius  IX.  had  despatched  a  special  legate,  Cardinal 
Patrizzi,  to  officiate  at  this  pompous  ceremony,  which  filled 
Notre  Dame  with  as  large  and  as  splendid  an  assembly  as  that 
which  had  witnessed  the  imperial  wedding.  The  procession 
started  from  the  Tuileries  about  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
Eleven  carriages,  each  drawn  by  six  horses,  conveyed  the  high 
officers  of  state,  the  Princes  of  the  imperial  family,  and  the  Court 
guests,  including  Prince  Oscar  of  Sweden,  the  Grand  Duchess 
Stephanie  of  Baden  (representing  the  royal  godmother),  and  her 
daughter,  the  Duchess  of  Hamilton.  Then,  preceded  by  a 
squadron  of  Guides,  came  a  great  gilded  state  coach,  which  had 
served  for  the  coronation  of  King  Charles  X.  It  was  drawn  by 
eight  horses,  each  with  a  groom  at  its  head,  and  in  this  pompous 
coach  sat  Madame  Bruat,  a  still  young  and  beautiful  woman, 
carrying  on  her  lap  the  infant  Imperial  Prince,  around  whom 
was  cast  a  mantle  of  purple  and  ermine.  Beside  the  coach  rode 
two  newly  created  Marshals  of  France,  Canrobert  on  the  right. 
Bosquet  on  the  left.  Behind  came  yet  another  splendid  eight- 
horse  state  carriage,  that  of  the  imperial  wedding,  containing 
the  Emperor  and  Empress,  he  attired,  as  usual,  in  a  general's 
uniform,  she  in  a  cloud  of  light  blue  silk  and  gauze  and  lace, 
while  from  the  crown  upon  her  head  the  blazing  Regent  diamond 
scattered  flakes  of  lambency. 

Over  the  Place  de  THotel  de  Ville  and  through  a  great 
triumphal  arch  erected  there,  then  across  the  bridge  to  Notre 
Dame,  went  the  procession.  Under  the  vaulted  roof  of  star- 
spangled  azure,  the  interior  of  the  ancient  cathedral  was  all 
crimson  and  gold.  In  the  centre  of  the  transept  appeared  a 
large  stage,  on  which  were  set  the  altar,  the  throne  of  the 
Emperor  and  Empress,  that  of  the  Legate,  and  the  seats  for  the 
Canons  of  Notre  Dame.  Behind  the  Cardinal's  throne  were 
ranged  the  seventy-five  Archbishops  and  Bishops  of  France  in 
their  gemmed  mitres  and  full  canonicals.  [Where  sit  their 
successors  now  ?]  Up  the  nave  went  the  imperial  coi^tege,  the 
Empress,  the  Grand  Duchess  of  Baden,  and  the  Princesses,  with 
long  trains  upheld  by  pages.     When  all  was  in  readiness  the 

*  Nearly  £40,000  were  collected  in  Great  Britain  and  sent  to  France. 

H 


98  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Cardinal  Legate  descended,  from  his  throne  to  the  altar  and 
chanted  the  Venl  Creator,  accompanied  by  a  full  orchestra,  while 
the  Empress''s  ladies  glided  softly  to  the  credence  tables  in  order 
to  deposit  on  them  the  various  articles  provided  for  the 
baptismal  rites.  The  Countess  de  Montebello  carried  the 
candle,  the  Baroness  de  Malaret  the  chrism  cloth,  the  Marchioness 
de  Latour-Maubourg  the  salt,  the  Countess  de  La  Bedoyere 
the  ewer,  the  Countess  de  Rayneval  the  basin,  and  Madame  de 
Saulcy  the  napkin.  Meantime,  the  little  Prince  was  sitting  up 
in  Madame  Bruafs  arms,  looking  around  him  as  fearlessly,  in 
his  infantile  simplicity,  as  years  afterwards,  in  his  young  man- 
hood, he  looked  on  the  Zulus  who  struck  him  down. 

The  Veni  Creator  being  ended,  the  Master  of  Ceremonies 
bowed  to  the  altar,  then  to  the  Emperor  and  Empress,  and 
approached  the  Cardinal,  followed  by  Madame  Bruat  with  her 
charge.  Then  the  baptismal  rites  were  performed,  and  the 
register  was  signed,  first  by  the  Legate,  next  by  the  Sovereigns, 
and  afterwards  by  several  of  the  Princes  present.  At  last, 
making  a  slight  obeisance,  Madame  Bruat  approached 
Napoleon  III.  and  placed  the  Imperial  Prince  in  his  arms. 
As  his  uncle  had  done  at  the  time  of  the  baptism  of  the  King 
of  Rome,  the  Emperor  turned  towards  the  brilliant  assembly, 
proudly  raising  his  son  aloft.  This  was  the  formal  presentation 
of  the  Heir  to  the  Throne  to  the  representatives  of  the 
French  people.  Meantime,  an  Assistant-Master  of  Cere- 
monies had  stepped  to  the  centre  of  the  chair,  and  there 
he  thrice  raised  the  cry,  "  Vive  le  Prince  Imperial ! — Vive  le 
Prince  Imperial ! — Vive  le  Prince  Imperial !  "  Thousands  of 
voices  took  up  that  vivat,  while  the  orchestra  burst  into  music. 
On  receiving  the  infant  Prince  again  from  the  Emperor,  Madame 
Bruat  retired  to  a  side  chapel,  which  had  been  fitted  as  a  with- 
drawing room,  and  shortly  afterwards,  escorted  by  Guides  and 
Cuirassiers,  she  and  her  charge  returned  to  the  Tuileries,  Avhile 
in  the  cathedral  the  Legate  celebrated  the  Te  Deum,  and,  when 
the  Domine  salvumfac  Imperatorem  had  been  chanted,  bestowed 
with  all  solemnity  the  Pontifical  benediction  on  France,  her 
ruler,  and  her  people. 

That  evening  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville  there  was  a  great  banquet 
at  which  the  Emperor  and  Empress  were  present,  and  Paris 


BIRTH   OF  THE   IMPERIAL  PRINCE  99 

once  more  blazed  with  illuminations.  A  few  days  later  another 
solemn  ceremony  took  place  before  the  Court,  assembled  on  this 
occasion  in  the  chapel  of  the  chateau  of  St.  Cloud.  This  was 
the  ceremony  of  the  presentation,  by  Cardinal  Patrizzi,  of  the 
Golden  Rose  which  Pius  IX.  had  sent  to  the  Empress  Eugenie, 
thereby  singling  her  out  as  a  pattern  of  piety  and  virtue.  It 
is  said  that  in  the  earlier  centuries  of  Christianity  filings  of 
certain  chains,  alleged  to  have  bound  St.  Peter's  wrists,  were 
blessed  and  then  presented  to  distinguished  upholders  of  the 
faith,  and  that  later  the  rite  was  performed  with  gold  and 
silver  keys  emblematical  of  the  apostle's.  Subsequently  a 
golden  rose  appears  to  have  taken  the  place  of  the  keys.  It 
has  usually  assumed  the  form  of  a  miniature  rosebush  bearing 
flowers  of  wrought  gold,  and  emerging  from  a  gold  pot  or 
vase — the  whole  representing  a  value  of  about  c£'400.  On  the 
fourth  Sunday  in  Lent,  at  high  mass  at  Sb.  Peter's  or  in  the 
Sistine  Chapel  at  the  Vatican,  the  topmost  flower  of  the  bush 
is  anointed  with  balsam,  sprinkled  with  musk,  incensed,  and 
then  solemnly  blessed  by  the  Pope.  It  is  afterwards  sent  to  some 
sovereign,  eminent  personage  or  famous  church,  or  if  no  worthy 
recipient  be  found  at  the  time,  the  presentation  is  deferred 
until  the  following  year.  The  vase  of  the  rosebush  sent  to  the 
Empress  Eugenie  was  mounted  on  a  stand  of  lapis  lazuli,  in 
which  her  arms  and  those  of  Pius  IX.  were  incrusted  in  mosaic 
work.  On  the  vase  itself  were  bas-reliefs,  representing  the  Birth 
of  the  Virgin  and  her  Presentation  at  the  Temple.  That  the 
consort  of  Napoleon  III.  was  not  unworthy  of  the  gift  may  be 
readily  granted ;  but  unfortunately  the  same  Pontiff"  also  sent 
a  Golden  Rose  to  Isabella  II.  of  Spain,  a  Queen  whose  life  was, 
from  the  standpoint  of  common  morality,  an  example  to  be 
shunned.  But  then  Pius's  predecessors  had  sent  Golden  Roses 
not  only  to  the  Empress  Maria  Theresa,  but  also  to  Henry  VIII. 
of  England,  who,  indeed,  received  no  fewer  than  three  of  them — 
though  that  did  not  prevent  the  Reformation. 

Here  let  us  pause.  We  have  just  had  a  glimpse  of  the 
Empire  in  its  pride  and  splendour,  in  the  heyday  of  success  and 
triumph,  which  seemed  full  of  fair  promise  for  the  future.  We 
will  now  glance  at  what  was  lurking  so  menacingly  beneath  all 
the  imperial  power  and  pomp. 


CHAPTER  V 

CONSriRACIES— THE    TUILERIES     POLICE — A    CRIMINAL 

CENT- GARDE 

Attempts  on  the  Emperor's  Life — Association  of  the  Paris  Theatres  with  those 
Crimes — The  Plots  of  the  Hippodrome  and  the  Op6ra  Comique — The 
Kelch  Affair  and  Griscelli — Pianori's  attempt  on  Napoleon  III, — Demon- 
stration in  Paris — Why  the  Emperor  never  went  to  the  Crimea — The 
Attempt  of  Bellemare  the  Lunatic — The  Murder  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Paris — Mazzini's  Letters,  the  Tibaldi  Plot,  and  the  Countess  de  Castig- 
lione — The  Orsini  Attempt — The  Opera  Programme — The  Scene  in 
the  House  and  the  Tragedy  outside — The  Culprits,  their  Trial  and 
Punishment — A  Reign  of  Terror  in  France  and  Trouble  with  England- 
Consternation  of  the  French  Court — The  Special  Tuileries  Police— The 
Spy  system  in  the  Palace — The  Cent-Gardes  and  the  story  of  Prevost. 

"Uneasy  lies  the  head  that  wears  a  crown."  Many  were  the 
dangers  to  which  the  life  of  Napoleon  III.  was  exposed,  parti- 
cularly during  the  earlier  years  of  his  rule.  Six  months  after 
the  Coup  d'Etat,  and  before  he  had  actually  become  Emperor, 
there  was  a  plot  to  assassinate  him  in  Paris,  and  a  little 
later  (September,  1852),  during  his  journey  through  Southern 
France,  an  unfinished  infernal  machine  was  discovered  at 
Marseilles — "providentially,"  said  the  Bonapartist  journals  of 
the  time,  "before  his  arrival  in  that  city."  Some  people  sus- 
pected the  affair  to  be  a  bogus  one,  concocted  by  the  police 
to  stimulate  public  sympathy  with  the  Prince  President,  but 
whatever  may  have  been  the  facts  in  that  particular  instance, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  genuineness  of  many  subsequent 
plots  or  individual  attempts  on  his  life.  The  list  of  those 
which  secured  publicity  is  no  mean  one,  but  the  Archives  of 
the  Prefecture  of  Police  contain  indications  of  many  others, 
either  suddenly  abandoned  by  men  who  took  to  flight,  or  else 


CONSPIRACIES— THE  TUILERIES  POLICE    101 

nipped  in  the  bud  and  dealt  with  in  a  secret  arbitrary  fashion 
by  the  authorities.  The  latter,  indeed,  often  thought  it  best 
to  hush  up  one  or  another  affair  for  fear  lest  public  confidence, 
already  tried  by  what  came  to  light,  might  be  too  severely 
shaken  if  the  nation  should  learn  the  -whole  truth  about  the 
persistent  hatred  of  the  Emperor'^s  enemies.  But,  however 
careful  the  authorities  might  be,  there  was  often  a  little  leakage. 
Mysterious  rumours  circulated  in  whispers  in  one  and  another 
circle  of  Parisian  society,  tending  to  a  vague  haunting  sense 
of  insecurity,  such  as  was  suggested  by  an  English  versifier  of 
the  time : — 

"  The  years'  had  fled, 

The  old  King  *  was  dead  ; 
An  Emperor  governed  the  land  in  his  stead — 
A  gentleman  famed  for  a  very  long  head. 
Things  went  on  much  better  :  the  people  were  fed  ; 

The  city  had  grown 

From  mud  unto  stone  ; 
The  monarch  seemed  pretty  well  fixed  on  his  throne. 
But  still  there  was  something,  an  undefined  dread. 
As  you  feel  when  the  sides  of  Mount  Etna  you  tread  ; 
And  sorely  the  Emperor  puzzled  his  head, 

Ever  seeking  in  vain 

For  some  means  to  restrain 
The  dim,  hidden  dangers  that  threatened  his  reign." 

It  is  by  no  means  pleasant  for  a  man  to  know  that  he 
cannot  visit  a  public  place  of  entertainment,  spend  an  evening 
at  a  theatre,  without  incurring  the  risk  of  assassination,  as 
was  the  case  with  Napoleon  III.  The  present  Paris  Opera-house 
has  not  been  associated  with  crime  except  in  the  pages  of  a 
well-known  novel  by  Fortune  du  Boisgobey,  but  matters  were 
different  with  its  predecessors.  The  first  Napoleon  had  scarcely 
become  Consul  when  there  was  a  plot — an  ill-contrived  and 
half-hearted  one,  it  must  be  admitted — to  stab  him  to  death 
with  daggers  at  the  Opera-house  of  that  time,  which  occupied 
the  site  of  the  present  Place  Louvois  in  the  Hue  de  Richelieu. 
A  little  later,  on  Christmas  Eve,  1800,  as  Napoleon  was  repairing 
to  the  Opera  to  attend  a  performance  of  Haydn's  oratorio 
"  Saul,"  an  infernal  machine  was  exploded  in  the  Rue  Nicaise, 
near  the  Tuileries ;  and  the  future  Emperor  only  escaped  injury, 

*  Louis  Philippe. 


102  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

and  perhaps  death,  owing  to  the  semi-drunken  condition  of  his 
coachman,  who  drove  with  reckless  rapidity,  and  the  miscalcula- 
tions of  Robinet  de  St.  Rejant  by  whom  the  machine  was  fired, 
he  having  expected  that  a  guard  of  cavalry  would  precede  the 
carriage.  Twenty  years  afterwards  the  Opera-house  was  again 
associated  with  a  crime,  for  at  its  very  door  Louvel  stabbed 
Louis  XVIII.'s  nephew,  the  Duke  de  Berri,  who  died  a  few 
hours  afterwards.  Then,  in  1835,  Avhen  Fieschi  fired  his  in- 
fernal machine  at  Louis  Philippe  and  his  escort  on  the  Boulevard 
du  Temple,  the  Opera  figured  even  in  connection  with  that 
terrible  affair,  for  it  was  there  that  on  the  previous  evening  the 
police  were  vainly  warned  of  the  contemplated  attempt  upon 
the  King. 

Under  Napoleon  III.  there  was  at  first  a  change  of  venue  on 
the  parb  of  the  would-be  regicides,  though  they  still  selected 
places  of  entertainment  for  the  accomplishment  of  their  designs. 
In  spite  of  the  vigilance  of  the  imperial  police  under  Maupas 
and  Pietri,  some  of  the  secret  societies,  which  had  sprung  up 
under  Louis  Philippe  and  flourished  under  the  Republic  of  '48, 
were  still  in  existence  or  had  been  merged  into  other  associations, 
better  adapted  to  the  new  order  of  things.  Among  them  was 
one  called  "  The  Consuls  of  the  People,"  another  "  The  Sanitary 
Cordon,""'  and  a  third  "  The  Two  Hundred."  The  two  first- 
named  were  composed  of  old  Republicans,  the  last  of  Republican 
students  of  the  Quartier  Latin,  In  the  spring  of  1853,  those 
three  societies  entered  into  a  league  and  covenant  for  the  purpose 
of  ridding  France  of  the  new  Emperor.  The  more  ardent 
members  desired  to  kill  him,  the  others  thought  that  the 
seizure  of  his  person  would  suffice  to  bring  about  the  fall  of  the 
Empire  and  the  restoration  of  the  Republic.  The  views  of 
the  former  prevailed,  and  as  it  had  been  publicly  announced 
that  the  Emperor  would  attend  a  performance  at  the  Paris 
Hippodrome  on  June  7,  the  conspirators  resolved  to  attack  him 
on  that  occasion.  But  there  was  a  traitor  in  their  ranks  who 
revealed  everything  to  the  police.  Precautions  were  therefore 
adopted  by  the  authorities,  and  the  attempt  became  impossible. 
Moreover,  two  of  the  leaders,  named  Ruault  and  Lux,  were 
arrested,  while  a  printing  press  and  a  quantity  of  revolutionary 
papers  were  seized  at  the  abode  of  a  Moldavian  refugee  named 


CONSPIRACIES— THE  TUILERIES  POLICE    103 

Bratiano,  one  of  whose  brothers  was  a  member  of  the  "  Central 
European  Kevolutionary  Committee  "  installed  in  London. 

Nevertheless,  the  other  plotters  did  not  relinquish  their 
purpose.  At  the  suggestion  of  one  of  their  number,  a  Belgian 
named  de  Merens,  they  resolved  to  fall  upon  the  Emperor  as  he 
quitted  the  Opera  Comique  on  the  night  of  July  6.  Once 
again,  however,  they  were  betrayed  to  the  police,  and  after  the 
arrival  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress  at  the  theatre,  a  dozen  of 
them  were  arrested  among  the  crowd  lingering  outside.  About 
this  time,  it  may  be  mentioned,  a  vigorous  pamphlet  warfare 
was  being  carried  on  against  the  Empire,  not  only  by  such 
writers  as  Victor  Hugo,  Louis  Blanc,  Edgar  Quinet,  and  Colonel 
Charras,  but  also  by  a  London  organization  "La  Commune 
Revolutionnaire,"  which  was  directed  by  three  refugees — Felix 
Pyat,  Boichot,  and  Caussidiere.  Those  men  were  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  Imperial  Government,  but  several  of  their  un- 
fortunate acolytes  in  France  were  apprehended  and  sentenced 
to  varying  terms  of  imprisonment.  Four  months  later,  when 
the  plotters  of  the  Hippodrome  and  the  Opera  Comique  were 
brought  to  trial  at  the  assizes,  seven  of  them  were  sentenced  to 
transportation  for  life,  one  to  ten,  three  to  seven,  six  to  five, 
and  one  to  three  years'"  imprisonment,  while  three  others  were 
banished  from  France  for  eight  years.  Six  prisoners,  acquitted 
on  the  main  charges,  were  detained  for  having  belonged  to  secret 
societies  and  tried  with  forty  others  for  that  offence.  Of  those 
thus  indicted  only  four  secured  acquittal,  the  others  being  sent 
to  prison  for  periods  varying  from  five  years  to  one. 

There  was  also  another  strange  affair  in  that  same  year, 
1853.  An  ex-lieutenant  of  the  French  army  named  Frederic 
Kelch  arrived  in  Paris  from  London  and  secured  lodgings  over 
a  wine-shop  at  Montrouge.  Two  refugee  Italians  had  quarters 
in  the  same  house,  and  they  and  Kelch  were  suspected  of  designs 
on  the  Emperor's  life.  When  a  detachment  of  detective  police 
descended  on  the  place  to  arrest  them,  they  offered  a  most 
desperate  resistance,  and  were  badly  wounded  before  being 
secured.  They  were  never  brought  to  trial,  but  shipped  by 
"administrative  orders"  to  Cayenne.  Some  time  afterwards, 
however,  according  to  official  data,  Kelch  was  for  some  mysterious 
reason  released,  and  made  his  way  to  China,  where  he  became 


104>  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

one  of  the  officer-instructors  of  the  "  Ever- Victorious  Army."" 
However,  an  Itahan  named  Griscelh,  calHng  himself  "  Baron  de 
Rimini,""  and  for  a  time  one  of  the  secret  pohce  who  watched 
over  the  safety  of  Napoleon  IH.,  declares  in  his  "  Memoirs "'"' 
that  he  himself  shot  Kelch  dead  in  the  wine-shop,  where  he  had 
gone  to  arrest  him ;  that  he  received  in  reward  for  his  deed 
d£*400  from  the  Emperor,  <£40  from  M.  de  Maupas,  and  £60 
from  ]\I.  Pietri ;  and  that  the  Empress  Eugenie  defrayed  the 
cost  of  his  daughter"'s  education  at  a  convent  at  Issy.  It  is  just 
possible  that  there  may  be  some  little  truth  in  Griscelli"'s 
narrative,  but  that,  instead  of  shooting  Kelch  dead,  he  only 
wounded  him. 

Kelch's  acolytes  were  Italian  revolutionaries,  and  before  long 
it  was  from  men  of  that  class  and  nationality  that  Napoleon  III. 
stood  in  most  need  of  protection.*  About  five  o"'clock  on  the 
afternoon  of  April  28,  1855,  the  Emperor,  attended  by  an 
aide-de-camp  and  an  orderly  officer  (Edgar  Ney  and  Lieut.-Col. 
Valabregue),  was  riding  up  the  Champs  Elysees  in  order  to  join 
the  Empress,  Avho  was  driving  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  when  a 
man  suddenly  sprang  tovvards  him  from  the  footway  near  the 
corner  of  the  Rue  de  Balzac.  This  man,  who  was  armed  with 
a  double-barrelled  pistol,  fired  at  the  Emperor  twice,  but  with- 
out hitting  him,  whereupon  he  flung  his  weapon  away  and  took 
another  from  his  coat.  He  had  been  perceived,  however,  from 
the  other  side  of  the  avenue  by  a  vigilant  plain-clothes  police 
officer,  a  Corsican  named  Alessandri,  who,  drawing  a  dagger  which 
he  had  about  him,  rushed  forward  to  seize  the  man.  There  was  a 
slight  delay  as  a  carriage  passed  at  that  moment,  nearly  running 
over  Alessandri,  who  had  to  make  a  detour  to  avoid  it.  How- 
ever, before  the  Emperor"'s  assailant  could  fire  a  third  shot  the 

*  It  was  generally  supposed  that  Napoleon  was  pursued  by  the  hatred  of 
Italian  Carbonari,  he  having  previously  belonged,  it  was  said,  to  their  organiza- 
tion, and  having  failed  to  keep  his  oath.  The  Emperor  laughed  when  he 
heard  this  tale,  and  remarked,  in  the  presence  of  several  members  of  his  Court, 
that  he  had  never  been  a  Carbonaro  or  supported  the  Carbonaro  cause ;  all 
that  had  been  written  and  said  on  the  subject  was,  he  declared,  a  profound 
mistake.  He  had  been  confused  with  his  elder  brother,  and  the  error  had 
largely  arisen,  said  he,  from  the  circumstance  that  his  own  Christian  names 
and  his  brother's  were  identical,  though  they  did  not  follow  the  same  order. 
This  statement,  it  will  be  perceived,  refutes  the  assertions  made  by  Count 
Orsi  in  his  "  Eecollections." 


CONSPIRACIES— THE  TUILERIES  POLICE    103 

detective  was  upon  him.  They  rolled  over  on  the  ground 
together,  and  in  the  frantic  struggle  which  ensued  the  man  was 
twice  stabbed  by  Alessandri.  Nevertheless  he  fought  on,  and 
was  not  definitely  secured  until  the  arrival  of  other  policemen. 
The  Emperor,  meantime,  had  remained  quite  calm,  and  went 
his  way  to  join  the  Empress,  who  burst  into  tears  upon  hearing 
of  what  had  happened. 

Reports  of  the  attempt  sped  like  wildfire  through  Paris,  and 
when  the  Emperor  and  Empress  repaired  to  the  Opera  Comique 
in  the  evening,  they  were  enthusiastically  acclaimed  by  dense 
crowds  of  people,  as  is  acknowledged  even  by  Viel  Castel,  that 
great  sneerer  at  things  imperial.  "  I  must  say,"  he  writes  in 
his  "Diary,"  "that  if  I  were  to  read  what  I  have  just  seen  I 
should  not  believe  it,  I  should  charge  the  newspapers  with  flat- 
tery and  courtisannerie.  But  the  shouts  of  '  Vive  TEmpereur  ! ' 
thundered  forth  like  discharges  of  artillery,  continuing  farther 
and  farther  away.  The  emotion  was  general ;  I  saw  not  one 
person  but  twenty,  thirty  people  weeping.  .  .  .  Inside  the 
theatre  the  Empress  looked  pale  and  anxious,  in  spite  of  her 
efforts  to  appear  calm.  The  Emperor  also  was  thoughtful.  On 
the  return  to  the  Tuileries  they  were  greeted  with  the  same 
ovation  as  before,  and  the  houses  they  passed  were  resplendent 
with  illuminations." 

That  is  the  usual  outcome  of  such  attempts.  They  stir  even 
an  ordinarily  callous  population  to  sympathy  with  the  intended 
victim. 

The  Emperor"'s  assailant  was  named  Giovanni  Pianori.  Born 
at  Euenza  in  the  Papal  States,  in  1827,  a  shoemaker  by  pro- 
fession, and  the  father  of  several  children,  he  had  served  under 
Garibaldi,  at  Rome,  during  the  revolutionary  period.  The 
French  police  tried  to  show  that,  under  another  name,  he  had 
been  sentenced  to  twelve  years  at  the  galleys  for  political  assassi- 
nation in  Sicily,  whence  he  had  escaped  to  Genoa;  but  that 
conviction  was  never  clearly  established.  It  would  seem  that, 
after  the  French  expedition  to  Rome  in  1849,  Pianori  took 
refuge  in  Piedmont,  and,  under  the  name  of  Liverani,  made 
his  way  to  Marseilles,  Lyons,  and  Paris,  thence  passing  over  to 
England,  where  he  may  well  have  met  various  political  refugees. 
Mazzini  and  others  were  mentioned  at  his  trial,  but  there  was 


106  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

no  proof  that  they  had  instigated  his  crime,  though  it  was 
certainly  very  strange  that,  while  the  prisoner''s  circumstances 
were  plainly  precarious,  his  wants  were  supplied  in  some 
mysterious  way,  that  he  wore  attire  far  superior  to  his  real 
position,  and  that  he  had  returned  from  London  to  Paris 
only  five  days  before  making  his  attempt.  But  this,  he 
asserted,  had  been  suddenly  conceived  and  as  suddenly  carried 
out.  He  had  been  ruined,  he  said,  by  the  French  occupation 
of  the  Papal  States,  and  had  bethought  himself  of  all  the  misery 
prevailing  there  since  the  Pope  and  the  priests  had  regained 
power.  He  had  also  pictured  the  distressful  situation  of  his  wife 
and  children,  whom  he  had  been  obliged  to  leave  behind  him  ; 
and  on  remembering  that  it  was  Napoleon  III.  who  had  robbed 
Italy  of  Rome,  and  thereby  brought  about  all  his  misfortunes, 
he  had  lost  his  head  and  resolved  to  shoot  the  Emperor.  He 
was  sentenced  to  death  for  his  attempt,  but  there  is  reason  to 
believe  that  he  was  offered  his  life  in  exchange  for  revelations, 
which  he  did  not  make,  however,  adhering  to  his  original  state- 
ment that  he  had  no  accomplices.  The  Emperor  being  deemed 
"  the  father  of  his  country,"  Pianori  suffered  sentence  as  a 
parricide,  that  is,  going  to  the  guillotine  bare-footed  in  a  long 
white  shirt,  and  with  a  black  hooded  veil  hanging  from  his  head. 
"  Vive  ritalie  !  Vive  la  Republique  ! ""  he  cried,  as  he  ascended 
the  scaffold  steps,  displa3ang  until  the  last  moment  the  utmost 
fortitude. 

Pianori's  attempt  had  a  result  of  some  importance,  for  had 
it  not  occurred  the  Emperor  would  have  carried  out  his  design 
of  proceeding  to  the  Crimea,  in  spite  of  the  views  which  had 
been  expressed  at  the  War  Council  of  V\^indsor.*  In  fact,  at 
the  time  of  the  attempt  the  preparations  for  the  imperial 
departure  were  being  quietly  hastened.  But  the  sovereign's 
entourage  became  alarmed  both  for  his  safety  at  the  seat  of  war 
and  for  the  regime  itself  in  the  event  of  any  outbreak  in  his 
absence.  Pressure  was  therefore  brouglit  to  bear  on  him  by  the 
Empress  and  the  Ministers,  as  well  as  by  his  old  confederates  of 
the  Coup  d'Etat,  and  he  reluctantly  yielded  to  it.  Officially, 
of  course,  other  reasons  were  assigned  for  the  abandonment  of 
the  imperial  plans. 

*  See  ante,  p.  82.    Meury's  Memoirs  confirm  the  statement  made  above. 


CONSPIRACIES— THE  TUILERIES  POLICE    107 

Some  four  months  elapsed,  Queen  Victoria  paid  her  visit  to 
Paris,  and  the  Affaire  Pianori  was  almost  forgotten,  when  on 
the  evening  of  September  8,  1855 — the  day  of  the  victorious 
attack  on  the  INIalakoff — as  one  of  the  imperial  carriages  drew 
up  outside  the  Theatre  des  Italiens  in  the  Place  Ventadour,  a 
young  man  drew  a  pistol  from  his  pocket,  placed  the  muzzle 
close  to  the  window  of  the  vehicle,  fired,  and  broke  the  glass. 
Immediately  afterwards  he  raised  a  second  pistol,  but  before  he 
could  fire  it  a  sergent-de-ville  struck  his  arm  down,  and  the 
charge  entered  the  ground.  It  so  happened  that  the  carriage 
did  not  contain  the  Emperor,  but  three  of  the  Empress's  ladies, 
and  that  the  would-be  regicide  had  been  deceived  by  a  sudden 
shout  of  "  Vive  TEmpereur  ! "  which  an  impetuous  bystander,  an 
old  First-Empire  pensioner,  had  raised  on  recognizing  the  im- 
perial liveries.  The  ladies,  at  whom  the  pistol  was  discharged, 
escaped  unhurt,  but  they  were  quite  unnerved  by  the  occurrence ; 
while  Madame  Ristori,  the  famous  t7^agedienne,  who  was  giving 
her  last  performance  of  the  season  that  evening  (and  who,  as  it 
happened,  was  to  be  associated,  in  a  similar  way,  with  the 
subsequent  and  more  famous  attempt  of  Orsini  and  his  con- 
federates), fainted  on  hearing  that  the  Emperor"'s  life  had  been 
threatened,  and  was  scarcely  able  to  appear  in  her  role  as 
Phaedra  when,  shortly  afterwards.  Napoleon  III.  arrived.  The 
acclamations  with  which  he  was  received  were  so  pronounced 
that  he  inquired  the  cause,  and  on  hearing  of  the  outrage 
remarked :  "  Let  nothing  of  this  be  communicated  to  the 
Empress,     Stop  all  telegrams  about  it."  * 

The  would-be  assassin  was  a  young  fellow  of  two  and 
twenty  named  Bellemare,  a  native  of  Rouen,  and,  curiously 
enough,  a  bootmaker  by  calling,  like  Pianori.  Of  a  low 
physical  standard,  slight,  pale,  and  scrofulous,  he  had  been 
sentenced,  when  he  was  barely  sixteen,  to  two  years'  imprison- 
ment for  robbing  his  employer,  most  of  his  punishment  being- 
remitted,  however,  by  the  Emperor  (then  Prince  President) 
on  account  of  his  youth.  Nevertheless,  according  to  his  own 
statement,  Bellemare  had  taken  no  small  part  in  the  resistance 
to  the  Coup  d'Etat,  when  he  had  figured,  he  asserted,  among 
the  defenders  of  the  Rue  de  Rambuteau  barricade,  and  composed 

*  She  was  then  enceinte. 


108  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

and  posted  a  placard  bearing  the  title  of  "Reasons  why  Louis 
Napoleon  Bonaparte  is  Condemned  to  Death.""  Briefly,  he 
gloried  in  having  done  so  many  things — most  of  which,  in  all 
probability,  he  had  never  done  at  all — that  he  was  arrested  and 
sent  to  Belle-Ile-en-Mer  as  a  political  offender.  Released  in 
January,  1855,  he  then  returned  to  Paris,  where,  finding  no 
work  as  a  shoemaker,  he  entered  the  employment  of  a  huissier 
or  process-server.  Evidence  at  his  trial  showed  that  his 
behaviour  at  Belle-Ile  had  been  very  strange  indeed,  and  that 
he  had  quite  a  maniacal  craving  for  notoriety.  Finally  he  was 
adjudged  to  be  insane,  and  was  sent  as  such  to  an  asylum. 

In  the  following  year,  1856,  the  regicides  allowed  the 
Emperor  breathing  time,  that  is  to  say,  although  plotting  still 
went  on  there  was  no  open  attempt  at  assassination.  In 
January,  1857,  Paris  was  horrified  by  an  abominable  crime, 
the  murder  of  Archbishop  Sibour — a  broad-minded  and  popular 
prelate — in  the  church  of  St.  Etienne-du-Mont.  The  culprit 
was  an  interdicted  priest  named  Verger,  whom  the  Archbishop 
had  frequently  befriended,  and  who  at  one  moment  had  been 
attached  as  cross-bearer  to  the  Tuileries  chapel,  under  the 
acting-Almoner,  Mgr.  Tirmache.  Verger  had  no  grounds  for 
personal  animosity  against  Archbishop  Sibour  (for  it  was  the 
Bishop  of  Meaux,  his  diocesan,  who  had  "  interdicted " 
him),  but  his  mind  had  been  affected  by  repeated  brooding 
over  the  dogma  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Virgin,* 
which  he  deemed  contraiy  to  true  Christianity.  Thus  it  was 
with  a  cry  of  "No  goddesses!  Down  with  the  goddesses!" 
that  he  plunged  his  knife  into  the  unfortunate  prelate,  while 
the  latter  was  advancing,  processionally,  up  the  nave  of  the 
church.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  Verger  was  insane, 
nevertheless  he  was  guillotined. 

During  the  ensuing  summer  the  "  Black  Cabinet "  of  the 
French  Postal  Service  seized  a  letter  which  was  found  to 
contain  three  notes  written  by  Mazzini  and  intended  for 
certain   of    his   friends    named   Massarenti,    Campanella,    and 

*  It  was  not  a  new  dogma,  having  been  known  to  the  Church  for  many 
centuries,  and  confirmed  by  Paul  V.,  Gregory  XV.,  and  Alexander  VII, ;  but 
in  December,  1854,  Pius  IX.  had  issued  a  bull  again  declaring  it  to  be  an 
article  of  faith,  and  pronouncing  all  who  might  speak  against  it  or  doubt  it  to 
be  guilty  of  heresy. 


CONSPIRACIES— THE   TUILERIES  POLICE     109 

Tibaldi.  The  French  police  promptly  concluded  that  these 
communications  referred  to  a  plot  against  the  Emperor's  life. 
Massarenti  and  Campanella  were  in  London,  out  of  the  reach 
of  the  imperial  authorities,  but  Tibaldi,  an  optician  by  pro- 
fession, was  in  Paris,  where  he  was  immediately  arrested,  as 
were  also  two  men  named  Bartolotti  and  Grilli,  who  were 
mentioned  in  one  of  Mazzini's  notes,  and  who,  like  Tibaldi, 
had  lately  arrived  from  London.  Further,  in  a  room  occupied 
by  a  female  acquaintance  of  Tibaldi's  the  police  found  a  valise 
containing  fourteen  double-barrelled  pocket-pistols,  five  daggers, 
a  horse-pistol,  and  one  of  the  then  newly  invented  American 
revolvers.  When  the  three  men  were  brought  to  trial,  Tibaldi, 
who  denied  all  guilt,  explained  his  connection  with  the  others 
by  asserting  that  they  had  been  introduced  to  him  by  an 
acquaintance  as  compatriots  in  distress,  for  whom  he  had  there- 
fore tried  to  find  employment.  Indeed,  he  had  secured  a 
situation  for  Grilli  at  a  hatter''s  in  the  Rue  du  Temple.  But 
Grilli  and  Bartolotti  told  a  different  story.  They  asserted  that 
they  had  each  received  .£40  from  Mazzini  as  a  retaining  fee  to 
assassinate  the  Emperor,  and  that  Tibaldi  had  undertaken  to 
provide,  them  with  weapons,  and  select  the  best  opportunity 
and  spot  for  the  perpetration  of  the  crime.  Not  content  with 
these  disclosures,  the  prosecution  made  great  efforts  to  connect 
the  French  Republican  exile,  Ledru-Rollin,  with  the  plot. 
Grilli  and  Bartolotti  asserted  that  they  had  seen  a  man  whom 
they  believed  to  be  Ledru-Rollin  at  Mazzini's  when  they  called 
there,  and  a  witness  named  Gerault  also  made  a  statement 
respecting  some  money  which  Ledru-Rollin  had  handed  to  him 
in  1853  for  an  individual  named  Beaumont,  a  connection  of 
the  Lieutenant  Kelch,  whom  Griscelli  claimed  to  have  killed. 
But,  all  considered,  there  was  no  evidence  against  Ledru-Rollin, 
who,  after  the  proceedings,  protested  vigorously  against  the 
charges  levelled  at  him,  and  offered  to  stand  his  trial  in 
England  if  the  Imperial  Government  would  prosecute  him 
there :  a  suggestion  which  the  Parisian  authorities  did  not 
entertain. 

With  respect  to  Mazzini,  the  case  was  different.  His  letters 
could  not  be  denied,  and  they  were  significant  enough.  It  has 
been  claimed,  however,  that  in  anv  case  he  did  not  seek  out 


110  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Grilli  and  Bartolotti,  but  that  they  sought  him,  playing  the 
part  of  agents  provocateurs,  and  leading  him,  Tibaldi,  and  others 
into  a  trap.  That  might,  in  a  sense,  slightly  lessen  the  culpa- 
bility of  Mazzini,  but  the  fact  remains  that  he  entertained  the 
proposals  made  to  him,  and,  while  freely  acknowledging  that  he 
was  a  great  Italian  patriot,  it  is,  we  feel,  impossible  to  hold 
him  guiltless  in  this  affair.  Tibaldi,  condemned  to  transporta- 
tion for  life,  was  promptly  shipped  to  Cayenne,  where  he  was 
still  in  durance  at  the  fall  of  the  Empire  in  1870 ;  while  Grilli 
and  Bartolotti,  who  throughout  the  trial  protested  that  poverty 
alone  had  induced  them  to  take  Mazzini's  money,  and  that  they 
had  never  intended  to  carry  out  their  mission,  were  sentenced  to 
fifteen  years""  solitary  confinement.  Some  writers  have  asserted, 
however,  that,  like  Lieutenant  Kelch,  they  remained  but  a 
short  time  in  prison,  that  an  order  suddenly  came  for  their 
release,  and  that  they  disappeared. 

That  would  certainly  tend  to  confirm  the  view  that  they 
had  merely  acted  as  agents  provocateurs.  But  there  is  another 
point  to  be  considered.  Not  the  least  curious  feature  of  the 
affair  was  the  selection  of  the  occasion  when  the  Emperor  was 
to  be  attacked.  This  was  to  have  been  either  on  his  arrival  at 
or  his  departure  from  a  certain  house,  which,  throughout  the 
trial,  was  invariably  referred  to  as  "  No.  53  " — no  street  being 
mentioned.  It  so  happened,  however,  that  No.  53,  Hue 
Montaigne,  was  at  that  time  the  residence  of  a  young  and 
beautiful  Italian,  daughter  of  the  Marquis  Oldoini  of  Florence, 
and  wife  of  Count  Francesco  Verasis  di  Castiglione  of  Piedmont, 
King  Victor  EmmanueFs  First  Equerry,  whom  she  had  married 
when  only  fifteen  years  of  age.  The  Countess — whose  Christian 
name,  Virginia,  was  in  marked  contrast  with  her  real  nature — 
had  been  for  a  short  time  one  of  Victor  Emmanuel's  many 
mistresses,  and  had  taken  up  her  residence  in  Paris  with  the 
express  object  of  becoming  that  of  the  Emperor.  Whether 
she  acted,  as  some  have  asserted,  at  the  instigation  of  Cavour, 
and  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  pressure  to  bear  on  Napo- 
leon III.  in  connection  with  the  deliverance  of  Northern  Italy 
from  the  Austrians,  has  never  been  established ;  and,  in  fact, 
it  may  well  be  doubted,  for  although  the  Countess  was  ex- 
tremely beautiful,  wearing  on  her  face  an  expression  of  juvenile 


CONSPIRACIES— THE   TUILERIES   POLICE     111 

innocence  which  completely  concealed  her  depravity,  she  displayed 
no  mental  gifts.  Such  wit  or  shrewdness  as  she  possessed  was 
apparently  only  that  of  a  courtesan.  She  posed,  she  exhibited 
herself,  but  she  never  evinced  any  conversational  power  in 
public,  and  it  seems  unlikely  that  so  able,  so  shrewd  a  man  as 
Cavour  would  have  selected  as  an  emissary  a  Avoman  devoid  of 
rudimentary  ability.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Countess  was 
remarkably  extravagant.  liike  a  true  Florentine  she  had  a 
passion,  a  craving,  for  jewellery,  for  splendour  of  every  kind — 
on  which,  indeed,  in  comparatively  few  years  she  squandered 
her  husband's  handsome  fortune.  And  we  incline  to  the  belief 
that,  far  from  being  inspired  by  any  high  political  motives  in 
her  designs  on  Napoleon  III.,  she  was  merely  actuated  by  base 
and  sordid  desires.  That  she  became  for  a  short  time  the 
Emperor's  mistress  is  well  known,  and  that  he  visited  her  in 
the  Rue  Montaigne  is  equally  certain.  The  affair  was  notorious ; 
and,  as  the  Countess  had  several  Italians  round  her,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  Bartolotti  and  Grilli  should  have  been  sufficiently 
informed  as  to  the  possibility  of  falling  upon  the  Emperor  on 
the  occasion  of  one  of  his  visits  to  the  Rue  Montaigne. 

It  is  this  design,  admitted  at  the  trial  (though  neither  the 
street  nor  the  Countess  was  actually  mentioned),  that  prevents 
us  from  regarding  the  affair  as  a  mere  bogus  conspiracy.  If 
it  had  been  simply  "  put  up  "  by  the  police,  there  would  have 
been  no  compromising  mention  of  any  mysterious  "No.  53 " 
— such  as  induced  Viel  Castel,  writing  at  the  time,  to 
remark  that  everybody  knew  what  house  was  meant,  and  that 
the  secret  was  merely  "  Polichinelle's."  In  fact,  if,  as  some 
have  alleged,  Grilli  and  Bartolotti  were  mere  police  spies,  they 
would  never  have  made  statements  in  court  in  any  degree 
likely  to  cast  reflection  on  the  morality  of  the  Emperor.  That 
they  were  regarded  as  mere  instruments  in  the  affair,  and  re- 
leased and  sent  out  of  France  in  return  for  their  denunciations 
of  Mazzini  and  Ledru-Rollin,  seems  the  best  explanation  of  their 
subsequent  disappearance. 

Some  five  or  six  months  elapsed,  and  at  last,  in  January, 
1858,  came  the  most  famous  of  all  the  attempts  on  the  life  of 
Napoleon  HI.  Both  he  and  the  Empress  Eugenie  were  partial 
to  theatrical  performances,  and  there  were,  of  course,  "  imperial 


112  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

boxes"  (sometimes  two)  at  every  Paris  theatre  of  any  conse- 
quence. When  the  sovereigns  visited  the  Comedie  Franpaise 
they  entered  by  way  of  the  Pavilion  Montpensier  of  the  Palais 
Royal,  and  passed  through  some  of  Prince  Jerome's  salons  (later 
his  son's)  to  a  doorway  which  gave  admittance  to  the  theatre  on 
a  level  with  their  box.  At  the  Opera-house,  which  was  then 
in  the  Rue  Le  Peletier,  there  was  a  special  entrance  near  the 
public  one,  with  private  stairs  conducting  to  a  salon,  beyond 
which  you  found  the  chief  imperial  box — a  large  avant-scene 
on  the  left  of  the  spectators  seated  in  the  body  of  the  house. 
On  the  right  of  that  principal  box  there  was  another  which  was 
usually  occupied  by  members  of  the  Imperial  Household, 
while  on  the  left  there  was  a  little  stage-box  to  which  the 
Empress  often  Avithdrew  during  the  entr'actes,  for  it  amused 
her  to  watch  the  performers  and  privileged  subscribers  con- 
versing in  the  slips,  the  stage-managers  giving  their  orders, 
and  the  scene-shifters  preparing  everything  for  the  next  acb. 
On  the  arrival  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress  at  the  Opera-house 
they  were  always  received  by  the  First  Chamberlain  (Baciocchi, 
who  took  care  to  arrive  in  advance)  and  by  the  director,  who 
awaited  them  at  the  foot  of  the  private  staircase,  carrying 
a  lighted  candelabrum  which  he  held  aloft  as,  stepping  back- 
ward, he  preceded  their  Majesties  up  the  stairs.  Behind  the 
gilded  armchairs  which  the  Emperor  and  Empress  occupied  in 
the  chief  box,  were  other  seats  for  the  First  Chamberlain,  the 
acting  Chamberlain,  the  Aide-de-camp,  and  the  Lady  of  the 
Palace  on  duty.  These  attendants  remained  standing  during 
the  first  few  minutes,  after  which  it  was  usually  suggested  to 
them  that  they  might  sit  down.  The  sovereigns  themselves  also 
remained  standing  while  they  acknowledged  the  bows  or  accla- 
mations of  the  spectators ;  but  it  was  not  the  custom,  as  in 
England,  for  the  orchestra  to  honour  their  arrival  by  playing  the 
national  air  of  the  time — "  Partant  pour  la  Syrie "" — though  on 
the  occasion  of  the  State  performance  during  Queen  Victoria's 
visit  in  1855  she  made  her  entry  to  the  strains  of  the  British 
national  anthem. 

On  January  14,  1858,  the  "bill"  of  the  Opera-house  was 
of  an  unusual  character.  A  notable  baritone,  Massol,  a  faithful 
servant  of  the  "  Academic  de  J\Iusique  "  for  thirty  years,  Avas 


CONSPIRACIES— THE  TUILEllIES  POLICE     113 

retiring  from  the  stage,  and  a  performance  had  been  organized 
for  his  benefit.  The  most  distinguished  members  of  the  musical 
profession  had  promised  to  rally  round  him  ;  the  chief  exponents 
of  the  choregraphic  art,  the  Ferraris,  Rosati,  and  Richard,  were 
also  prepared  to  contribute  to  the  entertainment ;  and  in  par- 
ticular it  had  been  arranged  that  Adelaide  Ristori  should 
figure  in  the  performance,  which  the  Emperor  and  Empress  had 
promised  to  attend.  For  several  days  all  tickets  had  been  at  a 
premium,  and  Avhen  the  appointed  evening  arrived  the  audi- 
torium was  crowded  with  the  leading  members  of  Parisian 
society,  ambassadors  and  marshals,  senators  and  bankers, 
exquisites  of  the  Jockey  Club,  litth-ateurs,  ladies  of  rank  and 
notorieties  of  the  demi-monde.  Briefly,  there  was  a  splendid 
"house,"  and  an  enjoyable  evening  was  anticipated. 

Yet  the  programme  was  of  a  strange  description,  and 
looking  back  one  wonders  by  what  remarkable  chance  such 
a  succession  of  ominous  "items'"  was  ever  chosen.  First  on 
the  bill  was  the  third  act  of  "  Guillaume  Tell,"  a  conspiracy ; 
next  the  third  act  of  "  Massaniello,"  a  revolution  ;  then  (with 
La  Ristori)  the  execution  scene  of  "  Maria  Stuarda,"  a  political 
murder;  and  finally  the  masquerade  or  assassination  act  of 
"  Gustavus  III."  How  Count  Baciocchi,  the  First  Chamberlain 
and  Superintendent  of  the  Imperial  Theatres,  allowed  such  a 
bill  to  be  adopted,  knowing  that  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
were  to  attend,  has  always  been  a  mystery.  It  was  a  fateful 
circumstance,  for  we  know  that  the  very  character  of  the  per- 
formance, announced  some  time  in  advance,  was  a  powerful 
factor  in  the  choice  of  this  occasion  for  yet  another  attempt  on 
the  life  of  Napoleon  III. 

The  house,  as  we  have  said,  was  crowded,  and  on  the 
arrival  of  the  Duke  of  Saxe-Coburg  and  Gotha,  who  preceded 
the  Emperor  and  Empress,  Baciocchi  gave  orders  for  the  per- 
formance to  begin.  All  at  once,  amidst  the  finale  to  the 
third  act  of  "Guillaume  Tell" — the  great  scene  when  Arnold 
von  Melchthal  swears  to  avenge  his  country — a  violent  detona- 
tion was  heard,  and  everybody  at  first  imagined  that  some 
explosion  of  gas  had  taken  place  in  the  slips.  But  again  and 
again  there  came  a  loud  report,  and  the  whole  audience  quivered 
with  alarm.     Amid  the  confused  hubbub  which  ensued,  a  sharp 


114  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

imperative  voice  suddenly  rang  out :  "  On  demande  des  medecins 
— a  rinstant ! " — "  Doctors  are  wanted,  at  once  ! "  It  was  a 
Commissary  of  Police  who  called,  and  such  members  of  the 
medical  profession  that  happened  to  be  present  immediately 
hurried  out.  Everybody  now  realized  that  something  dreadful 
had  happened.  The  most  terrible  suspicion  flashed  on  one  and 
all.  Excited  men  rushed  from  their  seats  to  ascertain  the  facts. 
AVomen  sobbed,  some  of  them  even  fainted.  Anxious  ejacu- 
lations arose  on  every  side.  The  Emperor — was  he  killed  ?  The 
Empress — what  of  her  ?  There  was  yet  another  moment  of 
suspense.  Then  all  who  were  not  overcome  by  their  feelings 
sprang  excitedly  from  their  seats,  turned  towards  the  imperial 
box,  and  burst  into  acclamations.  Before  them  stood  the 
Emperor  and  Empress  acknowledging  their  plaudits.  "The 
Man  of  Mystery,"  as  Napoleon  III.  Avas  then  so  often  styled, 
looked  as  composed  as  ever — neither  paler  nor  redder  than  was 
his  wont.  Not  a  quiv^er  either  of  any  facial  muscle  or  of  hand, 
not  a  sparkle  in  his  side-glancing  eyes,  was  to  be  detected. 
As  somebody  said  at  the  time,  if  there  were  any  man  in  the 
world  Avho  could  bear  being  blown  up  with  gunpowder  without 
changing  countenance,  it  was  Napoleon  III.  The  Empress,  in 
spite  of  her  efforts,  was  much  less  composed ;  she  looked  as 
pale  as  death,  and  had  quite  a  scared  expression  on  her  beautiful 
countenance.  Her  cheeks  had  been  slightly  grazed,  and  there 
were  drops  of  blood  on  her  white  silk  bodice.  Some  time  elapsed 
before  the  prolonged  plaudits  allowed  the  sovereigns  to  sit  down, 
but  at  last  they  did  so,  and  the  performance  proceeded  in  spite 
of  the  frightful  tragedy  which  had  marked  their  arrival  at  the 
theatre. 

This  is  what  had  happened.  The  imperial  carriage  had 
stopped  outside  the  house,  and  the  Emperor  and  Empress  were 
about  to  alight  when  four  small  hand-bombs  were  thrown  in 
succession  at  the  equipage.  Three  of  them  exploded  with 
terrible  effect.  One  of  the  carriage  horses  was  killed  on  the 
spot,  the  other  injured.  General  Roguet,  who  accompanied 
the  sovereigns,  was  wounded  in  the  neck,  the  coachman  in  the 
head,  and  the  three  footmen  also  received  slight  injuries.  At 
the  same  time  a  splinter  of  one  of  the  bombs  pierced  the 
Emperor's  hat,  and  another  tore  the  collar  of  his  cloak.     The 


CONSPIRACIES— THE  TUILERIES  POLICE     115 

slight  injury  to  the  Empress's  cheek  was  due  to  the  broken 
glass  of  one  of  the  carriage  windows.  But  all  that  was  of  little 
moment.  The  worst  was  that  eight  people  were  mortally 
wounded,  including  two  of  the  Lancers  of  the  imperial  escort. 
Serious  injuries  were  inflicted  on  seven  other  Lancers,  five  more 
being  hurt  less  severely.  The  roll  of  those  who  were  seriously 
wounded  included  also  seventeen  civilians,  eleven  men  of  the 
Paris  Municipal  Guard,  and  thirty-two  police  officers  of  various 
categories.  But  altogether  no  fewer  than  a  hundred  and  fifty 
people  were  struck  and  bruised.  Moreover,  twenty  horses  of 
the  escort  were  injured,  seven  of  them  fatally. 

The  plot  is  too  well  known  to  require  detailed  recital  here. 
We  need  only  glance  at  the  main  points.  One  of  the  culprits, 
Pierri,  recognized  as  a  man  who  had  previously  been  expelled 
from  France,  and  who  was  already  suspected  of  regicidal  designs, 
was  arrested  on  the  spot  a  few  minutes  before  the  attempt 
occurred,  in  such  wise  that  he  did  not  actually  take  part  in  it. 
But  his  intentions  were  manifest,  for  a  bomb,  a  dagger,  and  a 
pistol  were  found  on  him.  However,  the  chief  culprit,  Felix 
Orsini,  had  been  able  to  act.  Injured  himself  by  one  of  the 
explosions,  he  repaired  to  a  chemist's  shop  for  treatment,  and 
after  his  return  to  his  lodgings,  some  inquiries  which  his  servant 
Gomez  made  at  the  chemist's,  led  to  the  arrest  of  both. 
Moreover,  a  search  at  the  hotel  where  Pierri  was  residing 
resulted  in  the  apprehension  of  a  fourth  culprit,  one  Charles 
de  Rudio,  who  went  under  the  name  of  Da  Silva.  If  the  chief 
police  authorities  had  acted  on  the  warnings  of  a  detective 
officer  named  Claude,  who  had  been  on  the  track  of  the  band 
for  some  days  previously,  the  attempt  would  never  have  taken 
place.  However,  Claude's  acumen  and  foresight  were  sub- 
sequently rewarded.  He  became  chief  of  the  service  of  which 
he  had  long  been  a  zealous  and  capable  officer.  He  was, 
perhaps,  the  greatest  detective  that  France  ever  produced,  and 
he  served  as  the  prototype  of  the  famous  "  Monsieur  Lecoq  " 
— the  "  hero  "  of  Gaboriau's  novels. 

Although,  as  we  have  mentioned,  the  performance  at  the 
Opera  proceeded  in  spite  of  the  painful  tragedy  which  had 
occurred  outside,  the  spectators  generally  paid  little  attention 
to  what  took  place  on  the  stage.     The  one  point  of  interest 


il(j  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

was  the  imperial  box,  whither  functionaries  of  one  and  another 
category  betook  themselves  in  succession,  either  to  tender  their 
congratulations  or  to  report  on  the  condition  of  the  wounded, 
or  the  progress  made  by  the  police  with  respect  to  the  arrest 
of  the  culprits.  Prince  Napoleon,  moreover,  hastened  to  the 
theatre  from  the  Palais  Koyal,  where  he  had  been  entertaining 
a  number  of  friends  with,  curiously  enough,  a  performance  of 
Alfred  de  Vigny's  "  proverb,"  Quitte  pour  la  Peur.  It  was 
midnight  when  the  Emperor  and  Empress  rose  to  retire.  They 
were  then  again  acclaimed  by  the  audience,  and  on  their  way 
back  to  the  Tuileries  they  found  most  of  the  houses  illuminated 
and  the  foot  pavements  thronged  with  people,  whose  applause 
the  Empress  acknowledged  by  impulsively  waving  her  hand- 
kerchief from  the  carriage  window.  At  the  Tuileries  all  was 
excitement,  the  Salle  des  Marechaux  was  thronged  with  Princes, 
ambassadors,  and  high  dignitaries,  who  had  repaired  thither 
to  offer  their  felicitations  and  denounce  the  outrage.  On  the 
morrow  the  Emperor  and  Empress  drove  through  Paris  in  an 
open  carriage  without  escort,  and  again  met  with  a  great 
reception. 

The  men  who  had  been  an*ested  were  in  due  course  brought 
to  trial.  Their  leader  Orsini,  born  at  Meldola  in  the  Papal 
States,  was  about  thirty-nine  3'ears  old,  tall,  handsome,  with  a 
curly  black  beard  and  piercing  eyes.  His  father  had  served  the 
first  Napoleon,  and  had  subsequently  figured  in  that  same 
insurrection  in  the  llomagna,  in  which  the  elder  brother  of 
Napoleon  IH.  had  participated.*  In  time  Orsini  the  younger 
likewise  became  an  insurgent  and  conspirator,  bent  on  ridding 
Northern  Italy  of  the  Austrians,  and  Rome  of  priestly  rule.  At 
the  Roman  Revolution  of  '48  he  became  a  member  of  the 
Republican  Convention,  and  was  sent  by  the  Triumvirate  to 
Ancona  to  put  down  some  serious  troubles  there,  on  which 
occasion  he  roundly  denounced  political  assassination,  declaring 
that  it  was  not  a  proper  course  to  pursue  even  for  the  pur- 
pose of  securing  liberty.  But  the  French  expedition  to  Rome 
modified  his  views.  Like  Pianori,  he  conceived  a  deadly  hatred 
for  Napoleon  III.  Falling  into  the  hands  of  the  Austrians  in 
1853,  Orsini  was  sent  to  the  citadel  of  Mantua,  but  he  escaped 

*  See  ante,  p.  7. 


CONSPIRACIES— THE   TUILERIES   POLICE     117 

and  made  his  way  to  England,  where  he  endeavoured  to  enlist 
public  sympathy  in  the  cause  of  Italian  independence.  At  last, 
feeling  that  the  French  Emperor  was  the  great  obstacle  to  the 
realization  of  his  desires,  Orsini  decided  to  act  against  him. 
His  original  intention  was  to  do  so  alone,  unaided ;  but  he  came 
into  contact  with  his  compatriot  Pierri,  a  native  of  Lucca,  who 
had  been  living  at  Birmingham  as  a  professor  of  languages  for 
some  years.  Pierri  was  then  about  fifty  years  old,  and  his 
career  had  been  a  chequered  one.  Ho  had  served  in  turn  in 
the  French  Foreign  Legion,  in  the  Piedmontese  Bersaglieri,  and 
in  the  Roman  Republican  forces,  in  which  last  he  held  the  rank 
of  colonel.  Thus  he  was  as  much  a  partisan  of  Italian  inde- 
pendence as  Orsini,  and  of  a  far  more  excitable,  violent  nature. 
Gomez,  Orsini's  servant,  who  lii<ewise  figured  in  the  plot,  was 
a  Neapolitan  partisan  of  "the  cause;"  while  Rudio,  who  was 
only  five  and  twenty  years  of  age,  belonged  to  Belluno  in  the 
States  of  Venice,  and  had  served  as  a  youth  under  Manin 
during  the  siege  of  la  cltta  imica.  The  quartette  symbolized, 
then,  four  of  the  chief  divisions  of  Italy:  Venetia,  Naples, 
Tuscany,  and  the  Roman  States. 

Orsini  Avas  the  first  to  arrive  in  Paris  for  the  purpose  of 
assassinating  the  Emperor,  being  followed  by  the  others  about 
three  weeks  later.  The  imperial  authorities,  according  to  their 
usual  tactics,  tried  to  implicate  various  French  Republican 
exiles  in  the  affair,  but  except  as  regards  Dr.  Bernard,  of  whom 
we  shall  speak  hereafter,  there  was  not  a  scrap  of  evidence  to 
support  that  view.  Moreover,  the  only  link  by  which  even 
IMazzini  could  be  connected  with  the  affair  was  a  manifesto  of 
his  on  the  subject  of  Italian  independence,  which  had  been 
issued  in  the  Italia  del  Popolo  of  Genoa,  five  days  prior  to 
the  attempt.  As  for  an  Englishman  named  AUsop,  who  was 
indicted  (by  default)  at  the  same  time  as  the  others,  Orsini, 
while  admitting  that  this  person  had  lent  him  his  passport  and 
helped  him  to  make  the  bombs,  declared  that  he  had  not 
known  the  real  purpose  for  which  they  were  intended,  but  had 
been  led  to  believe  that  they  were  to  be  used  in  some  rising 
in  Italy.* 

*  AUsop,  whose  \Yliereab9uts  in  England  were  discovered,  found  it  prudent 
to  go  to  America, 


118  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Orsini's  behaviour  at  the  trial  was  frank  and  dignified  ;  he 
stated  his  reasons  for  the  crime,  and  acknowledged  the  essential 
facts  without  casting  undue  responsibility  on  his  fellow-prisoners. 
He  asserted  that  he  had  had  another  confederate  unknown  to 
them,  an  Italian,  who  had  actually  thrown  one  of  the  bombs, 
but  he  refused  to  give  this  individuaPs  name.  Pierri,  for  his 
part,  denied  everything,  even  the  most  patent  facts ;  while 
Gomez  and  Rudio,  fearing  for  their  heads,  confessed  their  guilt 
with  an  air  of  craven  repentance.  The  result  was  a  foregone 
conclusion.  The  eloquence  of  Jules  Eavre,  who  appeared  for 
Orsini,  could  be  of  no  avail  in  such  a  case.  Thus  Orsini,  Pierri, 
and  Rudio  were  condemned  to  death,  and  Gomez  to  hard 
labour  for  life — to  which  latter  penalty  the  sentence  on  Rudio 
was  ultimately  commuted.  The  Emperor  at  first  wished  to 
spare  the  lives  of  all  four  prisoners,  holding,  and  perhaps 
rightly,  that  a  broad  act  of  clemency  would  deter  other  Italians 
from  similar  enterprises  ;  but  the  Ministers  and  the  Court  would 
not  hear  of  it.  So  many  people  had  been  killed  or  injured,  they 
said,  that  leniency  was  out  of  the  question.  There  must  be  no 
weakness,  but  unflinching  severity,  and  that  view  prevailed,  as 
France  soon  learnt  to  its  cost  when  it  awoke  one  morning  and 
found  a  Minister  of  Public  Safety  in  office,  and  hundreds  of 
absolutely  innocent  persons  arrested  and  consigned  to  prison. 
Under  the  unscrupulous  Espinasse  *  a  perfect  Reign  of  Terror 
set  in  and  continued  until  the  Emperor,  alarmed  at  seeing  his 
Minister  going  so  far  that  the  national  discontent  threatened 
the  very  regime^  rebuked  him  in  such  a  manner  as  to  compel 
him  to  resign. 

While  Orsini  was  awaiting  his  trial  he  had  written  the 
Emperor  a  remarkable  letter,  urging  him  to  restore  the  inde- 
pendence of  Italy.  In  a  second  missive,  penned  from  his 
condemned  cell,  and  published  after  his  execution,  he  acknow- 
ledged that  bomb-throwing  was  a  fatal  error,  offered  his  blood 
in  atonement  for  that  of  his  victims,  and  called  on  his  fellow- 
countrymen  to  reject  henceforth  all  methods  of  assassination 
and  win  their  "  freedom  and  independence  by  unity  of  effort 
and  sacrifice,  and  the  practice  of  true  virtue."  That  appeal  was 
printed  in  large  type  in  King  Victor  Emmanuel's  official  organ, 
*  See  ante,  pp.  11  an(i  47, 


CONSPIRACIES— THE  TUILERIES   POLICE     119 

the    Turin   Gazette,   where   its   appearance   created   no    slight 
sensation. 

But  trouble  had  arisen  with  England.  The  crime  having 
been  planned  there,  the  British  Government  was  roundly 
denounced  for  harbouring  assassins.  Many  colonels  of  the 
French  army,  whose  addresses  congratulating  the  Emperor  on 
his  escape  were  published  in  the  Mo7iiteur,  availed  themselves 
of  the  opportunity  to  upbraid  and  threaten  the  British  nation. 
Thereupon  British  public  opinion  rose  against  the  French 
Imperialists.  The  Government  of  the  time  was  swept  away 
for  introducing  a  Crimes  Bill  intended  to  placate  Napoleon  III. 
Dr.  Bernard,  an  ex-ship's  surgeon,  who  had  introduced  Rudio  to 
Pierri,  who  had  been  intimate  with  Orsini,  and  who  was  known 
to  have  been  in  the  possession  of  bombs,  not  exactly  identical, 
however,  with  those  used  in  Paris,  was  acquitted  by  an  English 
jury  of  all  complicity  in  the  attempt  against  the  Emperor; 
and  although  Queen  Victoria  and  Napoleon  afterwards  had  a 
cordial  meeting  at  Cherbourg,  the  entente  of  the  two  nations, 
so  conspicuous  at  the  time  of  the  Queen's  Paris  visit,  received 
a  blow  from  which  it  only  partially  recovered  when  a  few 
years  later  Cobden  negotiated  the  Treaty  of  Commerce. 

Orsini  and  Pierri,  arrayed  in  the  garb  of  "parricides,'" 
suffered  death  on  March  13,  1858.  Few  civilians  actually 
witnessed  the  execution,  for  5000  troops  were  massed  on  the 
Place  de  la  Roquette.  On  reaching  the  foot  of  the  scaffold 
both  men  kissed  the  crucifix.  Then  Pierri  ascended  the  steps, 
leaning  on  a  priest,  and  singing  the  old  chant  of  the  first 
French  Revolution :  "  To  die  for  one's  country  is  the  most 
splendid  fate,  the  one  most  deserving  of  envy."  At  the 
moment  when  his  black  veil  was  raised  he  cried  to  the  distant 
spectators  :  "  Long  live  Italy  !  Long  live  the  Republic  !  " 
Two  minutes  later  his  head  fell  into  the  basket.  Then  came 
Orsini's  turn.  Of  a  much  less  excitable  nature  than  Pierri, 
he  remained  quite  composed,  merely  exclaiming,  "  Vive  la 
France ! ""  when  the  executioner's  assistants  seized  him. 

As  we  have  already  mentioned,  the  immediate  result  of  the 
Orsini  affair  for  France  was  the  prompt  establishment  of  a 
reign  of  terror  under  the  provisions  of  an  abominable  enact- 
ment,   called    "Law    of   Public    Safety,"    which    was    drafted 


120  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

expressly  for  the  occasion,  and  which  swept  away  almost  every 
vestige  of  individual  liberty  and  trial  by  jury.  The  adoption 
of  this  law  was  a  profound  mistake,  for  it  revived  all  the 
memories  of  the  Coup  d'Etat,  and  deprived  Napoleon  IH.  of 
much  of  the  sympathy  which  had  gone  to  him  as  a  result  of 
Orsini's  deed.  Yet  only  a  handful  of  deputies  voted  against 
the  measure  when  it  was  discussed  by  the  Corps  Legislatif,  and 
only  one  senator  dared  to  take  a  similar  course — this,  curiously 
enough,  being  General,  later  Marshal,  MacMahon.  However, 
the  members  of  the  Emperor's  entourage  had  lost  their  heads ; 
it  was  they  who,  in  their  consternation,  had  induced  him  to 
make  General  Espinasse  chief  Minister,  and  of  course  the 
Law  of  Public  Safety  had  their  approval.* 

Those  were  dark  days  at  the  Tuileries.  Everybody  became 
suspicious  of  everybody  else.  Any  unusual  incident  aroused 
apprehension.  Jealous,  in  particular,  was  the  watch  kept  over 
the  little  Imperial  Prince.  He  was  strongly  guarded  on  all 
sides,  both  in  the  palace  and  whenever  he  drove  out.  On 
those  occasions  he  was  invariably  brought  to  the  Empress,  who, 
after  kissing  him,  made  a  sign  of  the  cross  on  his  forehead. 
Until  she  learnt  that  he  had  returned  safe  and  sound  to  the 
Tuileries,  she  remained  in  a  state  of  anxiety. 

Strict  watch  was  kept  over  the  great  army  of  servants  on 
duty  at  the  Palace.  There  were  so  many  of  them,  that  however 
carefully  they  might  have  been  selected,  it  was  possible  that 
some  black  sheep  or  other  had  crept,  here  and  there,  into  the 
fold.  Thus  the  special  Police  Service  of  the  Tuileries  was 
ever  on  the  qui  vive.  For  some  years  it  was  controlled  by 
M.  Hyrvoix,  but  he,  though  a  very  zealous  and  able  official, 

*  There  were  some  later  conspiracies  against  the  Emperor's  life.  About 
the  end.  of  December,  1863,  four  Italians,  nam.ed  Greco,  Trabucco,  Imperatore, 
and  Maspoli — alias  Scaglioni — ^were  arrested  in  Paris,  and  found  possessed  of 
bombs,  revolvers,  and  daggers.  The  tv70  first-named  were  transported  for  life 
to  Cayenne,  each  of  the  others  being  sentenced  to  twenty  years'  imprisonment. 
Again,  in  1870,  under  Emile  Ollivier's  administration,  another  plot — this  time 
a  French  one — was  discovered,  but  it  would  seem  to  have  been  in  part  the 
work  of  agents  provocateurs.  The  chief  culprit  was  a  young  man  named 
Beaury,  a  deserter  from  the  army,  and  an  acquaintance  of  Gustave  Mourens, 
the  well-known  revolutionary  ;  but  quite  a  number  of  prisoners  were  tried  at 
Blois  for  being  more  or  less  connected  with  the  conspiracy,  and  were  sentenced 
to  various  terms  of  imprisonment. 


CONSPIRACIES— THE  TUILERIES   POLICE     121 

contrived  to  offend  the  Empress  in  one  or  another  way,  and 
thereupon  received  an  appointment  in  the  provinces.  His 
successor  was  Lagrange,  who  remained  in  office  till  the  fall  of 
the  Empire.  The  duties  of  the  Palace  Police  or  "  Police  du 
Chateau,"  as  it  was  usually  called,  were  multifarious.  It  was 
requisite  that  some  of  its  members  should  watch  over  the 
personal  safety  of  the  Emperor,  the  Empress,  the  Imperial 
Prince,  foreign  royalties,  and  other  distinguished  visitors.  It 
was  necessary  also  to  keep  a  watch  on  all  the  functionaries  in 
office — chamberlains,  aides-de-camp,  orderlies,  equerries,  and 
so  forth.  ]\Iany  a  time  was  an  eye  or  an  ear  applied  to  a  key- 
hole, many  a  time  was  a  mental  note  made  of  some  incautious 
remark,  which  was  communicated  to  the  "  Chief,"  and  by  him 
to  Mocquard,  the  confidential  secretary  at  the  head  of  the 
Emperor's  Private  Cabinet.  Among  the  servants,  at  least  one 
of  each  department  really  belonged  to  the  Palace  Police,  and 
reported  on  the  behaviour  of  his  colleagues.  And  it  was  not 
merely  what  went  on  at  the  Tuileries  itself  that  was  subjected 
to  this  constant  espionage.  Officials,  ladies  of  the  court, 
servants  also,  were,  on  the  slightest  suspicion,  watched  wherever 
they  might  be. 

In  the  kitchens  the  surveillance  was  very  strict,  in  order 
that  there  might  be  no  tampering  with  the  food.  Thoroughly 
reliable  men  waited  on  the  Emperor  and  Empress ;  no  dish,  no 
sauce  intended  for  either  of  them,  was  for  a  single  moment  lost 
sight  of.  There  were  night  watchers  also.  Trusty  men  of  the 
Palace  Police  prowled  hither  and  hither,  and  Cent-Gardes 
went  their  rounds.  When  these  Cent-Gardes  were  on  duty 
they  showed  themselves,  on  the  whole,  very  vigilant  and 
devoted  men,  but  they  had  a  failing,  as  we  shall  see.  Tall, 
well-built,  and  often  possessed  of  very  handsome  features,  they 
looked  truly  superb  in  their  gala  uniforms,  both  when  they 
escorted  the  Emperor  on  horseback,  and  when  they  stood 
rigid,  at  attention,  with  drawn  swords,  on  the  stairs  or  in 
the  corridors  of  the  Tuileries,  when  some  ball  or  banquet  was 
given. 

Long  white  horse-tails  hung  from  their  polished  steel 
helmets,  which  had  tri-colour  side  plumes  and  brass  plates 
bearing  the  imperial  crown  and  initial.     Their  tunics  were  sky 


122  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

blue,  with  scarlet,  gold-braided  collars.  Brass  nuts  bespangled 
their  bright  steel  cuirasses,  Avhich  weighed  from  twelve  to 
thirteen  pounds  apiece,  and  in  which  you  could  see  yourself 
as  clearly  as  in  a  mirror.  Their  epaulettes  and  aiguillettes 
were  golden,  their  gauntleted  gloves  of  Avhite  buff  leather, 
their  tight  breeches  of  white  buckskin.  To  their  brilliantly 
polished  boots,  rising  above  the  knee  in  front  and  to  the  joint 
behind,  spurs  a  la  clievallere  were  fixed.  The  undress  uniforms 
which  they  wore  on  their  walks  abroad  when  off  duty,  were 
also  very  smart,  and,  all  considered,  it  is  not  surprising  that 
they  should  have  been  much  admired  by  the  Parisiennes  of 
their  time,  and  have  frequently  become  extremely  vain  of  the 
bonnes  fortunes  they  met  with. 

The  police  reports  of  the  period  often  contained  passages  re- 
flecting on  the  morality  of  those  superb  bodyguards.  It  was  no 
mere  question  of  cooks  and  nursemaids  as  might  be  supposed. 
Giddy  women  of  position  Avere  fascinated  by  them,  and  extra- 
ordinary incidents  occurred.  On  evenings  when  the  men  were 
free  they  would  frequently  be  found  supping  in  the  private 
rooms  of  fashionable  restaurants,  en  tete-d-tete  with  such  ladies. 
The  police  kept  a  particular  watch  on  a  restaurant  in  the 
Rue  du  Bac,  which  by  reason  of  its  proximity  to  the  barracks 
in  the  Rue  de  Bellechasse,  was  freely  patronized  by  these 
stalwart  Musketeers  of  the  Empire  *  and  their  inamoratas. 
Certain  rooms  there  were  reserved  for  them,  and  nobody  was 
allowed  to  enter  who  could  not  give  the  passwords,  Tresor  et 
mystere. 

Another  house  they  visited  was  the  Vieux  Moulin  Rouge 
(no  connection  with  the  Moulin  Rouge  of  present  times),  in 
the  Avenue  d'Antin,  where  ladies  of  fashion  and  the  stage  kept 
appointments  with  them.  To  make  matters  worse  some  of  the 
men  openly  boasted  of  their  conquests,  and  scandal  ensued. 
In  spite  of  various  severe  disciplinary  measures  the  evil  was 
never  entirely  eradicated,  though  it  became  less  marked  Avhen, 
owing  to  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  sufficient  picked  men  of 
the  requisite  height,  it  was  decided  to  include  privates  as  well 

*  They  were,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  armed  with  Treuille  de  Beaulieu  carbines, 
or  mousguetons,  to  which  their  long,  straight-bladed  sabres  of  the  Cuirassier 
pattern  could  be  adapted  as  bayonets. 


CONSPIRACIES— THE  TUILERIES    POLICE     123 

as  non-commissioned  officers  in  the  corps.  The  latter  thereupon 
lost  a  good  deal  of  its  prestige  in  the  eyes  of  giddy  elegantes, 
who  were  then  not  unwilling  to  yield  the  pas  to  their  rivals  of 
the  kitchen  and  the  nursery. 

It  was  to  the  Emperor  personally  that  M.  Hyrvoix,  who — 
with  the  title  of  Commissary  of  the  Imperial  Residences,  was,  as 
we  have  said,  at  the  head  of  the  Palace  Police — reported  all 
scandalous  incidents  that  came  to  his  knowledge.  He  more 
than  once  had  to  direct  the  sovereign's  attention  to  the 
behaviour  of  his  bodyguards.  On  one  such  occasion  he  in- 
formed him  of  a  strange  disappearance  which  had  occurred  in 
Paris.  A  woman  of  Mexican  origin,  supposed  to  be  connected 
with  a  New  York  newspaper,  had  vanished  from  her  flat,  and 
the  police  had  been  unable  to  trace  her.  He,  Hyrvoix,  had 
previously  come  in  contact  with  her  under  curious  circumstances, 
and  this  is  the  tale  he  related. 

At  one  of  the  balls  given  at  the  Tuileries  a  woman,  whom 
the  palace  police  agents,  dressed  as  ushers  and  footmen,  were 
unable  to  identify,  had  been  observed  in  the  company  of  an 
attache  of  one  of  the  foreign  embassies.  At  a  certain  moment, 
moreover,  she  had  been  seen  making  memoranda  in  a  note- 
book, and  the  circumstances  having  seemed  suspicious,  both  she 
and  her  cavalier  had  been  followed  on  their  departure  from  the 
ball.  The  attache,  who  was  approached  on  the  matter,  made  a 
clean  breast  of  it,  the  more  willingly  as  he  was  throwing  up  his 
post  and  leaving  France.  He  admitted,  then,  that  the  woman 
was  not  his  wife  but  his  mistress ;  that  she  wrote  on  Parisian 
society  and  fashions  for  an  American  journal ;  and  that,  being 
unable  to  obtain  the  entree  to  the  Tuileries  by  any  direct  means, 
she  had  prevailed  on  him  to  take  her  to  the  ball  in  order  that 
she  might  see  and  describe  it.  Briefly,  she  was  one  of  the  very 
first  of  a  now  long  line  of  lady-journalists,  and  made  her 
appearance  in  Paris  about  the  very  time  when  Adrien  Marx, 
with  his  "  Indiscretions  Parisiennes,"  was  writing  the  first  news- 
paper "  interviews  "  published  in  Europe. 

So  far  as  the  police  were  able  to  verify  the  attache's  story  it 
appeared  satisfactory,  and  the  only  further  action  they  took  was 
to  keep  a  discreet  watch  on  the  Avoman's  movements.  They 
ended  by  finding,  after  the  departure  of  her  diplomat  lover  from 


124  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Paris,  that  she  had  transferred  her  affections  to  one  of  the  Cent- 
Gardes,  whom  she  had  met  one  day  when  he  was  off  duty. 
Appointments  had  followed  between  the  pair ;  it  was  known 
that  they  had  met  on  various  occasions  at  a  restaurant  in  the 
Avenue  de  Neuilly,  and  that  they  had  supped  together  in  Paris 
on  the  night  when  the  woman  was  presumed  to  have  dis- 
appeared. All  inquiries  respecting  her  in  the  city  having  failed, 
a  letter  had  been  addressed  to  her  newspaper,  Avhose  editor  had 
answered  that  he  had  heard  nothing  of  her  for  some  time  past, 
and  felt  rather  anxious  about  her.  On  the  other  hand,  apart 
from  the  fact  of  the  intrigue,  there  had  been  nothing  suspicious 
in  the  behaviour  of  her  friend  the  Cent-Garde,  who,  on  being 
interrogated,  had  admitted  the  liaison  but  expressed  his  utter 
inability  to  account  for  the  lady's  disappearance.  In  the  state 
of  the  case  it  hardly  seemed  fair  to  prefer  a  serious  charge 
against  the  guard.  A  premature  public  scandal  would  damage 
the  prestige  of  the  entire  corps,  for  the  opposition  journals 
would  certainly  pounce  on  the  affair  and  exaggerate  it.  All 
considered,  then,  it  was  deemed  best  to  take  no  immediate 
action,  but  simply  to  watch  and  wait. 

The  Cent-Garde  in  question  was  one  of  the  most  striking- 
looking  men  of  the  corps — a  veritable  Porthos  in  build  and 
strength.  His  name  was  Victor  Prevost.  Born  in  December, 
1836,  he  had  been  apprenticed  to  a  Paris  wire-worker,  but  being 
afflicted  with  the  terrible  rapacious  appetite  known  as  bulimy, 
he  had  left  that  master  and  found  employment  at  a  butcher''^, 
where  he  Avas  able  to  satisfy  his  unnatural  craving  for  food.  It 
was  not  lost  on  him,  for  he  developed  great  muscular  power  at 
an  early  age,  and  became  an  expert  slaughterer.  Joining  the 
army  in  1855,  he  soon  passed  into  the  Cuirassiers  of  the  Guard, 
Avith  which  regiment  he  took  part  in  the  Italian  campaign  of 
1859.  In  1862,  his  term  of  service  having  expired,  he  re- 
enlisted,  and  four  years  later  he  was  incorporated  in  the 
Cent-Gardes. 

Prevost  seems  to  have  performed  his  duties  efficiently,  and 
by  reason  of  his  great  physical  powers  he  was  better  able  than 
some  of  his  comrades  to  stand  the  strain  of  that  rigid  immo- 
bility, on  which  Colonel  Verly,  the  commander  of  the  corps, 
invariably  insisted  when   his  men    were   stationed   inside    the 


CONSPIRACIES— THE  TUILERIES  POLICE    125 

Tuileries,  guarding  either  stairs  or  doorways.  Visitors  to  the 
palace  often  wondered  how  it  was  that  the  Cent-Gardes  con- 
trived to  remain  at  their  posts  as  motionless  as  statues  during 
all  the  long  hours  of  some  great  ball.  In  reality,  however,  they 
did  nothinjy  of  the  kind.  No  human  beinc;  could  have  accom- 
plished  such  a  feat ;  and  in  point  of  fact,  each  Cent-Garde  was 
quietly,  unobtrusively,  relieved  after  one  hour's  duty.*  Prevost 
was  among  the  few  who  boasted  that  they  could  bear  the  strain 
for  twice  that  time,  and  a  propos  of  his  imperturbability  when 
he  was  on  duty  there  is  a  tale  which  may  be  repeated  here. 

During  the  Imperial  Prince's  childhood  boxes  of  sweetmeats 
constantly  arrived  at  the  Tuileries  addressed  to  him,  but  the 
Empress  gave  orders  that  he  was  never  to  eat  these  sweets 
without  her  express  permission.  One  day,  when  he  was  eleven 
or  twelve  years  old,  a  box  of  dragees  being  offered  to  him  by 
somebody  of  the  court,  he  resolved  to  ask  his  mother  if  he  might 
accept  it.  On  leaving  the  room,  however,  he  espied  the  Cent- 
Garde  on  duty  at  the  door,  and  a  comical  idea  suddenly  entered 
his  boyish  head.  The  soldier  stood  so  upright,  so  motionless, 
that  one  might  have  thought  him  a  statue.  Could  he  be  made 
to  move  ?  wondered  the  little  Prince.  At  all  events,  he  would 
try.  Opening,  therefore,  his  box  of  dragees,  he  dropped  a  first 
sweet  into  one  of  the  Cent-Garde's  big  boots,  but  without  effect. 
The  man  did  not  stir.  A  second  dragee  followed  with  no  better 
result,  nor  did  the  man  move  even  when  the  impatient  little 
Prince  ended  by  pouring  down  his  boots  every  sweet  that  was 
left  in  the  box.  That  feat  accomplished,  young  Louis,  as  his 
parents  called  him,  ran  off  to  tell  his  mother  of  it,  and  the  story 
being  repeated  caused  much  amusement  in  the  palace.  Now,  the 
Cent-Garde  in  question  was  Prevost. 

Pie  quitted  the  corps  in  1869.  M.  Hyrvoix  was  then  no 
longer  at  the  head  of  the  Palace  Police,  and  the  affair  of  the 
missing  Mexican  woman  had  been  shelved.  Prevost  passed  into 
the  ordinary  Paris  police  force,  as  one  of  the  sergents-de-ville, 
who  after  the  fall  of  the  Empire  were  re-christened  gardiens  de 
la  paix  ;  and  with  them  he  continued  serving  until  1879,  being 

*  There  were  a  few  occasions  when  a  man,  having  been  overlooked,  fainted 
at  his  post.  The  weight  of  helmet  and  breastplates,  and  the  temperature  of 
the  ballrooms,  should  be  borne  in  mind. 


126  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

still  and  ever  a  superb-looking  animal,  afflicted  with  the  same 
voracious  appetite  as  in  the  past,  and,  though  he  was  now  over 
forty,  still  making  conquest  after  conquest  among  women.  He 
distinguished  himself  on  one  occasion  by  stopping  a  runaway 
horse  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  but  he  was  often  reprimanded 
for  neglect  of  duty,  such  as  absenting  himself  from  his  beat, 
either  to  satisfy  his  hunger  or  to  meet^  one  of  his  female 
acquaintances. 

He  seems  to  have  had  also  a  peculiar  passion  for  jewellery, 
which  he  acquired  by  hook  or  crook,  and  afterwards  turned  into 
money.  It  was  this  which  led  to  his  downfall.  One  day  in 
September,  1879,  a  jeweller  named  Lenoble  called  by  arrange- 
ment at  his  lodgings  with  a  large  selection  of  jewellery,  worth 
about  d£?240.  Provost  chose  a  gold  chain,  for  which  he  was  to 
pay  by  monthly  instalments,  but  while  Lenoble  was  writing  out 
the  necessary  promissory  notes  Prevost  struck  him  three  times 
on  the  head  with  a  heavy  coupling-iron,  and  to  make  sure  of 
killing  him  cut  his  throat.  Being  off  duty  that  day,  the 
murderer  spent  his  time  in  chopping  his  victim  into  pieces, 
which  he  carried  off  after  sunset  in  a  laundress's  basket,  and 
dropped  into  the  street  drains  and  round  about  the  fortifications 
of  Paris.  It  was  a  dark  evening,  and  he  vs^as  wearing  a  blouse, 
nevertheless,  a  female  acquaintance  recognized  him,  and  on  seeing 
him  throw  away  what  seemed  to  be  a  piece  of  meat  she  picked 
it  up.  On  showing  it  to  a  butcher,  however,  she  learnt  that  it 
was  not  meat  but  human  flesh. 

Prevost  was  arrested.  Abundant  proofs  of  his  crime,  in- 
cluding his  victim's  head,  clothes  and  jewellery,  were  found  at 
his  lodgings.  It  was  ascertained  also  that  the  unfortunate 
Lenoble  (a  married  man  with  children)  had  been  cut  into  no 
fewer  than  seventy-seven  pieces.  Prevost  ended  by  making  a 
full  confession  of  his  horrid  deed,  and  he  even  admitted  a 
previous  crime,  the  murder  of  a  woman  named  Adele  Blondin, 
in  February,  1876.  Some  of  her  relatives  had  then  reported 
her  disappearance,  but  although  her  liaison  with  Prevost  was 
known,  nothing  came  of  the  investigations  made  at  the  time, 
though  the  scoundrel  had  pawned  some  of  his  victim's  jewellery, 
sold  the  remainder  to  colleagues,  and  even  found  dealers  to  buy 
her  clothes  and  other  articles  stolen  from  her  lodgings.      He 


CONSPIRACIES— THE   TUILERIES   POLICE     127 

had  disposed  of  her  remains  in  the  same  manner  as  he  had  tried 
to  dispose  of  the  jeweller's,  and  after  his  confession  he  pointed 
out  to  the  authorities  a  spot  on  the  fortifications  where  the 
unfortunate  woman's  head  was  found  buried.  However,  he 
never  confessed  the  murder  of  the  American  lady-journalist 
■whom  he  had  known  when  a  Cent-Garde,  though  there  is  little 
doubt  that  he  was  guilty  of  that  crime  also.  It  was  generally 
believed  that  in  committing  the  murders  of  which  he  was  convicted 
he  had  been  actuated  by  a  desire  to  procure  money  for  the  purpose 
of  satisfying  his  inordinate  voracity.  He  was  sent  to  the  guillo- 
tine (Deibler  acting  as  executioner)  in  January,  1880.  Such 
was  the  end  of  one  of  the  most  imposing  of  those  Cent-Gardes 
whom  the  Parisiennes  had  admired  so  intensely  in  the  days  of 
the  Empire.  But  let  us  add  that  he  was  quite  an  exception.  No 
other  man  of  the  corps,  whatever  his  failings,  was  ever  convicted 
of  crime. 

Nor  except  as  regards  pilfering  *  were  there  any  serious 
offences  among  the  palace  servants  if  one  may  judge  by  the 
Adjutant-general's  reports.  One  day  the  Empress  having  asked 
for  a  carafe  frappee,  her  usher  at  once  told  a  footman  to  fetch 
one.  The  footman,  however,  neglected  to  do  so,  and  the 
Empress  remained  waiting  for  her  iced  water,  whereupon  the 
usher  scolded  the  footman,  one  of  whose  colleagues  took 
the  delinquent's  part.  There  were  high  words — a  somewhat 
noisy  and  scandalous  scene — and  in  the  end  the  affair  came 
before  General  Rolin,  by  whom  both  offenders  were  punished 
with  extra  duty.  At  another  time  we  find  a  servant  sent  a  short 
distance  with  a  letter.  He  leaves  the  Tuileries  at  11.45  a.m. 
and  returns  at  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Worst  of  all  he  is 
drunk,  and  as  a  natural  consequence  his  dismissal  follows.  But 
such  incidents  occur  at  times  in  most  large  households,  how'ever 
carefully  the  servants  may  have  been  chosen. 

There  were,  of  course,  police  inquiries  respecting  every 
domestic  who  applied  for  a  post  in  the  imperial  household. 
That  precaution  was  taken  even  when  Napoleon  III.  was  merely 
President.     A  police  report,  a  copy  of  which  lies  before  us,  states 

*  If  any  inmate  of  the  palace  were  indisposed,  and  tea  d  la  francaise  were 
served  him  in  his  bedroom,  not  a  drop  of  rum  or  a  scrap  of  sugar  ever  went 
back  to  the  kitchens. 


128  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

that  a  man  named  Rouyer,  who  has  circumvented  Count  Clary 
with  the  object  of  obtaining  a  situation  as  usher  or  footman  at 
the  Elysee,  formerly  belonged  to  the  household  of  Charles  X., 
and  is  a  dangerous  Vendean,  whose  only  purpose  is  to  put  some 
poisonous  substance  in  the  Prince  President's  food  or  drink. 
Whether  that  were  true  or  not,  Rouyer  did  not  obtain  the 
situation  for  which  he  applied.  A  propos  of  his  affair  it  may 
be  stated  that  in  the  earlier  years  of  the  Empire,  the  palace 
service,  the  imperial  stables  and  the  hunt  included  many  men 
who  had  served  Charles  X.  or  Louis  Philippe.  We  shall  have 
occasion  to  mention  some  of  them  hereafter  ;  for  the  present  it 
will  suffice  to  say  that  they  seem  to  have  served  Napoleon  III. 
quite  as  well  as  they  had  previously  served  the  house  of 
Bourbon  or  Orleans. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE    EMPEEOR   AND    HIS    PRIVATE    CABINET 

The  Emperor's  Rooms — Their  Decorations  and  Appointments— The  Eagles  of 
the  Imperial  Gulard — The  Council  Cliamber  and  the  Newspaper  Room — 
The  Imperial  Sanctum— The  Room  where  New  Paris  was  planned — The 
Dressing-room  and  Bedroom  —  The  Emperor's  Valets  —  His  Morning 
Work — Secret  Audiences  and  State  Councils — The  Lunches  with  the 
Empress — Afternoon  Work — Work-day  Dinners — Plain  and  Substantial 
Fare  —  The  Wines  and  Liqueurs  drunk  at  Court  —  Coffee  in  the 
Drawing-room — The  Emperor's  Evening  Work — The  Multiplicity  of 
his  Occupations — The  Chief  Officials  of  his  Private  Cabinet :  Mocquard, 
Conti,  Pi6tri,  and  Th^lin — Some  of  the  Private  Cabinet's  Work — Petitions 
and  Grants — Management  of  Estates — High  Diplomacy — The  Cabinet 
Noir  and  Secret  Police  Reports — Current  Accounts — A  New  Nobility — 
Novels  and  Newspaper  Articles — A  Tale  of  the  Imperial  Sanctum— The 
Alleged  Theft  of  £8000  from  the  Emperor's  Table— Did  Marshal  St. 
Arnaud  kill  General  Cornemuse  ? 

A  NUMBER  of  changes  were  made  in  the  internal  arran elements 
of  the  Tuileries  during  the  eighteen  years  of  the  Second  Empire. 
The  rooms  which  the  Emperor  used  for  personal  purposes 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  reign  were  not  in  all  respects 
those  in  which  he  first  installed  himself.  It  would  be  of  little 
interest  to  enumerate  all  the  alterations.  Let  us  content  our- 
selves with  glancing  at  Tappartement  de  TEmpereur  such  as  it 
became  and  remained  until  the  downfall  of  the  regime. 

All  the  rooms  were  on  the  ground  floor  and  extended, 
roughly '  speaking,  from  the  Pavilion  de  THorloge  to  the 
Pavilion  de  Flore  on  the  garden  side  of  the  palace.  The  first 
apartment  of  the  suite  was  a  small  Ushers"*  Room,  which  you 
entered  near  the  staircase  conducting  to  the  State  Rooms  on  the 
first  floor.  All  the  doors,  let  us  add,  were  double  ones,  and  of 
solid  mahogany  as  was  all  the  woodwork  throughout  the  suite. 

K 


130  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

From  the  Ushers'  Room,  which  contained  nothing  of  note,  you 
reached  the  Chamberlains'  Salon,  hung  in  grey  silk  and  decorated 
Avith  Prudhon's  portrait  of  the  Empress  Josephine.  Here  also 
Avas  a  mahogany  flag-stand  in  which  were  assembled  the  eagles 
and  colours  of  the  Imperial  Guard.  The  Emperor  being 
Colonel-in-chief  of  the  regiments  of  the  Guard,  those  colours 
were  deposited  in  his  keeping.  Whenever  any  particular 
regiment  was  transferred  from  Paris  to  such  places  as  Fontaine- 
bleau  or  Compiegne,  a  troop  of  Cent-Gardes  conveyed  its  eagle 
to  the  palace  there ;  and  on  the  occasion  of  any  great  review  in 
the  Bois  de  Boulogne  or  on  the  Champ  de  Mars,  the  Cent- 
Gardes  again  removed  the  eagles  from  the  Tuileries  and 
ceremoniously  handed  them  over  to  the  respective  regiments. 
The  latter,  with  similar  ceremony,  returned  them  to  the  Cent- 
Gardes  at  the  close  of  the  day.  At  one  of  the  last  Salons  of 
the  Empire  there  was  a  huge  painting  of  considerable  merit  by 
Albert  Girard  (a  forgotten  Grand  Prix  de  Rome)  depicting  the 
Cent-Gardes  returning  with  the  eagles  to  the  Tuileries,  by  way 
of  the  Champs  Elysees.  This  picture  was  purchased  by  the 
Emperor  and  sent  to  the  Cent-Gardes'"  barracks,  but  being 
removed  on  the  fall  of  the  Empire,  it  was  subsequently  given 
by  the  Empress  to  M.  Franceschini  Pietri. 

Let  us  now  return  to  the  Emperor''s  apartments.  From  the 
Chamberlains'  Salon  you  entered  the  Council  Room,  which  was 
lighted  by  a  window  and  a  glass  door,  the  latter  opening  on  to 
a  flight  of  steps  which  descended  to  the  reserved  garden.  The 
two  principal  paintings  in  this  Council  Room  were  Winter- 
halter's  large  official  portrait  of  the  Empress  Eugenie  in  her 
state  robes  and  coronet,  and  a  portrait  of  the  Emperor's  elder 
brother  when  a  young  man.  The  walls  of  the  room  were  hung 
with  red  silk,  and  the  furniture  included  a  couple  of  large  book- 
cases, full  of  works  on  jurisprudence,  and,  of  course,  a  great 
oblong  table  at  which  the  Ministers  sat  under  the  Emperor's 
presidency. 

The  Newspaper  Room  was  the  next  of  the  suite,  and  here, 
against  the  red  silk  hangings,  was  seen  a  large  portrait  of  the 
Empress  dressed  in  red  velvet,  and  with  the  Imperial  Prince  on 
her  knees.  Quantities  of  newspapers,  French  and  foreign,  includ- 
ing copies  of  those  which  were  confiscated  by  the  police  in  order 


THE  EMPEROR  AND  HIS  PRIVATE  CABINET    131 

that  the  ordinary  public  might  not  read  them,  were  disposed  in 
an  orderly  fashion  both  on  some  large  consoles  and  beside  the 
piles  of  reports  and  documents  set  out  upon  a  central  table ; 
■while  at  one  end  of  the  room  was  a  book-case  containing, 
curiously  enough,  a  collection  of  Latin  poetry  and  prose. 
Near  a  door  Avhich  you  opened  to  enter  the  Emperor's  private 
cabinet  was  a  stand  on  which  the  chamberlains  deposited  their 
lists  of  applications  for  public  or  private  audiences. 

The  imperial  sanctum,  a  very  spacious  apartment  with  two 
windows,  had  been  contrived,  like  the  newspaper  room,  in  a 
space  previously  occupied  by  some  open  arcades.  In  the  centre 
stood  the  Emperor's  large  writing-table,  on  which  you  might 
perceive  a  curious  gold  snuff-box,  previously  the  property  of 
Napoleon  I.,  and  a  delightful  miniature  portrait  of  the  Empress 
Eugenie.  The  Emperor  sat  at  this  table  with  his  back  to  the 
fire,  and  with  the  Avindows  on  his  right  hand.  Facing  him,  on 
the  other  side  of  the  table,  were  chairs  for  his  Chef-de-cabinet 
and  his  private  secretary  when  they  worked  with  him.  On  the 
right  was  another  chair  for  any  Minister  or  similar  personage 
under  like  circumstances.  Then,  on  either  side  of  the  fireplace 
stood  a  roomy  armchair  upholstered  in  leather.  The  Emperor 
occasionally  rested  in  the  one  facing  the  windows,  and  anybody 
who  might  be  with  him  at  the  time  was  invited  to  take  the 
other.  The  clock  and  candelabra  on  the  mantelpiece  belonged 
to  the  Louis  XVI.  period.  On  the  right  of  the  fireplace  was  an 
interesting  collection  of  miniatures  of  Napoleon  I.  and  other 
members  of  the  Bonaparte  family,  as  w^ell  as  a  fine  marble 
medallion  of  the  young  Imperial  Prince. 

Facing  the  fireplace,  and  between  two  cabinets  full  of  valu- 
able bibelots  and  old  Sevres,  was  a  doorway  conducting  to  the 
rooms  occupied  by  the  Chef-de-cabinet  and  the  private  secretary, 
while  at  the  far  end  of  the  apartment  you  saw  a  long  low 
mahogany  nest  of  drawers,  full  of  papers  and  surmounted  by  a 
large  plan  of  Paris.  Above  another  stack  of  drawers  on  the 
left  of  the  chimney-piece  hung  Ingres'  study  in  oils  of  Julius 
Caesar. 

Among  what  maybe  called  the  annexes  of  the  imperial  suite 
of  offices  was  a  large  Salon  de  Service,  containing  writing-tables 
for  chamberlains,  aides-de-camp,  and  other  officials  who  might 


13^  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

be  on  duty.  Here  in  a  great  show-case  you  saw  Mene's  wonder^ 
ful  series  of  statuettes  of  men  and  officers  of  the  French  army. 
Every  different  corps,  every  variety  of  uniform  and  accoutrement, 
whether  of  horse,  foot,  or  cavahy,  was  represented  in  this  collec- 
tion with  the  greatest  exactness,  and  many  of  the  little  figures 
were  masterpieces  of  modelling.  Most  unfortunately  they  were 
destroyed  in  the  conflagration  of  1871. 

There  were  also  special  rooms  where  officers  and  function- 
aries lunched,  and  yet  another — near  the  Emperor's  sanctum — 
where  stood  a  number  of  large  tables  covered  with  plans  of 
Paris.  In  that  room  Napoleon  III.  spent  many  months,  if  not 
years,  of  his  reign.  There,  with  Haussmann  and  Alphand  and 
Viollet-le-Duc,  he  enthusiastically  studied  and  prepared  all 
those  improvements,  all  those  wonderful  transformations,  of  his 
capital,  which  were  the  wonder  of  the  age.  Let  no  mistake  be 
made.  Every  man  is  entitled  to  his  due,  and  the  new  Paris  of 
the  Second  Empire  was  as  much  the  creation  of  Napoleon  III.  as 
of  Haussmann,  Alphand,  or  another.  There  were  financial 
blunders  undoubtedly,  financial  scandals,  too,  of  no  little 
magnitude,  and  men  such  as  Morny  reaped  golden  gains  ;  but 
the  Emperor  never  pocketed  a  sou,  nor  did  the  much-abused 
Haussmann — an  ever-needy  man,  who  died  poor.  And  though 
some  Parisians  of  those  days  may  have  sneered  and  said  that 
the  fine  new  streets  were  simply  laid  out  so  straight  and  broad, 
in  order  that  they  might  be  conveniently  swept  by  artillery  in 
the  event  of  a  popular  rising,  the  generations  which  have  added, 
of  later  years,  to  all  the  city''s  improvements,  have  never  had 
cause  to  regret  that  so  much  had  been  done  already  before  their 
time.  Nevertheless,  how  mean  and  despicable  has  been  the 
action  of  those  in  authority,  who,  imagining  that  they  could 
blot  out  whole  pages  of  the  history  of  Paris,  have  effaced 
from  building  after  building  every  inscription,  every  crowned  N, 
recalling  the  period  of  its  erection  !  In  the  patriotic  wrath 
which  followed  Sedan,  such  action  may  have  been  excusable  ; 
but  again  and  again  since  those  days  have  workmen  been  seen 
obliterating  some  emblem  or  lettering,  previously  overlooked, 
and  of  a  nature  to  recall  the  imperial  j-egime.  Often  have  men 
of  sense  marvelled  at  the  zeal  of  those  petty,  narrow-minded 
iconoclasts.     But  passons. 


THE  EMPEROR  AND  HIS  PRIVATE  CABINET    133 

Near  the  Emperor's  cabinet  were  his  bedroom,  dressing- 
room,  and  bath-room.  On  the  left  of  the  last  named  was  a 
private  staircase  conducting  to  the  Empress's  apartments  on  the 
first  floor.  In  the  dressing-room  hung  some  views  of  Arenen- 
berg — so  closely  associated  with  Queen  Hortense's  last  years  and 
the  Emperor's  early  ones — as  well  as  several  engravings  of  Arab 
sheiks  after  paintings  acquired  by  Napoleon  I.  in  Egypt.  Near 
this  dressing-room  were  sundry  closets  and  such  places,  where 
the  Emperor's  Avardrobe  was  kept,  one  of  them  containing  a 
large  assortment  of  overcoats,  from  the  lightest  of  summer  ones 
to  a  heavy  sealskin  "  Inverness,"  which  Napoleon — a  very  chilly 
mortal  by  the  way — wore  in  severe  weather.  From  the  dressing- 
room  the  bedroom  was  entered.  Its  chief  decorations  were  two 
Italian  mosaics  on  either  side  of  the  fireplace,  one  being  a  copy 
of  a  Virgin  by  Raffaelle,  and  the  other  a  copy  of  a  St.  John  the 
Baptist  by  Guido  Reni :  the  last-named  a  gift  from  Pius  IX. 
Portraits  of  the  Emperor's  father  and  mother  hung  on  either 
side  of  the  bedstead,  which  was  of  the  empire  style.  Against 
the  wall  facing  the  fireplace  stood  a  large  cabinet  of  carved  oak, 
while  between  the  windows  was  a  smaller  one  containing  trinkets 
and  family  souvenirs,  and  surmounted  by  some  racks  of  side- 
arms  of  various  kinds. 

The  Emperor  had  five  valets-de-cliambre.  The  head  one 
was  Leon  Cuxac,  who  had  been  his  valet  long  before  he  ascended 
the  throne.  Under  Cuxac,  who  received  o£'240  a  year  and  many 
valuable  perquisites,  were  Gouttelard  and  Miiller,  who  attended 
on  alternate  days.  Their  salary  was  ^£'100  a  year  with  an 
allowance  for  quarters.  The  other  men  were  supplementaiy 
valets,  whoso,  services  were  only  requisitioned  on  special  occa- 
sions. There  was  also  a  valet-coiff'eur  in  receipt  of  £19^0  a  year, 
whose  duties  were  confined  to  cutting  the  Emperor's  hair  from 
time  to  time,  for  Napoleon  III.,  unlike  the  present  German 
Kaiser,  always  shaved  and  pointed  his  moustache  himself.* 
Further,  there  was  a  fire  and  candle-man  attached  to  the  private 
apartments,  and  four  froiteurs,  who,  besides  waxing  and  polish- 
ing the  marquetry  floors,  dusted  and  cleaned  the  rooms. 

*  It  was  originally  a  medium  hroivn,  as  shown  in  the  better  paintings  from 
the  life ;  but  in  later  years  it  was,  for  a  time,  darkenecl  by  a  dye  to  conceal 
greyuess. 


134  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

The  day-valet  usually  entered  the  Emperor^s  bedroom  to 
draw  up  the  blinds  and  open  the  shutters  at  half-past  seven 
o'clock.  The  Emperor  then  speedily  rose  and  repaired  to  his 
dressing-room,  where  he  found  Cuxac  awaiting  him.  He  took 
a  bath  and  dressed,  and  while  he  was  drinking  a  cup  of  tea, 
Charles  Thelin,  the  Keeper  of  the  Privy  Purse  and  Wardrobe 
Superintendent  (in  which  capacity  he  checked  all  tailors\ 
hosiers\  hatters"*,  and  bootmakers'*  accounts),  came  in — displaying 
his  huge  moustache  a  la  Victor  Emmanuel — to  take  orders 
respecting  a  variety  of  private  donations  and  charitable  con- 
tributions. Dr.  Conneau  arrived  at  the  same  time,  and  usually 
profited  by  the  opportunity  to  call  attention  to  cases  of  distress 
which  needed  relief.  Conneau  and  Thelin,  those  old  associates 
of  the  days  of  Napoleon's  imprisonment  at  Ham,  were  always  the 
best  intermediaries  for  folk  who  sought  pecuniary  assistance  of 
the  Emperor.  The  cases  which  Dr.  Conneau  brought  forward 
were  included  in  the  general  expenses  of  the  Imperial  House- 
hold ;  while  as  those  which  Thelin  dealt  with  concerned  only  the 
}'rivy  Purse,  the  accounts  respecting  them  were  rendered  privately 
to  the  Emperor  himself. 

It  may  be  mentioned  that  Napoleon  III.  usually  partook  of 
only  two  meals  a  day — dejeuner  at  noon  and  dinner  in  the 
evening.  After  his  matutinal  cup  of  tea  and  his  consultation 
with  Conneau  and  Thelin,  he  went  straight  to  his  private 
cabinet  or  work-room,  unless,  indeed,  there  were  some  occasion 
for  him  to  go  out.  On  ordinary  work-days  at  the  Tuileries  he 
wore  a  dark  blue  frockcoat  and  waistcoat,  with  fancy  trousers, 
and  for  a  good  many  years  he  adhered  to  the  trouser-straps 
which  had  been  fashionable  before  he  came  to  the  throne.  In 
Paris,  whenever  he  went  out  in  civilian  attire,  he  wore  the 
orthodox  silk  hat  and — almost  invariably — Suede  gloves  of  the 
shade  known  as  pearl-grey.  He  generally  took  Avith  him  his 
favourite  walking-stick,  which  was  of  rhinoceros  hide  with  a 
gold  handle  fiq-urini^  an  ease's  head. 

On  entering  his  work-room,  whither  he  was  followed  by  the 
Chef-de-cabinet,  the  first  functionary  whom  he  usually  received 
was  that  important  personage  the  Prefect  of  Police.  Later 
came  one  or  another  Minister  with  whom  the  Emperor  worked 
during  a   part   of  the   morning.      Those  who  attended   most 


THE  EMPEROR  AND  HIS  PRIVATE  CABINET    135 

frequently  were  the  Ministers  of  State  and  of  Foreign  Affairs. 
Other  private  audiences  were  also  occasionally  given  in  the 
morning,  though  the  usual  time  was  from  1  to  S  p.m.  Apart, 
however,  from  the  audiences  respecting  which  the  usual  routine 
of  the  Chamberlain's  service  was  observed,  there  were  others  of 
a  particularly  private,  virtually  secret  character,  such  as  were 
accorded  to  certain  politicians  and  journalists.  Those  visitors, 
then,  did  not  pass  through  the  Chamberlains''  Salon,  but  were 
ushered  direct  into  the  Emperor\s  sanctum  by  Felix  Werwoort, 
his  trusty  first  usher.  Werwoort  was  a  confidential  servant  of 
high  importance,  whose  zeal  was  rewarded  by  many  handsome 
gifts  from  the  Emperor. 

Twice  a  week  when  the  Court  was  at  the  Tuileries  a 
Ministerial  Council,  beginning  at  9.30  a.m.  and  usually  lasting 
a  couple  of  hours,  Avas  held  in  the  Council  Room  under  the 
Emperor's  presidency.  There  were  also  occasional  meetings  of 
the  Council  of  State  to  examine  some  proposed  law  of  im- 
portance, and  these,  as  the  room  where  the  Ministers  assembled 
was  not  large  enough  for  a  numerous  gathering,  were  held  in 
the  Salle  des  Travees,  which  was  then  fitted  up  with  all  the 
appurtenances  of  a  council  chamber.  The  Councillors  arrived 
in  dress  coats  and  white  cravats,  and  the  Emperor  wore  the  star 
of  the  Legion  of  Honour,  and  was  attended  by  the  aide-de- 
camp and  chamberlain  on  duty. 

On  ordinary  work-days  the  Emperor  quitted  his  cabinet 
about  noon  and  received  in  the  Council  Room  the  various  Great 
Officers  of  the  Household  who  came  to  present  their  reports. 
He  then  climbed  the  private  stairs  to  the  apartments  of  the 
Empress,  with  whom  he  went  to  dejeuner.  The  appointed  hour 
was  noon,  but  owing  to  the  great  amount  of  work  to  which  the 
Emperor  had  to  attend,  he  was  invariably  more  or  less  late. 
During  the  earlier  years  the  sovereigns  lunched  en  tete-a-tete  ; 
a  little  later  a  cover  was  laid  for  the  Imperial  Prince ;  but  after 
a  time,  when  the  boy's  studies  required  that  he  should  take  his 
meals  at  regular  hours,  he  lunched  alone  with  his  tutor.  The 
dejeuner  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress  was  a  very  simple  affair 
— eggs,  steaks  or  chops,  and  fried  potatoes,  boiled  fowl,  calves' 
liver  or  beef  or  sheep's  kidneys,  (and,  of  course,  fish  every  Friday) 
• — such  were  the  dishes  set  before  them.     There  were  also  early 


136  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

vegetables  and  fruit  from  the  kitchen  gardens  of  the  Palace  of 
Versailles.  Preillon,  the  Empress's  maitre  d'hote!,  presided  over 
the  service,  and  the  Emperor  and  Empress's  valets-de-charnhre 
and  a  couple  of  footmen  were  in  attendance. 

The  meal  being  finished  the  sovereigns  retired  to  the 
Empress's  study,  where  the  Emperor  remained  for  a  time 
chatting  and  smoking  cigarettes  ;  but  this  respite  from  work 
was  very  brief,  as  there  was  always  somebody  waiting  to  be 
received  by  him.  He  Avas  thus  compelled  to  return  to  his  own 
room.  The  household  officials  were  also  in  readiness  to  resume 
their  duties,  having  lunched  together  either  in  the  Stucco  Hall 
or  in  a  dining-room  near  the  palace  chapel — the  meals  being  of 
three  and  four  courses,  with  red  and  white  vin  ordinaire,  two  finer 
wines,  coffee,  and  cognac.  For  an  hour  or  two,  after  giving  one 
and  another  private  audience,*  the  Emperor  rode  or  drove  out,  or 
walked  in  the  reserved  garden.  Then,  returning  to  his  private 
room,  he  continued  working  until  dinner  time.  Shortly  after 
seven  o'clock,  realizing  that  he  was  already  late,  he  hurried  into 
his  dressing-room,  made  a  hasty  toilet,  and  wearing  a  white 
tie  and  a  black  dress-coat  with  the  star  of  the  Legion  of  Honour, 
betook  himself  once  more  to  the  Empress's  rooms.f 

He  then  accompanied  her  to  the  drawing-room,  either  the 
Salon  des  Tapisseries  or  the  Salon  d'Apollon,  where  the  officers 
and  ladies  on  duty  were  waiting.  On  ordinary  occasions  the  ladies 
were  in  a  decided  minority,  as  they  then  consisted  solely  of  the 
two  "  dames  du  palais  "  in  attendance  on  the  Empress,  whereas 
the  men  included  the  adjutant- general  of  the  palace,  the 
aide-de-camp  of  the  week,  the  chief  officer  of  the  detachment  of 
the  Imperial  Guard  stationed  at  the  Tuileries,  the  colonel  of 
the  Cent-Gardes,  the  chamberlain,  the  equerry,  and  the 
orderlies  on  duty,  as  well  as  Dr.  Conneau,  and  occasionally  the 
equeiTy  to  the  Empress.  Count  Baciocchi  was  also  present 
whenever  the  sovereigns  intended  to  spend  the  evening  at  a 
theatre  ;  Count  Arese,  a  particular  friend  of  the  Emperor's,  was 

*  The  public  audiences  were  usually  given  on  Sunday,  after  Mass,  and  the 
Emperor  was  then  generally  detained  for  a  long  time  by  the  crowd  of  military 
men  and  civil  functionaries  who  presented  themselves. 

t  At  certain  of&cial  dinners  he  wore  a  blue  dress-coat,  a  white  waistcoat, 
black  silk  breeches  and  stockings,  and  at  the  more  important  banquets  he 
appeared  in  military  uniform. 


THE  EMPEROR  AND  HIS  PRIVATE  CABINET    137 

also  a  frequent  guest,  and  a  cover  was  laid  for  General  Dufour 
of  the  Swiss  army — Napoleon's  former  military  tutor — whenever 
he  happened  to  be  in  Paris. 

The  Prefect  of  the  Palace  having  informed  the  Emperor 
that  dinner  was  served,  the  whole  company  passed  in  procession 
into  the  dining-room.  On  ordinary  occasions  the  Emperor  and 
Empress  sat  side  by  side,  but  at  official  dinners  they  faced  one 
another.  From  sixteen  to  twenty  servants  were  usually  present. 
The  cuisine  was  not  particularly  rechercMe.  The  Emperor 
personally  preferred  plain  and  substantial  fare — salmon,  stewed 
beef  a  la  jardiniere,  roast  capon,  and  mutton  en  ragout  were 
among  his  favourite  dishes — and  moreover  Benoit,  the  head 
cook,  was  a  man  of  somewhat  old-fashioned  ideas.  The 
Empress's  tastes  differed,  and  now  and  again  when  she  had 
dined  with  Prince  Napoleon  or  Princess  Mathilde,  both  of  whom 
kept  a  very  good  table,  she  would  ask  why  such  dishes  as  she 
had  then  partaken  of  could  not  be  served  at  the  Tuileries. 
M.  Benoit  would  thereupon  make  an  effort  to  distinguish 
himself,  but  he  soon  relapsed  into  his  usual  heavy,  monotonous 
style.  At  the  same  time  it  must  be  said  that  there  was  a  gi'eat 
abundance  of  edibles,  and  that  the  finest  fish,  game,  vegetables, 
and  fruit  were  provided.  The  wines  mostly  drunk  at  the 
Tuileries  were  vin  ordinaire  (Mont-Rose),  then  Cos  d'Estournel, 
Chateaux  Le'oville,  Margaux  and  Lafitte,  Sauternes,  Schloss 
Johannisberg,  and  some  very  fine  old  tawny  Port.  Burgundy 
was  seldom  seen.  When  Champagne  was  served,  either  at  the 
dinners  or  the  ball  suppers,  it  was  invariably  Veuve  Clicquot. 
The  Emperor  had  a  particular  friendship  for  M.  Werle,  the 
senior  partner  in  that  famous  house,  who  was  both  Mayor  of 
Rheims  and  a  deputy.  As  for  the  liqueurs  which  figured  at  the 
Tuileries,  these,  in  addition  to  brandy  of  the  best  quality, 
included  rum,  kirsch,  and  anisette,  the  Empress  occasionally 
sipping  a  few  drops  of  the  latter  after  dinner.  There  was  also, 
in  strictly  limited  quantities,  some  absinthe  for  the  officers  who 
could  not  forego  that  deadly  aperitif. 

On  ordinary  days  there  was  little  conversation  at  table. 
Those  who  were  present  exchanged  a  few  remarks  in  under- 
tones, never  raising  their  voices  unless  it  were  to  reply  to  the 
Emperor  and  Empress  when  addressed  by  them.     Neither  then 


138  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

nor  in  the  drawing-room  afterwards,  was  any  allusion  made 
either  to  politics  or  to  any  current  Parisian  scandal.  At  times, 
when  the  Emperor  was  going  to  the  theatre  he  would  speak  of 
the  stage  generally,  and  of  previous  works  by  the  author  whose 
new  play  he  was  about  to  see  performed.  On  other  evenings  he 
would  turn  the  conversation  on  to  some  fire  or  street  accident 
of  which  he  had  read  in  an  evening  newspaper. 

In  the  earlier  years  of  the  reign  dinner  was  served  in  the 
Galerie  de  Diane,  or  rather  in  a  part  of  it  separated  from  the 
rest  by  the  movable  partition  of  which  we  previously  spoke.* 
Subsequently  the  Louis  XIV.  Salon,  a  small  but  elegantly 
appointed  apartment,  was  used.  Directly  the  meal  was  over  a 
procession  was  again  formed  and  the  whole  company  returned 
to  the  drawing-room.  The  maitre  dliotel  on  duty  then  handed 
to  the  Prefect  of  the  Palace  a  richly  worked  silver-gilt  salver 
called  porte-a-boire,  having  beneath  it  a  central  foot  or  handle 
by  which  it  w^as  carried.  A  cup  and  saucer  and  a  sugar-basin 
were  set  upon  the  salver  w-ith  which  the  Prefect  then  cere- 
moniously approached  the  Emperor,  Avho  allowed  the  maitre 
cThotel  to  pour  a  few  drops  of  black  coffee  into  the  cup.  Coffee 
was  next  offered  to  the  Empress  in  the  same  manner,  but  she 
never  accepted  it,  and  the  maitre  d'hote!  proceeded  to  serve  the 
ladies  and  gentlemen  who  were  present. 

Occasionally  the  Emperor,  seating  himself  at  a  little  table, 
would  take  up  a  pack  of  cards  and  try  his  hand  at  "  patience "" ; 
but  before  long  he  again  went  downstairs  to  his  private  room  to 
peruse  the  despatches  and  reports  which  had  arrived  for  him. 
The  evening  ones  were  almost  always  the  more  important. 
Till  ten  o'clock  he  remained  closeted  with  his  Chef- de-cabinet 
or  his  private  secretary.  When  official  business  did  not  claim 
his  attention  he  turned  to  his  "Life  of  Julius  Csesar."  On 
some  evenings  when  he  had  invited  certain  members  of  the 
Institute  of  France  to  dinner,  he  communicated  passages  of 
that  work  to  them.  Next,  about  ten  o''clock,  he  returned  to 
the  drawing-room  where  he  had  left  the  Empress  and  the 
officials,  and  drank  a  cup  of  tea.  Then  back  to  his  private 
room  he  went  once  more,  and  at  the  time  when  he  was  busy 
with  the  "Life  of  Caesar""  he  remained  working  at  it  in  privacy 

*  See  ante,  p.  22. 


THE  EMPEROR  AND  HIS  PRIVATE  CABINET    139 

until  past  midnight.  At  last,  however,  he  threw  down  his 
pen  and  betook  himself  to  his  dressing-room  where  a  valet  was 
waiting.  His  toilette  de  ruiit  was  soon  completed,  and  he  went 
to  bed  after  a  sixteen  or  seventeen  hours''  day.  In  the  earlier 
years  he  slept  soundly,  but  his  malady  subsequently  compelled 
him  io  use  narcotics. 

Of  course  his  life  was  varied.  There  were  often  times  when 
he  had  to  entertain  foreign  royalties,  open  the  Legislature, 
inaugurate  some  building,  inspect  some  work  in  which  he  was 
interested,  review  his  army,  put  in  an  appearance  at  an 
exhibition  or  a  race-course,  undertake  a  journey,  and  so  forth. 
On  those  occasions,  however,  the  ordinary  work  still  had  to  be 
done,  and  it  became  necessary  for  the  Emperor  to  expedite 
everything  at  the  double-quick,  never  dawdling  for  an  instant 
if  he  wished  to  regain  lost  time.  From  1851  to  1861  the 
work  which  fell  on  Napoleon  HI.  was  far  heavier  than  that 
which  is  the  lot  of  the  constitutional  sovereign,  for  during 
that  period  his  was  essentially  a  personal  rule,  and  he  deemed  it 
necessary  to  look  into  every  matter  of  any  importance.  Quite 
apart,  moreover,  from  ordinary  affairs  of  State  the  w^ork  accom- 
plished by  the  Private  Cabinet — most  of  which  came  under  the 
Emperor''s  eyes — was  very  great  indeed.  Let  us  try  to  give 
some  account  of  it.  But  first  we  will  glance  at  the  principal 
officials  of  the  cabinet — M.  Mocquard,  its  chief,  and  his  suc- 
cessor, M.  Conti,  M.  Franceschini  Pietri,  the  private  secretary, 
and  M.  Thelin,  the  keeper  of  the  Privy  Purse. 

Jean  Francois  Constant  Mocquard,  born  at  Bordeaux  in 
1798,  was  descended  on  his  father's  side  from  a  family  of  San 
Domingo  planters  and  merchants,  and  on  his  mother''s  from  the 
scandal-loving  Bussy-Rabutin,  the  author  of  "  L'Histoire  amou- 
reuse  des  Gaules."  Thouo;h  educated  for  the  law,  he  began 
life  in  the  diplomatic  service  of  the  First  Empire,  being  sent  to 
Germany  as  a  secretary  of  legation  ;  but  on  the  downfall  of 
Napoleon  he  withdrew  into  private  life.  In  1817,  when  he  was 
but  six  and  twenty  he  was  presented  to  Queen  Hortense  at 
Arenenberg,  and  his  comparative  youth,  his  flow  of  spirits  and 
his  ready  wit  were  well  calculated  to  produce  an  impression  on 
a  woman  of  an  inflammable  nature,  one  too,  who  might  still  be 
classed,  to  use  Balzac's  expression,  as  a  femme  de  trente  cms. 


140  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILEPJES 

Only  surmises,  however,  no  proofs,  have  ever  been  tendered 
with  respect  to  the  relations  of  Mocquard  and  the  ex-Queen  of 
Holland.  He  returned  to  France,  and  practising  as  an  advocate, 
he  came  to  the  front  by  pleading  for  Bonapartist  and  Re- 
publican defendants  in  the  great  political  conspiracy  trials  of 
the  Restoration,  such  as  those  of  the  Black  Pin  secret  society, 
and  the  Sergeants  of  La  Rochelle.  But  a  thi-oat  complaint  and 
the  loss  of  his  voice  constrained  him  to  retire  from  the  bar, 
and  he  next  tried  his  fortune  as  a  subprefect  in  the  Pyrenees, 
under  Louis  Philippe's  government.  Difficulties  arising  with 
his  superiors  he  threw  up  that  post  in  or  about  1839,  and  being 
a  Bonapartist  at  heart,  his  thoughts  turned  to  Queen  Hortense's 
son,  Louis  Napoleon,  with  whom  apparently  he  had  more  than 
once  corresponded.  He  visited  the  Prince  in  London,  and  after- 
wards supported  him  on  the  Paris  press,  becoming  one  of  his 
most  trusty  adherents.  As  such  he  opposed  the  expedition  to 
Boulogne,  predicting  its  failure,  and  some  little  estrangement 
ensued ;  but  after  visiting  the  Prince  at  Ham  Mocquard  again 
became  one  of  his  representatives  in  Paris,  and  in  1848  it  was 
he  who  chiefly  organized  those  Bonapartist  demonstrations 
which  first  prepared  the  way  for  the  coming  Empire. 

Mocquard  was  a  man  who  detested  ceremony  and  etiquette. 
Had  he  chosen  he  might  have  held  some  great  public  office.  It 
is  true  that  he  was  made  both  a  grand  officer  of  the  Legion  of 
Honour  and  a  senator,  but  he  very  seldom  went  to  the  Luxem- 
bourg. He  much  preferred  to  work  behind  the  scenes,  in  a 
semi-private  capacity.  Chief  of  Napoleon's  Private  Cabinet 
under  the  Republic,  such  he  remained  under  the  Empire.  That 
he  took  a  prominent  part  in  planning  the  Coup  d'Etat  is  well 
known.  He  helped  to  compose  the  various  proclamations 
which  were  then  issued,  and  all  the  drafts  were  in  his  hand- 
writing. He  went  into  the  affair  prepared  to  sink  or  swim, 
and  on  that  fateful  night  of  December  1,  when  those  who  met 
in  Napoleon's  private  room  at  the  Elysee  were  full  of  anxiety, 
it  was  Mocquard  who  revived  their  spirits  by  jocular  de- 
scriptions of  Avhat  would  happen  in  a  few  hours'  time. 

Poor  little  Monsieur  Thiers,  how  that  lock  of  hair  a-top 
of  his  head  would  rise  in  amazement  when  he  saw  a  police 
commissary  enter  his  bedroom  !      How  dreadful  would  be  the 


THE  EMPEROR  AND  HIS  PRIVATE  CABINET    141 

awakening  of  that  doughty  warrior,  General  Changarnier, 
forced  to  rise  ^nd  put  on  his  stays  in  the  presence  of  the 
grinning  officers  of  the  law !  It  was  to  be  hoped  that  Mme. 
de  X.  would  not  be  there.  Then,  too,  what  a  pompous  oration 
the  olympian  Victor  Hugo  would  deliver !  How  blue  Charras 
would  turn  in  his  impotent  fury  !  And  how  woefully  qua?stor 
Baze  would  fume  and  fret  at  findino-  himself  caught  like  a  rat 
in  a  trap,  in  spite  of  all  his  secret  passages !  In  that  style 
Mocquard  rattled  on,  sketching  in  turn  all  the  anti-Bonapartists 
who  were  to  be  arrested,  expatiating  on  their  physical  im- 
perfections, and  mimicking  their  consternation  at  finding  that 
they  would  have  no  nice  hot  cafe  au  lait  by  a  warm  fire-side 
that  cold  December  morning.  The  Chef-de-cabinet's  flow  of 
spirits  proved  contagious.  His  fellow  conspirators  laughed, 
and  anxiety  subsided. 

For  his  duties  at  the  Tuileries  under  the  Empire  Mocquard 
received  d£*l!200  a  year,  and  Napoleon  furnished  and  granted 
him  as  residence  a  house  in  the  Rue  de  Rivoli  comprised  in 
the  dotation  of  the  Crown.  Inclusive  of  his  pay  as  a  senator 
and  his  Legion  of  Honour  allowance,  Mocquard's  official  income 
was  about  i?2600  per  annum,  but  he  also  made  a  good  deal  of 
money  by  writing  melodramas.  How  he  found  time  to  do  so 
was  a  mystery,  for  his  duties  at  the  Tuileries  were  heavy.  All 
the  letters  and  despatches  addressed  to  the  Emperor  (and  they 
were  legion)  passed  through  his  hands :  he  opened  and  classified 
them  eai'ly  every  morning.  He  also  worked  Avith  the  Emperor 
for  some  hours  each  day,  and  he  was  constantly  entrusted  with 
confidential  missions  and  negotiations,  at  one  moment  attending 
to  Napoleon''s  farming  and  land-reclaiming  schemes ;  at  another 
having  a  furtive  intei"view  with  some  secret  envoy  on  matters 
which,  if  divulged,  might  have  made  Europe  tremble ;  at 
another  scolding  or  pacifying  some  greedy  or  angiy  imperial 
mistress  ;  and  at  yet  another  betaking  himself  to  the  residence 
of  some  member  of  the  imperial  family,  either  to  signify  a 
private  command  or  express  the  sovereign's  displeasure.  But, 
as  we  have  said,  he  found  time  to  write  melodramas,  sometimes, 
as  with  "  La  Fausse  Adultere  "  and  "  La  Fiance'e  d'Albano,"  in 
conjunction  with  D'Ennery,  then  in  his  early  prime ;  or  else,  as 
with   "La  Tireuse   de   Cartes,"   in   collaboration  with  Victor 


U2  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Sejour ;  while  on  other  occasions  he  produced  pieces  which 
were  entirely  his  own,  such  as  "Les  Volontaires  de  1814,"  and 
particularly  the  famous  "  Prise  de  Pekin,"  that  most  extra- 
ordinary, most  comical,  most  successful  military  melodrama  of 
the  period,  the  memory  of  v^hich  has  haunted  us  for  over  forty 
years. 

Ah !  that  play,  and  ah !  its  hero — the  fair-complexioned 
and  red-whiskered  War  Correspondent  of  The  Times,  with 
his  tropical  helmet,  his  green  "Derby"  veil,  his  umbrella,  his 
telescope,  his  camp-stool,  and  his  portable  desk,  all  of  which 
he  took  into  action,  seating  himself  at  the  desk  in  the  front 
rank  of  battle,  and  there  carefully  penning  his  "  copy,"  quite 
regardless  of  shot  and  shell.  "  You  will  be  killed  if  you  remain 
there  ! "  a  grizzly  French  sergeant  cried  to  him.  "  Go  to  the 
rear  ! "  "  To  the  rear  !  "  the  hero  of  The  Times  indignantly 
retorted,  while  the  bullets  whistled  around  him.  "  Why,  in 
that  case,  I  should  see  nothing,  and  I  have  to  describe  this 
battle  for  the  first  newspaper  of  the  first  country  in  the 
world ! "  Thereupon  English  spectators,  who  had  previously 
felt  inclined  to  resent  the  hero''s  comical  "  make  up,"  applauded 
frantically. 

The  Avriting  of  melodramas  was  not  Mocquard's  only  hobby. 
He  had  a  penchant  for  American  trotters,  and  it  was  a  sight  to 
see  him  occasionally  whisking  along  the  Rue  de  Rivoli  and  up 
the  Champs  Elysees,  with  "  Flying  Jenny,"  going  her  fastest,  in 
front  of  him,  and  his  "tiger"  clinging  behind.  He  was,  let 
us  add,  a  very  tall,  slim  man,  quick  in  his  movements,  and 
in  his  later  years  somewhat  strange  in  his  appearance.  A  few 
grey  hairs  fell  over  his  broad,  bumpy  forehead,  he  had  a  long 
nose,  black,  sparkling  eyes,  and  thin,  twitching  lips,  which,  on 
parting,  disclosed  the  fact  that  he  had  lost  nearly  all  his  teeth. 
Excepting  when  he  was  absolutely  forced  to  attend  some  official 
ceremony,  he  invariably  wore  a  grey  frockcoat — "  la  Redingote 
grise  "  of  Napoleon  I.,  seme  used  to  call  it,  though  others  averred 
that  it  was  the  garb  most  appropriate  to  the  Chef-de-cabinet"'s 
position,  for  was  he  not  the  "  Eminence  grise  "  hovering  beside 
the  purple  of  the  throne  ?  In  some  circumstances  Mocquard 
undoubtedly  acted  as  Napoleon's  alter  ego,  and  he  was  certainly 
for  many  years  the  confidant  of  his  most  secret  thoughts  and 


THE  EMPEROR  AND  HIS  PRIVATE  CABINET    143 

schemes,  the  man  who  knew  more  of  what  was  passing  in  his 
master's  mind  than  either  Morny,  or  Persigny,  or  Rouher,  or 
even  Fleury,  that  other  coiifidant,  ever  knew.  Mocquard  died 
in  December,  1864,  and  was  buried  with  no  little  state  and 
ceremony.  On  the  Emperor''s  behalf,  M.  de  la  Gueronniere 
pronounced  a  significant  oration  by  the  grave-side :  "  His 
Majesty,""  said  he,  "weeps  to-day  for  the  faithful  servant 
who  has  so  long  been  the  depository  of  his  thoughts." 

Mocquard's  successor  as  Chef-de-cabinet  was  M.  Charles 
Conti,  a  Corsican  by  birth  and  a  lawyer  by  profession.  His 
name  is  mentioned  in  some  strange  letters  addressed  to  Ledru- 
Rollin  about  the  time  of  the  Revolution  of  1848.  He  then 
courted  Ledru -Rollings  favour  as  a  very  zealous,  advanced 
Republican.  But  he  soon  changed  his  tactics.  Becoming  a 
deputy,  he  voted  for  the  Expedition  to  Rome,  and  later,  as 
a  Public  Prosecutor,  he  made  no  secret  of  his  animosity  for 
all  Republicans.  A  post  as  Councillor  of  State  was  his  reward. 
Like  Mocquard,  Conti  had  a  literary  bent,  but  instead  of  writing 
melodramas  he  preferred  to  trifle  with  the  Muses.  He  lacked 
the  flow  of  spirits  which  distinguished  his  predecessor,  being  of 
a  far  more  sedate  disposition.  Perhaps  he  was  a  more  suitable 
Chef-de-cabinet  for  a  sovereign  of  advancing  years,  but  in  any 
case  we  do  not  think  he  was  ever  taken  as  fully  into  the 
Emperor''s  confidence  as  Mocquard  had  been. 

Under  the  Chef-de-cabinet  was  the  Sous-chef,  Avho  for  some 
years  was  M.  de  Dalmas.  He  did  a  great  deal  of  work  in 
connection  with  the  correspondence,  but  neither  he  nor  his 
successor,  M.  Sacaley,  was  entrusted  as  were  Mocquard  and 
Conti  with  any  very  secret  matters.  There  was  also,  as  already 
mentioned,  the  Emperor's  private  secretary,  M.  Eranceschini 
Pietri,  a  nephew  of  the  two  Prefects  of  Police  of  that  name. 
M.  Pietri's  work  was  largely  of  a  secret  character.  Having 
the  custody  of  all  the  Emperor's  cyphers  and  codes,  it  was  he 
who  translated  and  transcribed  the  despatches  which  arrived, 
and  prepared  the  answers  to  them.  He  was  in  close  attendance 
on  Napoleon,  during  both  the  Italian  campaign  of  1859  and 
the  war  of  1870.  At  the  Tuileries  he  led  a  life  of  extreme 
hard  work,  rising  betimes  and  retiring  late,  having  to  remain 
with  the  Emperor  every  evening,  unless  there  were  a  ball  or  a 


144  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

reception.  It  is  well  known  that  M.  Pietri  was  an  extremely 
faithful  servant.  He  followed  the  imperial  family  into  exile, 
and  after  Napoleon"**  death  acted  as  private  secretary  to  the 
Imperial  Prince  and  the  Empress  Eugenie  successively. 

We  have  yet  to  speak  of  Charles  Thelin,  originally  Napo- 
leon's valet,  but  promoted  under  the  Empire  to  the  posts  of 
Keeper  of  the  Privy  Purse  and  Wardrobe  Superintendent.  The 
reward  was  not  excessive,  perhaps,  for  the  services  which  he 
had  rendered  to  his  master.  In  1840,  while  Dr.  Connean, 
inside  the  fort  of  Ham,  assisted  Napoleon  to  escape  from  it, 
Thelin,  who  was  outside,  made  the  escape  certain  by  providing 
the  necessary  vehicle  and  horses  for  flight.  Under  him  at  the 
Tuileries  were  all  the  Emperor''s  valets,  including  even  Cuxac 
and  the  latter's  successor,  Miiller,  who  followed  Napoleon  to 
England  in  1871.  Further,  Thelin  had  charge  of  all  the 
private  jewellery  and  such  of  the  crown  jewellery  as  might  be 
kept  at  the  palace.  Every  article  was  enumerated  in  a  ledger, 
and  whenever  the  Emperor  or  Empress  sent  for  one  thing  or 
another,  a  written  order  had  to  be  handed  to  Thelin,  and  an 
entry  made  in  the  ledger  to  the  effect  that  such  or  such  an 
article  had  been  given  out.  In  due  course  its  return  was 
noted.  Twice  a  year  there  was  a  careful  verification  of  all  the 
crown  jewels  in  the  presence  of  high  officials  of  the  Imperial 
Household. 

The  work  done  in  the  Private  Cabinet,  that  is  in  the  rooms 
of  the  Emperor,  Mocquard,  Pietri,  and  Thelin,  was  of  the  most 
varied  nature.  Communications  of  all  kinds  poured  in  without 
cessation,  and  had  to  be  attended  to.  Of  petitions  for  pecuniary 
assistance  or  for  employment  of  one  or  another  kind,  there  was 
no  end.  One  day  the  notorious  Vidocq,  of  Detective  Police 
fame,  the  author  of  the  axiom,  "  Set  a  thief  to  catch  a  thief," 
writes  thanking  Mocquard  for  past  favours,  and  reminding  him 
that  New  Year's  Day  is  at  hand,  and  that  he,  Vidocq,  is 
eighty-four  years  old,  and  poor.  Then  Prince  Poniatowski 
writes  that  as  the  Emperor  is  unwilling  to  appoint  him  manager 
of  the  Opera,  will  he  at  least  give  him  a  receivership  to  the 
Treasury  or  a  post  in  Algeria  ?  A  certain  M.  Cerfbeer  begs  to 
be  made  a  senator,  grimly  pointing  out  in  his  letter  that  it 
would  not  be  for  very  long,  as  he  is  already  seventy-four  years 


THE  EMPEROR  AND  HIS  PRIVATE  CABINET    145 

old !  D'Aurelles  de  Paladines — destined  to  fight  Von  der 
Tann  at  Coulmiers,  winning  one  of  the  few  French  victories  of 
the  War  of  1870 — begs  that  he  may  be  kept  in  active  service, 
urging  as  one  of  his  chief  claims  for  that  favour  his  services  at 
the  Coup  d'Etat !  Then,  too,  the  Prince  de  Crouj-Chanel, 
subsequently  involved  in  some  financial  scandals,  entreats  the 
Emperor  to  confirm  his  title.     And  so  on,  and  so  on. 

Next  there  are  quaint  suggestions  and  angry  denunciations. 
Some  provincial  magnate  thinks  it  Avould  be  a  good  idea  to 
turn  all  non-commissioned  officers  into  village  schoolmasters  on 
their  retirement  from  the  army  ;  while  another  is  indignant  at 
the  manner  in  which  a  certain  regiment  of  Hussars  behaves  to 
the  women  of  his  localit}'.  There  are  also  curious,  even  aston- 
ishing, offers.  A  Mr.  J.  Blofield  writes  from  Sloane  Street,  W., 
stating  that  he  is  the  proud  possessor  of  the  identical  truncheon 
which  the  Emperor  carried  Avhen  he  did  duty  as  a  special  con- 
stable in  London  during  the  Chartist  riots.  He  will  be  pleased, 
however,  to  sell  it  to  the  Emperor  for  £12.  "  Decline  this 
offer,"  writes  Napoleon  on  the  margin  of  the  letter.  He  had 
no  further  use  for  truncheons — his  police  were  armed  with 
deadlier  weapons.  But  the  prize  for  amusing  offers  is  certainly 
due  to  a  M.  Raphael  Osson,  who  states  that  he  is  the  father  of 
a  son  aged  nine  months,  but  "  considering  the  exceptional  and 
really  prodigious  qualities  of  the  child,"  he  regards  himself  as 
"  unworthy  to  retain  such  a  treasure,"  and  thinks  that  "  he 
cannot  do  better  than  offer  it"  to  his  Majesty  the  Emperor, 
for  which  sole  purpose  he  has  come  all  the  way  from  Egypt 
to  Paris !  That  letter  is  not  annotated ;  but  though  the 
Emperor's  family  was  very  cosmopolitan,  he  can  have  had  no 
desire  to  add  to  it  any  Egyptian  baby,  even  a  phenomenal 
one.  We  can  picture  the  laugh  which  arose  in  the  imperial 
sanctum  when  the  gleeful  Mocquard,  anxious  perhaps  to  drive 
some  cloud  from  his  master's  brow,  showed  him  that  extra- 
ordinary letter. 

Quite  as  amusing,  if  in  another  way,  is  a  petition  addressed 
to  the  Imperial  Prince,  but  referred  to  the  Private  Cabinet  for 
consideration.  It  is  written  by  a  notable  hairdresser  of  the 
time,  one  Edmond  Lcspes,  of  the  Boulevard  Montmartre. 
'*  Your  young  head,"  says  he  to  the  Prince,  "  needs  no  severe 

L 


146  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

coiffure^  such  as  that  of  Titus,  nor  even  a  coquettish  wig,  such 
as  that  of  Louis  XIV.,  but  the  best-disciphned  things  require 
guidance,  and  I  should  feel  honoured  if  I  were  allowed  to  pass 
the  light-brown  tortoiseshell  comb  through  your  light-brown 
locks.  I  should  not  forget  that  I  was  touching  a  brow  destined 
to  wear  a  crown.  I  am  not  a  traitor  like  Leonard  [Marie 
Antoinette's  coiffew'],  nor  a  perfidious  counsellor  like  Olivier  le 
Daim  [barber  to  Lous  XI.].  I  am  not  a  political  man  at  all, 
but  merely  a  capillary  artist."  In  spite  of  that  elegant  effusion 
— worthy  of  the  other  Lespes — Timothee  Trimm  of  Le  Petit 
Journal — we  do  not  think  that  M.  Edmond  was  ever  appointed 
hairdresser  to  the  Imperial  Prince.  He  would  scarcely  have 
suited  the  Tuileries,  for  he  was  a  talkative  man,  with  far  too 
many  journalists  among  his  Boulevardian  customers. 

At  another  time,  the  Emperor  having  finished  his  "  Life  of 
Caesar,'"  and  despatched  presentation  copies  to  prominent 
French  and  foreign  literary  men,  the  Private  Cabinet  is  inun- 
dated with  letters  of  obsequious  flattery  and  congratulation. 
Further,  there  are  the  innumerable  petitions,  drawings,  models, 
and  specimens  emanating  from  inventors.  These  are  all  ex- 
amined and  reported  on,  and  again  and  again  the  Emperor, 
struck  by  some  idea,  grants  the  applicant  a  personal  audience. 
On  one  occasion  he  gives  a  whole  morning  to  M.  Boutet,  who 
comes  to  him  with  twenty  or  thirty  huge  plans  of  a  projected 
brido-e  over  the  Channel — one  of  the  earliest  schemes  for  linking 
England  to  France. 

Diplomacy  also  largely  engages  the  attention  of  the  Private 
Cabinet.  The  Foreign  Minister  is  one  of  the  most  frequent  of 
the  Emperor''s  visitors ;  but  there  is  also  secret  as  well  as  official 
diplomacy.  Here  first  germinates  the  so-called  "  greatest 
scheme  of  the  reign,"  the  foundation  of  an  empire  in  Mexico ; 
here  the  idea  of  the  annexation  of  Belgium  is  first  mooted ;  here 
orio-inates  that  of  mediating  between  Prussia  and  Austria  and 
securing  Venetia  for  Italy.  One  mornmg,  too,  an  estafette 
summons  Fleury,  who,  after  a  brief  chat  with  Napoleon,  hurries 
away  from  France  to  prevail  on  Victor  Emmanuel  to  renounce 
his  ideas  on  Rome.  Here,  too,  comes  Lebrun  before  starting  on 
his  secret  mission  to  Vienna,  to  prepare  a  combined  Franco- 
Austrian  attack  on  Prussia  in  1871 — the  attack  which  Prussia 


THE  EMPEROR  AND  HIS  PRIVATE  CABINET    147 

forestalls  the  previous  year.  Before  then,  Cavour  and  Bismarck 
and  many  others,  famous  ministers  and  unknown  secret  agents, 
had  occupied  the  armchair  which  faces  Napoleon*'s  beside  the 
fireplace  in  the  imperial  sanctum.  It  was  well,  perhaps,  that 
the  Emperor  invariably  strove  to  preserve  an  expressionless 
countenance,  for  he  always  sat  in  the  armchair  facing  the  light, 
to  Avhich  the  others  turned  their  backs.  That  was  an  imperial 
blunder,  such  as  none  of  the  many  investigating  magistrates  at 
the  Palais  de  Justice  would  ever  have  perpetrated. 

But  let  us  picture  the  Emperor  alone  for  a  moment. 
Mocquard  has  just  handed  him  one  of  "  Elizabeth''s ""  reports  on 
the  chit-chat  and  social  scandals  of  Paris,  and  Napoleon  scans 
it  attentively,  bent  on  ascertaining  both  what  the  royalist 
salons  of  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain  and  the  cafes  of  the 
Boulevards  are  saying  and  doing.  At  another  moment  a  report 
from  a  secret  agent  in  London  receives  attention,  and  the 
Emperor  on  reading  it  notes  that  Rimmel,  the  perfumei", 
Grillon,  the  landlord  of  the  Clarendon  Hotel,  and  Fechter,  the 
actor,  are  described  as  "  dangerous  Orleanists." 

But  here  come  the  transcripts  of  the  letters  opened  in  the 
"  Black  Cabinet ""  of  the  post-office,  and  if  the  Emperor  likes 
he  can  pry  into  the  secrets,  not  only  of  the  regims's  adversaries, 
but  of  his  own  ministers  and  aides-de-camp,  and  his  wife''s  ladies 
and  equerries  as  well.  The  Prefect  of  Police  is  supposed 
to  be  trusted;  nevertheless  there  are  reports  on  him  also,  as 
there  are  others  on  the  Director  of  Public  Safety  at  the 
Ministry  of  the  Interior.  If  a  lady  of  rank  takes  a  lover,  or  a 
married  functionary  a  mistress,  Napoleon  learns  all  about  it.  It 
is  the  same  when  St.  Arnaud  loses  heavily  at  the  Bourse,  and 
when  Morny  is  not  particularly  careful  to  conceal  the  secret 
commission  which  he  pockets  over  some  shady  speculation. 
Transcripts  of  private  letters,  written  by  such  partisans  as 
Baroche,  Bazaine,  and  Rouher,  arrive  at  the  same  time  as  tran- 
scripts of  those  penned  by  adversaries  like  Thiers,  Clement 
Thomas,  and  Charras.  It  is  a  certain  Simonel  who  directs  the 
Cabinet  Noir.  Under  him,  from  1851  to  1859,  is  Commissary 
of  Police  Musse,  and  from  1859  to  1870  Commissaries  Marseille 
and  Berillon.  Those  are  the  gentlemen  who  operate,  who 
seize,  open,  read,  transcribe,  and  reseal  all  suspicious  letters 


148  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

confided  to  the  postal  service,  letters  which  are  afterwards  duly 
delivered  at  their  addresses.  Simonel  often  has  to  work  very 
hard  indeed.  During  the  Mexican  expedition,  the  Emperor 
becomes  extremely  anxious  to  ascertain  the  real  truth  respecting 
the  situation.  For  that  purpose  private  letters  written  by 
officers  of  the  expeditionary  corps  are  freely  opened.  Every 
time  a  Mexican  mail  arrives  Simonel  spends  three  days  and 
nights  "  working  at  it,"  with  the  utmost  diligence.  Yet  he  is 
treated  neglectfully.  He  is  not  a  man  of  any  means,  and  his 
secret  emoluments  are  only  paid  him  after  long  delays.  At 
last  he .  complains  privately  to  Persigny,  who  acquaints  the 
Emperor  with  his  position. 

The  Civil  List  and  the  Privy  Purse  have  to  make  many 
strange  disbursements.  If  it  is  not  Charles  Thelin  it  is  Pierre- 
INIichel  Bure,  the  Emperor's  foster-brother  and  Crown  Treasurer, 
who  has  to  provide  money.  At  one  moment  large  sums  go  to 
the  Countess  de  Montijo.  A  memorandum,  in  which  the  year 
is  not  indicated,  says:  "Sent  to  Mme.  de  Montijo  in  Spain, 
through  Messrs.  Rothschild,  Feb.  4,  600,000  francs;  April  9, 
89,739  francs;  May  27,  668,421  francs.  Total,  1,358,160 
francs  " — that  is  about  =£'54,326.  Some  have  wondered  why  so 
much  money  was  sent  to  the  Empress's  mother.  The  most 
likely  explanation  is  that  it  was  in  connection  with  the  improve- 
ment and  development  of  the  Empress's  estates  in  Spain. 
Napoleon,  for  his  part,  spent  large  amounts  on  the  estates  which 
he  acquired  in  France,  the  tracts  of  country  which  he  reclaimed 
and  planted  in  Les  Dombes  and  Les  Landes  ;  all  of  which,  be  it 
noted,  was  very  useful  and  beneficial  work.  The  same  may  be 
said  respecting  the  Emperor's  experimental  farm  at  La 
Fouilleuse,  which,  again,  was  no  light  tax  on  him. 

Let  us  now  glance  at  one  of  Bure's  registers.  Here,  item 
by  item,  is  set  forth  the  expenditure  incurred  at  the  baptism  of 
the  Imperial  Prince — total  £'35,920  !  Turn  a  few  pages,  here 
are  extra  allowances  to  Prince  Achille  Murat,  making  £'3328, 
special  grants  to  Princess  Anna  Murat  of  .£333  per  month,  and 
the  same  to  Pierre  Bonaparte  of  £'80  a  month  over  and  beyond 
his  regular  allowance  ;  while  during  a  long  period  £'120  is  spent 
monthly  on  excavations  in  the  Farnesina  Gardens  at  Rome. 
Now  peep  into  one  of  Th^lin's  books.     The  Privy  Purse  seldom 


THE  EMPEROR  AND  HIS  PRIVATE  CABINET    149 

has  any  large  balance  in  hand  at  the  end  of  the  month.  Oat 
of  <£'4<000  paid  into  it  only  a  few  hundreds  will  be  left. 
Dusautoy,  the  tailor,  relieves  it  of  ^£'1000  or  so  from  time  to 
time ;  Baron  Jerome  David,  who  will  figure  in  our  chapter 
on  the  imperial  family,  pockets  money  for  furniture  as  well  as 
for  living  expenses.  And  there  is  a  hungry  crew  of  official 
journalists  duly  provided  for.  Payments  are  made  also  to  the 
executors  of  Lieutenant  Aladenize,  one  of  Napoleon's  con- 
federates at  Boulogne  in  1840. 

We  give  on  pages  150  and  151  two  statements  of  accounts 
found  in  the  Emperor's  private  room  after  the  Revolution  of 
1870.  They  include  only  regular  payments  foreseen  in  advance, 
and  represent  but  a  fraction  of  the  outgoings. 

Yet  other  matters  occupied  the  Private  Cabinet.  At  one 
moment  there  was  an  elaborate  scheme  for  the  foundation  of  a 
new  nobility.  Ministers,  judges,  senators,  prefects,  and  other 
functionaries  were  to  be  given  titles,  according  to  their  office 
or  the  duration  of  their  services.  Reports  were  drawn  up  on 
the  subject,  a  proposed  law  was  even  drafted  and  discussed  by 
the  Council  of  Ministers.  The  Empress,  who  held  many  titles 
herself  and  belonged  to  a  country  where  they  were  very  plentiful 
and  also  often  absurd,*  is  said  to  have  smiled  upon  this 
plan,  but  it  came  to  nothing ;  and  only  now  and  again  did 
the  Emperor  create  some  duke,  marquis,  count,  or  baron.  The 
scheme  was,  in  part,  based  on  the  circumstance  that  the  old 
nobility  was  fast  dying  out,  and  that,  in  particular,  the  titles 
granted  in  the  time  of  Napoleon  I.  were  lapsing  year  by  year  for 
lack  of  heirs. 

That  was  certainly  quite  true.  As  regards  the  old  French 
aristocracy  the  average  duration  of  a  noble  house  was  not  more 
than  three  hundred  years.  Yet  research  has  shown  that  the 
nobles  often  had  many  children.  Three  of  the  Montmorencys 
left  fifteen  sons,  the  four  first  Guises  left  thirty ;  one  of  the 
Noailles  had  nineteen  children,  one  of  the  Harlays  eighteen, 
while  the  Birons,  the  Condes,  the  Villiers  de  TIsle-Adam,  and 

*  Could  there  be  anything  more  ridiculous  than  such  titles  as  Marquis  of 
the  Lover's  Bock,  Marquis  of  Eggshell  (Algara),  Marquis  of  the  Calves'  Grotto 
(Gueva  de  Becerros),  Count  of  the  Castle  of  Sparks,  and  Viscount  of  the  Deep 
Bay  of  Royal  Fidelity  ? — aU  of  which  may  still  be  found  in  Spain. 


150 


THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 


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153         THE  COURT  OP  THE  TUH.ERIES 

many  other  families  were  at  times  so  numerous  that  one  might 
have  thought  they  would  last  for  ever.  But  they  died  off  like 
the  twenty  branches  of  the  Montmorencys,  the  seven  of  the 
Harcourts,  and  the  six  of  the  Luxembourg's.  In  like  way  few 
now  remain  of  the  noblesse  of  the  First  Empire,  which  was  far 
less  prolific  than  the  older  aristocracy,  and  has  thus  become 
well-nigh  exhausted  in  a  single  century.  But  however  repub- 
lican the  majority  of  Frenchmen  may  be  nowadays,  there  is 
still  no  lack  of  individuals  who  fancy  a  title  and  assume  one — 
occasionally,  by  reason  of  some  remote  connection  with  a  family 
of  authentic  noblesse,  but  more  often  without  the  faintest  shadow 
of  justification  for  their  action. 

But  let  us  leave  that  subject,  and  resume  our  survey  of 
the  Emperor''s  Private  Cabinet.  He  had  literary  proclivities, 
as  we  know,  and  on  at  least  two  occasions  he  thought  of 
writing  a  novel.  That  is,  a  novel  with  a  purpose.  In  the 
first  instance,  apparently,  it  was  to  have  been  a  satire  on  the 
stubborn  folly  of  some  folk  of  the  middle  class  in  not  rallying 
thoroughly  to  the  support  of  the  Empire.  In  the  second  it 
was  to  have  glorified  all  the  material  progress  made  by  France 
under  the  imperial  auspices.  In  both  cases  the  chief  character 
was  to  have  been,  curiously  enough,  a  grocer.  First  Rossignol, 
and  later  Benoit,  was  to  have  been  his  name.  It  is  probable 
that  the  calling  of  grocer  was  chosen  for  this  personage  because 
then,  as  now,  it  was  often  associated  with  ignorance  and 
stupidity.  Henri  Monnier  and  others  had  repeatedly  satirized 
it,  and  sometime  in  the  sixties,  when  the  Emperor  was  thinking 
of  this  novel  of  his,  a  grocer''s  assistant  committed  suicide  in 
Paris  under  curious  circumstances.  He  left  a  paper  behind 
him  stating  that  he  had  often  endeavoured  to  embark  in  some 
other  calling  but  had  failed,  having  been  invariably  thrust  back 
into  the  grocery  line,  though  he  loathed  and  detested  it,  as  it 
was  paltry,  unmanly,  and  degrading.  Finally,  he  asked  that  his 
savings  might  be  applied  to  the  expenses  of  his  burial  and  the 
erection  over  his  remains  of  a  neat  tombstone  bearing  the 
inscription  :  "  Born  to  be  a  Man,  but  died  a  Grocer." 

Whether  the  Emperor  ever  read  that  tale  in  his  favourite 
evening  newspaper  La  Patrle,  we  do  not  know,  but  it  might 
well  have  influenced  him  in  choosinjr  a  calling-  for  his  "  hero." 


THE  EMPEROR  AND  HIS  PRIVATE  CABINET    153 

Memoranda  respecting  the  two  "  plots  "  were  found  among  his 
private  papers  after  the  fall  of  the  Empire.  In  the  first  scheme 
Rossignol  was  portrayed  as  an  obstinate,  shallow  individual, 
with  antiquated  and  foolish  ideas ;  in  the  second  Benoit  was 
shown  going  to  America  in  1847  and  returning  to  France  in 
1868,  when  everything  he  beheld,  the  absolute  transformation 
of  the  country  under  the  beneficent  Napoleonic  sway,  filled  him 
with  the  utmost  amazement. 

At  various  times  the  Emperor  financed  political  newspapers, 
such  as  Le  Cojistitutionnel,  Le  Pays,  V Etendard,  Le  Public, 
Le  Dl;v  Decemhre,  VEpoqiie,  (whose  nominal  owner  was  his 
tailor  Dusautoy),  and  Le  Peuple  Fran^ais,  for  which  Thelin, 
with  many  shakes  of  the  head,  had  to  disburse  in  one  year 
no  less  than  ii'56,000.  Most  of  this  financing  was  done 
during  the  last  period  of  the  regime,  when,  more  liberty  having 
been  given  to  the  press,  several  opposition  journals  were 
started,  and  it  was  thought  necessary  to  have  organs  to  answer 
their  attacks.  Occasionally  the  Emperor  wrote  articles  for 
these  journals,  more  particularly  for  Le  D'lx  Decenibre,  or, 
if  he  did  not  actually  write  them,  he  drew  up,  as  an 
editor  might  do,  memoranda  setting  forth  various  facts  and 
arguments  which  he  wished  to  see  elaborated.  Several  such 
memoranda  were  found  at  the  Tuileries  after  Sedan,  and 
journalists  of  a  class  were  by  no  means  the  least  frequent 
visitors  to  the  Private  Cabinet — though,  of  course,  many  were 
dealt  with  by  the  official  Press  Bureau  at  the  Ministry  of  the 
Interior.  During  the  last  years  of  the  Empire  the  interest 
which  Napoleon  took  in  journalism  seemed  to  indicate  that  he 
no  longer  held  the  opinion,  so  often  expressed  in  his  early  years 
and  his  prime,  that  the  best  newspaper  in  the  world  was  not 
worth  a  rap. 

Amono'  the  curious  and  notable  meetino;s  which  occurred  in 
the  Emperor's  private  room  was  one  with  his  foster  sister, 
Mme.  Cornu,  in  the  spring  of  1863.  She  who,  in  spite  of  her 
misshapen  frame,  was  at  heart  one  of  the  straightest  of  women 
as  well  as  possessed  of  a  shrewd  and  clever  mind,*  had  broken 

*  She  helped  him  to  write  his  book  on  artillery  practice.  Although  hump- 
backed, she  had  found  a  husband  in  the  person  of  a  painter  of  considerable 
talent,  whose  speciality  was  the  decoration  of  churches. 


354  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

off  nearly  all  intercourse  with  him  since  the  Coup  d'Etat, 
which  she  blamed  severely.  He  repeatedly  tried  to  bring  about 
a  reconciliation,  sent  her  New  Year  greetings,  wrote  to  her 
respecting  his  "  Life  of  Caesar,"  and  so  forth.  But  her  answers 
were  very  brief,  and  she  was  unwilling  to  visit  him.  At  last, 
at  the  time  w^e  have  mentioned,  he  wrote  her  an  urgent  letter 
saying  that  long  years  had  elapsed  since  their  last  meeting, 
and  that  he  did  not  wish  to  die  before  seeing  her  embrace  his 
son,  who  was  just  completing  his  seventh  year.  Mme.  Cornu 
was  touched  by  the  appeal,  and  allowed  the  Countess  Walewska 
to  conduct  her  to  the  Tuileries. 

She  found  both  Napoleon  and  the  Empress  Eugenie 
awaiting  her,  and  the  former,  throwing  his  arms  round  her 
neck,  kissed  her  heartily.  "You  bad  woman,"  said  he;  "for 
twelve  years  past  you  have  refused  to  unbend  to  me."  Without 
replying,  she  returned  his  kiss.  They  all  felt  very  moved  and 
even  shed  tears.  At  last,  making  Mme.  Cornu  seat  herself 
in  one  armchair,  and  the  Empress  in  the  other,  while  he  took 
his  stand  with  his  back  to  the  fireplace.  Napoleon  sent  Mme. 
Walewska  for  the  little  Imperial  Prince.  He  came  in,  all 
alacrity,  but  was  much  surprised  when  the  strange  lady  took 
him  in  her  arms  and  kissed  him.  His  father  afterwards  wished 
him  to  recite  one  of  the  fables  he  had  learnt.  "  But  I  have 
forgotten  the  beginnings,"  said  he.  "Then  let  us  have  the 
ends,"  the  Emperor  replied.  "  But  I  have  forgotten  them  too." 
"Let  us  hear  the  middle  then."  "Papa,"  the  little  fellow 
retorted,  "where  does  a  middle  begin .P"  "Your  Majesty  will 
find  it  difficult  to  answer  that  question,"  said  Mme.  Cornu.* 
It  was  she  who  afterwards  recommended  the  Prince's  first  tutor, 
M.  Francis  Monnier. 

Another  remarkable  woman  who  sometimes  sat  in  the 
Emperor's  private  room  and  not  only  advised,  but  occasionally 
chided  him,  was  Queen  Sophia  of  Holland,  whom  her  husband 
(the  father  of  the  present  Queen  Wilhelmina  by  his  second 
marriage)  neglected  for  "  la  belle  Madame  Musard  "  and  others. 

*  She  herself  told  the  story  to  Mrs.  M.  C.  M.  Simpson,  the  daughter  of 
Nassau  Senior,  and  the  author  of  "  Many  Memories  of  Many  People,"  in 
which  we  read  it  several  years  ago.  We  have  given  it,  as  closely  as  a  note 
made  at  the  time  permits,  in  Mrs,  Simpson's  words. 


THE  EMPEROR  AND  HIS  PRIVATE  CABINET    155 

Queen  Sophia,  born  a  Princess  of  Wurtemberg,  was  first-cousin 
to  Prince  Napoleon  Jerome  and  Princess  Mathilde.  A  woman 
of  great  culture  and  sound  political  acumen,  she  corresponded 
with  the  Emperor  during  several  years,  but  he  often  tried  her 
patience  severely  by  neglecting  good  advice.  With  an  abundance 
of  light  golden  hair,  she  had  been  very  handsome  when  young, 
and  she  long  retained  a  fine  figure.  The  little  money  allowed 
her  by  her  husband  was  chiefly  spent  in  charity,  and  whenever 
she  travelled  it  was  usually  incognita,  attended  only  by  a  maid 
and  a  single  lady-in-waiting.  During  her  sojourns  in  Paris 
Queen  Sophia  often  slipped  into  the  Tuileries  to  chat  with  the 
Emperor  and  criticize  what  he  had  been  doing  or  what  he 
intended  to  do.  The  role  she  played  could  hardly  be  called, 
however,  that  of  either  an  Egeria  or  a  Mentor,  it  was  rather 
the  part  of  a  "  Candid  Friend." 

That  private  room  of  the  Emperor's,  which  witnessed  so 
much  work  and  so  many  interviews,  also  had  its  legend — a 
legend  of  roguery  and  blood.  One  day  in  1853,  according  to 
one  version  of  the  story — it  is  a  story  with  many  variations,  as 
will  be  seen — Napoleon  laid,  on  the  table  or  the  mantelpiece, 
a  sura  of  dfPSOOO  in  banknotes.  He  had  occasion  to  leave  the 
room,  and  on  returning  he  found  the  money  gone.  Three  people 
had  been  in  the  apartment  during  his  absence,  and  the  Chief 
of  the  Palace  Police,  who  was  summoned,  inquired  their  names. 
"General  Cornemuse"  was  the  first  one  given.  "General 
Cornemuse,"  said  the  official ;  "  well,  it  may  have  been  he  who 
took  the  notes,  and  yet  I  am  surprised  at  his  doing  so.  But 
who  else  came  in?"  "King  Jerome."  "Oh,  in  that  case  we 
need  not  trouble  about  Cornemuse.  But  Avas  there  nobody 
else  ?  "  "  Yes,  St.  Arnaud  was  here."  "  In  that  case  we  need 
not  look  further.  The  money  must  certainly  have  been  taken 
by  him." 

The  upshot  of  the  affair  (still  according  to  the  story)  was 
that  St.  Arnaud,  being  accused  of  the  theft,  denied  it,  that  an 
altercation  arose  between  him  and  Cornemuse,*  that  they  fought 

*  He  was  born  at  St,  Malo  in  1797,  enlisted  under  the  first  Empire,  served 
under  the  Duke  d'Angouleme  in  Spain  in  1823,  and  was  at  the  siege  of  Ant- 
werp in  1831.  He  became  a  General  of  Brigade  in  1849,  and  in  the  following 
year  was  appointed  Chief  of  the  Staff  of  the  army  of  Paris,  in  which  capacity 
he  participated  in  the  Coup  d'Etat. 


156  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

with  their  swords,  and  that  Cornemuse  was  killed.  According 
to  one  version  the  duel  took  place  in  a  room  of  the  palace, 
according  to  another  in  a  corridor,  according  to  a  third  in  the 
palace  garden  in  the  evening,  and  by  the  light  of  candelabra, 
which  either  the  seconds  or  some  servants  held  aloft.  But  if 
another  account  is  to  be  believed,  there  was  no  theft  at  all  in 
the  Emperor's  private  room.  Napoleon,  it  is  asserted,  sent 
Cornemuse  to  St.  Arnaud  with  a  sum  of  money  to  pay  one  of 
his  gambling  debts,  in  return  for  which  assistance  St.  Arnaud 
was  to  hand  over  certain  papers,  notably  a  signed  order  of  the 
Coup  d'Etat  period,  instructing  him  to  sweep  Paris  with  shot 
and  shell,  and  even  set  it  on  fire  if  there  should  be  the  slightest 
resistance.  Cornemuse  went  with  the  money  to  St.  Arnaud, 
who,  it  is  alleged,  contrived  to  secure  it  without  parting 
with  the  documents,  though  he  solemnly  promised  that  he 
would  hand  them  over  at  a  ball  at  the  Tuileries  that  same 
evening.  At  the  ball,  however,  when  Cornemuse  asked  for  the 
papers,  St.  Arnaud  made  all  sorts  of  excuses,  and  finally  refused 
to  surrender  them.  Angry  words  were  then  exchanged,  and 
the  two  men  fought  in  the  garden,  as  previously  mentioned. 
St.  Arnaud  was  twice  wounded,  once  in  the  body  and  the  second 
time  in  the  left  arm ;  but  making  a  last  desperate  lunge,  he 
finally  got  home,  piercing  Cornemuse  in  the  abdomen  and  kill- 
ing him. 

That  is  a  resume  of  a  secret  police  report  on  the  rumours  of 
the  time,  which  adds  that  people  said  a  perquisition  had  been 
made  in  St.  Arnaud's  apartments  at  the  War  Ministry,  but  had 
yielded  no  result,  and  that  St.  Arnaud  being  badly  wounded, 
had  been  granted  leave  of  absence  on  the  score  of  ill  health, 
his  post  being  provisionally  assigned  to  M.  Ducos.  That 
certainly  happened,  but  all  the  rest  may  be  regarded  as  fable. 
St.  Arnaud's  ill  health  was  notorious,  and  it  eventually  resulted 
in  his  death.  It  was  not  due  to  any  wound  inflicted  by  Corne- 
muse or  another.  Moreover,  neither  the  theft  nor  the  duel  took 
place,  though  rumours  about  them  certainly  circulated  in  Paris 
at  the  time,  and  even  found  their  way  into  English  and  other 
foreign  newspapers.  Subsequently  the  story  was  repeated  in 
one  or  another  form  in  several  histories,  memoirs,  French  news- 
papers, and  even  encyclopsedias,  eventually  suggesting  to  Emile 


THE  EMPEROR  AND  HIS  PRIVATE  CABINET    157 

Gaboriau  some  part  of  the  plot  of  his  novel  "  La  Degringolade." 
Yet  it  was  all  legend,  a  legend  without  foundation,  concocted, 
like  many  other  stories,  to  cast  discredit  both  on  St.  Arnaud 
personally  and  on  the  Empire  and  its  institutions. 

According  to  members  of  the  Cornemuse  family  who  knew 
the  truth,  the  General,  overburdened  by  great  responsibilities 
and  worries,  had  been  ailing  for  some  time  when,  on  the  evening 
of  February  19,  1853,  he  was  suddenly  attacked  by  congestion 
of  the  lungs.  Three  medical  men  attended  him,  Drs.  Chaumel, 
Cruveilhier,  and  Coqueret,  and  immediately  opined  that  the 
attack  would  have  a  fatal  issue.  The  General  lingered  for 
about  a  fortnight,  however,  expiring  on  March  7,  when  the 
immediate  cause  of  death  was  a  rupture  of  the  neck  of  the 
aorta.  That  statement,  put  forward  at  the  time,  was  then 
scouted  by  the  enemies  of  the  Empire,  but  nowadays,  the 
vindictive  passions  of  that  period  having  subsided,  there  is 
really  no  reason  to  question  the  accuracy  of  the  family  account. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   EMPRESS  :    SOME    FEATURES    OF    HER   LIFE 

The  Empress's  Private  Apartments  —  Charles  Chaplin's  Masterpiece  — 
Dubufe's  Beauties  of  the  Tuileries — The  Empress's  Work- room — The 
Imperial  Correspondence — The  Cabinet-de-toilette  and  the  Bedchamber — 
The  Empress's  Wardrobe — Pepa,  the  Head-maid — The  Story  of  the 
Crinoline — The  Cost  of  the  Empress's  Gowns — The  Crown  Jewels — The 
Empress's  Charities — Her  Treatment  of  her  Son — Her  Intercourse  with 
M6rim6e — Her  Travels  and  Eegencies — Her  Share  in  Politics — Her 
Championship  of  the  Pope — Her  Opposition  to  Liberal  Reforms — Her 
Visit  to  Scotland — The  Emperor's  Decree  of  November  23,  1860— Enmity 
between  Persigny  and  the  Empress — Her  Presence  at  Cabinet  Councils^ 
Her  Failure  as  a  Politician. 

It  will  have  been  understood  already  that  the  Empress's  private 
apartments  at  the  Tuileries  were  above  the  Emperor''s.  Let  us 
ascend  to  them  by  the  broad  white  marble  staircase  starting  from 
the  same  vestibule  by  which  we  entered  the  various  rooms  of 
the  Imperial  Private  Cabinet.  Thick  Turkey  carpets  are  spread 
over  the  marble  slabs,  and  from  the  walls  hang  ancient  tapestry, 
quaintly  depicting  the  transformation  of  Daphne  into  a  laurel 
bush.  On  the  right  hand  of  the  first-floor  landing  is  the 
entrance  to  the  Hall  of  the  Marshals,  on  the  left  that  to  the 
Empress's  apartments,  a  suite  of  some  ten  rooms.  In  the  first, 
a  small  ante-chamber,  we  find  the  sovereign's  private  ushers  in 
brown  and  silver  coats,  black  silk  stockings,  and  buckled  shoes, 
together  with  a  couple  of  footmen  in  the  ordinary  palace  livery. 
Biguet,  the  chief  usher,  a  very  devoted,  confidential  retainer, 
who  followed  the  Empress  to  England  in  1870,  and  died  there, 
was  known  familiarly  as  the  "  thirteenth  Lady  of  the  Palace," 
from  the  fact  that  whenever  a  lady  who  should  have  been  on 
duty  happened  to  be  absent,  he  undertook  to  attend  to  any 
passing  matter  in  which  he  could  replace  her. 


THE  EMPRESS :  SOME  FEATLTRES  OF  HEll  LIFE    159 

From  the  aute-room  you  passed  into  the  first  of  the 
Empress's  salons,  the  one  in  which  her  ladies  and  her  chamber- 
lain Avere  stationed.  This  was  generally  known  as  the  Salon 
Vert,  the  walls  being  painted  a  pale  green,  over  which  soft 
ground  M.  Burette  had  traced  endless  arabesques  of  a  darker 
verdure,  picked  out  with  gold,  each  panel  being  framed  with 
gilded  mouldings.  A  prodigious  basket  of  flowers  by  Ghequier 
was  depicted  on  the  ceiling,  while  in  the  cartouches  above  each 
door  were  other  blooms,  with  birds  of  the  brightest  hues  flutter- 
ing hither  and  thither.  The  fine  gilded  Louis  XVI.  furniture 
was  upholstered  in  Beauvais  tapestry,  figuring  bouquets  of 
flowers  on  a  white  ground.  The  ceiling  of  the  second  salon, 
known  as  the  Salon  Rose,  and  serving  as  visitors'  waiting-room, 
Avas  the  masterpiece  of  Charles  Chaplin,  who  for  our  delectation 
transmitted  to  our  times  some  of  the  "  tradition  "  of  Leraoyne, 
Boucher,  and  Fragonard.  He  and  Lefuel,  the  architect,  were, 
we  believe,  chiefly  responsible  for  the  general  scheme  of  decora- 
tion adopted  for  the  Empress's  private  drawing-rooms,  but  the 
Salon  Rose,  as  we  have  mentioned,  contained  Chaplin's  par- 
ticular chef  d'oeuvre — annihilated,  unfortunately,  like  all  the 
rest,  when  the  palace  was  consumed  by  fire. 

Some  descriptions  of  the  apartment  say  that  Chaplin's  ceil- 
ing represented  the  triumph  of  Flora  ;  but  if  our  memory  serves 
us  aright,  the  Flora  depicted  by  the  painter  was  the  Empress 
Eugenie.  In  the  centre  of  the  ceiling  there  was  a  medallion 
portrait  of  her,  enframed  by  a  garland  of  roses  held  by  the 
three  Graces,  around  whom  were  scattered  symbolical  figures 
of  the  Arts,  while  one  of  several  winged  genii  appeared  bear- 
ing the  infant  Imperial  Prince  in  a  basket  of  flowers,  and 
others  either  drove  away  a  bank  of  clouds  or  roused  Aurora, 
whose  roseate  flush  overspread  the  heavens,  which  descended  to 
the  cornices,  where  the  painter  had  depicted  some  gilded  trellis 
work  wreathed  with  opening  flowers.  Other  blooms  poured  from 
medallions  at  the  corners  of  the  ceiling,  delicate  rosy  arabesques 
adorned  the  walls,  while  floral  subjects  again  appeared  in  each 
of  the  six  dessus-de-porte.  First  came  the  pansy,  crowned  with 
stars  under  a  crescent  moon ;  next  a  subject  introducing  a 
nymph  encircling  her  brow  with  cornflowers,  while  beside  her 
slept  a  companion  crowned  with  poppies  ;  then  the  violet  was 


160  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

shown,  growing  in  the  shade  cast  by  a  stately  laurel.  Naiads 
followed,  crowned  with  water-lilies  and  reeds,  then  came  the 
obvious  subject  of  the  marguerite — "  he  loves  me  a  little,  dearly, 
passionately,  not  at  all "" — and  finally  the  rose,  cleverly  typified 
by  Aurora.  The  white  marble  chimney-piece  of  this  room  was 
of  beautiful  workmanship,  inlaid  in  parts  with  lapis  lazuli, 
serving  as  a  background  to  golden  roses.  The  furniture  was 
similar  to  that  of  the  Salon  Vert,  and  four  large  mirrors  framed 
with  wreathing  flowers  reflected  the  superb  vista  of  the  Tuileries 
garden  and  the  Champs  Elysees. 

Next  came  the  Salon  Bleu,  where  the  Empress  gave  audience, 
and  where  the  cartouches  over  the  doors  contained  medallion 
portraits  of  six  of  the  greatest  beauties  of  the  time.  They 
were  the  work  of  Edouard  Dubufe,  and  included  three  blondes 
and  three  brunettes.  On  one  side  Sophie  Troubetskoi,  Duchess 
de  Morny,  with  her  light  flaxen  hair  crowned  with  the  head- 
dress of  her  native  land,  smiled  down  on  you  with  dark  vivacious 
eyes,  sparkling  in  a  somewhat  pallid  face ;  then  Anna  Murat, 
Duchess  de  Mouchy,  with  fresh  bright  cheeks  added  to  her  fair 
ringlets,  served  almost  to  typify  a  young  English  girl ;  while 
Egle  de  la  Moskowa,  Duchess  de  Persigny,  shone  forth  radiant 
as  a  goddess  amid  the  glory  of  her  golden  fleece.  Nor  were  the 
brunettes  less  beautiful.  The  Countess  Walewska,  nee  Ricci, 
was  garbed  appropriately  as  a  Florentine;  the  Duchess  de 
Cadore  typified  Haidee,  while  the  young  Duchess  de  Malakoff", 
the  Empress's  compatriot,  wore  the  mantilla  and  the  deep  red 
bloom  of  the  genuine  Granadina.  It  is  deplorable  that  those 
paintings  were  destroyed.  They  would  nowadays  be,  in  their 
way,  as  famous  as  are  the  "Beauties  of  Hampton  Court.'" 

The  Empress's  three  salons,  with  their  white  satin  curtains, 
gilded  chairs  and  sofas,  marquetry  cabinets,  crystal  chandeliers, 
and  splendid  mirrors,  clocks,  vases,  and  candelabra  of  bronze, 
silver,  and  porcelain,  as  well  as  their  profusion  of  freshly  cut 
flowers,  added  to  all  those  depicted  on  walls  and  ceilings,  were 
well  worthy  of  the  wife  of  the  ruler  of  France.  There  was, 
perhaps,  rather  too  much  gilding,  or  at  least  the  gilding  was 
too  new,  and  needed  the  softening  touch  of  time.  Unluckily, 
there  came  the  Commune. 

The   Empress's   Cabinet  or  workroom   followed  the  Salon 


THE  EMrRESS  :  SOME  FEATURES  OF  HER  LIFE     161 

Bleu.  Its  walls  were  hung  with  a  green  satin-striped  material, 
the  curtains  and  upholstery  were  of  purple  silk,  the  doors  and 
window  framework  of  mahogany,  and  the  chimney-piece  of  red 
marble.  A  fine  old  mahogany  writing-table  occupied  the 
centre  of  the  room,  a  large  sofa  and  two  small  tables,  with 
covers  embroidered  by  the  Empress  herself,  being  near  it.  Her 
favourite  armchair  was  on  the  left  of  the  fireplace  beside  a  low 
round  table  for  writing  materials,  so  that  while  seated  in  the 
chair  she  could  take  pen,  paper,  and  blotting-pad,  place  the 
latter  on  her  knees,  and  write  by  the  fireside  :  this  being  a  habit 
with  her.  Between  the  two  windows  stood  a  cabinet  contain- 
ing curios  of  various  kinds,  including  the  eagle's  quill  with 
which  the  Peace  of  Paris  was  signed  after  the  Crimean  War, 
and  the  damaged  hat  which  Napoleon  HI.  wore  on  the  night 
of  Orsini's  attempt  outside  the  Opera-house.  Then,  before  one 
of  the  windows  was  a  table  covered  with  materials  for  water- 
colour  painting,  while  in  one  corner  you  saw  a  fine  old  mahogany 
grandfather  clock,  and  in  others  some  short  columns  surmounted 
by  bronze  female  figures  holding  candelabra.  From  the  mantel- 
piece another  fine  female  figure,  in  white  marble,  and  with  a  star 
on  the  brow,  seemed  to  be  soaring  aloft  attended  by  a  cupid  who 
raised  a  burning  torch,  while  on  either  side  of  this  charming  piece 
of  statuary  some  superb  bronze  vases  from  the  Chinese  Summer 
Palace  threw  up  long  curving  leaves  of  a  dusky  golden  hue. 

Against  the  wall  facing  the  windows  was  Cabanel's  life-size 
portrait  of  Napoleon  HI.  in  a  black  Court  costume,  dress  coat, 
breeches  and  stockings,  and  with  the  star  of  the  Legion  of 
Honour  on  his  breast.  It  showed  the  Emperor  in  his  mature 
prime,  with  his  abundant  and  somewhat  wavy  dark  chestnut 
hair,  his  deep  expressionless  eyes,  colourless  cheeks,  moustache 
of  a  medium  brown  and  imperial  of  somewhat  lighter  hue. 
This  was  one  of  the  best  portraits  of  Napoleon  ever  painted, 
and  Cabanel  was  to  have  executed  one  of  the  Empress  also,  but 
the  commission  was  repeatedly  postponed,  and  after  the  Revolu- 
tion abandoned.  By  way,  however,  of  adding  to  the  beauties 
who  smiled  down  from  above  the  doors,  the  Empress's  work- 
room was  further  adorned  with  portraits  of  Princesses  Mathilde 
and  Clotilde  and  the  Duchess  d'Albe.  A  study  of  Italian 
women  by  Hebert  and  one  of  Ruth  by  Cabanel  hung  on  either 

M 


162  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

side  of  a  kind  of  arch,  between  whose  curtains  of  violet  and 
gold  you  passed  into  a  spacious  annexe  to  the  Cabinet  de  Travail. 
Here  you  found  a  number  of  low  bookcases  full  of  French, 
English,  Spanish,  and  Italian  classics,  and  surmounted  by 
statuettes,  vases,  busts,  and  curios,  while  several  small  paintings 
by  Wouvermans  and  others  hung  from  the  walls,  and  photo- 
graphs and  miniatures  were  scattered  over  the  tables. 

On  the  right  of  this  second  room  there  was  a  kind  of 
windowless  closet,  where  a  hanging  lamp  was  always  kept 
alight.  Beyond  this  little  chamber  came  the  private  stairs,  by 
which  communication  was  established  between  the  Emperor's 
sanctum  and  the  Empress's.  In  the  walls  all  round  the  closet 
were  nests  of  drawers  filled  with  the  private  correspondence  of 
the  Imperial  family.  In  1870  the  Empress,  with  curious  fore- 
sight and  prudence,  had  this  large  collection  of  private  papers 
removed  from  the  Tuileries,  in  such  wise  that  it  escaped  seizure 
at  the  hands  of  the  officials  of  the  new  Republic,  who  were 
therefore  only  able  to  examine  and  publish  a  comparatively 
limited  number  of  documents  which  for  one  or  another  reason 
had  not  passed  into  the  Empress's  custody.  Curiously  enough, 
among  the  letters  made  public  at  that  time  Avas  one  from  the 
director  of  the  State  Archives,  asking  that  old  papers  of  the 
Imperial  Cabinet  might  be  transmitted  to  him  from  time  to 
time  for  safe  keeping.  He  little  knew  that  the  Empress  was 
gathering  together  all  she  could,  and  that  she,  her  reader  and 
some  of  her  other  ladies  spent  no  little  of  their  time  in  classi- 
fying the  papers  thus  obtained.  It  follows  that,  so  far  as  the 
Second  Empire  is  concerned,  there  are  many  lacunm  in  the 
National  Archives  of  France.  By  that  we  do  not  mean  to 
suggest  that  official  state  documents  are  in  the  Empress's 
possession,  biit  she  certainly  holds  a  large  number  of  private 
papers  which  would  cast  light  on  official  ones.  Some  years  ago 
it  was  more  than  once  hinted  that  she  had  it  in  her  power  to 
print  some  very  damaging  revelations  respecting  many  of  those 
who,  when  the  Empire  had  fallen,  were  among  the  loudest  in 
denouncing  it.  She  has  preferred,  however,  to  cast  a  veil  over 
the  past,  and  even  if  the  historical  student  should  ever  be 
privileged  to  consult  her  collections,  it  is  probable  that  this 
will  only  come  to  pass  after  an  interval  of  many  years. 


THE  EMPRESS ;  SOME  FEATURES  OF  HER  LIFE    163 

Beyond  the  Empress's  workroom  there  was  another  salon, 
briofht  and  spacious,  which,  during  her  earlier  years  at  the 
Tuileries,  served  as  her  Cabinet  de  Toilette.  Adjoining  it  was 
a  little  oratory,  where  she  heard  mass  from  time  to  time  and 
where  Abbe  Deguerry  of  the  Madeleine  prepared  the  Imperial 
Prince  for  his  First  Communion.  Near  at  hand,  the  Empress's 
spacious  bedroom  retained  an  old-world  aspect,  Avith  its  gilded 
mouldings,  its  heavy  sumptuous  hangings,  its  pompous  allegorical 
paintings,  and  its  great  bedstead  standing  on  a  platform. 
Here  the  Empress  kept  the  Golden  Rose  sent  to  her  by 
Pius  IX.  in  1855,  as  well  as  a  golden  spray  of  flowers,  the 
Pontiflf's  gift  to  his  godson,  the  Imperial  Prince ;  Avhile  at  the 
head  of  the  bed  hung  a  branch  of  "  palm  "  which  had  received 
the  papal  blessing.  Every  year,  when  Palm  Sunday  came  round, 
the  Empress  received  such  a  branch  from  Rome. 

The  Cabinet  de  Toilette  was  chiefly  remarkable  for  the 
number  of  mirrors  it  contained.  The  basins,  ewers,  dishes, 
and  trays  were  mostly  of  porcelain.  The  bath  was  not  of 
silver,  like  Mme.  Dubarry's,  nor  did  the  Empress  imitate  that 
belle  impure  by  using  milk  for  her  ablutions.  There  was  just 
one  toilet-table  set  of  silver-gilt,  which  had  belonged  to  Queen 
Hortense.  Everything  else  was  very  simple  but  appropriate — 
all  the  requirements  of  a  woman  careful  of  her  beauty  being 
provided  for.  As  for  the  Empress's  wardrobe,  this  was  kept  in 
a  suite  of  rooms  overhead,  with  which  a  small  lift  communi- 
cated, whatever  articles  she  might  require  being  sent  down  to 
the  Cabinet  de  Toilette  by  that  means. 

Count  d'Herisson  has  told  some  lively  tales  of  the  immense 
number  of  gowns  which  he  found  in  the  Empress's  wardrobe 
rooms  after  the  Revolution  of  1870,  but  his  assertions  must  be 
taken  with  many  grains  of  salt.  His  idea  that  those  gowns 
represented  an  outlay  of  several  millions  of  francs  was  absolutely 
preposterous.  The  Empress's  private  allowance  was  ,£'48,000  a 
year,  and  so  much  of  that  amount  was  expended  by  her  in 
charity  that  she  could  never  have  afforded  to  accumulate  such 
a  wardrobe  as  M.  d'Herisson  imagined  he  beheld.  There  was, 
moreover,  a  rigid  system  of  control.  Every  article  purchased 
for  the  wardrobe  received  a  number  on  its  arrival  at  the 
Tuileries,  and  an   entry  of  it  was   made   in  one   or  another 


164  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

register,  according  to  its  nature.  Regularly  every  three  months 
the  registers  were  inspected,  and  the  wardrobe  itself  was  passed 
in  review.  AVhenever  anything  had  quite  gone  out  of  fashion, 
or  appeared  to  be  really  superfluous,  it  was  disposed  of,  and 
careful  accounts  were  kept  of  all  those  outgoings.  It  is  true 
that  the  Empress  was  very  generous  with  her  maids,  among 
whom  she  distributed  twice  a  year  a  large  number  of  gowns, 
bonnets,  and  other  articles.  Pepa  Narro,  her  head-maid  and 
private  treasurer,*  throve  on  many  pickings  and  perquisites. 
She  was  said  to  be  the  daughter  of  a  Spanish  general,  that  is, 
of  one  of  those  adventurers  who  rose  to  some  military  position 
during  the  civil  wars  in  Spain.  Dark  and  lean,  in  some  respects 
very  devoted  to  her  mistress,  but  always  keeping  the  main  chance 
before  her  eyes,  and  often  treating  her  subordinates  with  a 
severity  which  became  tyrannical,  Pepa  contrived  to  marry  an 
infantry  colonel  named  Pollet,  who,  if  we  remember  rightly,  was 
killed  during  the  war  of  1870.  She  followed  the  Empress  to 
England,  but  the  climate  there  did  not  suit  her,  and  she  found 
too  that  the  old  days  of  secret  commissions  and  other  pickings 
were  quite  past ;  so  she  returned  to  her  native  Spain  with  the 
handsome  fortune  which  she  had  accumulated,  and  which  went 
on  her  death  to  some  very  distant  relations. 

There  were  several  maids  under  Mme.  Pollet  at  the  Tuileries, 
including  the  daughters  of  the  Emperor's  former  gaoler  at  Ham ; 
and  the  Empress's  private  service  also  included  a  resident  dress- 
maker and  assistants  who  made  many  of  her  less  elaborate 
gowns.  She  was  partial  to  black  velvet,  white  satin,  and 
various  shades  of  blue.  The  story  that  she  invented  the 
crinoline  is  one  of  those  preposterous  but  deep-rooted  legends 
against  which  it  is  only  possible  to  enter  a  protest  without  any 
hope  of  destroying  it.  We  will  just  mention,  however,  that 
crinoline  was  originally  the  name  of  a  hair  cloth  or  stiifening 
material,  largely  employed  by  costumiers  in  the  time  of  Louis 
Philippe,  Avho  used  it  notably  in  connexion  with  the  leg  o'' 
mutton  and  balloon  sleeves,  to  which  our  grandmothers  were 

*  At  first  the  post  of  head  femme-de-cliamhre  was  held  by  the  young  and 
pretty  Mme.  Dupuis,  wife  of  the  first  maitre  d'hdtel,  but  she  had  not  the 
orderly,  regular  habits  needed  for  the  post,  and  had,  therefore,  to  retire  : 
whereupon  Pepa,  previously  second,  was  promoted  to  be  first  maid. 


THE  EMPRESS  :  SOME  FEATURES  OF  HER  LIFE    165 

at  one  and  another  moment  partial.  When,  about  the  time  of 
the  re-establishment  of  the  Empire,  the  distended  skirt  began 
to  come  into  fashion  once  more,  this  same  material,  crinoline, 
was  again  used  for  stiffening  purposes.  Those  ladies,  however, 
who  emerged  from  an  assembly  with  their  gowns  crumpled, 
found  that  crinoline,  when  once  "  broken,"  no  longer  distended 
their  skirts  properly.  It  was  then  that  a  Faubourg  St.  Antoine 
manufacturer,  remembering  the  old  hoops,  and  thinking  of 
the  cost  and  comparative  scarcity  of  whalebone,  conceived  the 
idea  of  a  light,  cage-like,  metal  structure,  which  he  christened 
crinoline  after  the  virtually  discarded  material  that  we  have 
mentioned.  For  the  first  year  or  so  the  new  invention  met 
with  little  favour,  but  in  1855  it  occurred  to  the  Empress  that 
the  circumstance  of  her  being  enceinte  would  be  less  apparent 
if  she  wore  one  of  the  new  crinolines.  This  she  did,  and  she 
thereby  certainly  gave  an  immense  impetus  to  the  fashion 
which,  once  it  was  in  vogue,  could  not  be  got  rid  of  for  many 
years.  Drapers  and  mercers,  let  us  add,  found  it  much  to  their 
interest  to  keep  the  crinoline  going.  The  larger  it  became,  the 
greater  was  the  amount  of  material  needed  for  a  skirt ;  and  as 
ladies  of  fashion  could  not  afford,  for  reputation''s  sake,  to  have 
fewer  gowns  than  usual  in  a  season,  their  expenditure  on  frocks 
became  enormous.  Even  when  some  of  the  leading  costumiers 
headed  a  reaction  they  were  unable  to  kill  the  monstrosity  out- 
right. It  survived  in  a  mitigated  form  even  under  the  rohe- 
tunique,  and  threatened  a  retoiir  offerisif  with  the  robe  a  panzers 
of  the  last  years  of  the  Empire. 

At  various  times  the  Empress  herself  has  made  statements 
respecting  the  average  cost  of  her  gowns.  It  may  be  taken,  we 
think,  that  £50  is  about  the  correct  figure,  some  gowns  having 
cost  a  great  deal  less  than  that  amount  and  others  a  great  deal 
more.  The  Empress''s  morning  attire  was  always  remarkably 
simple.  We  have  seen  her  wearing  plain  stuff  gowns  made  for 
her  by  her  private  dressmaker  in  the  palace  at  a  cost  of  less 
than  £5.  But  when  she  was  receiving  visitors,  or  when  she 
appeared  in  public  she  was  dressed  as  became  her  rank. 
Assuming  that  she  had  forty  new  gowns  every  year  (the 
highest  possible  estimate  according  to  our  recollection  of  her 
habits),   at  the  average  cost  which  has  been  already  stated, 


166         THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

we  should  reach  a  total  of  ^2000.  To  that  amount  should 
be  added,  however,  the  outlay  on  bonnets,  mantles,  shawls, 
gloves,  shoes,  underwear,  parasols,  etc.  Good  lace,  once  pur- 
chased, served  over  and  over  again.  In  shoes  the  Empress  was 
perhaps  extravagant,  wearing  them  very  few  times,  and  then 
sending  them  to  the  orphan  girls  of  the  asylum  under  her  con- 
trol. Nevertheless,  making  all  allowances,  we  do  not  think  that 
the  greatest  lady  of  fashion  in  Europe  spent  altogether  more 
than  d£'5000  upon  her  toilette  in  any  one  year ;  and  we  believe 
that  there  were  years  when  her  expenditure  was  considerably 
less.  Let  us  say,  then,  that  from  first  to  last,  throughout  the 
reign,  she  spent  from  eighty  to  ninety  thousand  pounds  on 
articles  of  apparel.  In  that  case  it  follows  that  when  Count 
d'Herisson  discovered  at  the  Tuileries  frocks  and  frills  repre- 
senting a  quarter  of  a  million  sterling,  he  must  have  been  the 
victim  of  some  optical  delusion.  He  can  have  understood 
neither  what  he  saw  nor  what  he  was  writing  about. 

Madame  Pollet,  the  Empress's  head-maid,  had  charge  of 
such  of  her  mistress's  private  jewellery  as  was  more  or  less  in 
daily  use,  the  rest,  like  the  crown  jewels,  being,  as  previously 
stated,  in  the  custody  of  M.  Charles  Thelin.  A  large  number 
of  the  crown  jewels  were  reset  in  accordance  with  modern  taste 
soon  after  the  establishment  of  the  Empire.  Although  there 
was  never  any  coronation  ceremony,  crowns  were  made  for  both 
the  Emperor  and  Empress,  but  the  latter  preferred  to  wear  a 
diadem  even  on  the  greatest  State  occasions.  Apart  from  the 
Regent  diamond,  the  crown  jewels  which  she  wore  or  used  the 
more  frequently,  were  a  comb,  a  herthe,  some  brooches,  a  belt, 
a  bouguet-de-corsage,  and  a  fan.  The  belt,  composed  almost 
entirely  of  diamonds,  and  popularly  styled  "  the  girdle  of 
Venus,"  was  made  in  1864,  and  fetched  only  =£6600  at  the 
sale  of  the  crown  jewels  in  1887.  But  then  the  stones,  2414 
in  number,  were  very  small  and  not  all  of  the  first  water. 
Far  finer  was  the  large  diamond  comb,  composed  of  208  brilliants 
weighing  438  carats,  and  the  price  it  realised  in  1887 — nearly 
£26,000 — was  by  no  means  excessive.  The  diamond  shoulder- 
clasps,  which  supported  the  Empress's  train  or  manteau  de  cour 
were  also  remarkably  fine,  being  formed  of  over  130  brilliants 
weighing  282  carats.     The  herthe  with  its  diamonds,  rubies, 


THE  EMPRESS :  SOME  FEATURES  OF  HER  LIFE    16T 

sapphires,  and  emeralds,  formed  a  very  charming  jewel,  and 
the  aiguillettes  in  the  Marie-Antoinette  style  were  also  effective. 
Further,  there  was  a  beautiful  chain  of  over  800  diamonds, 
which,  on  being  sold,  fetched  £li^4tO ;  while  c£*4800  were  given 
for  the  principal  brooch,  a  lovely  jewel  of  more  than  300 
stones.  It  was  the  Grecian  diadem  which  the  Empress  wore 
the  more  frequently.  Over  600  brilliants  were  set  in  it,  yet 
it  sold  for  no  more  than  ^^5260  ;  while  only  ^^7200  were 
given  for  the  Russian  diadem  with  its  1200  brilliants  and  its 
440  roses.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however  large  may  have  been 
the  total  amount  of  money  realized  by  the  sale  of  the  French 
crown  jewels,  many  lots  were  disposed  of  for  much  less  than 
they  would  fetch  nowadays  when  the  magnates  at  the  head  of 
the  diamond  trade  neglect  no  occasion  to  prevent  what  they 
regard  as  an  undue  fall  in  prices. 

The  Empress's  mornings  were  largely   given  to  charitable 
work.     In  addition  to  the  Eugene-Napoleon  asylum  for  orphan 
girls,   founded  with  the  money  which  the  city  of  Paris  had 
off'ered  to  expend  on  jewellery  at  the  time  of  her  marriage,  and 
afterwards  maintained  chiefly  by  her  own  resources,  there  were 
many  other  institutions  in  which  she  took  a  close  interest.    She 
gave  the  chateau  of  Longchene  to  the  city  of  Lyons  to  serve  as 
a  convalescent  home,  she  extended  patronage  and  considerable 
pecuniary  help   to  such  institutions  as   the  Loan    to  Labour 
Society  (which  provided  artisans  with  tools  and  raw  materials), 
the  Seamen's  Orphanage,  the  Lifeboat  Society,  the  Funds  for 
assisting  both  old  seamen  and  the  families  of  soldiers  killed  in 
warfare  (Crimea,  Italy,  etc.)  ;  and  in  addition  to  the  particular 
solicitude  which  she  evinced  in  the  Children's  Hospital  in  the 
Faubourg  St.  Antoine,  she  became  chief  patroness  of  all  homes 
and  asylums  for  the  young  in  France.     It  is  well  known,  too, 
that  she  constantly  visited  the  poorer  districts  of  Paris,  doing 
good  by  stealth,  leaving  money  and  provisions  in  humble  homes 
which  never  learnt  the  name  of  their  benefactress.    Many  a  time 
did  her  little  dark  one-horse  brougham,  with  its  coachman  in 
the  plainest  of  liveries,  wait  for  her  at  the  corner  of  some  street 
in  such  revolutionary  districts  as  Montmartre,  Menilmontant, 
and  Belleville,  while  with  a  single  lady  companion,  preferably 
Canoness   de  Rayneval    or   Mile.  Bouvet,  she  climbed  in  her 


168         THE  COURT  01^  THE  TUILERIES 

plain  dark  garb  to  some  fifth-floor  garret  to  relieve  distress. 
In  the  afternoon  all  would  be  altered  :  in  silk  and  satin  and 
velvet  she  would  seat  herself  in  her  open  carriage  drawn  a  la 
d'Aumont  hy  four  horses,  with  postilions,  to  drive  up  the 
Champs  Elysees,  and  thence  round  the  lake  in  the  Bois  de 
Boulogne.     Occasionally  she  herself  drove  a  pair-horse  chaise.* 

No  doubt  her  visits  to  the  victims  of  the  cholera  in  Paris  and 
at  Amiens  in  1865  and  1866  were  magnified  beyond  measure 
by  official  newspapers  and  courtiers,  but  they  were  kindly  actions, 
not  devoid  of  risk,  and  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  Empress 
always  showed  herself  a  good-hearted  woman.  The  assertion 
that  she  proved  a  very  indifferent  mother  was  simply  one  of 
the  foolish  slanders  of  the  time.  She  exercised  no  little  super- 
vision over  the  rearing  of  the  Imperial  Prince,  devoting  several 
hours  a  day  to  the  boy  or  his  requirements  and  interests. 
But  neither  she  nor  the  Emperor  would  let  him  be  coddled ; 
and  it  was  because  their  English  notions  in  that  respect  con- 
flicted with  the  absurd  views  then  entertained  by  so  many 
French  mothers,  prone  to  excessive  petting  and  fondling,  that 
the  legend  of  the  Empress's  indifference  to  her  child  found 
credence.  At  Compiegne,  when  the  Prince  was  a  little  chap  of 
two  years  old  or  so,  the  ladies  en  visite  to  the  Court  were 
horrified  to  find  that,  if  he  happened  to  fall  down  while  he 
was  running  about,  he  was  left  to  pick  himself  up  without 
assistance,  and  that  if  he  cried  without  rhyme  or  reason,  he 
was  scolded  for  doing  so.  All  that  was  quite  foreign  to  their 
ideas,  and  from  the  idiotic  tittle-tattle  which  ensued  came  the 
libellous  aspersions  on  the  Empress  as  a  mother.  She  took  a 
large  part  in  nursing  the  little  Prince  during  the  ailments  of 
his  childhood,  notably  when  he  was  laid  up  by  a  severe  attack 
of  measles,  which  he  caught  from  a  little  girl  who  was  intro- 
duced to  him  at  a  children's  party  at  the  Tuileries. 

It  was  usually  in  the  afternoon  before  driving  out  that 
the  Empress  granted  audiences  in  the  rooms  we  have  already 
described.  On  her  return  home  she  attended  to  such  corre- 
spondence as  might  have  been  left  over  since  the  morning,  or 

*  The  Emperor  was  partial  to  phaetons.  We  saw  him  more  than  once 
driving  about  Paris  incognito  in  a  vehicle  of  that  description,  with  the  Prince 
cf  Wales  (now  Edward  VII.)  as  his  companion.    See  ipost,  p,  305. 


THE  EMPRESS  :  SOME  FEATURES  OF  HER  UFE    169 

spent  an  hour  or  two  reading  either  some  book  of  the  time  or 
the  day's  newspapers.  It  is  said  that  Fustel  de  Coulanges 
prepared  for  her  a  course  of  study  in  French  history.  AVe 
ourselves  should  hardly  have  selected  the  author  of  "  La  Cite 
Antique,"  for  such  a  duty,  for  in  spite  of  all  his  erudition  he 
was  scarcely  the  man  to  convey  to  one  occupying  the  Empress's 
station  the  true  significance  of  the  history  of  the  country  which 
she  helped  to  rule.  Merimee,  however,  was,  to  all  appearance, 
her  chief  literary  mentor.  He  had  known  her  ever  since  her 
childhood,  and  although  there  is  considerable  exaggeration  in 
his  own  accounts  of  their  intercourse,  he  certainly  exercised 
great  influence  at  Court  when  questions  of  literary-  taste,  the 
choice  and  the  criticism  of  books,  arose.  The  Emperor  did 
not  like  Merimee,  and  the  Empress  on  her  side  did  not  like 
Sainte-Beuve,  to  whom  her  husband  was  rather  partial.  As  it 
happened,  both  Sainte-Beuve  and  Merimee  were  cynics,  but 
Mdrim^e's  cynicism  was  lighter  and  less  offensive  to  a  devout 
mind  than  his  colleague's.  He  was  also  a  courtier,  which 
Sainte-Beuve  \vas  not,  and  an  adept  in  frivolity  and  trifling. 
Thus  he  not  only  made  himself  acceptable,  but  even  requisite 
Avhenever  the  Court  wished  to  cast  care  to  the  winds  and  look 
only  on  the  lighter  and  brighter  side  of  life. 

However,  Merimee  added  nothing  to  his  reputation,  or 
to  French  literature,  by  the  verses,  the  charades,  and  the 
"proverbs"  which  he  penned  for  the  passing  amusement  of 
the  imperial  set.  The  manuscript  of  a  tale  of  his,  called  "  La 
Chambre  Bleue,"  was  found  in  the  Empress's  private  rooms 
after  the  Revolution  of  1870.  It  subsequently  perished  in 
the  conflagration  of  the  palace ;  but  abstracts  of  it  had  then 
been  drafted,  and  from  these  it  seems  to  have  been  a  story 
of  the  Vie  Parisieime,  or  Gil  Bias  *  type,  an  account  of  a 
vulgar,  chance,  sexual  intrigue  in  the  "blue  room"  of  a 
country  inn.  We  do  not  say  that  Merimee  supplied  only 
literature  of  that  description  to  the  Empress,  but  the  circum- 
stance that  he  should  have  presumed  to  tender  her  "La 
Chambre  Bleue,"  shows  that  she  was  not  in  the  best  hands 
with  respect  to  literary  matters.  Perhaps  such  a  proceeding 
as  M^rimee's  would  have  been  resented  by  her  had  the  culprit 
*  The  newspaper,  of  course — not  the  masterpiece  of  Le  Sage. 


170  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

been  another ;  but  by  reason  of  their  thirty  or  thirty-five  years' 
intercourse,  it  was  impossible  for  her  to  quarrel  with  the 
author  of  "Carmen,""  as  he  well  knew.  And  thus  he  often 
presumed  farther  than  was  seemly. 

After  dinner  at  the  Tuileries,  when  no  entertainment  there 
or  elsewhere  figured  in  the  Court's  programme,  the  Empress 
usually  spent  the  evening  in  conversation  with  the  ladies  and 
officers  on  duty.  From  time  to  time,  as  we  mentioned  in  our 
previous  chapter,  the  Emperor  popped  like  some  "  Jack-in-the- 
box  ■"  up  the  private  stairs,  in  quest  of  a  cup  of  tea  or  other 
refreshment.  However  innocent  the  conversation  might  be,  it 
then  abruptly  ceased ;  but  directly  Napoleon  had  returned  to 
his  work  downstairs,  the  Empress  started  a  fresh  subject,  and 
kept  the  talk  going  until  a  somewhat  late  hour.  At  times, 
indeed,  being  a  poor  sleeper  herself,  she  overlooked  the 
sleepiness  of  others,  who  were  unable  to  withdraw  for  the  night 
until  she  gave  the  signal. 

She  frequently  travelled  about  France,  accompanying  the 
Emperor  on  most  of  his  visits  to  provincial  centres.  One  year, 
too,  she  went  with  him  to  Algeria.  At  another  time  she 
visited  Corsica  with  the  Imperial  Prince,  while  on  a  third 
occasion  she  represented  France  at  the  inauguration  of  the 
Suez  Canal,  her  stay  in  Egypt  being  preceded  by  visits  to  Venice, 
Athens,  and  Constantinople.  She  was  then  accompanied  by 
her  nieces,  the  daughters  of  the  Duchess  d'Albe.  They  often 
resided  at  the  Tuileries  after  their  mother's  death. 

The  Empress  acted  as  Regent  of  France  on  three  occasions 
— in  1859,  during  the  Solferino-Magenta  campaign ;  in  the 
summer  of  1865,  when  the  Emperor  was  in  Algeria  ;  and  again 
in  1870,  from  his  departure  to  join  the  army  of  the  Rhine  until 
the  fall  of  the  Empire.  With  a  romantic  attachment  for  the 
memory  of  Marie- Antoinette  she  was  minded,  in  more  than  one 
circumstance,  to  take  that  indiscreet  and  ill-fated  Queen  as  her 
model.  So  long  as  she  remained  content  v/ith  studying  Marie- 
Antoinette's  correspondence  in  the  company  of  M.  Feuillet  de 
Conches,  weeping  over  her  farewell  billet  to  Madame  Elizabeth 
by  the  side  of  Viel  Castel,  at  the  Musee  des  Souverains,  or 
turning  the  historic  cell  at  the  Conciergerie  into  a  chapel,  no 
harm  was  done,  but  when,  in  imitation  of  Marie-Antoinette,  she 


THE  EMPRESS :  SOME  FEATURES  OP  HER  LIFE    171 

initiated  both  a  foreign  and  a  home  policy  of  her  own  at 
variance  with  the  poHcy  favoured  by  her  husband  and  his 
official  advisers,  she  did  the  greatest  harm,  if  not  to  France 
itself,  at  least  to  the  regime  which  had  given  her  a  crown. 
There  are  some  things  which  must  be  said.  AVhatever  might 
be  the  Empress  Eugenie's  personal  attractions  and  natural 
goodness  of  heart,  whatever  Scotch  blood,  too,  might  flow  in 
her  veins,  she  was  in  matters  of  faith  and  reverence  for  Rome  a 
Spanish  zealot  of  the  most  uncompromising  type.  It  was 
because  Pope  Pius  IX.  and  Cardinal  Antonelli  knew  that  they 
could  rely  upon  her  influence  at  the  Tuileries  that  they  acted  so 
stubbornly,  perversely,  and  foolishly  in  the  various  crises  in 
Italian  affairs  Avhich  occurred  during  the  fifties  and  the  sixties. 
The  Empress  could  not  prevent  the  war  of  1859,*  which,  in 
spite  of  its  lame  conclusion,  did  so  much  to  accelerate  the  union 
of  Italy ;  but  we  believe  that  her  influence  was  one  of  the  two 
factors  which  brought  about  the  hastily  concluded  peace  of 
Villafranca,  the  other  being  the  fear  of  Prussian  intervention  in 
Austria's  favour.  As  for  the  legend  that  Napoleon  III.  made 
peace  because  he  had  been  horrified  by  the  sight  of  the  slaughter 
in  the  engagements  he  had  witnessed,  one  may  dismiss  it  as  a 
fairy  tale  fit  only  for  children. 

In  her  husband's  absence  from  France  at  that  period,  the 
Empress,  as  Regent,  neglected  no  opportunity  to  further  clerical 
interests.  The  publication  of  Edmond  About's  work,  "  La 
Question  Romaine,*'  and  the  controversy  it  provoked  filled  her 
with  alarm,  and  it  was  at  her  instigation  that  the  Ministers 
seized  the  pamphlet  and  prosecuted  its  author.  She  had  not 
even  taken  the  trouble  to  read  it,  as  is  shown  by  the  minutes  of 
the  Regency  Council  at  which  the  prosecution  Avas  decided,  but 
"  the  scandal  it  created  "  was  enough  for  her.  In  the  following- 
year  her  position  as  Papal  champion  in  France  became  more 
and  more  difficult.     Napoleo'n  having  decided  on  a  policy  of 

*  It  has  been  asserted  that  she  did  not  take  any  large  part  in  politics  until 
about  1865 ;  but  it  is  certain  that  she  privately  exerted  her  influence,  par- 
ticularly in  religious  questions,  from  the  time  of  her  marriage  onward.  As 
the  years  elapsed,  various  circumstances  tended  to  make  her  more  and  more 
of  a  politician.  Her  taste  of  authority  during  her  first  regency,  coupled  with 
the  worries  of  her  life  when  her  husband  was  attracted  by  other  women,  had 
a  fatal  influence  on  her  after-career. 


172  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

neutrality  in  Italian  affairs — and  he  could  hardly  have  adopted 
any  other  after  the  cession  of  Savoy  and  Nice — set  out  with  the 
Empress  to  visit  the  newly  acquired  territories,  and  then  crossed 
the  Mediterranean  to  Algeria.  It  was  the  great  time  of 
Garibaldi  and  the  war  of  the  Two  Sicilies.  Italy  was  liberating 
and  redeeming  herself,  and  English  public  opinion  was  thoroughly 
on  her  side.  Such  protests  as  emanated  from  the  Court  of  the 
Tuileries,  with  respect,  for  instance,  to  the  Piedmontese  occupa- 
tion of  the  Roman  Legations,  were  more  matters  of  form  than 
anything  else,  for  it  was  understood  that  Victor  Emmanuel 
would  not  enter  Rome  itself;  and  the  imperial  tour  was  the 
best  proof  that  Napoleon  did  not  meditate  active  intervention. 
But  at  Algiers  news  was  received  of  the  alarming  illness  of  the 
Empress's  sister,  and  an  immediate  return  to  France  ensued. 
On  arriving  at  St.  Cloud  the  Empress  learnt  that  she  was  too 
late,  that  the  Duchess  d'Albe  was  dead. 

Her  grief  was  undoubtedly  very  sincere  and  deep  ;  her  sister 
had  been  her  confidante  in  many  respects,  notably  with  regard 
to  incidents  which,  every  now  and  again,  clouded  her  married 
life.  But  whatever  her  sorrow  might  be,  the  political  situation 
was  such  that  she  could  not  neglect  it.  We  do  not  know  what 
share  she  may  have  had  in  the  numerous  successive  proposals 
which  Napoleon  HI.  made  about  that  time  to  Pius  IX.  with 
the  view  of  adjusting  the  position  of  the  Papacy  in  the  midst 
of  united  Italy.  We  are  only  aware  that  the  Pope  issued  a 
document  rejecting  every  suggestion,  whether  it  were  made  by 
Napoleon  or  by  Cavour,  and  that  by  his  own  obstinacy  he  was 
reduced  to  a  minimum  of  precarious  territorial  sovereignty.  He 
seems  to  have  imagined  until  the  very  last  that  France  would 
intervene  actively  to  restore  to  him  the  full  extent  of  the  States 
of  the  Church ;  and  it  appears  certain  that  his  hopes  were 
centred  in  the  Empress  Eugenie.  For  the  moment,  however, 
France  did  little  beyond  ensuring  to  the  Papacy  the  possession 
of  the  city  of  Rome,  and,  although  her  fleet  long  rode  at  anchor 
in  the  Bay  of  Gaeta,  she  likewise  left  Francis  of  Naples  to  his 
fate.  As  regards  the  Neapolitan  question,  whatever  may  have 
been  the  views  of  the  Empress  Eugenie,  Napoleon  III.  was  too 
good  a  Bonapartist  to  bolster  up  any  Bourbon  Prince ;  and, 
besides,  his  fleet  could  hardly  have  intervened  with  impunity,  so 


THE  EMPRESS  :  SOME  FEATURES  OF  HER  LIFE     173 

strong  had  the  torrent  of  British  opinion  in  favour  of  united 
Italy  now  become,  although,  only  the  previous  year,  the  partial 
liberation  of  the  northern  provinces  by  the  Solferino-Magenta 
campaign  had  been  viewed  by  English  statesmen  with  grave 
distrust. 

The  time  was  a  trying  one  for  the  Empress  Eugenie,  her 
influence  was  defeated  on  all  sides,  and  her  very  presence  in 
France  at  such  a  moment  became  inconvenient,  both  for  herself 
and  for  others.  Home  affairs,  moreover,  were  about  to  enter 
on  a  new  phase.  The  thrones  of  Europe  which  had  been 
severely  shaken  by  the  French  Revolution  of  1848,  felt  that 
they  were,  in  like  way,  if  in  a  somewhat  less  marked  degree, 
menaced  by  the  Italian  outburst  of  1860.  The  cry  of 
*'  Freedom  !  "  is  contagious,  as  rulers  well  know.  Thus,  in  the 
autumn  of  I860,  there  were  signs  in  various  continental 
countries  of  concessions  to  popular  feeling  and  opinion,  and 
Napoleon  III.  himself  realized  that  he  must,  at  least,  make 
some  show  of  granting  to  his  subjects  a  larger  measure  of 
participation  in  the  government  of  the  country  than  he  had 
hitherto  allowed  them.  While  he  did  not  desire  to  meet  with 
the  fate  of  Francis  of  Naples,  he  was  in  no  hurry  to  give 
complete  liberty  to  the  French  ;  he  was  influenced  rather  by  the 
thought  that  small  concessions  might,  if  well-timed,  suffice  to 
prevent  any  outburst  in  France.  In  that  respect,  however,  he 
again  found  the  Empresses  entourage  on  the  other  side. 

Even  many  conservative  Imperialists  who  were  not  tinged 
with  clericalism  then  looked  to  her  as  to  their  leader  and 
representative.  It  was  supposed,  rightly  or  wrongly,  that  she 
would  regard  any  liberal  constitutional  changes  with  distrust, 
for  fear  lest  her  son's  prospects  might  thereby  be  endangered. 
The  Emperor,  however,  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  such 
changes  must  be  made.  Again,  then,  in  this  respect,  the 
Empress's  presence  at  Court  in  the  autumn  of  1860  was  incon- 
venient. Perhaps  she  herself  was  conscious  of  it.  Perhaps,  as 
she  found  that  she  could  not  prevent  what  was  impending 
either  at  home  or  abroad,  she  was  unwilling  that  her  presence 
should  be  construed  as  connivance  or  assent.  Perhaps,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  was  the  Emperor  who  thought  it  best  that  she 
should  not  be  exposed  to  importunate  and  irrealizable  appeals 


174  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

with  regard  either  to  his  home  or  to  his  foreign  policy.  In  any 
case,  all  Court  intrigues  in  favour  of  the  Pope,  or  the  King  of 
Naples,  or  the  maintenance  of  absolutism  in  France  were  cut 
short  or  forestalled  by  a  decisive  incident. 

On  November  14,  1860,  the  Empress,  attended  by  Mmes.  de 
Montebello  and  de  Saulcy,  Colonel  Fave,  and  the  Marquis  de  La 
Grange,  quitted  Paris,  and  after  crossing  the  Channel  in  the 
ordinary  packet-boat,  arrived  in  a  common  four-Avheeler  at 
Claridge''s  Hotel  in  London.  For  some  days  the  French  official 
journals  said  no  word  on  the  subject,  but  the  Presse  published 
the  news  on  the  afternoon  of  the  14th,  while  the  Bours6  was 
still  in  full  swing,  and  an  immediate  fall  in  Rentes  and  other 
securities  was  the  result  of  the  general  amazement. 

The  Emperor's  conjugal  fidelity  being  widely  doubted, 
most  people  assumed  that  he  was  to  blame  for  the  Empress's 
sudden  and  mysterious  flitting.  Thus  all  kinds  of  stories  were 
circulated  in  Paris  during  the  next  few  days,  and  the  scandal, 
flashing  like  lightning  across  Europe,  soon  assumed  such  pro- 
portions that  the  Moniteur  could  no  longer  keep  silent.  On 
the  18th,  then,  it  printed  the  following  announcement : — "  The 
sad  blow  experienced  by  her  Majesty  the  Empress  in  her  family 
affections  [her  sister's  death]  having  rendered  a  change  of  air 
necessary  for  her  health,  her  Majesty  left  three  days  ago  to 
make,  in  the  most  private  manner,  a  few  weeks'  tour  in  England 
and  Scotland.  The  Emperor  accompanied  her  Majesty  to  the 
railway  station  on  her  departure  on  Wednesday  morning." 

The  motive  assigned  to  the  journey  by  that  announcement 
was  very  generally  discredited  by  the  Parisians,  for  the  death  of 
the  Duchess  d'Albe  had  occurred  two  months  previously ;  and 
the  English  newspapers  openly  expressed  their  amazement  that 
Scotland,  at  that  moment  enveloped  in  mist,  should  have  been 
selected  as  the  spot  for  the  Empress — born  under  the  sun  of 
Granada — to  recruit  her  health,  "  pai'ticularly,"  said  the  Times, 
"as  Nice,  with  its  fine  climate,  is  now  French  territory." 

In  those  days  the  Empress's  political  role  at  the  Tuileries 
was  not  generally  known,  and  the  reasons  why  it  might  have 
seemed  desirable  for  her  to  be  out  of  the  way  during  that 
European  crisis  were  only  recognized  by  certain  diplomatists. 
To  none  of  those  who  saw  her  during  her  tour  in  Scotland  did 


THE  EMPRESS  :  SOME  FEATURES  OF  HER  LIFE     1T5 

she  appear  to  be  at  all  ailing.  She  visited  Edinburgh,  Abbots- 
ford,  and  Melrose,  Perth,  Dunkeld,  Stirling,  Glasgow,  and  the 
Lochs,  afterwards  going  south,  staying  at  Manchester  and 
Leamington,  and  returning  to  London  on  December  2.  On  the 
4th  she  went  to  Windsor,  where  she  and  her  escort  lunched 
with  the  Queen  and  the  Prince  Consort.  Several  days  were 
afterwards  spent  in  viewing  the  sights  of  London,  and,  finally, 
on  the  night  of  December  12,  the  Empress  returned  to  France, 
being  met  by  her  husband  at  Amiens. 

During  her  absence  the  Emperor  had  effected  some  notable 
changes  by  his  famous  Decree  of  November  23,  which  was  the 
first  step  towards  the  transformation  of  the  Personal  into  the 
Liberal  Empire.  This  decree  gave  the  Legislative  Body 
the  right  both  to  discuss  and  present  addresses  in  reply  to  the 
speeches  from  the  Throne,  and  the  privilege  (under  certain 
restrictionsj  of  proposing  amendments  to  laws.  It  further 
authorized  the  publication  of  reports  of  the  legislative  pro- 
ceedings. The  concessions  were  small,  and  would  nowadays 
appear  ludicrous,  but  one  must  remember  what  the  regime  had 
been  ever  since  1851.  Moreover,  even  those  slight  concessions 
created  alarm  among  the  more  fervent  imperialists. 

At  the  Council  at  which  they  were  announced  the  various 
ministers  listened  in  amazement  to  the  remarks  which  fell  from 
Napoleon's  lips.  According  to  what  we  were  once  told  by  one 
Avho  was  then  present,  the  Emperor  declared  that  he  was  of 
opinion  that  when  a  Government  did  not  in  due  time  make 
reasonable  concessions  and  reforms,  such  as  the  country  mio-ht 
desire,  it  was  fatally  destined  to  collapse,  and  that  he  himself 
was  not  for  unreasoning  resistance  to  national  aspirations.  He 
did  not  like  the  existing  composition  of  the  Legislature.  Men 
of  parts  ought  to  be  attracted  to  it,  but  such  would  only 
serve  if  they  were  at  least  free  to  express  opinions  and  tender 
advice.  Although  M.  Berryer,  for  instance,  was  notoriously 
a  Legitimist,  it  had,  nevertheless,  been  possible  for  him  to  serve 
as  a  deputy  under  the  Orleans  monarchy,  and,  moreover,  Legiti- 
mists, Orleanists,  and  Bonapartists  had  sat  in  the  various 
Republican  Assemblies.  Thus,  within  the  limits  of  the  Consti- 
tution, there  ought  to  be  free  access  to  the  Imperial  Legislature. 
For  his  part  he  was  heartily  tired  of  a  Chamber  of  nonentities 


176  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

(and  here  he  mentioned  various  names),  and  wished  to  see 
something  very  different.  Finally,  he  read  the  decree  he  had 
prepared.  His  words  fell  like  bomb-shells  in  the  midst  of  his 
advisers,  and  Morny,  who,  as  President  of  the  Legislative  Body, 
attended  the  Council,  could  not  conceal  his  amazement.  What ! 
the  Legislature  was  to  be  empowered  to  discuss  and  present  an 
address,  and  thereby  pass  judgment  on  the  policy  of  the  Govern- 
ment !  It  was  inconceivable.  Nevertheless,  there  was  the 
decree,  and  the  Emperor  looked  resolute  enough.  Morny  tried 
to  expostulate.  He  earnestly  warned  the  Emperor  of  the 
danger  of  acting  too  hastily,  and  inquired  what  he  would  do  if, 
under  the  new  conditions,  the  Chamber  should  express,  in  its 
address  to  the  Throne,  disapproval  of  the  imperial  policy. 
*'  In  that  case,"  the  Emperor  replied,  "  I  should  dissolve  it,  and 
consult  the  country,"  "  But  what  if  the  next  Chamber  should 
also  disapprove  of  your  Majesty's  policy?"  "In  that  case," 
said  the  Emperor,  "  I  should  yield,  and  adopt  the  policy 
recommended  by  the  representatives."  The  Ministers,  Baroche, 
Billault,  and  Rouher  looked  thunderstruck,  but  felt  that  sub- 
mission was  their  only  course.  Perhaps  if  the  Empress  Eugenie 
had  been  present  they  might  have  attempted  resistance  under 
her  leadership,  but  she  was  well  out  of  the  way,  in  Scotland. 

Certain  ministerial  changes  followed,  Persigny  being  sum- 
moned from  the  London  embassy,  and  placed  once  more  at  the 
head  of  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior.  He  and  the  Empress  were 
far  from  being  on  good  terms.  He  dreaded  her  interference  in 
political  matters.  Without  questioning  her  right  to  preside  at 
the  Council  in  times  of  Regency,  he  bitterly  complained  that 
she  made  it  more  and  more  her  practice  to  attend  the  Minis- 
terial gatherings  when  the  Emperor  was  present.  A  few  years 
later,  after  his  retirement,  he  actually  submitted  the  question 
to  the  Emperor,  questioning  whether  the  Empress  had  any 
right  to  attend  the  Government  Councils.  Strictly  speaking 
she  had  not ;  and  it  is  true,  we  believe,  that  she  offered  to 
abstain  from  attending  if  the  Emperor  thought  her  presence 
undesirable.  But  he  protested  the  contrary — he  owed  his  wife 
some  compensation  for  his  neglect  in  other  respects — and  it 
thus  came  to  pass  that  during  the  latter  period  of  the  Empire, 
the  Empress  almost  invariably  took  her  seat  at  the  Ministerial 


THE  EMPRESS  :  SOME  FEATURES  OF  HER  LIFE    177 

Councils,  presided  over  them  if  the  Emperor  were  ill  or 
momentarily  absent,  participated  in  all  the  important  dis- 
cussions, and  brought  her  influence  to  bear  on  the  decisions 
arrived  at.  With  some  of  the  Ministers  she  got  on  very  well ; 
M.  Magne,  who  long  held  the  portfolio  of  Finances,  was  one  of 
her  particular  henchmen,  while  the  bumptious  Rouher,  becom- 
ing at  the  Tuileries  very  different  from  what  he  was  in  the 
Chamber,  fawningly  courted  her  favour,  she  in  return  supporting 
the  authority  which  he  used  so  often  with  disastrous  results. 
In  Emile  Ollivier  she  seems  to  have  met,  in  some  respects,  her 
match,  for  he,  with  his  oily,  wheedling  way,  almost  converted 
her  to  liberalism,  and  contrived  by  dint  of  strategy  to  hold  her 
former  reactionary  ideas  in  check. 

But,  however  large  became  the  part  which  the  Empress 
played  in  politics,  she  never  proved  herself  an  expert  politician, 
perhaps  because  she  never  really  understood  the  character  of 
the  nation  she  helped  to  govern.  She  was  not  deficient  in 
moral  courage,  she  could  come  to  a  decision  promptly,  and  give 
orders  in  accordance  with  it.  But  the  decision  was  so  often 
based  on  faulty  judgment,  narrowness  of  views,  that  its  results 
were  unfortunate.  One  day  when  she  referred  to  Marie- 
Antoinette  as  mon  type,  she  spoke  perhaps  more  truly  than  she 
knew,  for  she  had  much  the  same  defects  of  character  as  that 
ill-fated  queen. 

For  our  part  we  have  always  felt  that  the  great  misfortune 
of  the  Empress's  life  was  that,  having  been  raised  to  a 
throne,  she  was  accorded  so  considerable  a  part  of  the  throne's 
authority.  As  the  wife  of  a  mere  millionaire  grandee  she  would 
have  proved  a  supreme  leader  of  fashion  and  an  ideal  "  Lady 
Bountiful."  In  any  case  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  she  was  not 
strictly  confined  within  the  limits  of  her  position  as  Empress- 
Consort.  At  the  same  time,  if  she  emerged  from  that  position 
to  play  so  marked  a  political  role,  the  fault  was  less  hers  than 
the  Emperor's.  He,  of  course,  was  not  responsible  for  her 
incessant  championship  of  the  Pope.  That  had  been  initiated 
by  Clericals  playing  on  her  deep  religious  convictions,  but  we 
do  not  think  she  would  have  concerned  herself  so  much  with 
politics  generally  if  her  married  life  had  been  happier  than  it  was. 
Thereby  hangs  a  tale,  to  be  told  in  our  next  chapter. 

N 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE   EMPEROR   AND    HIS   LOVE    AFFAIRS 

Descendants  of  Napoleon  I.  and  Napoleon  III. — Count  Walewski's  Posterity— 
His  Son  by  Eachel,  the  Tragedienne — Catherine  de  la  Plaigne  and  Count 
L^on — Count  Leon's  Children — Napoleon  111,'s  First  Love  Affair — . 
El^onore  Brault,  Madame  Gordon — Her  Devotion  at  Strasburg — Miss 
Howard — Her  Birth  and  Name — Count  Fleury's  Account  of  her  Life  in 
London— Some  of  her  Loans  to  Napoleon — Was  he  the  Father  of  her  Son  ? 
— His  Intrigue  with  Alexandrine  Vergeot  and  his  Sons  by  her — Miss 
Howard  in  France — Her  fresh  Services  to  Napoleon — Odilon-Barrot 
and  the  Andr6-Howard  Affair — Napoleon's  remarkable  Letter  about  it 
— Miss  Howard's  Ambition — Her  Appearance  at  a  Tuileries  Reception 
— She  is  restrained  and  pacified  by  Mocquard — The  Compensation 
granted  her — A  Letter  from  her  to  Mocquard — Her  Marriage  and  her 
Last  Years — Later  Intrigues  imputed  to  the  Emperor — Viel  Castel  and 
Princess  Mathilde — Expulsion  of  a  Lady-Scandalmonger  from  the 
Tuileries — Cheap  Sweetmeats  for  Imperial  Favourites — The  Affair  of 
the  Countess  de  Castiglione — Viel  Castel's  Sketch  and  Fleury's  Estimate 
of  her — Her  Expulsion  from  the  Tuileries — Her  later  life — Marguerite 
BeUanger  and  her  Origin — Her  Imposition  on  the  Emperor — Her  Letters 
to  him  and  to  President  Devienne — Suspension  of  Devienne  from  the 
Bench — He  justifies  himself  and  is  reinstated — The  Empress's  Worries 
— Louis  XV.  and  Napoleon  III. 

It  is  often  forgotten  that  there  are  people  in  the  world  who 
are  lineally  descended  from  Napoleon  I.  and  Napoleon  III.  It 
is  true  that  their  names  do  not  appear  in  the  "  Almanach  de 
Gotha,"  and  that  they  do  not  bear  the  name  of  Bonaparte. 
Nevertheless  their  descent,  if  left-handed,  is  quite  authentic, 
and  time  brings  about  such  strange  occurrences  that,  even  as  at 
the  present  moment  (1906)  we  see  the  Jerome  branch  of  the 
Bonapartes  prominently  represented  in  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  so,  at  some  future  date,  there  may 
arise  some  President  or  Prime  Minister  of  the  French  Republic 


THE  EMPEROR  AND   HIS  LOVE  AFFAIRS     179 

in  a  position  to  say  that  the  blood  of  the  victor  of  Austerlitz, 
or  of  the  vanquished  of  Sedan,  flows  in  his  veins. 

Count  Walewski,  the  first  Napoleon's  son,  had  four  children 
by  his  two  marriages,  and  is  still  represented  by  legitimate 
posterity.  In  1844,  moreover,  after  the  death  of  his  first 
wife  (Catherine  Montagu  Sandwich),  and  before  his  marriage 
with  Anna  Alexandrina  Ricci  of  Florence,  who,  we  believe,  is 
still  alive,  he  became  the  father  of  a  son  by  Elizabeth  Rachel 
Felix — famous  as  Rachel  the  tragedienne.  This  son  he  formally 
recognized  as  his  offspring  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of 
French  law,  in  such  wise  that  the  child  became  legally  entitled 
to  the  names  of  Antoine  Jean  Colonna  Walewski.  M.  Antoine 
Jean  entered  the  French  consular  service,  rose  to  a  high  position 
in  it,  and  survived  until  1898.  Thirty  years  previously  he  had 
married  Mile.  Jeanne  Claire  Sala,  of  Paris,  by  whom  he  had  a 
son  and  a  daughter.  The  former.  Captain  Andre  Alexandre 
Maurice  Colonna  Walewski,  of  the  French  artillery,  married 
Mile,  de  Molinos  in  1901.  We  do  not  know  whether  they 
have  offspring,  but  the  Captain  himself  is  indisputably  the 
great-grandson  of  Napoleon  I. 

The  same  Emperor  also  left  a  son  by  another  mistress, 
Louise  Catherine  Denuelle  de  la  Plaigne,  who,  at  the  time  of 
the  Emperor's  intrigue  with  her,  was  married  to  a  certain  Jean 
Franpois  Revel.  He,  discovering  her  infidelity,  obtained  a 
divorce  from  her  on  April  29,  1806.  On  the  following  6th  of 
December  she  gave  birth  to  a  son  by  the  Emperor,  which  son 
received  at  his  baptism  the  Christian  names  of  Charles  Leon, 
and,  from  his  imperial  father,  the  title  of  Count,  Avith  settle- 
ments representing  ,£'3000  a  year,  and  also  a  right  to  certain 
dues  on  all  the  wood  sold  by  the  State  from  the  forests  of  the 
department  of  the  Moselle.*  In  1808  the  mother  married  a 
captain  of  Cuirassiers  named  Augier,  this  marriage  being 
arranged  by  Napoleon,  who  then  settled  on  the  bride  a  personal 
income  of  d£*800  a  year.  Captain  Augier,  however,  died  in  or 
about  1812,  and  two  years  later  his  widow  took  a  third  husband 
in  the  person  of  Karl  August,  Count  von  Luxburg,  Minister 
of  State  of  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Baden.  The  Countess  de 
Luxbourg,  as  she  was  called  in  Paris,  lived  until  1868  in  receipt 
*  Imperial  decrees  of  April  30,  May  8  and  31,  and  June  29,  1815. 


180  THE  COURT  OP  THE  TUILEllIES 

of  not  merely  the  income  of  her  settlement  but  of  frequent 
financial  help  from  Napoleon  III.,  who  also  did  a  great  deal  for 
her  son.  There  must  still  be  many  people  able  to  remember 
Count  Leon,  as  he  was  called.  His  origin  was  stamped  upon 
his  face,  he  was  physically  the  living  portrait  of  the  great 
captain.  He  ought  never  to  have  known  want,  having  been 
provided  with  such  a  handsome  income  by  Napoleon,  who 
further  entrusted  him  to  the  guardianship  of  M.  de  Mauvieres, 
with  whose  sons  he  was  educated  with  a  view  to  his  entering 
the  magistracy.  On  completing  his  twenty-first  year  Leon  came 
into  possession  of  the  fortune  which  had  been  accumulating 
during  his  minority.  Unluckily  he  had  a  bad  failing,  he  was 
a  gamester,  and  no  long  period  elapsed  before  he  had  reduced 
himself  to  beggary.  At  the  advent  of  the  Second  Empire  he 
not  unnaturally  applied  to  Napoleon  III.  for  assistance,  assert- 
ing, moreover,  a  right  to  a  sum  of  about  .£35,000,  which  he 
alleged  was  due  to  him  by  the  State  on  account  of  the  wood 
cut  in  the  Moselle  forests  in  1815.  But  in  that  respect  the  first 
Napoleon's  decrees  had  been  annulled  by  the  Bourbons.  How- 
ever, the  new  Emperor  at  first  helped  Leon  both  willingly  and 
handsomely,  and,  further,  put  him  in  the  way  of  making  money 
by  procuring  him  appointments  in  connection  with  the  plan- 
ning of  new  railway  lines.  Still,  no  matter  what  might  be 
done  for  Leon,  he  was  ever  in  difficulties,  as  well  as  cantan- 
kerous in  disposition,  repeatedly  quarrelling  with  the  Minister  of 
Public  Works  over  sums  which  he  claimed  in  connection  with 
railway  enterprises.  Briefly,  the  Emperor,  after  repeatedly 
paying  his  debts — ^£'2000  and  more  at  a  time — ended  by  cutting 
him  down  to  an  annual  pension  of  £24^0  from  the  Privy  Purse, 
and  turning  almost  invariably  a  deaf  ear  to  his  appeals  for 
further  assistance,  which,  by  the  way,  never  ceased.  At  one 
moment  he  wanted  the  concession  of  a  railway  line  from  Tours 
to  Montlupon,  at  another  he  solicited  the  privilege  of  con- 
structing some  of  the  new  boulevards  of  Paris,  while  at  other 
times  his  wife  wrote  to  the  Emperor  appealing  either  for  small 
sums  or  else  for  orders  for  a  Belgian  mining  company,  in  which 
she  was  somehow  interested.  It  is  uncertain  whether  these 
applications  (traces  of  which  were  found  at  the  Tuileries  after 
the  Revolution  of  1870)  were  granted,  but   Leon's  children 


THE   EMPEROR  AND   HIS   LOVE   AFFAIRS     181 

obtained  free  schooling  at  the  college  of  Ste.  Barbe,  His  wife, 
it  may  be  mentioned,  was  a  Mile.  Jouet,  of  Belgian  origin — the 
offspring  of  the  marriage,  which  took  place  in  1862,  being  a 
daughter,  Charlotte,  and  three  sons,  Charles,  Gaston,  and 
Fernand,  some  of  whom  married  and  have  issue,  in  such  wise 
that  on  this  side  also  there  exist  a  number  of  great-grand- 
children of  Napoleon  I.  The  family  calls  itself  nowadays  "  De 
Leon."  The  original  Count  Leon  died  in  April,  1881,  at 
Pontoise,  near  Paris. 

Such  then  are  the  descendants  of  the  first  Napoleon.  Let 
us  now  turn  to  those  of  the  third.  His  intrigues  with  women 
of  various  nationalities  and  stations  in  life  were  numerous.  It 
is  said — we  will  not  vouch  for  the  story,  but  it  is  in  any  case  a 
good  one — that  when  he  was  a  mere  stripling,  sojourning  with 
his  mother  at  Florence,  he  was  seized  with  a  desperate  attack 
of  calf-love  for  an  Italian  lady  of  rank,  and  that  in  order  to 
obtain  an  opportunity  for  declaring  his  passion  he  disguised 
himself  as  an  itinerant  flower-boy,  in  Avhich  character  he 
contrived  to  enter  the  lady*'s  house.  But  when  a  la 
Trovatore  he  cast  himself  pleadingly  at  her  feet,  she  screamed 
and  summoned  her  servants,  with  the  result  that  there  was 
quite  a  scandal,  and  Prince  Precocious  was  compelled  to 
quit  the  city. 

The  future  Emperor''s  first  mistress  of  any  real  note  was  a 
Parisienne  named  Eleonore  Marie  Brault,  who  was  born  in 
September,  1808,  became  a  professional  singer,  and  married,  in 
1831,  a  certain  Archer  Gordon,  or  Gordon  Archer,  a  Colonel  of 
the  Foreign  Legion  in  the  service  of  Isabella  II.  of  Spain. 
This  individual  died  soon  after  the  marriage,  and  sometime 
afterwards  Mme.  Gordon,  who  travelled  about,  giving  concerts 
in  one  and  another  town,  attracted  the  attention  of  the  young 
Prince  Louis  Napoleon,  who  became  her  lover.  Whether  they 
first  met  in  Germany  or  Switzerland  is  doubtful,  but  it  has  often 
been  said  that  Mme.  Gordon  gave  birth  to  a  daughter  who 
died  in  infancy.  In  connection  with  the  preparations  for  the 
Strasburg  attempt  of  1836  she  proved  herself  one  of  the  most 
skilful  and  devoted  of  the  future  Emperor"'s  allies.  While  he 
was  endeavouring  to  gain  the  support  of  some  of  the  soldiery  at 
the  artillery  barracks,  she  remained  in  her  room  in  the  Rue  de 


182  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

la  Nuee  Bleue,  awaiting  the  result ;  but  directly  Persigny  arrived 
with  the  news  that  the  attempt  had  failed,  she  cast  into  the 
fireplace  all  the  letters,  decrees,  proclamations,  and  lists  of 
names  which  had  been  prepared  in  view  of  a  more  fortunate 
issue,  and  piled  the  furniture  of  the  room  against  the  door, 
so  that  every  compromising  paper  was  burnt  to  ashes  before 
an  entry  could  be  effected  by  the  police,  who  had  promptly 
arrived  upon  the  scene.  The  Strasburg  affair  resulted,  it  will 
be  remembered,  in  the  Prince's  enforced  voyage  to  America. 
Whether  he  ever  met  Mme.  Gordon  again,  we  cannot  say,  but 
in  any  case  there  was  no  resumption  of  the  old  relations.  She 
died  in  Paris  on  March  11,  1849,  that  is  three  months  after 
Napoleon's  elevation  to  the  Presidency  of  the  Republic.  It  has 
been  said  that  her  circumstances  were  much  reduced  at  the  time 
of  her  death  and  that  her  former  lover  was  well  aware  of  it,  yet 
did  nothing  to  help  her.  Such  callousness,  however,  would  be 
so  utterly  at  variance  with  all  we  know  of  his  character  that 
we  strongly  doubt  the  story. 

Mme.  Gordon's  successor  in  his  affections  after  his  return 
to  Europe  was  the  beautiful  and  notorious  Miss  Howard, 
whose  exact  origin  we  have  not  investigated,  but  who  is 
described  in  the  entry  of  her  death  in  the  registers  of  the 
parish  of  La  Celle  St.  Cloud,  near  Paris,  as  "  Elizabeth  Anne 
Haryett,  called  Miss  Howard,  Countess  de  Beauregard,  born  in 
England  in  1823."  We  also  find  her  grandson  registered  at  his 
birth  in  1870  as  "  Richard  Martyn  Haryett,"  whence  one  might 
infer  that  Haryett  was  a  surname.  In  that  connection  let  us  add 
that  some  English  works  state  that  Harnett  was  Miss  Howard's 
real  name.  Count  Fleury  calls  her  "Miss  Harriet  Howard," 
which  may  be  correct,  though  we  ourselves  think  that  she  had 
no  more  right  to  the  name  of  Howard  as  a  patronymic  than  had 
the  famous  Mr.  Bugg.* 

Count  Fleury  tells  us  that  at  the  time  when  Napoleon  made 
her  acquaintance  in  London  she  was  living  there  under  the 
protection  of  Major  Mountjoy  Martyn  of  the  2nd  Life  Guards,t 

*  After  she  had  been  made  a  Countess,  she  usually  signed  her  letters 
"  E.  H.  de  Beauregard." 

t  Francis  Mountjoy  Martyn  (previously  Martin),  born  in  1809,  a  brevet 
colonel  in  1858,  sold  out  in  1863,  died  in  London,  January  24,  1874. 


THE   EMPEROR  AND   HIS   LOVE   AFFAIRS     183 

having  previously  been  the  mistress  of  a  famous  steeplechase 
rider.  We  ourselves  only  saw  Miss  Howard  in  her  last  days, 
when  she  had  become  extremely  stout,  but  even  then  her  face 
retained  a  good  deal  of  the  beauty  for  which  she  had  been 
renowned.  According  to  those  who  knew  her  in  her  London 
days  she  then  had  an  exquisite  figure,  at  once  stately  and 
graceful,  with  a  head  and  features  such  as  only  one  of  the  great 
Greek  sculptors  could  have  chiselled.  Among  the  many 
members  of  the  aristocracy  who  met  at  her  house  in  London 
were  the  Duke  of  Beaufort,  the  Earl  of  Chesterfield,  the  Earl 
of  Malmesbury,  and  Count  d'Orsay.  It  was  the  last  named, 
according  to  Fleury,  who  presented  Louis  Napoleon  to  her,  and 
he  was  immediately  smitten.  The  intrigue  which  ensued  lasted 
until  the  end  of  1852,  when  the  Prince  decided  to  marry  Mile, 
de  Montijo.  It  is  extremely  doubtful  whether  Miss  Howard 
financed  the  Boulogne  attempt  of  August,  1840.  Count  Orsi, 
who  was  subsequently  pensioned  for  his  services  at  that  time, 
asserts  that  he  negotiated  a  loan  of  ^£'20,000  for  the  enterprise ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  many  stories  of  how  Miss 
Howard  offered  the  Prince  all  she  possessed,  even  proposing  to 
sell  her  diamonds.  It  is  in  any  case  certain  that  she  gave  him 
much  pecuniary  assistance  at  other  times,  and  we  know  by  a 
document  found  at  the  Tuileries  that  at  the  period  of  the 
establishment  of  the  Empire  she  still  held  a  mortgage  on  the 
estate  of  Civita  Nuova,  in  the  March  of  Ancona,  which 
Napoleon  had  inherited  from  his  father — the  said  mortgage 
being  annulled  by  the  payment  to  Miss  Howard  of  a  sum  of 
^40,000  on  March  25,  1853.  We  think  that  Napoleon  had 
not  waited  till  the  time  of  the  Coup  d'Etat  to  raise  money  on 
his  Italian  property,  and  that  his  indebtedness  to  Miss  Howard 
in  that  respect  as  in  others  was  of  long  standing. 

Sonie  six  years  of  imprisonment  at  Ham — October,  1840, 
to  May,  1846 — followed  the  fiasco  of  Boulogne.  During  that 
long  interval  Miss  Howard,  it  is  said,  corresponded  with  the 
prisoner.  But  did  she  visit  him  in  prison?  That  is  a  point 
which  Ave  have  been  unable  to  solve,  yet  it  is  one  of  some 
interest,  for  we  find  it  stated  in  French  official  records  that 
Miss  Howard's  son,  Martin-Constantin,  whom  the  Emperor 
created  Count  de  Bechevet,  was  born  in  London  on  August  16, 


184  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

1842.  Now,  in  the  days  of  the  Empire  the  Count  de  Bechevet 
was  regarded  by  everybody  as  the  son  of  Napoleon  HI,  In 
that  case  either  Miss  Howard  went  to  Ham  late  in  1841,  or 
there  is  a  voluntary  or  involuntary  error  in  the  recorded  date 
of  the  Count  de  Bechevet"'s  birth.  If  neither  of  those  surmises 
is  correct  the  Count  cannot  have  been  the  son  of  the  Emperor.* 
Of  course  there  is  nothing  impossible  in  the  supposition  that  Miss 
Howard  visited  Ham.  Napoleon  certainly  applied  by  letter  for 
permission  to  receive  lady  visitors,  and  may  have  obtained  it ; 
and  we  know  that  his  captivity  was  so  far  from  being  rigorous 
that  he  contrived  to  carry  on  an  intrigue  with  a  young  person 
named  Alexandrine  Eleonore  Vergeot,  who,  according  to  the 
most  credible  account,  washed  his  linen,  though  some  writers 
have  called  her  a  "  basket-maker,"  and  others  "  a  maker  of 
wooden  shoes.""  In  any  case  she  became  the  mother  of  two 
sons  by  the  Prince,  the  elder,  Alexandre  Louis  Eugene,  being 
born  on  February  25,  1843,  and  the  younger,  Alexandre  Louis 
Ernest,  on  March  18,  1845.  Curiously  enough,  in  August, 
1858,  Alexandrine  Vergeot  married  none  other  than  M.  Pierre 
Bure,  Napoleon's  foster-brother,  and  treasurer  to  the  Crown.f 
Miss  Howard  does  not  appear  to  have  resented  the  Prince''s 
infidelity  at  Ham,  for  subsequently  she  took  temporary  charge 
of  Alexandrine  Vergeofs  children,  and  made  arrangements  for 
their  education.  This  gave  rise  to  the  reports  that  she  had 
not  one  son  but  several  sons  by  Napoleon  III. 

The  elder  of  the  brothers  Vergeot  entered  the  French  Con- 
sular Service,  and  the  younger  the  Department  of  Finances, 
becoming  eventually  a  Receiver  to  the  Treasury,  a  very  re- 
munerative post.  By  two  decrees  dated  June  11,  1870,  and 
countersigned  by  M.  Emile  Ollivier,  Napoleon  bestowed  the 
title  of  Count  d'Orx  on  the  elder,  and  of  Count  de  Labenne  on 
the  younger  of  these  illegitimate  sons  of  his,  at  the  same  time 
presenting  them  with  the  aforesaid  estates  of  Orx  and  Labenne, 
which  formed  part  of  the  extensive  tract  of  country  reclaimed 
and  planted  by  him  in  the  Landes.     The  Emperor  had  at  one 

•  The  alleged  date  of  Miss  Howard's  birth  (1823)  must  be  wrong,  as  it 
would  make  her  but  17  at  the  time  of  the  Boulogne  affair. 

t  Born  at  Estouilly,  Somme,  September  3,  1820,  she  died  at  Le  V^sinet, 
pear  Paris,  in  August,  1886,    Her  husband  died  in  January,  1882, 


TPIE   EMPEROR  AND   HIS  LOVE   AFFAIRS     185 

time  transferred  that  property  to  Count  Walewski,  but  after 
the  latter's  death  he  took  it  over  again  by  arrangement  with 
his  cousin's  widow.  Count  d'Orx  is,  we  think,  still  alive,  but 
Count  de  Labenne  died  in  1882,  leaving  no  issue. 

Let  us  now  return  to  Miss  Howard.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  she  assisted  Napoleon  from  her  purse  during  the  last  years 
of  his  life  in  England.  When  he  proceeded  to  Paris  after  the 
Revolution  of  1848,  she  followed  him  thither,  and  while  he 
installed  himself  at  the  Hotel  du  Rhin  in  the  Place  Vendome, 
which  became  the  headquarters  of  the  Bonapartist  agitation, 
she  betook  herself  to  Meurice's,  then  par  excellence  the  English 
hotel  in  Paris.  When  her  lover  had  been  elected  President  of 
the  Republic,  a  well-appointed  little  house  was  rented  for  Miss 
Howard  in  the  Rue  du  Cirque,  close  to  the  Elysee  Palace, 
which  had  become  Napoleon's  residence.  Whenever  he  could 
escape  from  business  at  the  Elysee  he  spent  his  evenings  in  the 
Rue  du  Cirque,  where  his  intimates,  Fleury,  Mocquard,  Edgar 
Ney,  Count  de  Toulongeon  (his  orderly  officer),  and  Count 
Baciocchi  also  assembled.  Various  Bonapartist  journalists, 
some  artists,  and  sundry  Englishmen — conspicuous  among 
whom  was  the  Marquis  of  Hertford — also  met  the  Prince  at 
Miss  Howard's.  Few  women  were  found  there,  and  their 
positions  resembled  that  of  the  mistress  of  the  house. 

In  spite  of  the  emoluments  which  the  Prince  received  as 
President  of  the  Republic,  his  "struggle  for  life"  continued  to 
be  very  severe,  for  the  Bonapartist  propaganda  had  to  be 
financed,  and  few  of  his  acolytes  had  means  of  their  own. 
Thus  Miss  Howard  again  came  to  the  rescue,  on  one  occasion 
rendering  the  Prince  a  service  similar  to  that  of  Fould's, 
recorded  in  our  second  chapter  * — that  is  to  say,  in  1851, 
when  some  of  Napoleon's  promissory  notes  had  been  protested 
by  Montaut,  a  banker  of  the  Palais  Royal,  Miss  Howard 
spent  a  part  of  her  remaining  resources  in  discharging  the 
debt.  At  the  same  time,  whatever  her  services  might  be,  she 
gradually  became  a  cause  of  serious  trouble  and  inconvenience. 
No  nation  is  more  indulgent  than  the  French  with  respect 
to  a  man's  affaires  de  coeur.  Nevertheless,  the  Prince's  close 
connection  with  Miss  Howard  and  the  part  she  took  in  his  affairs 
*  See  ante,  p.  37, 


186  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

scandalized  many  people,  and  thus  proved  detrimental  to  his 
political  interests,  for  various  notabilities  shrank  from  joining 
his  cause  on  account  of  the  looseness  of  his  life. 

Already,  in  1849,  a  very  unpleasant  episode  occurred  with 
respect  to  Miss  Howard.  The  Prince  then  made  a  journey  to 
Tours  and  Saumur,  in  which  latter  town  the  State  Cavalry 
School  gave  an  entertainment  in  his  honour.  Among  those 
who  accompanied  him  was  his  mistress.  On  arriving  at  Tours 
a  question  arose  of  finding  lodgings  for  her,  and  it  occurred  to 
an  official,  Avho  was  approached  on  the  subject,  to  install  her  at 
the  house  of  a  M.  Andre,  Receiver  to  the  Treasury,  who  was 
then  absent  with  his  wife  at  some  Pyrenean  spa.  The  Andres 
were  Protestants,  and  when  they  afterwards  heard  of  what  had 
happened  they  complained  warmly,  perhaps  over  warmly,  about 
the  insult  offered  to  them  and  their  house  by  introducing  into 
it  under  a  false  name  a  svoman  of  bad  character.  In  a  letter 
which  M.  Andre  addressed  to  Napoleon's  chief  minister,  M. 
Odilon-Barrot,  he  inquired :  "  Have  we  gone  back,  then,  to  the 
days  when  the  mistresses  of  our  kings  exhibited  the  scandal  of 
their  lives  in  town  after  town  of  France  ?  "  M.  Barrot  was  very 
much  upset  and  embarrassed  by  the  affair.  It  seemed  to  him, 
he  tells  us  in  his  "  Memoirs,"  that  M.  Andre  attached  excessive 
importance  to  an  incident  which  could  only  have  been  due  to 
some  indiscretion  or  mistake  on  the  part  of  a  subordinate.  He 
therefore  did  not  wish  to  make  a  State  affair  of  the  matter,  though, 
on  the  other  hand,  he  says,  he  "  was  not  sorry  that  the  President 
should  learn  that  in  the  high  position  to  which  he  had  been 
raised,  it  was  no  longer  allowable  for  him  to  lead  the  free  and 
easy  life  which  he  had  led  in  London.""  Accordingly  the  Prime 
Minister  arranged  matters  in  such  a  way  that,  with  the  help  of 
his  brother  (M.  Ferdinand  Barrot,  then  Secretary-general  to  the 
President),  M.  Andre's  letter  might  come  accidentally,  as  it 
were,  before  the  Prince.  This  plan  was  carried  out,  and  shortly 
afterwards  Odilon-Barrot  received  a  letter  on  the  subject  from 
Napoleon.     It  ran  as  follows  : 

"Your  brother  has  shown  me  a  letter  from  a  Monsieur  Andre, 
which  I  should  have  disdained  to  answer  if  it  had  not  contained 
false  allegations,  which  it  is  fit  that  I  should  refute.  A  lady  in 
whom  I  take  the  {greatest  interest  wished  to  see  the  carrousel  of 


THE   EMPEROR  AND   HIS  LOVE   AFFAIRS     187 

Saumur,  accompanied  by  a  lady  friend  of  hers  and  two  persons 
of  my  household.  From  Saumur  she  went  to  Tours,  and  fearing 
that  she  might  not  be  able  to  find  lodgings  there,  she  asked  me  to 
do  whatever  might  be  necessary  to  procure  her  accommodation. 
On  arriving  at  Tours,  I  said  to  one  of  the  Prefecture  Councillors 
that  he  would  oblige  me  by  finding  rooms  for  Count  Baciocchi  and 
some  ladies  of  his  acquaintance.  It  seems  that  they  were  led  by 
chance  and  their  evil  star  to  Monsieur  Andre's  house,  where,  I 
know  not  why,  it  was  imagined  that  one  of  the  ladies  was  named 
Baciocchi.  Never  did  the  lady  in  question  assume  that  name.  If 
an  error  occurred  it  was  perpetrated  by  strangers,  against  my  own 
desire  and  the  lady's  also.  I  should,  however,  like  to  know  why 
Monsieur  Andre,  without  taking  the  trouble  to  ascertain  the  truth, 
seeks  to  make  me  responsible  for  the  selection  of  his  house  and  the 
wrongful  attribution  of  a  name  ?  When  a  householder  makes  it  his 
first  care  to  peer  into  the  past  life  of  a  person  he  receives,  in  order 
to  cry  her  down — is  that  a  noble  way  of  practising  hospitality  1 
How  many  women,  a  hundred  times  less  pure,  a  hundred  times  less 
devoted  than  the  one  who  lodged  at  Monsieur  Andre's,  would  have 
been  received  by  him  with  all  possible  honour  if  they  had  happened 
to  have  at  their  disposal  a  husband's  name  to  cast  over  their  guilty 
intrigues  !  I  detest  that  pedantic  rigorism  which  ill-conceals  a  dry 
heart — a  heart  indulgent  for  self  but  inexorable  towards  others. 
True  religion  is  not  intolerant,  it  does  not  try  to  stir  up  a  tempest 
in  a  glass  of  water,  it  does  not  make  much  ado  about  nothing,  and 
turn  a  mere  accident  or  excusable  mistake  into  a  positive  crime. 

"Monsieur  Andre,  who  is,  I  am  told,  a  Puritan,  has  not  yet 
meditated  sufficiently  on  that  passage  in  the  Gospel  where  Christ, 
addressing  people  possessed  of  souls  as  uncharitable  as  Monsieur 
Andre's,  says  to  them,  respecting  the  woman  whom  they  wish  to 
stone :  '  Let  him  who  is  without  sin,'  etc.  May  Monsieur  Andre 
put  that  precept  into  practice  !  For  my  part,  I  bring  charges 
against  nobody,  and  I  own  that  I  am  guilty  of  seeking  in  illegitimate 
bonds  the  affection  which  my  heart  requires.  As,  however,  my 
position  has  hitherto  prevented  me  from  marrying,  and  as,  amid 
all  the  cares  of  government,  I  possess,  alas  !  in  my  native  country, 
from  which  I  was  so  long  absent,  neither  intimate  friends,  nor  ties 
of  childhood,  nor  relatives  to  give  me  the  joys  of  family  life,  I  may 
well  be  forgiven,  I  think,  for  an  affection  which  harms  nobody  and 
which  I  do  not  seek  to  make  conspicuous.  To  return  to  Monsieur 
Andre,  if,  as  he  declares,  he  believes  that  his  house  has  been  defiled 
by  the  presence  of  an  unmarried  woman,  I  beg  you  to  let  him  know 
that,  on  my  side,  I  deeply  regret  that  a  person  of  such  pure  devotion 


188  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

and  high  character  should  have  alighted  by  chance  at  a  house, 
where,  under  the  mask  of  religion,  there  reigns  only  a  stiff  and 
ostentatious  virtue,  devoid  of  Christian  charity.  You  may  put  my 
letter  to  such  use  as  you  please."  * 

With  that  missive,''sajs  Odilon-Barrot,  there  came  an  order 
from  the  Prince-President  to  send  a  copy  of  it  to  M.  Andre. 
But  the  Prime  Minister  wisely  refrained  from  doing  so,  and  the 
affair  blew  over. 

To  what  degree  affection  for  Napoleon  and  to  what  degree 
far-seeing  ambition  influenced  Miss  Howard,  on  the  various 
occasions  when  she  assisted  him  financially,  is  a  difficult  question 
to  determine.  Persons  of  her  condition  are  seldom  disinterested, 
however  ;  and  in  the  demands  Avhich  Miss  Howard  made  after 
her  lover  had  become  master  of  France,  it  seems  certain  that 
she  was  not  merely  claiming  her  due,  but  giving  rein  at  last  to 
a  grasping  nature,  previously  held  in  check.  However  consider- 
able may  have  been  the  wealth  she  had  acquired  in  England, 
the  amount  of  money  ultimately  paid  to  her  by  Napoleon  was 
so  enormous  that,  besides  embracing  the  reimbursement  of  her 
advances,  it  obviously  included  a  very  lavish  indemnity.  More- 
over, whatever  may  have  been  her  original  motives  in  assisting 
Napoleon,  it  is  certain  that  after  the  success  of  the  Coup  d'Etat 
she  aspired  to  play  the  part  of  a  Pompadour  or  a  Dubarry. 
She  clung  to  Napoleon  tenaciously,  unwilling  to  allow  him  out 
of  her  sight,  and  when  he  took  up  his  residence  at  the  Chateau 
of  St.  Cloud  during  the  months  preceding  the  proclamation  of 
the  Empire,  she  insisted  on  quarters  being  found  for  her  there 
in  spite  of  the  damaging,  scandalous  talk  to  which  her  presence 
might  give  rise.  We  know,  by  the  admissions  of  Count  Fleury 
in  his  "  Memoirs,"  that  she  was  secretly  lodged  in  some  of  the 
smaller  ground-floor  rooms,  whence  she  kept  watch  upon  all  that 
occurred.  She  was  also  exacting  in  other  respects,  again 
following  Napoleon  on  his  journeys  into  the  provinces,  demand- 
ing a  special  and  conspicuous  place  for  her  carriage  at  reviews 
and  other  ceremonies,  and  generally  striving  to  assume  the 
position  of  a  recognized  favourite.  All  this,  be  it  noted, 
occurred  at  the  time  when  Napoleon  was  feeling  more   and 

♦  IIo^YeYer  strange  the  letter  may  seem,  its  authenticity  is  unquestionable, 


THE  EMPEROR  AND   HIS  LOVE  AFFAIRS    189 

more  attracted  towards  Mile,  de  Montijo.  At  Compiegne  and 
at  Fontainebleau  the  Prince  was  surrounded  by  far  too  many 
guests,  and  notably  by  too  many  ladies  of  recognized  position, 
for  Miss  Howard's  presence  to  be  possible  there.  Nevertheless, 
she  watched  and  waited,  never  abandoning  her  hopes. 

She  made,  perhaps,  her  boldest  bid  for  recognition  as 
imperial  favourite  at  one  of  the  first  entertainments  given  at 
the  Tuileries  after  the  Coup  d'Etat.  In  the  very  midst  of  the 
reception  she  suddenly  entered  the  palace,  exquisitely  dressed, 
and  attracting  general  attention  by  her  remarkable  beauty. 
For  the  prosecution  of  her  enterprise  she  had  found  confederates 
among  her  lover's  entourage.  Colonel  Baron  de  Seville  *  entered 
with  her,  giving  her  his  arm,  and  behind  the  pair  walked  Count 
Baciocchi  with  a  matronly  person,  to  whom  had  been  assigned 
the  part  played  by  the  Countess  de  Beam  when  La  Dubarry 
was  presented  at  the  Court  of  Louis  XV.  A  good  many  people 
who  did  not  know  Miss  Howard  thought  she  Avas  some  fine 
lady  who  had  just  arrived  from  London,  but  those  of  the 
President's  set  who  knew  her  and  who  were  opposed  to  her 
influence  took  alarm  at  the  demonstration,  rightly  opining  that 
the  bold  Englishwoman  might  become  very  dangerous  if  her 
proceedings  were  not  promptly  checked.  Among  the  serious 
politicians  and  the  diplomatists  present  at  the  gathering,  the 
impression  was  extremely  bad,  as  the  Prefect  of  Police  indicated 
in  a  special  report  which  he  boldly  addressed  to  Napoleon  on 
the  subject. 

When  the  latter  had  ultimately  made  up  his  mind  to  marry 
Mile,  de  Montijo,  the  difficult  task  of  restraining  and  pacifying 
Miss  Howard  was  assigned  to  the  genial  and  resourceful 
Mocquard.  It  would  be  curious  to  know  exactly  how  he 
accomplished  that  duty.  We  are  only  acquainted  with  the 
bare  facts — that  he  contrived  to  lure  Miss  Howard  to  Le 
Havre,  to  prevent  her  from  seeing  the  newspapers  and  to  keep 
her  in  ignorance  of  what  was  passing  in  Paris  until  intervention 
on  her  part  could  be  of  no  avail.  True,  after  storming  and 
raving,  and  fainting  and  weeping,  she  might  still  have  attempted 
some  desperate  but  futile  effort,  had  she  not  been  told  that  if 
she  evinced  any  disposition  to  perpetrate  an  act  of  folly,  she 

*  See  ante,  p.  48. 


190  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

would  be  immediately  taken  down  to  the  port  and  placed  on 
board  a  ship  sailing  for  America.  At  last,  then,  she  gave  in, 
accepting  the  compensation  which  was  tendered  to  her  for  the 
loss  of  the  position  she  had  aspired  to  fill. 

This  compensation  comprised,  in  the  first  place,  the  hand- 
some chateau  and  estate  of  Beauregard  on  the  road  from  La 
Celle  St.  Cloud  to  Versailles.  The  chateau  had  originally. been 
built  by  the  famous  Pere  Lachaise,  confessor  to  Louis  X.IV., 
whose  name  has  been  perpetuated  by  the  most  important  of 
all  the  Parisian  cemeteries.  It  is  said  too,  that  Beauregard 
was  the  meeting-place  of  many  of  the  artistic  celebrities  of  le 
grand  siecle,  and  that  the  masterpieces  of  Lully  and  Rameau 
were  first  performed  there.  At  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century  the  chateau  was  acquired  by  Count  d'Artois — afterwards 
Charles  X. — and  his  sons,  the  Dukes  d"'Angouleme  and  de 
Berry,  spent  their  childhood  there.  In  purchasing  Beauregard 
and  presenting  it  to  Miss  Howard,  Napoleon  III.,  as  we  know 
by  a  memorandum  in  his  own  handwriting,  had  imagined  that 
the  outlay  "  would  be  at  the  utmost  =£'20,000  ; "  but  she  rebuilt 
and  enlarged  the  chateau  to  a  considerable  extent,  and  the 
Emperor  appears  to  have  taken  all  the  expense  on  his  shoulders. 
Together  with  the  estate,  he  presented  his  ex-mistress,  as  pre- 
viously mentioned,  with  the  title  of  Countess  de  Beauregard — 
a  proceeding  which  offended  an  existing  Beauregard  family, 
with  the  result  that  although  no  change  was  made  respecting 
Miss  Howard  personally,  a  different  title,  that  of  Count  de 
Bechevet,  was  ultimately  conferred  on  her  son,  Martin  Con- 
stantine,  the  question  of  whose  paternity  is  so  doubtful.* 

As  for  the  pecuniary  payments  made  to  Miss  Howard,  we 
learn  from  the  Emperor's  memorandum,  just  referred  to,  that, 
apart  from  the  cost  of  Beauregard,  he  had  originally  intended 

*  In  connection  with,  that  matter,  it  may  be  observed  that  Miss  Howard's 
protector  at  the  time  when  Napoleon  made  her  acquaintance  was  Major 
Mount]  oy  Martyn  ;  that  her  son  received  the  Christian  name  of  Martin,  and 
that  her  grandson  was  christened  Richard  Martyn.  It  is  quite  possible,  then, 
that  the  Count  de  Bechevet  was  not  Napoleon's  son,  however  general  the 
belief  that  he  was — a  belief  strengthened  by  the  bestowal  of  a  title  on  him. 
That  title,  however,  was  not  granted  until  1865,  and  may  merely  have  been  a 
misinterpreted  act  of  favour.  Though  Napoleon,  as  some  have  asserted,  may 
have  known  Miss  Howard  from  1840  onward,  the  actual  intrigue  may  not 
have  begun  till  after  his  release  from  Ham. 


THE  EMPEROR  AND  HIS  LOVE  AFFAIRS     191 

to  present  her  with  c£'120,000.  Inclusive,  however,  of  the 
c£'40,000  paid  with  respect  to  the  estate  of  Civita  Nuova,  she 
had  already  received  at  the  beginning  of  1855  no  less  than 
=£'218,000,  and,  like  Oliver  Twist,  she  wanted  more.  In  January, 
1855,  she  wrote  to  M.  Mocquard  as  follows  : — * 

"My  very  dear  Friend, 

"We  are  to-day  the  24th  of  January,  and  I  perceive 
with  grief  that  the  engagements  entered  into  with  me  are  not 
performed  (when  I  have  doubts  I  feel  hurt  and  I  ought  not  to  be 
left  in  doubt).  As  a  matter  of  fact  I  believed  and  still  believe  that 
it  is  a  mistake ;  but  why  make  me  suffer  1  If  things  are  to  be  like 
this  I  should  have  done  better  if  I  had  kept  the  six  millions  instead 
of  three  million  five  hundred  thousand  francs,  which,  at  my  request, 
were  to  have  been  paid  by  the  end  of  the  year  1853,  and  it  was  for 
this  [?]  that  I  begged  the  Emperor  to  tear  up  the  first  amount 
(2,500,000  francs).  My  heart  bleeds  at  having  to  write  this,  and 
if  my  marriage  contract  were  not  drawn  up  as  it  is,  and  if  I  had 
not  a  child,  I  should  not  make  this  application  which  has  become  a 
duty.  I  rely  on  you  to  put  an  end  to  all  this  sufiering.  The 
Emperor  has  too  good  a  heart  to  leave  a  woman  whom  he  tenderly 
loved  in  a  false  position,  such  as  he  would  not  like  to  be  in  himself. 
You  know  my  position,  you  are  my  guardian  [tuteur]  and  it  is  with 
a  twofold  claim  on  you  that  I  apply  to  you.  I  made  a  mistake  in 
writing  to  his  Majesty  the  other  day.  In  one  of  his  letters  dated 
May,  be  says,  '  I  will  give  Giles  f  paper  for  the  three  million  five 
hundred  thousand  francs  [£140,000]  to-morrow.'  The  only  thing 
to  be  done,  then,  is  to  calculate  the  payments  at  the  rate  of  50,000 
from  June  1,  1853,  and  50,000  from  January  to  October.  I  hope 
to  God  there  will  be  no  further  question  of  money  between  me  and 
him  for  whom  my  heart  has  very  different  feelings.  I  kiss  you 
tenderly  and  love  you  in  like  way, 

"  Your  affectionate, 

"  E.  H.  DE  B. 

"  I  implore  you  not  to  leave  this  letter,  you  may  read  it  if  you 
like  to  his  Majesty,  and  burn  it  directly  afterwards.  I  saw  Mme. 
Mocquard  on  Monday  at  4  o'clock,  she  was  very  poorly." 

*  The  letter  is  written  in  very  faulty  French,  and  the  meaning  of  one  or 
two  sentences  is  extremely  obscure.  The  translation  we  give  is,  however,  as 
close  as  possible.  The  French  text  will  be  found  in  the  "  Papiers  et  Corre-' 
spondance  de  la  Famille  Imperiale,"  issued  by  the  Government  of  National 
Defence,  in  1870-71. 

t  A  banker,  through  whom  many  payments  were  made  to  Miss  Howard. 


102  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

The  allusion  to  a  marriage  contract  which  will  have  been 
noticed  in  that  letter  needs  explanation.  After  Mocquard  had 
made  the  first  arrangements  with  Miss  Howard,  she  was  per- 
suaded to  travel  for  a  time,  and  on  going  to  Italy  she  there  met 
a  young  Englishman,  named  Clarence  Trelawny,  who  held  an 
officer's  commission  in  the  Austrian  Hussars,  and  whom  she 
married  at  Florence  on  May  16,  1854.  The  union  appears  to 
have  been  a  very  unhappy  one,  and  a  divorce  took  place  in 
February,  1865. 

It  would  appear  that  Miss  Howard  never  really  forgave 
Napoleon  for  deserting  her,  or  the  Empress  Eugenie  for  sup- 
planting her  in  his  affections.  We  had  some  acquaintance 
several  years  ago  with  an  Englishman  named  Arthur  Savile 
Grant  (the  illegitimate  son  of  an  ex-diplomatist  domiciled  in 
Paris)  who  invented  the  newspaper  kiosks  of  the  boulevards, 
from  which  he  derived  a  handsome  income,  and  who  knew  Miss 
Howard  very  well  in  her  last  days,  when  he  was  often  a  guest 
at  Beauregard.  According  to  this  Mr.  Grant  the  lady  was 
occasionally  seized  with  fits  of  fury,  and  would  then  indulge 
in  extraordinary  language  respecting  the  Emperor  and  his 
entourage,  several  members  of  which  she  bitterly  denounced  for 
their  old-time  intrigues  against  her.  Grant  further  asserted 
that  if  such  large  sums  were  paid  by  Napoleon  to  his  ex-mistress, 
it  was  because  she  at  one  time  detained  a  number  of  documents 
damaging  for  his  reputation.  She  had  often  been  heard  to 
declare  that  the  Palace  Police  had  on  one  occasion  ransacked 
her  residence  and  carried  off  every  scrap  of  paper  they  could 
lay  their  hands  upon.  We  do  not  vouch  for  that  story,  but  it 
is  curious  that  the  novelist  Emile  Gaboriau  should  have  intro- 
duced such  an  episode  into  his  novel  "  La  Degringolade,"  even 
as  he  included  in  it  the  St.  Arnaud-Cornemuse  duel,  of  which 
we  spoke  in  a  former  chapter.  Rumours  of  t^e  seizure  of  the 
lady's  papers  must  therefore  have  been  current. 

After  remaining  in  comparative  retirement  for  some  years, 
Miss  Howard  was  suddenly  seized  with  a  desire  to  show  herself 
once  more  to  the  Parisians,  and  particularly  to  the  Emperor 
and  Empress.  During  the  seasons  of  1864-65,  she  frequently 
appeared  in  the  Champs  Ely  sees  and  the  Bois  de  Boulogne, 
driving  a  pair  of  superb  bays,  and  manoeuvring  in  such  a  fashion 


THE   EMPEROR  AND   HIS  LOVE   AFFAIRS     193 

as  to  meet  their  Majesties'  equipage  as  often  as  possible  and 
stare  at  them.  Again,  at  theatrical  performances,  she  would 
turn  her  glasses  with  annoying  persistency  on  the  imperial  box, 
and  it  was  even  said  that  she  received  a  caution  on  the  subject. 
But  she  was  near  her  end.  On  August  19,  1865,  she  passed 
away  at  the  chateau  of  Beauregard,  and  although  there  were 
people  ready  to  assert  that  her  death  could  not  have  been  due 
to  natural  causes,  there  does  not  seem  to  have  been  the  'slightest 
reason — excepting  enmity  of  the  Empire — for  any  suspicion  of 
foul  play.  In  1867  Miss  Howard's  son,  the  Count  de  Bechevet, 
married  a  Mile,  de  Csuzy,  of  a  noble  Hungarian  house,  by 
whom  he  had  two  daughters  and  the  son  we  have  previously 
mentioned. 

Although  Napoleon  III.  undoubtedly  engaged  in  various 
intrigues  subsequent  to  his  marriage,  some  of  the  stories 
current  on  the  subject  must  only  be  accepted  with  the  pro- 
verbial grains  of  salt.  Certain  anecdotes  are  so  nonsensical, 
that  one  wonders  how  they  can  ever  have  obtained  credence. 
Valuable  as  may  be  in  some  respects  the  "  Memoirs  of  Count 
Horace  de  Viel  Castel,"  which  created  such  a  sensation  on 
their  first  appearance  some  years  ago,  they  are  studded  with 
scandalous  tittle-tattle,  resting  at  times  on  very  slight,  and 
at  others  on  no  foundation  whatever.  For  people  of  any 
acumen  the  editor  of  the  "Memoirs"  gave  the  key  to  them 
when  he  remarked  in  his  introduction,  that  although  Viel 
Castel  was  a  man  fit  for  the  highest  posts,  he  had  been  con- 
fined to  his  duties  in  connection  with  the  national  museums. 
In  other  words,  he  was  a  disappointed  and  embittered  man, 
often  far  too  ready  to  make  a  note  of  anything,  however 
improbable,  that  tended  to  discredit  the  regime  on  which  he 
lived.  V\'^e  came  in  contact  with  him  more  than  once,  and 
have  no  doubt  of  the  accuracy  of  that  estimate.  Had  Viel 
Castel  been  such  a  high-minded  personage  as  he  desired  others 
to  think,  and  had  he  conscientiously  believed  things  to  be  as 
bad  as  he  asserted  in  his  "  Memoirs,"  he  would  have  severed  his 
connection  with  the  Empire  after  a  very  brief  experience.  But 
he  did  no  such  thing.  Down  to  the  last  years  he  partook 
complacently  of  the  hospitality  of  the  Tuileries,  never  missed 
an  autumn  at  Compiegne,  nor  indeed  any  opportunity  to  mix 

a 


194  THE   COUIIT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

as  a  boon  companion  with  those  for  whom  he  was  preparing  a 
pillory  in  his  "  Memoirs.""  Such  a  man  undoubtedly  becomes 
despicable  when  he  puts  on  pretensions  to  personal  virtue. 
Besides,  Viel  Castel,  though  a  married  man  with  children, 
lived  with  another  woman  by  whom  he  had  offspring,  as  was 
proved  during  the  litigation  to  which  the  publication  of  the 
"  Memoirs  "  gave  rise. 

There  is  also  another  point  to  be  considered.      A  good 
many  of  the  more  remarkable  stories  related  by  Viel  Castel 
are  given  as  emanating,  either  at  first  or  at  second  hand,  from 
the  Princess  Mathilde,  with  whom  he  was  certainly  on  terms 
of  close  acquaintanceship.      So  were  others;  and  it  was  very 
generally  known  that  whatever  might  be  the  Princess's  own 
faults — she  was  too  true  a  Bonaparte  to  have  none — and  what- 
ever might  be  her  knowledge  of  the  faults  of  her  relatives,  she 
was  not  given  to  talking  of  them.     A  certain  ease  and  freedom 
reigned    in   her  circle ;   men  like  Goncourt  and  Gautier  and 
Flaubert  would  not  have  belonged  to  it  had  the  position  been 
otherwise ;  but  there  was  a  line  which  nobody  was  allowed  to 
cross.     No  remarks  reflecting  on  the  morals  of  the  imperial 
house  were  tolerated;   even  political  criticism   of  some  action 
of  the  Emperor's,  or  perhaps  of  Prince  Napoleon's,  had  to  be 
kept  within  bounds.     If  ever  too  outspoken,  too  personal,  a 
remark  was  heard,  the  Princess  bristled  up.     "  I  will  not  allow 
my  relations  to  be  attacked,"  she  Avould  say;  and  the  incautious 
speaker  had  to  apologize  immediately.     Yet,  according  to  Viel 
Castel,   she   was   given   to   narrating   enormities !     To   her  is 
assigned  the  story  of  a  certain  incident  in  a  railway  train,  in 
which  the  Emperor's  name  is  linked  with  that  of  a  lady  of 
the  Court;    and  it  is  she,  again,  who  is  said  to  repeat  to  a 
friend  Napoleon's  saying  about  the  lady  of  the  ground  floor 
whom  he  wished  to  get  rid  of,  the  lady  of  the  first  floor  who, 
although  very  beautiful,  bored  him  by  her  insignificance  and 
insipidity,  and  the  lady  of  the  second  floor  who,  consumed  by 
her  passion,  was  always  running  after  him.     That  anecdote  has 
been    repeated    a   thousand   times   in   books,    magazines,   and 
newspapers   all   the    world   over.      It  may  have  reflected  the 
Emperor's  sentiments,  but  Viel  Castel  by  alleging  that  it  was 
repeated  by  the  Princess   Mathilde,  the   last  woman   in   the 


THE  EMPEROR  AND   HIS  LOVE  AFFAIRS     195 

world  to  retail  such  a  saying,  imposes  a  severe  strain  on  the 
faith  of  readers  possessed  of  any  sense  and  knowledge. 

Nevertheless,  whatever  falsity  and  exaggeration  may  be 
found  in  the  pages  either  of  Viel  Castel  or  of  similar  writers, 
it  is  certain  that  Napoleon  was  an  unfaithful  husband.  One 
may  regard  as  mere  odious  scandal  two  alleged  intrigues  of 
his,  which  are  frequently  referred  to  by  the  memoir  writers — 
one  with  a  person  of  obscure  origin,  resulting,  it  is  said,  in  the 
birth  of  a  daughter  who  married  a  Count  of  the  old  noblesse, 
and  the  other  an  intrigue  with  the  unmarried  daughter  of  a 
famous  functionary  of  the  Empire,  resulting,  it  was  pretended, 
in  the  birth  of  a  son  in  January,  1865.  Whatever  assertions 
may  have  been  made  respecting  those  affairs,  they  have  never 
been  substantiated  by  the  slightest  authentic  evidence.  Con- 
nected with  the  second  case,  however,  there  is  a  true  story 
which  may  be  repeated.  At  a  ball  given  at  the  Tuileries  a 
lady  guest  of  that  very  undesirable  scandal-loving  type  which 
was  certainly  well  represented  under  the  Empire,  related  that 
the  functionary's  daughter  in  question  had  lately  given  birth 
to  a  child,  adding  that  the  accouchement  had  taken  place  less 
than  a  week  previously  at  the  residence  of  some  friends  of 
the  narrator''s.  It  so  happened  that  the  Marchioness  de 
Latour-Maubourg,  one  of  the  Empress''s  ladies-in-waiting,  was 
present  and  heard  the  story,  at  the  conclusion  of  which  she 
remarked  that  it  was  of  a  nature  to  ruin  the  young  lady's 
reputation,  and  that  one  ought  to  be  quite  certain  of  one's 
facts  before  repeating  it.  The  other  retorted  that  the  tale 
was  true,  whereupon  Mme.  de  Latour-Maubourg  exclaimed : 
"  Then  I  am  vastly  astonished — for  there  is  the  young  lady  in 
question,  dancing  ! "  The  scandalmonger  was  overwhelmed  with 
confusion,  and  a  few  minutes  afterwards  (Mme.  de  Latour- 
Maubourg  having  hurried  away  to  inform  the  Empress  of  the 
incident)  a  chamberlain  approached  her,  and  said :  "  Madam, 
your  carriage  is  waiting."  On  the  morrow  her  name  was  struck 
off  the  list  of  those  received  at  the  Tuileries. 

There  are  reasons  for  thinking  that  some  truth  may 
attach  to  one  or  another  of  the  various  stories  respecting 
the  Emperor's  alleged  gallantries  with  ladies  of  the  Court, 
but  in  these  cases  again  there  is  a  lack  of  conclusive  evidence. 


196  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUlLEtllES 

and  more  than  once  appearances  may  have  been  deceptive. 
In  one  instance  the  lady  named  by  the  anecdotiers  certainly 
enjoyed  high  favour,  and  we  have  an  independent  witness. 
Lord  Malmesbury,  drawing  very  unfavourable  conclusions  from 
what  he  saw.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  we  find  various  writers, 
including  even  Viel  Castel,  who  repeated  all  the  rumours 
against  the  lady  in  question,  relating  that  when  she  heard  she 
was  accused  by  the  Court  of  being  the  Emperor"'s  mistress,  she 
hurried  to  the  Empress  to  protest  against  the  charge,  and  that 
the  Empress  believed  and  comforted  her.  This  lady  retained 
her  position  at  the  Tuileries  for  some  years  afterwards,  and  in 
that  connection  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  Empress 
Eugenie  was  no  Catherine  of  Braganza  willing  to  tolerate 
the  presence  of  a  Lady  Castlemaine  beside  her.  Whatever 
intrigues  occurred  at  the  palace  were  carried  on  there  without 
her  knowledge. 

When  the  papers  found  at  the  Tuileries  were  published  by 
the  Government  of  National  Defence  in  1870,  no  little  ado 
was  made  about  a  certain  invoice  for  sweetmeats,  which  was 
supposed  to  prove  that  the  Emperor  had  employed  his  aides- 
de-camp  and  orderlies  to  carry  honhons  to  his  favourites.  This 
invoice  was  as  follows  : — 

"  Gouache,  Confectioner,  Purveyor  to  H.M.  the  Empekoe. 

"  Paris,  May  20,  1858. 
"  Supplied  to  H.M.  the  Emperor : 

"  Twelve  dozen  half-boxes  of  dragees,  at  18  frs. — 216  frs. 
"  Porwarded  to  General  de  Failly,  20  Rue  de  Ponthieu. 

"Paid,  L.  Gouache." 

Below  the  bill  was  a  memorandum  in  pencil  recapitulating 
other  accounts  for  similar  sweetmeats,  the  total  amount  paid 
to  Gouache  being  .£51  8*.  lOd.  So  wild  were  the  passions  of 
the  time  when  this  "document"  was  brought  to  light,  that 
nobody  paused  to  reflect  that  dragees,  otherwise  sugared 
almonds,  were  sweets  chiefly  associated  in  France  with  christen- 
ings, that  each  half-box  supplied  by  Gouache  represented  the 
huge  sum  of  1*.  2d.,  and  that  it  was  nonsensical  to  imagine 
that  M.  de  Failly,  M.  de  Galliffet,  and  the  other  aides-de-camp 
or  orderlies  had  been  in  the  habit  of  taking  one-and-twopenny 


THE   EMPEROR  AND   HIS  LOVE   AFFAIRS     197 

packets  of  sugared  almonds  to  the  Countess  de  Castiglione, 
Mile.  Bellanger,  and  the  other  ladies  on  whom  their  imperial 
master  deigned  to  smile  !  The  memorandum  at  the  foot  of  the 
invoice  indicated  that  72  dozen,  that  is  864  half-boxes  of 
dragees  had  been  supplied  in  all,  over  a  period  of  about  twelve 
months.  We  are  not  able  to  say  with  certainty  for  what  purpose 
so  large  a  number  was  required,  but  we  have  a  suspicion,  and 
perhaps  a  shrewd  one,  on  the  subject.  After  the  Emperor 
and  Empress  had  become  sponsors  to  all  the  children  born 
on  the  same  day  as  the  Imperial  Prince  in  1856,  fervent 
imperialists  often  applied  to  them  to  act  likewise  in  other 
instances ;  and  we  think  it  quite  possible  that  the  dragees  were 
ordered  of  Gouache  for  distribution  at  the  christenings  of  the 
offspring  of  members  of  the  Court,  officials,  and  other  adherents. 
In  any  case  we  decline  to  believe  that  those  864  half-boxes  of 
cheap  sweets  Avere  procured  to  regale  the  imperial  favourites. 

Let  us  now  pass  to  the  well-authenticated  cases  of  conjugal 
infidelity  on  the  part  of  the  Emperor,  the  cases  of  the  two 
women  we  have  just  mentioned.  Countess  Virginia  Verasis  di 
Castiglione  and  Mile.  Marguerite  Bellanger.  We  referred  to 
the  Countess  in  a  previous  chapter,*  pointing  out  what  we 
believe  to  have  been  her  real  motive  in  coming  to  France — that 
is,  a  desire  to  captivate  the  Emperor  and  secure  some  such 
position  as  that  to  which  Miss  Howard  had  vainly  aspired. 
We  have  mentioned  also  that  in  the  opinion  of  most  of  those 
who  met  the  Countess  she  was  not  fit  for  the  role  she  wished  to 
play,  by  reason  of  her  lack  of  intellectual  ability.  Some  have 
urged  that  she  reserved  her  wit  for  rintimitS,  but  we  do  not 
believe  that  she  was  a  woman  to  hide  her  wit  (if  she  had  any) 
from  the  public  any  more  than  she  hid  her  beauty.  However, 
Count  Fleury,  the  Emperor's  confidant  in  most  of  his  love  affairs, 
held  a  somewhat  different  view,  as  we  shall  see.  In  coming  to 
Paris  from  Florence  the  Countess,  apart  from  the  question  of 
any  diplomatic  introduction,  was  assured  of  an  entree  into  high 
society  by  the  friendship  existing  between  the  Oldoini  family, 
to  which  she  belonged  by  birth,  and  the  Riccis,  of  whom  the 
Countess  Walewska  was  one.  It  was  under  the  wing  of  the 
Walewskis  that  the  Castigliones  first  made  their  appearance  in 

*  See  miUt  P-  11Q< 


198  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Parisian  drawing-rooms.  That  was  late  in  1855  or  early  in 
1 856,  the  Countess  then  being  about  twenty  years  of  age.*  In 
March  of  the  latter  year  Marshal  de  Castellane  was  introduced 
to  her  at  the  house  of  one  of  his  relatives,  and  while  recognizing 
her  beauty  he  was  greatly  disappointed  by  what  he  regarded  as 
her  lack  of  esprit.  Even  her  beauty  did  not  pass  unchallenged. 
In  November,  1857,  she  was  a  guest  at  Compiegne  at  the  same 
time  as  the  Duchess  of  Manchester,  now  Duchess  of  Devonshire, 
by  whose  radiant  charm  she  was  altogether  eclipsed.  The 
Marchioness  de  Contades,  referring  to  the  Duchess  in  a  letter  to 
Marshal  de  Castellane,  remarked :  "  She  is  as  beautiful  as  day- 
light, she  quite  surpasses  Mme.  de  Castiglione  .  .  .  she  has  a 
profile  like  an  antique  cameo,  and  it  is  quite  a  treat  to  look 
at  her." 

Nevertheless,  in  her  own  particular  style,  the  Countess 
Virginia  remained  unexcelled.  Viel  Castel,  Avhom  one  may 
follow  when,  instead  of  collecting  miscellaneous  tittle-tattle,  he 
describes  what  he  actually  witnessed,  gives  a  lively  account  of 
the  sensation  the  Countess  created  at  a  fancy-dress  ball  given 
at  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs  f  in  February,  1857.  Her 
costume,  devised  in  part  according  to  the  Louis  XV.  style  and 
in  part  according  to  the  fashions  of  the  day,  was  that  of  "  Queen 
of  Hearts  " — the  hearts  being  outlined  by  a  number  of  gold 
chains  which  wound  around  her,  and  the  sight  of  which  inspired 
some  simple-minded  folk  with  much  admiration  for  her  talent 
in  being  able  to  array  herself  in  such  a  costly  fashion,  when, 
having  already  squandered  the  fine  fortune  of  her  infatuated 
husband,  she  had  but  a  paltry  income  of  about  .£'600  a  year. 
Dressed  as  we  have  said,  she  wore  her  hair  loose,  streaming  over 
her  neck  and  shoulders.  Her  corsage  was  reduced  to  the 
simplest  expression,  and  it  was  evident  to  all  beholders  that  she 
scorned  to  wear  anything  so  commonplace  as  a  corset.  She 
was  extremely  proud  of  her  beauty,  and,  as  Viel  Castel  says,  only 
veiled  it  so  far  as  was  necessary  to  obtain  admittance  to  a 
drawing-room.      At  subsequent  entertainments  of  the   period 

*  She  was  only  fifteen  when  she  married.  She  already  had  a  son  at  the 
time  of  her  arrival  in  France. 

t  Not  at  the  Tuileries,  as  some  accounts  have  it.  Many  legends  have 
sprung  up  respecting  Mme.  de  Castiglione,  but  few  are  really  based  on  fact. 


THE   EMPEROR   AND   HIS   LOVE   AFFAIRS     199 

she  surpassed  her  previous  performances  by  appearing  in  ahnost 
transparent  draperies,  once  as  a  Roman  lady  of  the  Decline, 
and  later  as  the  Salammbo  immortalized  by  Flaubert. 

It  was  no  difficult  task  for  the  Countess  to  fascinate  the 
Emperor,  but  she  altogether  failed  in  her  endeavours  to  attain 
the  position  of  a  grande  viaitresse.  The  liaison  lasted  about  a 
year — 1857 — and  as  it  was  never  renewed,  those  writers  who, 
regardless  of  dates,  have  tried  to  connect  the  Emperor'^s  passion 
for  the  Countess  with  the  Empress's  journey  to  Scotland  in 
1860  have  blundered  egregiously.  At  the  time  of  Mme.  de 
Castiglione\s  arrival  in  France  her  means,  as  already  indicated, 
v/ere  very  slender.  Her  first  residence  (with  her  husband)  was 
a  small  flat  situated,  curiously  enough,  in  the  Rue  Castiglione, 
near  the  Place  Vendome.  She  could  not  receive  the  Emperor 
there,  and  at  the  outset  of  the  liaisoti  a  small  house  was  taken 
in  the  Rue  de  la  Pompe  at  Passy.  Thanks  to  Napoleon''s 
liberality,  the  Countess  was  afterwards  able  to  install  herself  in 
the  Rue  Montaigne,  where,  as  mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter, 
Tibaldi  and  his  confederates  proposed  to  waylay  and  assassinate 
the  Emperor  during  the  summer  of  1857.* 

It  was  not,  however,  fear  for  his  personal  safety  that  induced 
the  latter  to  break  off  the  connection.  Whether  he  gave 
utterance  or  not  to  the  alleged  saying  about  his  lady  friends  of 
the  ground  floor,  first  floor,  and  second  floor,  the  account  of  the 
one  who,  although  very  beautiful,  bored  him  by  her  insignificance 
and  insipidity  would  seem  to  have  been  extremely  well  suited  to 
Mme.  de  Castiglione.  Still  we  must  not  forget  Count  Fleury's 
view  of  the  matter,  and  as  he  is  well  entitled  to  a  hearing,  let 
us  give  it  to  him.  He  contends,  then,  in  his  "  Souvenirs  "  that 
whatever  some  may  have  thought,  the  Countess  was  in  reality 
no  fool,  and  he  ascribes  her  failure  to  retain  any  mastery  over 
the  Emperor  to  another  cause — her  absolute  lack  of  charm. 
While  Viel  Castel  christens  her  Aspasia,  Fleury  calls  her  a 
female  Narcissus,  always  in  adoration  before  her  own  beauty, 
lacking  both  suppleness  and  gentleness  of  disposition,  "ambitious 
without  grace  and  haughty  without  reason  " — in  such  wise  that 
she  soon  Avearied  the  man  whom  she  hoped  to  hold.  "  Infatuated 
with  herself,"  Fleury  continues,  "and  always  draped  a  T antique, 

*  See  ante,  p.  111. 


200  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

strange  in  both  her  person  and  her  manners,  she  made  her 
appearance  at  the  assemblies  of  the  time  Hke  a  goddess  just 
descended  from  the  clouds.  She  bade  her  husband  lead  her  to 
some  secluded  part  of  the  room,  where  she  allowed  herself  to  be 
admired  as  if  she  were  a  reliquary  .  .  .  boldly  facing  every 
glance  and  never  allowing  the  icy  calmness  of  her  demeanour  to 
be  in  the  slightest  degree  disturbed  by  the  indiscreet  admiration 
which  she  inspired.  She  scarcely  ever  spoke  to  women.*  Just 
a  few  admirers  were  accorded  the  alms  of  a  smile,  a  word,  or  a 
return  bow.  Like  some  great  artiste  who  has  just  sung  in  an 
assembly  where  she  knows  nobody,  she  waited  patiently  and 
with  indifference  until  the  master  and  mistress  of  the  house 
came  to  compliment  her.  Directly  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
drew  near  her  physiognomy  became  transformed.  Her  mouth, 
hitherto  so  expressive  of  disdain,  opened  with  a  smile,  disclosing 
her  admirable  teeth,  her  eyes  glittered,  expressing  her  feeling  of 
triumph,  her  gratified  vanity.  To  everybody  else  she  seemed 
to  say  :  '  I  am  not  here  for  you  ;  I  am  of  a  superior  essence  to 
you.  I  know  but  the  sovereigns.'  That  style  of  behaviour, 
which  at  the  utmost  would  only  be  acceptable  in  a  Sultan''s 
harem,   was    not    calculated  to   win    her  either  sympathy  or 

friends.'^  t 

Fleury  next  relates  that  during  a  stay  at  Compiegne  the 
Countess  had  a  nasty  fall  among  the  ruins  of  the  then  unrestored 
castle  of  Pierrefonds,  with  the  result  that  she  dislocated  a  wrist. 
A  doctor  attended  her,  but  when  the  question  arose  of  escorting 
her  back  to  the  chateau  of  Compiegne  nobody  was  willing  to 
undertake  the  duty,  and  he,  Fleury,  had  to  intervene  and  place 
her  in  a  char-a-hancs  under  the  protection  of  two  footmen. 

When  the  Countess's  liaison  with  the  Emperor  ceased  (early, 
we  think,  in  1858)  she  left  Paris,  but  she  was  there  again  after 
the  Solferino-Magenta  campaign;  and  Madame  Carette,  the 
Empress's  reader,  relates  that  at  one  of  the  last  entertainments 
given  in  I860  by  old  Prince  Jerome  at  the  Palais  Royal,  she 
arrived   there   about   one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  just  as  the 

*  She  had  reason  to  dislike  the  ladies  of  the  Imperial  Court,  for  they  did 
not  hide  their  dislike  of  her.  A  few  so  far  forgot  themselves  as  to  send  her 
insulting  anonymous  letters,  which  embittered  her  greatly. 

t  Count  Fleury's  "  Souvenirs,"  vol.  i. 


THE   EMPEROR  AND   HIS   LOVE   AFFAIRS    201 

Emperor  and  Empress  were  leaving.  They  met  on  the  stairs. 
"  You  arrive  very  late,  Madame  la  Comtesse,"  Napoleon  said  to 
her.  "  It  is  you,  Sire,  who  leave  very  early,"  she  retorted, 
passing  on  and  entering  the  rooms  with  her  usual  scornful  air. 
There  was,  perhaps,  in  her  retort,  a  touch  of  the  bravado  of  a 
woman  who  has  played  her  cards  and  lost  the  game,  but  is 
resolved  that  none  shall  think  her  downhearted.* 

Nevertheless,  she  retired  for  a  while  to  a  convent,  either  by 
way  of  doing  penance  for  her  sins  or  in  imitation  of  the  course 
taken  by  the  tearful  La  Valliere.  As,  however,  the  Emperor 
was  not  Louis  XIV.,  he  refrained  from  attempting  to  lure  the 
fair  penitent  from  her  cell.  She  emerged  from  it  of  her  own 
accord.  Time  passed,  and  every  now  and  again  she  made  a 
sudden  brief  appearance  in  society.  In  1865,  when  Prince, 
later  King,  Humbert  of  Italy  visited  the  French  Court  at  St. 
Cloud,  Mme.  de  Castiglione  was  present  at  a  lunch  there,  it 
being  requisite  to  invite  her,  as  her  husband  was  in  attendance 
on  the  Prince.  But  eventually  she  received  her  conge.  The 
occasion  was  a  great  fancy  ball  at  the  Tuileries,  at  which  the 
Empress  appeared  as  Marie  Antoinette,  her  costume  in  red 
velvet  being  copied  from  that  worn  by  the  Queen  in  one  of  the 
portraits  by  Mme.  Vigee-Lebrun.  For  some  time  past  Mme. 
de  Castiglione  had  not  appeared  at  Court,  and  when  she 
arrived  on  this  occasion  it  Avas  in  black,  in  fact,  in  widow's 
garb,  as  Marie  de*  Medici.  We  cannot  say  whether,  as  some 
supposed,  this  was  resented  as  an  allusion  to  her  widowhood 
with  respect  to  the  Emperor.  According  to  one  account,  she 
had  received  no  invitation  to  that  particular  fete.  In  any  case, 
she  had  scarcely  entered  the  palace  when  a  chamberlain  appeared, 
and,  offering  her  his  arm,  conducted  her  back  to  her  carriage. 

It  should  be  added  that  when  this  occurred  all  sorts  of 
scandalous  rumours  had  been  for  a  considerable  time  associated 
with  her  name.  Paris  had  talked  of  her  in  connection  notably 
with    Count   Nieuwerkerke,   whose    position    with    regard    to 

*  Mme,  Carette's  anecdote  has  been  repeated  in  most  of  the  works  on  the 
men  and  women  of  the  Second  Empire,  and  it  may  be  thought  superfluous  on 
our  part  to  give  it  here.  But  we  do  not  wish  to  be  unfair  to  la  belle  Comtesse, 
and  her  retort  to  the  Emperor  being  one  of  her  few  recorded  attempts  at  wit, 
we  have  thought  it  as  well  to  reproduce  it  yet  again. 


202  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

Princess  Mathilde  was  a  secret  for  nobody.  An  old  beau  as 
well  as  a  clever  man,  Nieuwerkerke  had  been  flattered,  it  seems, 
by  the  Countess's  sudden  partiality  for  him,  but  it  does  not 
appear  that  he  actually  compromised  himself.  There  had  also 
been,  however,  an  outrageous  story  about  an  eccentric  English 
peer  and  the  Countess,  and  although  that  might  be  untrue, 
there  could  be  no  doubt  of  her  liaison  with  the  elderly  Charles 
Laffitte,  the  father  of  the  Marchioness  de  Galliffet.  Facilis 
descensus  Avei-ni.  The  beautiful  Countess  had  fallen  from  an 
empire  to  a  banker's  money  bag !  .  .  .  All  that  need  be  added 
is  that  Mme.  de  Castiglione  lost  in  turn  both  her  husband  and 
her  son, — the  first  being  killed  in  1867  by  a  fall  from  his  horse 
while  he  was  escorting  Prince  Humbert,*  the  second  dying  in 
his  twentieth  year — and  that  after  a  good  many  of  those  ups 
and  downs  that  occur  in  the  life  of  an  adventuress,  this  strange, 
almost  enigmatical,  woman  spent  her  last  years  in  melancholy 
seclusion  in  a  little  flat  on  the  Place  Vendome,  the  shutters  of 
which  were  always  kept  closed.  It  was  even  said  that  the 
mirrors  of  the  rooms  were  covered,  in  order  that  she  might 
not  see  the  wreck  of  her  once  marvellous  beauty.  Of  Southern 
birth,  she  had  matured  precociously,  and,  as  happens  so  often 
in  such  cases,  she  became  betimes  an  old  woman  in  appearance. 
She  died  in  1899.t 

Napoleon's  liaison  with  Marguerite  Bellanger  was  of  much 
later  date  than  the  Castiglione  affair,  having  begun  in  1863  or 
1864.  This  person's  real  name  was  Justine  Marie  Leboeuf,  and 
she  was  a  native  of  Boulogne-sur-Mer,  where  she  was  born  in 
1838.  Of  modest  parentage,  and  earning  her  living  as  a.femme 
de  chambre,  she  ran  away  to  Paris  with  a  commercial  traveller, 
who  deserted  her  there.  An  actor  of  the  Ambigu  Theatre 
secured  for  her,  however,  an  engagement  as  Jigurante  at  the 
little  Theatre  Beaumarchais,  and   she   subsequently   obtained 

*  The  fatality  occurred  on  the  day  following  the  Prince's  marriage  with 
the  present  Dowager-Queen  Margherita  of  Italy,  and  cast  gloom  over  the 
wedding  festivities. 

t  Those  interested  in  Mme.  de  Castiglione  cannot  do  better  than  read  the 
account  of  her  in  M.  F.  Loli^e's  "  Femmes  du  Second  Empire."  It  is 
compiled  from  many  sources,  and  embodies  some  very  good — if  often  very 
doubtful— stories  about  her.  M.  Loli^e's  view  of  her  is  not  the  same  as  ours, 
to  which,  however,  we  adhere. 


THE   EMPEROR  AND   HIS   LOVE   AFFAIRS    203 

employment  in  a  similar  capacity  at  the  Opera-house.  Being 
clever,  she  soon  rose  in  her  profession,  and  appeared  in  various 
pieces  at  the  Folies  Dramatiques  as  an  ingenue.  Not  content, 
however,  with  playing  that  kind  of  role  on  the  stage,  she 
attempted  it  in  real  life,  and,  for  a  time,  not  unsuccessfully, 
so  far  as  Napoleon  HI.  was  concerned.* 

There  is  no  truth  in  a  remarkable  account  of  her  which 
appeared  in  the  French  press  several  years  ago,  and  according 
to  which  her  mother  was  a  younger  sister  of  Heindereich, 
the  famous  Paris  headsman,  who  guillotined  the  odious 
Troppmann,  Dr.  Lapommerais,  and  so  many  others.  A  great 
many  genealogical  particulars  respecting  the  Heindereichs  were 
printed  in  support  of  that  theory,  but  it  rested  on  the  assump- 
tion that  Bellanger  was  this  person's  real  name,  which  it  was 
not.  The  Emperor  met  her  during  a  stay  at  Plombieres,  or 
it  may  have  been  Vichy,  and  on  his  return  to  Paris  he  took  a 
house  for  her.  No.  27,  in  the  Rue  des  Vignes  at  Passy.  There, 
in  1864,  she  gave  birth  to  a  son,  who  received  the  Christian 
names  of  Charles  Jules,  and  on  whom  Napoleon  bestowed  the 
chateau  and  estate  of  Monchy  (not  Mouchy,  as  so  many  have 
said)  at  Liancourt-Rantigny,  in  the  department  of  the  Oise,  at 
no  very  great  distance  from  Compiegne.  In  reality  the  child 
was  not  the  Emperor''s.  The  latter  had  been  imposed  upon, 
as  is  conclusively  shown  by  two  letters,  which  were  found  among 
his  private  papers  at  the  Tuileries  in  1870.  They  were  together 
in  an  envelope,  bearing  the  imperial  monogram  and  the  super- 
scription in  Napoleon's  handwriting :  "  Letters  to  be  kept."  In 
one  of  them,  addressed  to  M.  Devienne,  First  President  of  the 
Court  of  Cassation,  the  supreme  tribunal  of  France,  Mile. 
Bellanger  openly  admitted  that  she  had  deceived  the  Emperor 
with  respect  to  the  child  referred  to ;  while  the  other  missive, 
addressed  to  Napoleon  himself,  ran  as  follows  : — 

"Cher  Seigneur  [Dear  Lord], 

"  I  have  not  written  to  you  since  my  departure,  fearing 
lest  I  should  annoy  you,  but   after  Monsieur  Devienne's  visit,   I 

*  She  was  tall,  with  an  attractive  figure  and  graceful  carriage.  She  had 
light,  smooth  hair,  and  an  oval  face,  with  somewhat  irregular  features.  The 
eyes  had  a  candid  expression,  suited  to  the  parts  she  played.  The  mouth, 
however,  was  somewhat  large  and  sensual. 


204  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

think  it  my  duty  to  do  so,  first  to  implore  you  not  to  despise  me, 
for  without  your  esteem  I  do  not  know  what  would  become  of  me, 
and  secondly  to  beg  your  pardon.  I  was  guilty,  it  is  true,  but  I 
assure  you  that  I  had  my  doubts.  Tell  me,  cher  Seigneur,  if  there 
is  a  means  by  which  I  may  redeem  my  fault  1  I  shall  recoil  from 
nothing.  If  a  whole  life  of  devotion  can  restore  to  me  your  esteem, 
mine  belongs  to  you,  and  there  is  no  sacrifice  you  may  ask  that  I 
am  not  ready  to  make.  If  it  be  necessary  for  your  quietude  that 
I  should  exile  myself  and  go  abroad,  say  but  the  word,  and  I  will 
start.  My  heart  is  so  full  of  gratitude  for  all  you  have  done  for 
me  that  to  suffer  for  you  would  be  happiness  still.  Thus,  the  only 
thing  that,  in  any  case,  I  do  not  wish  you  to  doubt  is  the  sincerity 
and  depth  of  my  love  for  you.  I  beg  you  therefore  to  write  me  a 
few  lines  to  tell  me  that  you  forgive  me.  My  address  is :  Mme. 
Bellanger,  Rue  de  Launay,  Commune  of  Vilbernier,  near  Saumur. 
Awaiting  your  reply,  cher  Seigneur,  receive  the  farewell  of  your  all 
devoted,  but  most  unhappy 

"  Marguerite."  '^ 

The  discovery  of  this  correspondence  after  the  Revolution 
of  1870  caused  the  Government  of  National  Defence  to  issue 
a  decree  ordering  the  prosecution  of  M.  Devienne  before  the 
Court  of  Cassation,  sitting  as  a  Chamber  of  Discipline,  for 
having  seriously  compromised  the  dignity  of  the  magistracy  in 
scandalous  negotiations,  he  having  been  summoned  to  give 
explanations  but  having  failed  to  comply  with  the  request, 
besides  absenting  himself  from  Paris  at  the  hour  of  the  national 
peril,  although  he  was  the  head  of  the  first  judicial  body  of  the 
State.f  This  decree  was  signed  by  Emmanuel  Arago  as  delegate 
of  the  Minister  of  Justice. 

M.  Devienne,  it  may  be  explained,  had  fled  to  Brussels  at 
the  fall  of  the  Empire,  and  from  that  city  he  wrote  first  to 
M.  Cremieux,  Keeper  of  the  Seals  and  Minister  of  Justice,  who 
had  taken  up  his  quarters  at  Tours  with  other  members  of 
the  new  Republican  Government,  and  secondly  to  Emmanuel 
Arago  who  had  remained  in  the  capital.  In  his  first  letter 
M.  Devienne  declared  that  he  should  be  the  first  to  ask  for  a 
decision  when  it  became  possible.     His  explanations  would  be 

*  From  the  "  Papiers  et  Correspondance  de  la  Famille  Imp^riale,"  Paris 
Imprimerie  Nationale,  1870. 

t  The  siege  by  the  Gerraans  was  theo  impending. 


THE  EMPEROR  AND   HIS  LOVE  AFFAIRS    205 

neither  long  nor  difficult,  said  he,  and  they  would  show  that 
the  allegations  and  imputations  contained  in  the  newspapers 
(there  were  many  slanderous  articles  at  the  time)  were  absolutely 
erroneous.  "  I  am  certain,""  he  added,  "  that  I  did  not  forget 
my  dignity  on  an  occasion  when  I  undertook  what  I  considered, 
and  still  consider,  to  have  been  a  duty.""  Again,  in  writing  to 
Arago,  Devienne  protested  that  he  had  done  nothing  wrong  : 
"  When  the  situation  of  the  country  admits  of  free  discussion 
in  proper  form  I  will  prove  that  I  did  not  compromise  my 
dignity  in  negotiations  of  a  scandalous  character.  ...  I  will 
prove  that  your  police,  your  newspapers,  and  you  yourself, 
carried  away  by  delight  at  the  opportunity  of  striking  a 
political  adversary,  have  blindly  libelled  me  with  respect  to  a 
matter  which  was  very  different  from  what  you  allege.  You 
appeal  to  the  law.  I  in  my  turn  invoke  it  also,  and  far  more 
energetically.  The  day  of  justice  will  come,  and  it  is  with 
impatience  that  I  await  it." 

It  was  only  in  July,  1871,  after  the  insurrection  of  the  Com- 
mune had  been  suppressed,  that  M.  Devienne  appeared  before 
the  Court  over  which  he  had  so  long  presided.  He  then  stated 
to  the  judges  that  if  he  had  intervened  in  the  affair  of  the 
relations  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  with  Mile.  Bellanger,  he 
had  done  so  at  the  express  request  of  the  Empress  Eugenie, 
who,  having  discovered  her  husband's  infidelity,  was  sorely 
afflicted  by  it  and  threatened  to  leave  him.  To  prevent  not 
only  a  public  scandal  but  a  complete  rupture  between  husband 
and  wife,  he,  Devienne,  had  inquired  into  the  affair,  with 
the  result  already  known,  and  had  obtained  the  dismissal 
{eloignement)  of  Mile.  Bellanger.  On  July  21, 1871,  the  Court, 
having  considered  M.  Devienne's  statement  and  the  proofs 
adduced  in  support  of  it,  delivered  judgment  to  the  effect 
that  he  had  been  guilty  of  no  misconduct,  but  that  his  action 
had  been,  on  the  contrary,  a  good  and  honourable  one.* 

The  result  was  that  Devienne  was  reinstated  in  his  position 
as  First  President  of  the  Court,  and  held  that  post  until  his 
age  compelled  him  to  retire  in  March,  1877.  When  a  First 
President  retires  it  is  usual  for  the  authorities  to  confer  on  him 
the  title  of  Honorary  First  President,  but  the  Government  of 
*  See  La  Gazette  des  Tribunatix  of  the  period. 


206  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

the  time  refused  to  do  this  in  Devienne's  case,  far  less,  however, 
on  account  of  his  conduct  in  connection  with  the  Bellanser 
affair  than  on  account  of  the  part  he  had  played  at  Bordeaux  at 
the  time  of  the  Coup  d'Etat,  when  he  had  sat  on  one  of  the 
Mixed  Commissions  which  expelled  so  many  people  from  France 
without  due  trial.  Marguerite  Bellanger,  let  us  add,  survived 
until  November  23,  1886,  when  she  died  at  Dommartin  in 
the  department  of  the  Somme.  She  became  very  pious  and 
charitable  in  her  last  years,  and  bequeathed  all  she  possessed  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Church  or  of  associations  connected  with  it. 

It  is  well  known  that  in  1864  and  the  earlier  part  of  1865 
the  Emperor  and  Empress  were  by  no  means  on  good  terms. 
Several  of  the  latter''s  intimates  have  described  her  as  being 
very  sad,  deeply  conscious  of  her  husband's  neglect.  We  do 
not  think  that  there  is  any  reason  to  doubt  M.  Devienne's 
statements  to  the  Court  of  Cassation.  They  are  of  considerable 
importance,  as  they  help  to  explain  various  things  which  occurred 
during  the  last  years  of  the  Empire. 

The  Empress  may  certainly  have  been  somewhat  worried 
by  the  turn  which  events  were  taking  politically,  about  the  time 
Ave  have  mentioned.  It  is  true  that  there  was  as  yet  no  sign  of 
the  collapse  of  the  hazardous  Mexican  expedition  which  she 
appears  to  have  favoured.  Maximilian  of  Austria  entered 
Mexico  city  as  Emperor  in  July,  1864,  and  the  Tuileries,  con- 
fronted by  the  glowing  despatches  of  the  French  commanders, 
did  not  as  yet  imagine  either  that  they  would  fail  to  impose  the 
new  regime  on  the  Mexican  people,  or  that  this  mushroom 
transatlantic  Empire  could  at  the  utmost  only  last  so  long  as 
the  United  States,  then  in  the  throes  of  the  War  of  Secession, 
remained  disunited.  On  the  other  hand,  however,  the  new 
phase  upon  which  the  Roman  question  entered  in  the  autumn 
of  1864  was  of  a  nature  to  give  the  Empress  anxiety.  By  a 
convention  signed  in  September  it  was  agreed  that  the  French 
troops  should  quit  Rome  at  the  expiration  of  two  years,  and 
that  the  maintenance  of  the  integrity  of  the  Papal  dominions 
should  afterwards  be  entrusted  to  the  Italian  Government. 
That  measure  had  raised  the  ire  of  Pius  IX.,  who,  early  in 
December,  and  apparently  in  a  spirit  of  revenge,  issued  an 
Encyclical  Letter  in  which  several  of  the  chief  principles,  not 


THE  EMPEROR  AND   HIS  LOVE   AFFAIRS     207 

only  of  modern  civilization  generally,  but  of  the  very  organiza- 
tion of  -France,  were  condemned  as  heretical.  An  angry  contro- 
versy at  once  arose  in  the  French  press,  and  on  January  1, 
1865,  the  Imperial  Government  notified  the  bishops  that  the 
publication  of  the  Papal  Encyclical  was  prohibited,  as  it  con- 
tained propositions  contrary  to  the  Constitution  of  the  Empire. 
Some  thirty  of  the  bishops  protested  against  this  prohibition, 
and  the  relations  between  the  Government  and  the  clergy 
became  extremely  strained.  In  that  affair  the  Emperor  was 
on  one  side  and  the  Empress  on  the  other — thus  even  in  that 
respect  some  personal  estrangement  was  inevitable,  but  the 
Emperor's  private  conduct  about  this  period  was  certainly  the 
chief  cause  of  the  trouble  apparent  to  the  whole  Court. 

In  our  account  of  Napoleon's  gallantries  we  have  striven  to 
express  ourselves  temperately.  We  have  set  down  naught  in 
malice,  but  have  refrained  from  chronicling  many  scandalous 
rumours  of  the  period,  only  giving  particulars  respecting  those 
affairs  which  are  thoroughly  well  authenticated.  The  Gordon, 
Howard,  and  Vergeot  episodes  were  antecedent  to  the  imperial 
marriage,  and  of  them  the  Empress  Eugenie  could  not  complain. 
She  was  no  mere  child  when  she  consented  to  link  her  destiny 
with  that  of  Napoleon  III. ;  she  must  have  known  at  least 
something  of  his  past.  Perhaps  she  imagined,  as  other  women 
have  done  in  similar  situations,  that  her  beauty  and  charm 
would  suffice  to  keep  her  husband  in  the  path  of  marital  duty  ; 
but  she  should  have  remembered  that  he  belonged  to  a  race 
devoid  in  certain  respects  of  moral  sense.  That  reminds  us  that 
we  omitted  to  mention  previously  that  while  Napoleon  III.  had 
an  illegitimate  half-brother,  Morny,  on  his  mother's  side,  he 
also  had  another,  the  Count  de  Castelvecchio,  on  his  father's. 
That  little  touch  will  serve  to  complete  the  picture.  That 
the  Emperor  wronged  his  wife  in  the  case  of  the  Countess  de 
Castiglione  and  that  of  Marguerite  Bellanger  is  indisputable, 
and  those  instances  alone  would  suffice  to  constitute  serious 
grievances,  even  if  there  were  no  others,  as  there  may  have 
been,  though,  for  lack  of  conclusive  evidence,  we  have  refrained 
from  insisting  on  that  side  of  the  question. 

There  Avas,  we  think,  something  of  the  nature  of  Louis  XV. 
in  Napoleon  III.     Like  the  V^^ell  Beloved,  he  had  his  secret 


208  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

diplomacy ;  like  him  he  was  partial  to  the  perusal  of  police 
reports  and  the  private  correspondence  of  his  entourage;  like 
him,  again,  he  was  fond  of  women.  To  those  who  did  not  know 
the  Emperor  in  that  respect,  it  Avas  a  revelation  to  see  him  at 
some  evening  gathering — at  Compiegne,  for  instance — walking 
slowly  down  a  room  between  two  long  lines  of  radiant 
courtesying  beauties.  The  right  hand  was  raised  in  the 
familiar  fashion  to  twirl  the  pointed  moustache,  the  eyes 
glanced  almost  stealthily  to  right  and  left,  momentarily 
glittering  as  every  now  and  then  they  espied  some  vision 
of  particularly  attractive  loveliness.  Again  and  again  the 
simile  which  that  spectacle  suggested  to  the  mind  was  that 
of  a  Sultan  passing  his  odalisques  in  review.  Thus,  even  if 
the  Emperor's  actual  lapses  were  far  fewer  than  was  rumoured, 
one  could  well  understand  such  rumours  arising,  and  spreading 
from  the  Court  to  the  city,  and  thence  through  the  world  at 
large. 


CHAPTER   IX 

THE    IMPERIAL    FAMILY 

Branches  of  tho  House  of  Bonaparte  and  their  Rank  at  Court — The  Emperor's 
Civil  Family — The  Lucien  Bonapartes — The  Murats — Table  of  Allowances 
to  the  Imperial  Family — Additional  special  Grants— Sums  secured  by 
various  Branches — Baron  Jerome  David — Emoluments  of  the  Jerome 
Bonapartes — The  Bonaparte-Paterson  Lawsuit — Prince  Jerome's  last 
Marriage — His  Protest  to  Napoleon  III. — Curious  Letter  from  Prince 
Napoleon  to  Mr.  Jerome  (Paterson)  Bonaparte — Jerome  Bonaparte  fils, 
Cassagnac  and  Rochefort — Relationship  of  the  Jerome  Bonapartes  to  the 
British  Royal  House — Prince  Napoleon  (Jerome) — His  early  career  and 
Character — His  Marriage  with  Princess  Clotilde  and  their  Home  at  the 
Palais  Royal — The  Prince's  Love  AfEairs — Edmond  About's  famous  Sketch 
of  him — His  later  career  and  his  sons,  Princes  Victor  and  Louis — Princess 
Mathilde — Her  Character,  Marriage,  and  Entourage— Tho  Head  of  the 
Murats— Prince  Pierre  Bonaparte. 

At  the  establishment  of  the  Second  Empire  nearly  all  the 
branches  of  the  Bonaparte  family  existing  at  the  beginning 
of  the  century  still  numbered  representatives.  The  line  of 
Napoleon  I.  was,  of  course,  extinct,  but  his  brother  Lucien, 
Prince  of  Canino,  had  left  numerous  descendants,  one  of  whom 
was  married  to  a  still  surviving  daughter  of  Joseph,  King 
of  Spain.  Further,  Napoleon''s  sister  Elisa,  sometime  Grand 
Duchess  of  Tuscany,  was  represented  by  her  daughter,  the 
Princess  Baciocchi,  and  there  were  several  descendants  of 
Caroline  Bonaparte  and  her  husband  Murat,  King  of  Naples. 
The  great  Emperor's  brother.  Prince  Jerome,  sometime  King 
of  Westphalia,  was  still  alive,  with  a  son  and  a  daughter  by 
Catherine  of  Wurtemberg,  in  addition  to  the  offspring  of  his 
contested  marriage  with  Miss  Paterson  of  Baltimore.  Finally, 
Napoleon  III.  himself  represented  the  line  of  Louis  King  of 
Holland, 


210  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

Failing  direct  male  descent  from  Napoleon  III.  (and,  later, 
from  the  Imperial  Prince),  the  succession  to  the  throne,  as 
indicated  in  a  previous  chapter,  was  vested  "  in  Prince  Jerome 
and  his  direct,  natural,  and  legitimate  descendants,  proceeding 
from  his  marriage  with  Princess  Catherine  of  Wurtemberg  by 
order  of  primogeniture,  from  male  to  male,  and  to  the  per- 
petual exclusion  of  women."'"'  The  Senatus  Consultum  and  the 
Organic  Decree  of  1852  containing  that  provision  were  con- 
firmed by  Clause  4  of  the  Constitution  of  May  21,  1870,  and 
as  a  result  of  the  stipulations.  Prince  Jerome,  his  son  Napoleon, 
and  his  daughter  Mathilde  ranked  as  Imperial  Highnesses, 
and,  with  the  Empress  and  Imperial  Prince,  constituted 
what  was  strictly  the  Imperial  Family.  In  1855  the  so-called 
*' Civil  Family  of  the  Emperor"  was  formed,  it  being  provided 
that  "the  sons  of  the  brothers  and  sisters  of  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  I.,  who  do  not  belong  to  the  Imperial  Family,  shall 
bear  the  titles  of  Prince  and  Highness  {i.e.  without  the  adjunc- 
tion of  the  word  "  Imperial "),  together  with  their  family  name. 
At  the  second  generation  only  the  eldest  sons  shall  bear  the 
titles  of  Prince  and  Highness,  the  others  having  the  title  of 
Prince  only.  Until  their  marriage  the  daughters  of  Princes 
related  to  the  Emperor  shall  enjoy  the  title  of  Princess,  but 
after  marriage  they  shall  bear  only  the  names  and  titles 
that  may  belong  to  their  respective  husbands,  unless  there  be 
a  special  decision  of  the  Crown  to  a  contrary  effect.  The 
Princesses  of  the  Emperor  s  family  who  have  married  Frenchmen 
or  foreigners  do  not  take  at  Court  any  other  rank  than  that  of 
their  husbands."'"' 

The  numerous  descendants  of  the  first  Napoleon''s  brother 
Lucien,  against  whom  the  above  stipulations  seem  to  have  been 
chiefly  directed,  were  obliged  to  submit  to  them,  but  they 
always  contested  their  equity,  and  claimed  that  Napoleon  III. 
had  no  right  to  deprive  them  of  the  title  of  Prince  or  Princess 
of  the  Imperial  Family,  as  it  had  been  granted  to  them  by  the 
first  Napoleon's  decree  of  March  22, 1815.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
Napoleon  III."'s  stipulations  were  not  enforced  with  absolute 
rigidity.  For  instance,  three  of  Lucien"'s  daughters,  the 
Marchioness  Roccagiovine,  the  Countess  Primoli,  and  the 
Princess   Gabrielli,  were,   by   courtesy,   generally   known   anc^ 


THE   IMPERIAL  FAMILY  211 

addressed  at  the  Tuileries  as  the  Princesses  Julie,  Charlotte, 
and  Augusta. 

At  the  advent  of  the  Second  Empire  there  were  four  sons 
of  Napoleon  I.'s  brother  Lucien  living.  Those  were  the  Princes 
Charles  Lucien  of  Canino  and  Musignano,*  Louis  Lucien,t 
Pierre  Napoleon,|  and  Antoine.§  Louis  Lucien  and  Pierre 
Napoleon  were  included  in  the  civil  family  of  Napoleon  III. 
in  1855,  Antoine  gained  access  to  it  at  a  later  date,  but  the 
eldest  brother,  Charles  Lucien — a  distinguished  ornithologist — 
was  excluded,  in  spite  of  a  decree  of  February  21, 1853,  declaring 
him  a  French  Prince.  His  three  sons  were  admitted  at  succes- 
sive dates — first.  Prince  Joseph  Lucien  Bonaparte,  ||  in  1855  ; 
secondly,  Prince  Napoleon  Charles,^!  in  1860 ;  and  thirdly.  Prince 
Lucien  Louis,**  best  known  as  Cardinal  Bonaparte,  in  1865. 
The  Murats  were  also  represented  in  the  civil  family,  at  first 
merely  by  the  former  King  of  Naples'  surviving  son.  Napoleon 
Lucien  Charles,  Prince  Murat  and  Prince  of  Pontecorvo ;  tt  and 
afterwards  by  the  latter's  sons,  the  Princes  Joachim  tt  and 
Achille  Murat.§§  Their  sister,  the  Princess  Anna,||  |1  who  married 
Antoine  de  Noailles,  Duke  de  Mouchy  and  Prince-Duke  de 

*  Born  in  Paris  in  1803;  married  in  1822  to  Lsetitia-Julie,  daughter  of 
King  Joseph  of  Spain,  by  whom  he  had  twelve  children,  four  boys  and  eight 
girls.    He  died  in  1857. 

t  Born  in  England  in  1813,  married  Maria  Cecchi  of  Lucca  in  1883,  was 
separated  from  her  in  1850,  and  died  in  1891. 

X  Born  at  Bome  in  1815,  died  at  Versailles  in  1881.  We  shall  deal  with 
him  hereafter  in  more  detail. 

§  Born  at  Frascati  in  1816,  married  Caroline  Maria  Cardinali  of  Lucca  in 
1823,  and  died  at  Florence  in  1877. 

II  Born  at  Philadelphia,  U.S.A.,  in  February,  1824  ;  died  at  Eome  in  1865. 

^  Born  at  Eome  in  1839,  and  died  there  in  1899 ;  married  in  1859  Maria 
Christina,  daughter  of  Prince  Euspoli,  by  whom  he  had  three  daughters. 

♦*  Born  at  Eome  in  1828,  and  died  there  in  1895,  Created  a  Cardinal- 
priest  of  the  Holy  Eoman  Church  in  March,  1868. 

tt  Born  at  Milan  in  1803,  died  in  Paris  in  1878  ;  married  at  Bordentown, 
U.S.A.,  in  1831,  Carolina  Georgina  Praser,  of  Charlestown,  by  whom  he  had 
three  sons  and  two  daughters.     She  was  descended  from  the  Lords  Lovat. 

XX  Born  at  Bordentown  in  1834 ;  married  first  Malcy  Louise  Caroline, 
daughter  of  Napoleon  Alexandre  Berthier,  Prince  of  Wagram,  in  1854,  and 
secondly,  Lydia  Hervey,  of  Brighton,  widow  of  Baron  Arthur  Hainguerlot,  in 
1894,     One  son  and  two  daughters  by  the  first  marriage. 

§§  Born  at  Bordentown  in  January,  1847;  died  in  Mingrelia,  Southern 
Eussia,  in  1895 ;  married,  in  1868,  Salome',  daughter  of  David  Dadiani,  Prince 
of  Mingrelia,  by  whom  he  had  two  sons  and  a  daughter. 

nil  Born  at  Bordentown  in  1841. 


212  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

Poix,  in  1865,  did  not  belong  to  the  civil  family,  not  did  her 
elder  sister,  the  Baroness  de  Chassiron,  who  had  lost  her  title 
of  Princess  by  her  marriage  with  an  official  of  the  Council  of 
State ;  but  their  mother,  Princess  Lucien  Murat,  and  their 
sisters-in-law,  Princesses  Joachim  and  Achille,  were  included 
in  it.  The  other  female  members  of  the  civil  family  were  the 
Princess  Baciocchi,  daughter  of  the  first  Napoleon's  sister 
Elisa,  and  the  Princess  Napoleon  Charles  Bonaparte,  nee 
Ruspoli.* 

All  the  members  of  the  civil  family  were  more  or  less  pro- 
vided for  out  of  Napoleon  III.'s  civil  list,  and  his  munificence 
extended  also  to  a  number  of  more  or  less  distant  relations. 
Some  idea  of  the  annual  outlay,  apart  from  endowments  con- 
stituted at  the  establishment  of  the  Empire,  will  be  gathered 
from  the  list  we  print  on  our  next  page.  We  have  included  in 
it  the  special  State  allowances  to  Prince  Napoleon  and  Princess 
Mathilde,  which  allowances  did  not  come  out  of  the  civil 
list ;  but  it  will  be  found  that  in  1868  the  latter  alone  contri- 
buted over  ,£'52,000  to  the  support  of  members  of  the  imperial 
family.  At  that  date,  too,  some  who  had  been  pensioned  in 
earlier  years  were  dead;  while,  in  addition  to  the  aforesaid 
d£'52,000  from  the  general  civil  list  fund,  there  were  many 
special  grants  from  the  privy  purse.f  Not  only  were  the  debts 
of  young  Prince  Achille  Murat  paid  on  various  occasions,  but 
he  secured  a  special  grant  at  the  time  of  his  marriage,  his 
takings  during  the  Empire  amounting  to  quite  ^£'30,000  ;  while 
Princess  Anna,  Duchess  de  Mouchy,  obtained  more  than  three 
times  that  amount.  In  round  figures,  the  first  five  Murats  in 
our  table  secured  about  half  a  million  sterling.  Further,  the 
Countess  Rasponi,  nee  Murat,  netted,  in  one  way  or  another, 
about  <£'45,000,  and  the  Pepoli  Murats  were  allotted  a  like  sum. 
The  payments  from  the  general  fund  of  the  civil  list  to  the 
many  members  of  the  Lucien  branch  of  the  Bonaparte  family 
were  well  over  .£^500,000,  and  yet  the  keeper  of  the  privy  purse 
was  constantly  being  badgered  for  extra  allowances  or  loans. 
On  one  occasion  Sir  Thomas  Wyse,  as  the  husband  of  Letizia 
Bonaparte,  secured  a  privy  purse  grant  of  ,£'16,000,  in  addition 
to  what  his  wife  was  receiving  regularly.     On  the  other  hand, 

*  See  note  ^,  p.  211.  f  See  tables  on  pp.  150, 151. 


THE  IMPERIAL  FAMILY 


SIS 


STATE  ALLOWANCES  AND  CIVIL  LIST  GRANTS  TO  THE 
IMPERIAL  FAMILY  IN  1868. 


Names. 


Bonapartes — Jerome  branch: 

H.I.H.  Prince  Napoleon 

H.I.H,  Princess  Mathilde  

Elisa  branch : 
Princess  Baciocchi 

Item  Life  Annuity  for  the  redemption 

of  the  Majorat  of  Bologna 

Lucien  branch : 

Prince  Louis  Lucien  Bonaparte 

Prince  Pierre  Bonaparte 

Prince  Antoine  Bonaparte  

Prince  Lucien  Bonaparte 

Prince  Napoleon  Charles  Bonaparte      ... 

For  rent  of  mansion      

Princess  Marianne  Bonaparte     

Marchioness  RoGcagiovine  

For  residence      

Countess  Primoli 

For  residence      

Countess  Campella  

Princess  GabrieUi 

For  residence       ,        

Prince  GabrieUi,  son         

Marchioness  Christina  Stephanoni 

Marchioness  Amelia  Parisani      

Countess  Lavinia  Aventi 

Mme.  Valentin!      

Mme.  [Lady?]  Bonaparte- Wyse  ...        ... 

Item  for  life  insurance 

Mme.  Rattazzi,  nde  Wyse... 

Mme.  Turr,  n^e  Wyse        

M.  Lucien  N.  Bonaparte-Wyse 

Mrs.  A.  Booker       

Mme.  C.  Honorati-Romagnoli     

Murat  branch : 

Prince  Lucien  Murat        

Princess  Lucien  Murat     

Prince  Achille  Murat        

Princess  Joachim  Murat 

Baroness  de  Chassiron,  nie  Murat 

Countess  Rasponi,  n4e  Murat     

Marquis  Pepoli       

Countess  Mosti,  nie  Pepoli  

Countess  Ruspoli,  nie  Pepoli      

Countess  Tat tini,  ?i^e  Pepoli        

Paterson  branch  : 

M.  Jerome  Bonaparte,  _^Zs  ...        „, 

Morganatic  wife  of  King  Jerome  : 

Marchioness  Bartholoni 


Amounts. 


Francs. 

150,000 
100,000 


50,000\ 
20,000/ 

20,000\ 
20,000/ 
20,000  \ 
20,000/ 

20,000\ 
20,000/ 

(Daughters  of 
Princess  GabrieUi) 

40,000\ 
6,975/ 


(Originally  100,000) 


Francs. 
1,000,000 
600,000 


250,000 


100,000 

100,000 

100,000 

20,000 

70,000 

6,000 

40,000 

40,000 

20,000 

40,000 

6,250 
6,250 
6,250 
6,250 
25,500 

46,975 

24,000 

24,000 

2,000 

6,000 

6,000 


50,000 

100,000 

24,000 

20,000 

30,000 

50,000 

25,000 

8,333 

8,333 

8,334 

30,000 

12,000 


Total 


£112,437  =  Francs  2,810,975 


214  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

the  allowance  to  Mme.  Rattazzi,  ')iee  Wyse,  and  sometime 
Countess  de  Solms,  was  at  one  moment  suspended.  Early  in 
1865  she  gave  great  offence  at  Court  by  the  publication  of  a 
book  entitled  "Les  Manages  d'une  Creole,""  in  which  she 
seriously  libelled  M,  Schneider,  the  owner  of  the  Creusot  iron 
and  steel  works,  who  succeeded  Walewski  as  President  of  the 
Legislative  Body ;  the  result  being  that  Mme.  Rattazzi  was 
struck  off  the  list  of  the  Emperor's  annuitants  and  ordered  to 
quit  France.  A  couple  of  years  later,  however,  she  again 
secured  her  former  allowance.* 

It  should  also  be  mentioned  that  there  was  Mme.  Bona- 
parte-Centamori,  dead  apparently  in  1868  (the  date  of  our 
list),  who  had  enjoyed,  in  earlier  years,  allowances  amounting 
altogether  to  <£*21,000.  One  might  include,  too,  among  the 
payments  to  members  of  the  imperial  family  the  special  grants 
and  the  annuity  secured  by  Baron  Jerome  David,  as,  although 
he  was  legally  the  son  of  Charles  Louis  David,  the  son  of  David 
the  great  painter,  it  was  generally  admitted  that  his  real  father 
was  none  other  than  old  Prince  Jerome,  the  ex-King  of  West- 
phalia. Baron  David's  mother  was  a  beautiful  Greek,  named 
Maria  Capinaki,  whom  Jerome,  the  Don  Juan  par  excellence  of 
the  Bonapartes,  met  at  Rome.  He  became  godfather  to  his 
own  child,  and  that  sponsorship  subsequently  served  as  an 
official  explanation  for  the  high  favour  to  which  Baron  Jerome 
David  gradually  attained  at  the  Tuileries.  From  being  a 
deputy  he  rose  in  time  to  such  positions  as  Vice-President  of 
the  Legislative  Body  and  Minister  of  Public  AVorks.  For  those 
duties  he  naturally  received  emoluments  apart  from  the  allow- 
ance made  him  by  the  Emperor,t  and  that  was  also  the  case 
with  respect  to  several  of  the  Bonapartes  and  Murats.  One 
was  a  senator,  another  director  of  the  Jardin  des  Plantes, 
another  a  general  of  brigade,  another  a  cavalry  captain,  and  so 
forth,  in  such  wise  that  civil  list  and  privy  purse  grants  by  no 

*  Some  further  particulars  respecting  Mme.  Eattazzi  will  be  found  in  a 
note  on  p.  292. 

t  The  Baron  died  at  Langon  (Gironde),  in  1822,  having  been  predeceased 
by  both  the  children  of  his  marriage  with  MUe.  Jeanne-Gecile  Merle,  in  such 
wise  that  the  family,  which  may  be  regarded  almost  as  an  illegitimate  branch 
of  the  Bonapartes,  is  extinct.  The  Baroness  Jerome  David  was  a  lady  of  the 
greatest  beauty,  distinction,  and  virtue. 


THE  IMPERIAL  FAMILY  215 

means  represented  the  total  amount  of  money  which  the  minor 
members  of  the  Imperial  House  drew  from  France. 

The  State  allowance  to  the  Jerome  branch  of  the  family 
was  fixed  originally  at  ^^60,000  per  annum,  and  apportioned 
as  follows: — Prince  Jerome,  ^40,000;  Prince  Napoleon, 
^12,000;  and  Princess  Mathilde,  ^8000.  When,  however, 
Prince  Napoleon  married  Princess  Clotilde  of  Savoy,  the 
above  amount  was  increased  to  dS'SSjOOO  a  year,  apart  from 
a  special  wedding  grant  of  d£*20,000,  and  it  was  provided 
that  the  Princess  should  receive  an  annual  allowance  of 
i?8000  from  the  French  exchequer  if  she  should  survive  her 
husband.  In  1860,  however,  old  Prince  Jerome  died,  and 
dt^GOjOOO  a  year  again  became  the  allowance  of  his  branch  of 
the  family,  two-thirds  of  the  amount  then  going  to  Prince 
Napoleon,  and  one-third  to  Princess  Mathilde.  Moreover, 
already  at  an  earlier  date,  the  Palais  Royal  and  the  Chateau 
of  Meudon  had  been  diverted  from  the  actual  dotation  of  the 
Crown  and  transferred  to  Prince  Jerome,  passing  afterwards  to 
his  son.  Prince  Napoleon.  The  last  named,  in  addition  to  his 
State  allowance,  drew  annual  sums  of  <£1200  as  a  senator, 
iJ^SOO  as  a  grand  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honour,  and  .£400  as  a 
general  officer  on  the  unemployed  list,  besides  receiving  payment 
at  various  times  for  certain  special  duties,  such  as  Minister  for 
Algeria,  Vice-President  of  the  Council  of  State,  Vice-President 
of  various  international  exhibitions,  envoy  abroad,  and  so  forth. 
It  has  been  calculated  that  the  total  receipts  of  the  Jerome 
branch  of  the  Bonapartes  from  1852  to  1870  exceeded  a  million 
and  a  half  sterling,  of  which  amount  about  a  million  was  taken 
by  Prince  Napoleon  alone. 

In  1861,  the  year  following  the  death  of  old  Jerome, 
proceedings  were  instituted  before  the  Paris  Court  of  First 
Instance  for  a  declaration  of  the  validity  of  the  marriage  which 
he  contracted  at  Baltimore  in  December,  1803,  with  Miss 
Elizabeth  Paterson,  of  that  city.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
this  marriage  was  protested  against  by  the  Prince''s  mother 
("  Madame  Mere),  and  annulled  by  two  decrees  of  Napoleon  I. 
Shortly  after  the  establishment  of  the  Second  Empire,  Mr. 
Jerome  Paterson-Bonaparte,  the  issue  of  the  marriage,  arrived  in 
France,  and  was  well  received  by  Napoleon  III.,  who  granted  him 


216  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

by  decree  the  nationality  of  a  French  subject,  and  authorized 
him  to  bear  the  name  of  Bonaparte,  besides  giving  his  eldest 
son,  a  young  man  of  five  and  twenty,  who  had  served  in  the 
American  forces,  a  commission  in  the  French  army,  which 
subsequently  enabled  him  to  serve  with  distinction  in  the 
Crimea.  In  July,  1856,  however,  the  Imperial  Family  Council, 
after  inquiring  into  the  Baltimore  marriage  and  the  decrees  of 
Napoleon  I.,  upheld  the  view  that  the  former  was  null  and  void. 
The  object  of  the  proceedings  instituted  in  1861  before  the 
Paris  Court  by  Mrs.  Bonaparte,  nee  Paterson,  and  her  son  was 
to  set  that  decision  of  the  family  council  aside.  The  great 
advocate  Berryer,  who  appeared  for  the  plaintiffs,  laboured 
hard  to  show  that  the  family  council  had  no  authority  to 
adjudicate  upon  the  case,  and  that  the  decrees  of  Napoleon  I. 
were  void,  as  he  had  not  the  power  to  annul  a  marriage  con- 
tracted before  he  became  Emperor.  Quite  different  were  the 
views  held  by  Prince  Napoleon's  counsel,  Maitre  Allou,  who 
in  the  course  of  years  became  a  great  authority  on  marriage 
procedure,  figuring,  we  believe,  in  more  "judicial  separation"" 
cases  than  any  other  advocate  of  his  time.  He  claimed  that 
the  whole  question  had  been  settled  by  the  decrees  of  the  first 
and  the  family  council  of  the  third  Napoleon.  Davignon,  the 
Public  Advocate,  representing  the  State,  favoured  Berryer's 
view  in  some  respects,  and  not  in  others.  For  instance,  he  held 
that  the  decrees  of  Napoleon  I.  did  not  affect  the  validity  of  the 
Baltimore  marriage,  but  were  in  many  respects  illegal  and  un- 
constitutional. Further,  he  discarded  the  plea  that  the  marriage 
had  been  in  any  degree  clandestine,  or  that  it  had  been  nullified 
by  the  non-publication  of  the  banns  in  France.  But,  passing 
to  the  two  sentences  of  the  family  council  in  1856,  which  had 
pronounced  against  the  validity  of  the  marriage  while  declaring 
that  Mr.  Jerome  Bonaparte  was  entitled  to  bear  that  name, 
Davignon  argued  that  the  family  council  was  sovereign  in  all 
matters  pertaining  to  the  imperial  family ;  that  the  case  was 
therefore  res  judicata,  the  court  being  bound  by  the  council's 
decision  and  debarred  from  further  action.  The  court's  finding 
(February  15,  1861)  was  in  accordance  with  Davignon's  views. 
The  judgment  contained  no  expression  of  opinion  on  the  merits 
of  the  case,  but  was  based  entirely  on   the  ground  that  the 


THE   IMPERIAL  FAMILY  217 

Impenal  Family  Council  had  finally  and  conclusively  adjudi- 
cated upon  the  question  submitted  to  the  court.  Briefly,  the 
Bonapartes  were  above  the  law  ! 

Various  interesting  matters  came  to  light  during  the  pro- 
ceedings. It  was  shown,  for  instance,  that  Prince  Jerome  had 
contracted  in  his  old  age  a  clandestine  marriage  with  the 
Marchioness  Bartholoni,  who  by  reason  of  her  wit  and  sculptural 
beauty  was  one  of  the  most  admired  women  of  the  time.  In 
his  will,  dated  July  6,  1852,  Jerome  declared  that  he  had 
married  her  "  in  presence  of  the  Church,"  thereby  signifying 
that  the  civil  ceremony  had  not  been  performed,  and  he  left 
her  an  annuity,  which  was  generously  supplemented  by  the 
Emperor.* 

Further,  a  very  curious  letter  addressed  by  Jerome  to 
Napoleon  III.  was  read  during  the  judicial  proceedings.  It 
protested  against  the  decrees  in  favour  of  "  the  son  and  grand- 
son of  Miss  Paterson,"  which  decrees,  said  Jerome,  "  dispose  of 
my  name  without  my  consent,  introduce  into  my  family,  without 
even  my  being  consulted,  persons  that  have  never  belonged  to 
it,  cast  a  doubt  on  the  legitimacy  of  my  children,  and  prepare 
for  them  [here  he  was  a  true  prophet]  a  scandalous  lawsuit.  .  .  . 
They  constitute  an  attack  upon  my  honour  and  that  of  the 
Emperor,  my  brother  [Napoleon  I.],  by  annulling  the  solemn 
engagements  into  which  we  entered  with  the  King  of  Wurtem- 
berg  and  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  as  a  condition  of  my  marriage 
with  the  Princess  Catherine."  Jerome  therefore  appealed  for  a 
prompt  and  final  decision,  saying  that  he  was  fast  drawing  to 
the  close  of  his  career,  and  that  he  regarded  it  as  a  sacred  duty 
to  see  that  a  question  which  compromised  his  dearest  interests 
should  be  settled  in  his  lifetime.     There  can  be  little  doubt 

*  See  the  table  on  p.  213.  It  may  be  added  that  when  Jerome,  while 
playing  cards  with  M.  de  Damas,  his  aide-de-camp,  was  suddenly  stricken  with 
paralysis,  which  seizure  was  followed  by  his  death,  Mme.  Bartholoni  was 
immediately  summoned,  and  nursed  the  unfortunate  old  man  while  he 
lingered,  unable  to  move  or  to  speak,  but  hearing  and  seeing  everything.  His 
son,  Prince  Napoleon,  behaved  at  that  time  in  a  most  abominable  manner, 
showing  no  respect  whatever  for  his  father's  terrible  condition.  Further,  he 
flatly  refused  to  attend  the  funeral,  which  took  place  at  Vilgenis,  the 
Emperor,  Empress,  and  Princess  Mathilde  being  present.  The  reason  given 
by  Prince  Napoleon  for  absenting  himself  was  that  he  could  not  con- 
scientiously attend  the  religious  ceremony. 


218  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

that  it  was  this  urgent  appeal  which  led  to  the  decision  of  the 
Imperial  Family  Council. 

But  a  yet  stranger  letter  produced  during  the  trial  was  one 
written  by  Jerome's  son,  Prince  Napoleon,  to  his  half-brother, 
the  son  of  Miss  Paterson.  The  sentiments  it  displayed  were 
very  different  from  those  of  the  father.  Dated  July  25,  1854, 
the  letter  ran  as  follows : — 

"My  dear  Brother, 

"  I  have  gone  through  a  great  deal,  but  am  glad  to  find 
that  your  kind  sentiments  remain  unchanged.  It  is  with  real 
satisfaction  that  I  hail  the  blending  of  those  family  sentiments  with 
personal  sympathy.  I  appreciate  them  the  more  as  I  cannot  say  as 
much  of  all  my  relations.  As  for  my  sister  [Princess  Mathilde],  she 
in  particular  is  a  stranger  to  me.  But  those  sad  reflections  ought 
not  to  proceed  from  my  pen  now  that  I  feel  genuine  delight  in 
recalling  myself  to  your  fraternal  souvenir.  I  know  not  what  fate 
the  war  may  have  in  store  for  me  [he  was  already  in  the  Crimea, 
we  think].  I  hope  something  will  be  decided  before  the  winter.  A 
thousand  good  wishes  to  your  son,  whom  I  embrace  and  love  already 
by  reason  of  all  the  good  reports  I  have  heard  of  him. 

"  Your  afiectionate  brother, 

**  Napoleon  Bonaparte." 

As  it  happened,  all  the  cordiality  of  that  "  fraternal "  letter 
did  not  prevent  Prince  Napoleon  from  contesting  in  open  court, 
seven  years  later,  the  validity  of  his  father's  marriage  to  his 
"  dear  brother's "  mother.  The  Paterson  Bonapartes  never 
succeeded  in  gaining  their  point  (the  judgment  of  1861  was 
subsequently  confirmed  by  the  Paris  Appeal  Court),  and  some 
kind  of  compromise  was  ultimately  arrived  at.  Miss  Paterson's 
grandson,  who  had  served  in  the  Crimea — M.  Jerome  Bonaparte 
fils,  as  he  was  called — remained  resident  in  France,  and  was 
often  seen  at  the  Tuileries,  sometimes  also  at  the  Palais  Royal. 
As  our  table  on  p.  213  will  have  shown,  he  received  from 
Napoleon  III.  an  annual  allowance  of  ^£"1200.  It  so  chanced 
that  he  acted  as  one  of  the  seconds  of  the  well-remembered 
Paul  de  Cassagnac  of  Le  Pays  when  the  latter  fought  his  famous 
duel  with  Henri  Rochefort  on  January  1, 1867.  Cassagnac  had 
called  Rochefort  out  for  slandering  the  memory  of  Joan  of 
Arc,  and  thus,  while  most  Parisians  were  exchanging  visiting 


THE   IMPERIAL   FAMILY  219 

cards  and  sweetmeats  in  honour  of  the  New  Year,  those  two 
firebrands  of  the  press  met  in  a  snowstorm  on  the  plain  of  St. 
Denis  for  the  purpose  of  exchanging  four  bullets.  At  the  first 
shot  fired  by  Cassagnac,  Rochefort  was  hit  on  the  left  side,  near 
the  waist,  and  staggered  and  fell.  For  a  moment  there  was 
great  anxiety,  it  being  thought  that  he  had  received  a  fatal 
wound,  but  it  was  found  that  he  was  only  suffering  from  shock. 
The  bullet  had  glanced  off  him  after  striking  something  hard, 
concealed  in  the  waistband  of  his  trousers.  He  himself  was 
anxious  to  know  what  it  might  be,  and  on  the  waistband  being 
cut  open  a  consecrated  medal  of  the  Virgin  was  found  inside  it. 
Great  was  the  amazement  of  Cassagnac  and  Jerome  Bonaparte 
on  discovering  that  a  professed  free-thinker  carried  a  consecrated 
medal  about  him,  and  they  were  equally  astonished  that  the 
Virgin  should  have  protected  a  slanderer  of  the  ]\Iaid  of  Orleans. 
On  the  other  hand,  Rochefort  himself  could  in  no  way  account 
for  the  presence  of  the  medal.  Only  afterwards  did  he  learn 
that  it  had  been  secretly  sewn  in  his  waistband  by  one  who, 
loving  him,  had  thereby  hoped  to  ensure  his  safety.  She  was 
the  mother  of  his  children,  and,  some  four  years  later,  after  the 
Commune  of  Paris,  when  he  was  about  to  be  transported  to 
New  Caledonia,  he  married  her  as  she  lay  on  her  death-bed  in 
the  hospital  of  Versailles. 

Rut  let  us  now  pass  to  Prince  Jerome''s  so-called  legitimate 
children.  In  August,  1807,  he  espoused  Princess  Frederika 
Catherine  Sophia  (usually  known  as  Catherine),  daughter  of 
Duke  Frederick  of  Wurtemberg  (in  whose  favour  that  State  was 
first  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  kingdom)  by  the  Princess  Augusta 
CaroHne  of  Brunswick- Wolfenbiittel.  The  last  named  was 
a  daughter  of  Princess  Augusta  of  Great  Britain,  sister  of 
George  III.,  whence  it  followed  that  Catherine,  the  wife  of 
Jerome  Bonaparte,  was  a  great-granddaughter  of  Frederick, 
Prince  of  W^ales.  Moreover,  her  father's  sister  married  the 
Emperor  Paul  of  Russia,  and  her  brother.  Prince  Royal  and 
later  King  of  Wurtemberg,  allied  himself  first  to  a  Bavarian 
Princess  and  later  to  a  Russian  Grand  Duchess,  in  such  wise 
that  by  Catherine's  marriage  with  Napoleon's  brother  Jerome 
the  Bonapartes  became  connected  with  some  of  the  chief  reigning 
houses  of  Europe. 


220  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

Catherine  of  Wurtemberg  was  a  clever,  high-minded,  and 
devoted  woman,  who  clung  to  her  husband  however  volatile 
his  conduct  might  be.  Three  children  were  born  to  them — a 
son  who  died  when  young ;  a  second  one,  the  Prince  Napoleon 
we  have  frequently  mentioned;  and  a  daughter,  the  Princess 
Mathilde.  Prince  Napoleon,*  an  Imperial  Prince  of  France 
(December  2, 1852),  designated  as  successor  to  the  Empire,  Count 
of  Meudon  in  France  and  of  Moncalieri  in  Italy,  Napoleon  V.  in 
the  eyes  of  the  French  imperialists  after  the  death  of  the  son  of 
Napoleon  III.  in  Zululand,  was  born  in  September,  1822,  at 
Trieste,  while  his  parents  were  living  there  in  exile.  They 
subsequently  removed  to  Rome,  where  their  son  was  reared  until 
he  had  completed  his  ninth  year.  He  then  went  to  a  college 
at  Geneva,  which  he  quitted  in  1837  to  enter  the  military 
school  of  Ludwigsburg,  near  Stuttgart.  He  subsequently  spent 
some  years  in  travel,  in  Germany,  Spain,  England,  and  even 
France,  where  he  was  more  than  once  permitted  to  stay  by  the 
Government  of  Louis  Philippe.  Both  he  and  his  father  were 
there  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution  of  1848,  and  Prince 
Napoleon,  offering  himself  as  a  candidate  in  Corsica,  was  elected 
a  member  first  of  the  Constituent  and  later  of  the  National 
Assembly. 

He  did  not,  however,  support  the  cause  of  his  cousin,  the 
future  Napoleon  HI.  On  the  contrary,  he  identified  himself 
with  the  extreme  Radicals,  the  "  Mountain  Party "  f  of  the 
Legislature,  repeatedly  opposing  the  measures  of  his  cousin's 
administration,  and  on  one  occasion  even  voting  for  the 
impeachment  of  his  ministers.  Nevertheless,  the  future  Emperor 
evinced  the  greatest  patience  and  forbearance  towards  Jerome's 
son,  contrasting  which  with  the  latter's  reckless  violence,  Odilon 
Barrot  was  of  opinion  that  the  only  possible  explanation  lay  in 
certain  mysterious  family  secrets,  which  gave  the  radical  Prince 
a  certain  hold  over  his  ambitious  cousin.  At  one  moment,  to 
get  rid  of  this  thorn  in  his  side,  the  Prince  President  appointed 
Prince  Napoleon  ambassador  at  Madrid — a  strange  ambassador, 
who  all  along  his  route  gathered  the  most  advanced  democrats 

*  Napoleon  Joseph  Charles   Paul.      His  usual  signature,  however,  was 
'  Napoleon  (Jerome)." 

t  So  called  because  it  sat  on  the  highest  row  of  benches  in  the  Assembly. 


THE   IMPERIAL  FAMILY  221 

around  him,  and  denounced  in  the  bitterest  terms  the  govern- 
ment by  which  he  was  employed.  So  bad  was  his  conduct  in 
that  respect  that  it  became  necessary  to  recall  him  before  he 
even  reached  Spain !  He  afterwards  plunged  more  and  more 
into  opposition  courses,  and  at  the  Coup  d'Etat  he  was  among 
those  who  signed  the  first  protests  against  it. 

While  willingly  accepting  the  honours  and  emoluments 
showered  upon  him  at  the  re- establishment  of  the  Empire, 
Prince  Napoleon  persevered  in  more  or  less  fractious  conduct 
throughout  the  reign.  How  far  he  was  sincere  in  the  profession 
of  radical  views,  and  how  far  he  merely  gave  them  expression 
in  order  to  annoy  and  baulk  his  cousin  and  win  a  certain 
reputation  for  independence  of  character,  must,  we  think, 
always  remain  uncertain.  His  alacrity  in  accepting  honours 
and  wealth  from  the  sovereign  whom  he  so  constantly  opposed, 
and  even  denounced,  did  not  redound  to  his  credit.  Even  as 
the  Empress  Eugenie  claimed  to  play  the  part  of  Marie 
Antoinette,  so  Prince  Napoleon  assumed  a  role  akin  to  that 
of  Philippe  Egalite,  a  comparison  which  suggested  itself  the 
more  readily  as  he  resided,  like  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  at  the 
Palais  Royal,  while  the  Emperor,  like  Louis  XVI.,  occupied 
the  Tuileries. 

Although  Prince  Napoleon  had  never  served  in  any  army, 
he  was,  as  we  mentioned  previously,  made  a  general  officer  by 
the  Emperor,  and  sent  to  the  Ci'imea  in  command  of  the 
third  division  of  St.  Arnaud's  forces.  The  accounts  of  his 
share  in  the  battle  of  the  Alma  are  conflictino-.  Accordino- 
to  some  he  behaved  right  gallantly,  according  to  others  he 
covered  himself  with  disgrace.  Plis  early  return  from  the  war 
certainly  indisposed  the  Parisians  against  him,  not  for  a  while, 
but  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  Detested  already  by  the  genuine 
imperialists  for  his  affectation  of  radicalism,  distrusted  by  true 
democrats  on  account  of  his  alacrity  in  accepting  the  Emperor''s 
favours,  he  utterly  failed  to  win  any  measure  of  popularity, 
and  it  was  in  vain  that  a  small  coterie  of  adherents  praised  his 
talents — which  were  considerable — and  tried  to  induce  the 
public  to  take  him  seriously. 

In  point  of  fact,  the  Prince  lacked  those  qualities  which 
are   essentially   requisite    in    every   man   of   ambition,   be  he 


222  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

either  politician  or  soldier,  that  is,  the  qualities  of  patience 
and  perseverance.  He  could  command  neither  his  will  nor  his 
tongue.  A  fluent  but  unequal  speaker,  he  frequently  became 
intoxicated  with  his  own  words,  and  lost  the  power  of  con- 
trolling his  utterances.  He  often  began  by  saying  that  he 
intended  to  remain  calm,  but  a  moment  later  you  could  detect 
passion  growling  in  his  resonant,  domineering  voice.  He  would 
also  express  his  intention  of  respecting  the  proprieties,  and  yet 
immediately  afterwards  galling  epithets  would  leap  from  his 
lips.  Disturbed  thereby,  he  would  then  try  to  beat  a  retreat, 
and  fail.  Annoyed  with  himself  for  having  let  his  tongue  run 
on,  and  annoyed  with  his  hearers  because  he  had  thus  given 
them  an  opportunity  of  judging  him,  he  would  finally  break  off 
in  the  midst  of  a  sentence,  leaving  his  discourse  unfinished,  save 
for  the  angry  gesture  in  which  he  usually  indulged  before  sitting 
down.  Such  was  Prince  Napoleon  in  the  Senate  and  the 
Council  of  State,  at  Ajaccio,  and  elsewhere. 

After  one  of  those  explosions  there  often  came  a  fit  of 
dejection,  perhaps  of  repentance,  which  carried  him  off  to  his 
estate  of  Prangins,  in  Switzerland,  where,  deserting  political 
life  for  months  at  a  stretch,  he  remained,  ploughing  in  silence 
"  his  lonely  furrow."  More  than  once  he  proved  himself  to  be, 
politically,  something  like  the  Lord  Rosebery  of  the  Empire. 
Further,  he  dreamt  rather  than  he  conceived.  He  began  a 
thing  and  never  finished  it.  Ambassador,  general,  functionary, 
ministei-,  whatever  post  he  might  hold,  it  lasted  no  longer  than 
a  fragile  toy  in  the  hands  of  a  self-willed  child.  It  was  his 
constant  practice  to  throw  the  helve  after  the  hatchet ;  he  broke 
down  every  steed  that  was  offered  to  him  before  he  was  even 
well  in  the  saddle. 

His  few  partisans  used  to  say  that  he  was  fit  only  for  the 
first  rank,  and  could  not  serve  in  the  second.  But  even  as 
the  earlier  period  of  his  life  showed  that  he  could  not  obey, 
so  the  last  period  showed  that  he  was  not  fit  for  command. 
Thus  it  is  principally  by  way  of  presenting  the  reader  with 
a  curiosity  that  we  will  quote  the  description  of  the  Prince, 
which,  apropos  of  his  portrait  by  Flandrin,  was  penned  in  1861 
by  Edmond  About — a  description  which  created  an  extra- 
ordinary sensation  when  it  first  appeared  in  print,  and  drew 


THE   IMPERIAL  FAMILY  223 

down  upon  the  Opinion  Nationale,  in  which  it  was  issued,*  an 
official  warning  that  the  journal  would  be  suppressed  should  it 
ever  dare  to  print  anything  similar.  This,  then,  is  what  About 
wrote — 

"  This  portrait  is  not  merely  a  good  painting,  it  is  a  great  work, 
the  fruit  of  a  superior  mind,  a  high  intellect.  If  every  scrap  of 
contemporary  history  were  to  be  lost,  this  canvas  alone  could  tell 
posterity  what  Prince  Napoleon  was.  Here  we  see  the  man  him- 
self, this  misplaced  Cjesar,!  whom  nature  cast  in  the  mould  of  the 
Roman  emperors,  but  whom  fate  has  hitherto  condemned  to  stand 
with  folded  arms  at  the  foot  of  a  throne.  We  see  him,  proud  of 
the  name  he  bears  and  of  the  talent  he  has  revealed,  visibly  cut 
to  the  heart  by,  and  nobly  impatient  of,  a  fatality  which,  doubtless, 
will  not  always  prevail  against  him.  We  see  him,  then,  an  aristocrat 
by  education,  a  democrat  by  instinct,  the  legitimate,  not  the  bastard, 
son  of  the  French  Revolution ;  born  for  action,  but  condemned  for 
a  time  to  aimless  agitation  and  sterile  motion ;  thirsting  for  glory, 
scornful  of  common  popularity,  caring  nothing  for  common  report, 
and  too  high-hearted  to  court  either  the  masses  or  the  middle 
classes  pursuant  to  the  old  traditions  of  the  Palais  Royal.  Yes, 
this  is  the  man  who  solicited  the  honour  of  leading  the  French 
columns  to  the  assault  of  Sebastopol,  and  returned  to  Paris  shrugging 
his  shoulders  because  of  the  delays  of  a  siege  which  seemed  to  him 
to  be  stupid.  This  is  the  man  who,  from  mere  curiosity  and  to 
relieve  the  ennui  of  an  active  mind,  went  on  a  promenade,  with  his 
hands  in  his  pockets,  among  the  polar  icebergs  where  Sir  John 
Franklin  lost  his  life.  This  is  the  man  who,  with  vigorous  arm, 
undertook  the  government  of  Algeria,  and  threw  it  up  in  disgust 
because  he  had  not  sufficient  freedom  of  action.  This  is  he  who 
recently  stood  forth  in  the  Senate;  placed  himseli per  saltern  in  the 
front  rank  of  the  most  illustrious  orators,  crushing  the  Papacy  as 
a  lion  of  the  Sahel  crushes  some  trembling  victim  ;  and  that  done, 
turned  on  his  heel  and  strolled  back  to  his  villa  in  the  Avenue 
Montaigne,  where  he  is  surrounded  by  the  exquisite  atmosphere  of 
elegant  antiquity.  If  there  be  one  characteristic  of  that  noble  and 
remarkable  face  which  M.  Flandrin  has  not  quite  conveyed,  it  is 
the  delicate,  acute,  Florentine  expression  which  makes  the  Prince 

*  The  Prince  financed  that  i journal,  which  was  then  edited  hy  Adolphe 
Gu^roult.  He  had  previously  financed  La  Presse,  which  Nefftzer  and  Peyrafc 
conducted. 

t  C6sar  d6class6 — the  name  stuck,  but  not  in  the  sense  in  which  About 
intended  it. 


224  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

so  like  a  member  of  the  Medici  family.  It  should  be  possible,  I 
think,  to  cast  upon  canvas  some  reflection  of  the  graces  of  that 
powerful,  delicate,  and  versatile  mind,  which  astonishes,  attracts 
and  overawes,  captivates  without  seeking  to  captivate,  and  rivets 
without  effort  the  devotion  of  his  friends." 


Looking  back,  that  portrait  seems  to  us  like  a  caricature ; 
and  although  Edmond  About,  like  Emile  de  Girardin,  the 
Gueroults,  Edmond  Texier,  and  various  other  "Liberals"  of 
the  day,  was  an  habitue  of  the  Palais  Royal,  one  of  those  who 
dined  and  wined  and  hobnobbed  with  Prince  Napoleon,  he 
assuredly  had  his  tongue  in  his  cheek  while  penning  so 
extravagant,  so  exaggerated  an  effusion.  It  was  taken 
seriously  enough,  however,  by  the  powers  of  the  day. 

Girardin,  whom  we  have  just  named,  was  an  extremely 
self-opinionated  individual,  who  frequented  the  Palais  Royal 
more  for  an  opportunity  to  air  his  own  paradoxical  views  than 
from  any  feeling  of  regard  for  or  belief  in  Prince  Napoleon. 
One  evening  he  expounded  a  favourite  political  system  of  his, 
a  kind  of  mitigated  anarchism,  in  which  the  unlimited  liberty 
of  the  citizens  had,  as  its  counterweight,  the  absolute  indepen- 
dence of  the  authorities. 

"  Let  me  see  if  I  understand  you,"  said  the  PrinCe  at  last. 
"I  represent  authority,  you  represent  liberty.  You  say  and 
do  whatever  you  choose  against  me,  both  in  your  newspapers 
and  at  your  public  meetings,  in  the  streets,  and  so  forth.  That 
is  the  portion  of  liberty.  On  my  side,  I  set  batteries  of  artillery 
at  every  street  corner  in  Paris,  and  if  you  annoy  me  I  shoot 
you  down.     That's  my  independence.     Is  that  your  idea  ?  " 

"  Quite  so." 

"Then  I'm  perfectly  ready  to  adopt  your  system,"  the 
Prince  retorted  gaily. 

"  Don't  trust  him,"  said  one  who  knew  him  well  in  those 
days ;  "  if  he  should  ever  reign,  he  would  be  a  modern  Tiberius, 
not  from  motives  of  cruelty,  but  from  egotism.  He  is  blase 
and  bored." 

About's  account  of  the  Prince"'s  exploits,  in  the  description 
we  have  quoted,  was  in  some  respects  grotesque.  Leaving 
aside  the  debatable  question  of  the  Alma,  his  voyage  to  the 


THE   IMPERIAL  FAMILY  225 

polar  circle,  made  in  June,  1856,  was  a  very  commonplace 
affair,  which,  although  undertaken,  according  to  official  accounts, 
for  "  scientific  purposes,""  yielded  no  results  of  scientific  value. 
It  amounted,  in  fact,  to  little  more  than  a  sojourn  in  Green- 
land among  the  Esquimaux,  followed,  as  a  finale^  by  a  series  of 
visits  to  Christiania,  Stockholm,  and  Copenhagen.  As  for  the 
post  of  Minister  of  Algeria,  this  was  merely  given  to  the  Prince 
by  way  of  supplying  him  with  a  little  routine  occupation.  He 
threw  it  up,  undoubtedly,  but  any  man  of  sense  would  have 
known  beforehand  that  the  Ministry  was  bound  to  clash  with 
the  Governorship  of  the  colony,  and  could  at  the  utmost  prove 
little  more  than  an  ornamental  post. 

The  Prince's    marriage   on   January    30,    1859,   with   the 
Princess  Clotilda  Maria  Theresa  of  Savoy,  daughter  of  Kino- 
Victor  Emmanuel  II.,  was  contracted  for  political  reasons,  and 
proved  as  unhappy  as  such  marriages  usually  do.     It  is  even 
astonishing  that  the  Prince  should  have  assented  to  it  when  it 
was  suggested  to  him  by  Napoleon  III.     In  any  case  his  assent 
showed    that,    much    as  he    laid    claim    to    independence    of 
character,  he  could  put  that  aside  when  a  large   increase  of 
income  was  offered  him.     Directly  the  match  was  made  public 
it  was  expedited  with  a  haste  which  astonished  Europe,  as  it 
seemed  little  short  of  indecent.     It  is  true  the  marriage  had 
been  secretly  arranged  some  time  previously,  being  one  of  the 
consequences  of  the  conference  of  Plombieres  (July  '58),  when 
Count  Cavour  and  Chevalier  Nigra  met  Napoleon  III.,  Count 
Walewski,  Baron  de  Billing,  and  M.  Mocquard  to  settle  the 
question    of    "  United    Italy."      However,    immediately    the 
Princess  was  deemed  old  enough  to  marry,  Prince   Napoleon 
swooped   down  on  Turin  like  a  burglar.     He  was  then  over 
thirty-seven,  while  the  poor  little  bride  Avas  but  fifteen  years 
and  ten  months  old.     The  marriage  was  compared  not  unaptly 
to  that  of  an  elephant  and  a  gazelle :  the  bridegroom,  with  his 
marked    Napoleonic    features,    being    broad    and    bulky    and 
ponderous,  the  bride  short,  slight,  and  frail  looking,  with  fair 
hair  and  the  characteristic  tip-tilted  nose  of  the  Royal  House 
of  Savoy.     She  seemed  indeed,  as  she  really  was,  a  delicately 
nurtured  child,  fresh  from  the  nursery. 

The  marriage  followed  the  Emperor  Napoleon's  memorable 


THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

public  warning  to  Baron  Hiibner,  the  Austrian  Ambassador, 
at  the  New  Year  reception  at  the  Tuileries  ;  but  although  that 
warning  presaged  hostilities  on  the  part  of  France  in  support 
of  Italian  independence,  the  Piedmontese  by  no  means  favoured 
the  union  into  which  their  King's  daughter  was  forced.  They 
regarded  it,  in  fact,  almost  as  a  mesalliance.  It  was  useless 
to  protest  however.  Prince  Napoleon  hurried  his  child-wife 
away  to  France.  As  in  those  days  there  was  no  Cenis,  or 
Simplon,  or  Gothard  tunnel,  the  journey  was  made  by  way  of 
Genoa,  and  thence  by  sea  to  Marseilles ;  and  when  the  bridal 
couple  made  their  state  entry  into  Paris  on  February  4,  every 
one  noticed  how  tired  and  sad  and  shy  was  the  juvenile 
countenance  of  the  poor  young  lady,  whom  "  Plon-Plon "  had 
brought  back  with  him.  The  reception  was  distinctly  cold, 
but  that  was  on  account  of  the  husband's  personality;  the 
silence  of  the  crowd  meant  no  disrespect  for  the  daughter  of 
Victor  Emmanuel.  She,  indeed,  Avas  spoken  of  with  no  little 
sympathy;  and  it  may  here  be  added  that  throughout  the 
remainder  of  the  Empire  no  voice  was  ever  raised  in  criticism 
or  disparagement  of  the  retiring,  charitable,  pious,  and  un- 
happily mated  lady  of  the  Palais  Royal.  Even  at  the  Revo- 
lution of  1870  she  was  treated  with  the  utmost  respect  and 
deference.  Three  children  were  born  of  the  marriage,  as 
follows :  Firstly,  Prince  Napoleon  Victor  Jerome  Frederic,  who 
came  into  the  world  at  the  Palais  Royal,  on  July  18,  1862,  and 
who  is  now  the  Head  of  the  House  of  Bonaparte;  secondly. 
Prince  Napoleon  Louis  Joseph  Jerome,  who  was  born  at  the 
chateau  of  Meudon  on  July  16,  1864,  and  is  now  a  general 
officer  in  the  Russian  service ;  thirdly.  Princess  Marie  Laetitia 
Eugenie  Catherine  Adelaide,  born  at  the  Palais  Ro3ralbii" 
December  20,  1866,  and  married  in  1888  to  her  uncle, 
Amadeo,  Duke  of  Aosta,  and  sometime  King  of  Spain.  He 
Ved  in  1890.  <^,^.x  «  6  ^    U'  -  \'\%%  VXeoox^^s^ 

Prince  Napoleon  had  the  customary  vice  of  the  Bonapartes. 
Both  before  and  after  his  marriage  his  name  figured  in  the 
scandals  of  the  time.  It  was  associated  notably  with  those  of 
two  actresses,  Rachel  and  Mile.  Judith.  By  the  last  named  he 
had,  in  1853,  a  son,  who  died  in  1885.  Another  illegitimate 
son  by  an  Englishwoman  is   said  to  be  still  alive.     But  the 


J 


THE   IMPERIAL  FAMILY  227 

most  discreditable  of  all  the  intrigues  in  which  Prince  Napoleon, 
or  indeed  any  Bonaparte,  ever  engaged,  was  that  with  the 
notorious  Cora  Pearl.  It  was  matter  of  common  notoriety, 
and  so  little  pains  were  taken  to  conceal  it  that  we  can 
remember  seeing  the  woman's  brougham  waiting  in  the  Rue  de 
Montpensier,  and  she  herself  slipping  out  of  the  Palais  Royal 
and  springing  into  the  vehicle.  She  left  him,  it  seems,  because 
he  did  not  open  his  purse  often  enough  to  suit  her. 

As  most  people  are  aware,  the  Palais  Royal  was  originally 
built  by  Richelieu,  and  called  in  his  honour  the  Palais  Cardinal. 
It  passed  into  the  possession  of  Louis  XIIL,  and  later,  while 
Anne  of  Austria  was  Regent  of  France,  it  became  her  residence, 
afterwards  going  to  her  younger  son,  the  Duke  of  Orleans. 
From  that  time  onwai'd  the  palace  underwent  so  many  changes 
architecturally,  that  little  remained  of  the  original  structure. 
Twice  in  the  eighteenth  century  it  was  badly  damaged  by  fire, 
which  led  to  much  rebuilding.  It  was  in  1780  that,  for  purposes 
of  gain,  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  subsequently  known  as  Philippe 
Egalite,  raised  the  rows  of  houses  with  arcaded  shops  around 
the  palace  garden.  Lack  of  money  prevented  him  from  com- 
pleting his  plans,  and  for  many  years  some  of  the  galleries  were 
mere  wooden  structures.  The  garden,  the  coffee-houses,  and 
the  underground  circus  in  the  centre  of  the  garden  were,  it 
will  be  remembered,  associated  with  notable  events  of  the 
French  Revolution.  Later  the  palace  galleries  were  largely 
given  over  to  gamblers  and  harlots,  the  spot  becoming  the 
centre  of  the  fast  life  of  Paris.  Under  the  Consulate  the  palace 
itself  was  the  quarters  of  the  "  Tribunat,"  but  Naooleon 
eventually  attached  it  to  the  domains  of  the  Crown.  In  1815 
his  brother  Lucien  resided  at  the  Palais  Royal,  which  after- 
wards reverted  to  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  Louis  Philippe.  It  was 
there,  indeed,  that  he  was  officially  notified  of  the  legislative 
decision  which  declared  him  "  King  of  the  French."  The 
palace  was  pillaged  in  1848,  and  was  subsequently  used  as  mili- 
tary headquarters  and  for  fine  art  shows.  After  the  Coup 
d'Etat,  Napoleon  III.  assigned  it  as  a  residence  to  his  uncle. 
Prince  Jerome,  but  so  much  money  was  spent  in  renovatino-  the 
Tuileries  and  perfecting  the  Louvre  that  until  Prince  Napoleon's 
marriage  with  Princess  Clotilde  only  urgent  repairs  were  carried 


228  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

out  at  the  Palais  Royal.  A  little  later  came  important  changes. 
The  grand  staircase  was  entirely  rebuilt,  and  most  of  the 
apartments  were  redecorated.  The  rooms  were  very  numerous  ; 
there  were,  if  we  remember  rightly,  over  a  score  of  salons,  but 
they  vv^ere  mostly  rather  small.  Very  fine,  however,  was  the 
Salle  des  Fetes,  with  its  oval  sky  ceiHng,  gilded  cornices,  central 
marble  fountain,  and  lofty  chimney-piece,  surmounted  by  a  bust 
of  Napoleon  IK.,  with  attendant  female  figures  upholding  the 
imperial  escutcheon.  The  prevailing  style  of  decoration  was  a 
kind  of  modernized  Renaissance,  in  which  the  emblems  of  the 
Empire  were  blended  with  ornamentation  characteristic  of  the 
Francis  I.  and  Medici  periods.  For  instance,  in  the  magnificent 
Salle  des  Colonnes,  a  crowned  imperial  eagle  appeared  in  each 
of  the  intercolumniatory  compartments,  above  female  demi- 
fio-ures  which  raised  baskets  of  fruit  and  flowers  beside  busts 
of  such  celebrities  as  Buffon,  Voltaire,  Machiavelli,  Moliere, 
Corneille,  and  Descartes.  From  the  Salle  des  Colonnes  an 
arcade  led  to  the  Salle  des  Batailles,  where  the  panels  were 
hung  with  some  fine  old  tapestry  representing  the  victories  of 
Louis  XIV.,  the  general  effect  being  somewhat  spoilt,  however, 
by  the  garnet  velvet  upholstery  of  the  furniture. 

Perhaps  the  most  satisfactory  apartment  was  the  so-called 
morning  reception  room,  in  which  Prince  Napoleon  usually 
gave  audience.  Here  again  the  imperial  eagle  figured  in  the 
friezes  above  the  walls,  but  all  the  rest  was  of  late  Renaissance 
style.  Very  striking  was  the  lofty  chimney-piece  with  its  large 
white  marble  medallion  of  Venus  rising  from  the  waves.  The 
picture-gallery,  hung  in  red  silk  damask,  contained  some  good 
paintings,  notably  family  portraits,  and  a  wonderful  one  of 
Rachel  the  tragedienne.  There  Avas  also  a  salon  effectively 
fitted  with  green  marble,  and  another  hung  with  superb 
Gobelins.  The  old  chapel  of  Louis  Philippe's  time  was  turned 
by  Prince  Napoleon  into  a  kind  of  museum  (he  was,  we  may 
mention,  a  collector  of  considerable  taste),  a  new  chapel  being 
fitted  up  near  the  private  apartments  of  Princess  Clotilde  in 
the  right-hand  wing  of  the  palace.  This  new  chapel,  lighted 
by  armorial  windows  and  having  a  vaulted  ceiling,  all  azure 
and  golden  stars,  contained  a  curious  little  altar  formed  of  a 
slab  of  marble  resting  on  small  pillars  of  massive  gold,  and 


THE  IMPERIAL  FAMILY  229 

surmounted  by  a  statuette  of  Our  Lady  of  Victory.  Princess 
Clotilde's  rooms,  which  extended  as  far  back  as  the  palace 
garden,  and  included  two  salons,  a  boudoir,  a  private  library, 
and  a  bedroom,  were  furnished  and  decorated  throughout  in  a 
clear  blue,  in  keeping  with  the  Princess's  complexion ;  but  the 
bedroom  of  the  Prince  was  huno;  with  dazzlino;  oranoje  silk. 
*'  At  all  events,  he  knows  himself,"  a  visitor  remarked  one  day. 
"  That  yellowish  hue  is  very  appropriate.  Yellow  is  the 
colour  of  jealousy,  and  in  nearly  all  his  actions  the  Prince 
betrays  his  jealousy  of  the  Emperor." 

It  was  not  often,  as  the  years  went  by,  that  grand  entertain- 
ments were  given  at  the  Palais  Royal,  for  Princess  Clotilde 
gradually  led  a  more  and  more  retired  life.  But  the  few  balls 
which  took  place  were  marked  by  magnificence  and  taste. 
Dinner-parties  were  much  more  frequent.  When  the  Prince 
was  in  Paris,  not  a  week  elapsed  without  one  of  those  petits 
diners  at  which  he  gathered  together  the  politicians,  journalists, 
literary  men,  and  artists  of  his  coterie.  Some  of  these  were 
epicures  in  their  way,  and  the  cuisine  was  excellent,  much  more 
refined  than  at  the  Tuileries.  But  although  there  was  no 
appearance  of  a  scramble,  everything  was  served  and  consumed 
with  a  rapidity  which  was  scarcely  an  aid  to  digestion.  For 
instance,  you  sat  down  at  eight  o'clock,  and  at  a  quarter  to 
nine,  after  ten  or  a  dozen  dishes  and  eight  kinds  of  wine,  you 
found  yourself  in  the  smoking-room  finishing  your  Turkish 
coffee.  The  system  was  the  same  at  the  Tuileries,  where  the 
Emperor  declared  that  three-quarters  of  an  hour  was  ample 
time  for  dinner,  coffee  included. 

Besides  the  use  of  the  Palais  Royal,  Prince  Napoleon  enjoyed 
that  of  the  historic  chateau  of  Meudon,  erected  by  the  "  Great 
Dauphin "  at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,*  and  over- 
looking the  valley  of  the  Seine  from  the  heights  between 
Clamart  and  Sevres.  The  Germans  destroyed  it  by  fire  during 
the  siege  of  Paris  in  1870.  Here  Prince  Napoleon  at  one  time 
kept  a  pack  of  hounds,  with  which  he  was  accustomed  to  go 
buck-hunting  on  Sunday  mornings  while  his  wife  was  at  her 

*  The  older  one,  built  by  Cardinal  de  Lorraine,  after  Philibert  Delorme's 
designs,  was  in  a  state  of  ruin  at  the  time  of  Napoleon  I.,  who  caused  it  to  be 
demolished. 


S30  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

prayers.  The  Emperor  also  placed  the  woods  of  Villefermoy 
in  Seine-et-Marne  (2500  acres  in  extent)  at  his  disposal  for 
shooting  purposes.  The  Prince's  name  was  associated,  too,  with 
another  place,  a  model  of  a  Pompeian  house,  which  he  erected 
in  the  late  fifties  at  the  Champs  Elysees  end  of  the  Avenue 
Montaigne,  and  called  the  Villa  Diomede.  It  was  not  simply 
intended  as  a  toy,  but  fitted  with  all  modern  requisites,  al- 
though it  exhibited  the  characteristics  of  Pompeian  architecture. 
Entering  by  a  portico  supported  by  yellow  pillars  and  columns, 
you  found  bronze  statues  of  Minerva  and  Achilles  on  either 
side  of  the  peristyle,  while,  in  mosaic  work  on  the  walls, 
appeared  two  huge  dogs  tugging  at  their  chains  as  if  to  spring 
upon  intruders,  and  justifying  the  inscription  of  Cave  Canein, 
which  was  set  beside  them.  The  atrium  of  the  villa  was  a  real 
Napoleonic  conceit.  The  light  fell  from  the  impluvium  on  some 
half-fluted  purple  columns  of  the  Ionic  order,  between  two  of 
which  was  an  altar  adorned  with  garlands  and  bearing  a  large 
white  marble  bust  of  the  first  Napoleon,  who  appeared  there  as 
the  senior  tutelary  deity  of  the  abode.  All  around,  between  the 
columns  and  the  marble  couches,  on  which  you  might  recline 
while  listening  to  the  murmur  of  scented  water  falling  from  a 
head  of  Minerva  into  a  basin  of  porphyry,  were  ranged  busts 
of  many  other  members  of  the  House  of  Bonaparte,  figuring  as 
subordinate  or  attendant  lai'es.  The  misfortune  was  that  the 
libations  to  those  family  gods  were  poured  forth  too  frequently 
by  Cora  Pearl.  Already  in  1864  Prince  Napoleon  had  grown 
tired  of  that  "exquisite  atmosphere  of  elegant  antiquity,"  as 
About  phrased  it,  but  he  did  not  find  a  pur  chaser  for  the  villa 
till  a  couple  of  years  later,  when  he  parted  with  the  building 
and  its  contents — there  were  many  fine  bronzes — for  about 
£70,000. 

In  1863  the  Prince,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  went  officially 
to  Egypt,  to  inspect  the  progress  which  was  being  made  with 
the  Suez  Canal.  Other  missions  and  appointments  followed, 
but  in  the  spring  of  1865  came  the  most  serious  of  his  ruptures 
with  his  cousin  the  Emperor.  The  latter  was  then  in  Algeria, 
the  Empress  remaining  in  Paris  as  Regent ;  and  the  Prince  was 
deputed  to  proceed  to  Corsica  to  inaugurate  at  Ajaccio  some 
memorials  to  the  glory  of  the  first  Napoleon  and  his  brothers. 


THE   IMPERIAL  FAMILY  231 

He  profited  by  this  opportunity  to  deliver  what  for  the  period 

was  a  somewhat  revolutionary  speech,  in  which,  besides  personally 

advocating  the  widest  liberty,  he  claimed  that  the  mission  of 

the  first  Napoleon,  and  by  inheritance  that  of  his  successor,  was 

merely  to  use  dictatorship  as  a  means  of  emancipation.    A  similar 

opinion  had  been  expressed  long  previously  by  Napoleon  III., 

who  had  promised  liberty  as  the  crowning  of  the  edifice,  and 

had   departed,  for   some   four  years   already,  from   the  strict 

principle  of  personal  rule,  which  had  been  observed  during  the 

first  period  of  the  Empire.     But  Prince   Napoleon's  reckless, 

almost  violent  phraseology  gave  offence,  and  in  the  result  the 

Emperor  wrote  his  cousin  a  severe  letter,  which  was  published 

in  the  Moniteur.      After   declaring   in    this    missive   that  the 

programme  placed  under  the  aegis  of  the  first  Emperor  could 

only  serve  the  enemies  of  the  imperial  government,  Napoleon  III. 

added :  "  What  is  clear  to  all  is  that,  in  order  to  prevent  anarchy 

of  opinion — true  liberty's  most  formidable  foe — the  Emperor 

established,  first  in  his  family  and  then  in  his  government,  so 

severe  a  discipline  that  it  admitted  of  but  one  source  of  will  and 

action.     In  future  I  shall  not  depart  from  that  line  of  conduct." 

To  that  covert  threat   of  disciplinary  measures   if  he  should 

venture  to  speak  his  mind  again,  Prince  Napoleon  retorted  by 

resigning  his  posts  as  Vice-President  of  the  Council  of  State  and 

President  of  the  Commission  for  the  Paris  Exhibition  of  1867, 

and  it  was  not  until  more  than  two  years   had   elapsed  that 

he  would  accept  any  other  official  functions.* 

Meantime  he  never  went  to  the  Tuileries  unless  he  was 
absolutely  compelled  to  do  so,  as,  for  instance,  to  attend  the 
opening  of  a  parliamentary  session ;  and  the  antagonism  between 
the  Tuileries  and  the  Palais  Royal  was  acute.  In  the  end, 
curiously  enough,  the  latter  virtually  won  the  day.  The 
Emperor's  views  gradually  inclined  more  and  more  towards  the 
Prince's,  and  the  experiment  of  real  and  fairly  liberal  parlia- 
mentary rule  was  tried.     If  its  execution  had  been  confided  to 

*  The  Prince  also  got  into  trouble  with  the  Duke  d'Aumale  for  attempt- 
ing to  criticize  some  passages  reflecting  on  the  Bonaparte  family  which 
figured  in  the  Duke's  "  Histoire  de  la  Maison  de  Conde."  The  Duke  answered 
the  Prince  in  a  slashing  pamphlet  entitled  "  Lettre  sur  I'Histoire  de  Prance," 
and  if  any  other  man  but  Prince  Napoleon  had  been  concerned  in  the  affair, 
a  duel  would  certainly  have  ensued. 


g^2  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

some  new  man — could  such  have  been  found — a  man  who  had 
compromised  himself  neither  in  connection  with  the  origin  of 
the  Empire  nor  in  connection  with  the  anti-dynastic  opposition, 
the  experiment  might  possibly  have  succeeded ;  but  it  was 
entrusted  to  M.  Emile  Ollivier,  whom  the  democratic  party 
regarded  as  a  renegade,  and  whom  most  imperialists  distrusted, 
holding  that  as  he  had  betrayed  the  Republican  cause  he  might 
well  betray  that  of  the  Empire.  It  was  an  unfortunate  position, 
and  even  if  there  had  been  no  Franco-German  war  we  think 
that  the  Empire  could  only  have  been  saved  by  the  early  retire- 
ment of  Emile  Ollivier,  for  in  spite  of  the  result  of  the  last 
Plebiscitum  (May,  1870),  he,  personally,  was  a  very  unpopular 
man — one  whose  antecedents  placed  powerful  weapons  in  the 
hands  of  the  anti-dynastic  opposition.  At  the  most  he  could 
only  serve  for  a  time  as  a  stop-gap,  or  a  kind  of  bridge,  over 
which  the  Empire  might  pass  from  the  old  men  of  the  Coup 
d'Etat  to  the  younger  and  as  yet  untried  generation. 

But  we  are  anticipating.  Whether  Prince  Napoleon  was 
sincere  in  advocating  unrestricted  freedom  of  the  press  and 
rio-ht  of  public  meeting,  or  whether,  as  there  are  real  grounds 
for  thinking,  his  outbursts  on  those  subjects  were  simply 
dictated  by  his  detestation  of  his  cousin's  right-hand  man, 
Rouher,  the  powerful  "  Vice-Emperor,"  he  saw  some  attempts 
made  to  give  effect  to  his  preachings.  The  war  came,  however, 
and  the  Empire  fell.  For  a  time  the  Prince  sought  a  refuge 
in  Italy.  The  letters  patent  by  which  his  father-in-law,  Victor 
Emmanuel,  created  him  Count  of  Moncalieri,  are  dated  Novem- 
ber 1,  1870.  Later  he  was  able  to  return  to  France,  not  being 
in  the  direct  line  of  succession  to  the  Empire,  which  was  still 
represented  by  Napoleon  III.  and  the  Imperial  Prince.  In 
1873  he  was  even  elected  President  of  the  Conseil  general 
(County  Council)  of  Corsica,  but  he  intrigued  against  the 
Imperial  Prince  even  as  he  had  intrigued  against  the  Emperor. 
In  1874<  the  very  men  who  had  elected  him  refused  to  attend 
the  sittings  at  Ajaccio,  in  order  to  avoid  assembling  under  his 
chairmanship.  So  he  failed  again,  missed  even  that  chance  of 
establishing  a  footing  in  public  Hfe,  even  as  he  had  missed  all 
his  other  chances,  or  failed  in  all  his  dreams.  He  never  secured 
the  crown  of  France  any  more  than  he  secured  that  of  Poland 


THE   IMPERIAL  FAMILY  233 

or  Hungary  or  Tuscany,  as  he  had  at  one  or  another  moment 
dreamt  of  doing.  After  the  death  of  the  Imperial  Prince  he 
was  a  Pretender  in  httle  more  than  name.  Thoug-h  the  Re- 
pubhc  took  measures  against  him  on  various  occasions,  he  was 
never  a  danger ;  he  was  too  unpopular,  too  much  distrusted. 
In  1884)  the  Bonapartist  party  actually  renounced  his  leader- 
ship, and  his  son  Victor  broke  away  from  him.  Briefly,  in 
spite  of  undoubted  gifts,  culture,  taste,  wit,  and  talent,  Prince 
Napoleon  left  behind  him  nothing  save  a  record  of  failure, 
instability,  and  foolish  opiniativeness,  with  that  portrait  by 
Flandrin,  which,  according  to  Edmund  About,  was  to  supply 
all  deficiencies.  If  we  remember  rightly,  the  Prince''s  cir- 
cumstances were  greatly  reduced  when  he  died  at  Rome  in 
March,  1891.  Of  his  two  sons.  Prince  Victor,  though  now 
nominally  the  head  of  the  Bonapartes,  is,  like  his  father,  no 
danger  for  the  French  Republic.  He  has  taken  little  part  in 
politics  beyond  issuing  an  occasional  manifesto,  to  which  few 
have  accorded  attention ;  and  even  if  by  some  extraordinary 
revulsion  of  feeling  the  imperialist  cause  should  ever  again 
appeal  to  Frenchmen,  the  Prince's  private  circumstances  would 
virtually  prevent  his  elevation  to  the  throne.  Living  in  retire- 
ment at  Brussels,  he  has  chosen,  perhaps,  the  better  part  of 
life — a  quiet  home  and  attendant  affections.  His  brother, 
Prince  Louis,  the  Russian  general,  has  often  been  mentioned, 
however,  as  a  possible  pretender,  and  is,  perhaps,  better  placed 
for  the  assumption  of  such  a  role.  But  personally  he  has  made 
no  sign,  and,  when  all  is  said,  the  French  imperialist  party 
dwindles  year  by  year,  day  by  day,  in  such  wise  that  there 
seems  to  be  little  likelihood  of  any  Bonaparte  ever  again 
obtaining  an  opportunity  to  come  forward  as  the  saviour  of 
the  nation. 

Let  us  pass  to  Princess  Mathilde,  the  daughter  of  old 
Jerome,  and  Prince  Napoleon's  sister.  The  artistic  taste  and 
perception  which,  it  may  readily  be  admitted,  were  possessed 
by  both  her  father  and  her  brother,  were  found  in  a  yet  higher 
degree  in  her.  She  was  probably  the  most  cultured,  and  in 
her  sphere  the  most  talented,  of  all  the  Bonapartes.  Of  fine 
physique,  very  good  looking  when  young,  she  always  remained 
a  >voman  of  dignified  presence,  in  spite  of  the  corpulent  figure 


234  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

and  the  pendent  cheeks  of  advancing  years.  She  cultivated  art 
in  several  of  its  branches,  her  ability  as  a  painter  was  real, 
and,  from  the  establishment  of  the  Empire  until  her  death  in 
January,  1904,  she  surrounded  herself  with  artists  and  literary 
men,  gathering  at  her  residence — first  in  the  Rue  de  Courcelles, 
and  later  in  the  Rue  de  Berri,  as  well  as  at  St.  Gratien,  in  the 
northern  environs  of  Paris — a  large  company  of  talented  and 
eminent  people,  many  of  whom  she  reconciled  to  the  imperial 
regime^  while  others  were  at  least  induced  to  tolerate  it  by  the 
influence  of  her  personality,  which  attracted,  pacified,  and  dis- 
armed. Prince  Napoleon's  coterie  seldom  gained  recruits, 
whereas  the  circle  of  Princess  Mathilde  was  always  expanding. 
If  we  were  called  upon  to  name  all  those  who  met  at  her  house, 
we  should  have  to  enumerate  two-thirds  of  the  men  who  made 
any  reputation  in  literature,  science,  journalism,  painting, 
sculpture,  and  music  in  the  days  of  the  Empire.  We  prefer  to 
send  the  reader  to  all  the  social  chronicles  of  that  time,  notably 
to  the  Goncourt  Memoirs,  and  even  to  Viel  Castel. 

The  Sunday  soirees  in  the  Rue  de  Courcelles  were  always 
attended  by  a  crowd  of  notabilities.  Some  gathered  in  the 
large  Salon  de  Conversation,  which  was  hung  with  ancient  and 
modern  paintings,  and  displayed  on  either  side  of  its  chimney- 
piece  some  absolutely  colossal  Chinese  vases  adapted  to  support 
candelabra.  Facing  the  fireplace,  and  reflected  in  the  lofty 
mirror  above  it,  rose  the  famous  life-size  statue  of  the  young 
Florentine  singer  fingering  his  mandoline — a  statue  familiar  to 
all  by  the  many  small  reproductions  in  bronze  popularized  by 
Barbedienne.  If  you  preferred  music  to  conversation  you  passed 
on,  through  other  rooms,  to  a  spacious  semicircular  salon, 
where  you  might  listen  to  Miolan-Carvalho  singing  an  air 
from  the  "  Huguenots,"  or  Christine  Nilsson  repeating  some 
dreamy  Swedish  song,  or  Gardoni  interpreting  Verdi.  At  times 
that  gifted  amateur,  Mme.  Conneau,  whose  voice  was  worth  a 
hundred  thousand  crowns  a  year,  would  sing  "  Son  vergine 
vezzosa"  with  a  sweetness  and  power  such  as  only  Grisi  had 
excelled.  At  another  time  the  Princess''s  chamber-musicians, 
directed  by  M.  Sauzay,  would  execute  some  learned  concerto ; 
and  at  yet  another  moment  Bressant  and  Madeleine  Brohan, 
taking  their  stand  near  the  chimney-piece,  would  act,  with  that 


THE  IMPERIAL  FAMILY  235 

restraint  of  voice  and  gesture  which  is  needful  in  a  drawing- 
room,  some  httle  two-part  comedy  by  Octave  Feuillet ;  or  else 
Coquelin  and  some  pretty  souhrette  would  play  one  of  the 
sprightly  Neapolitan  fantasias  of  Theodore  de  Banville. 

If  there  came  a  pause  in  the  music  or  the  playing,  you 
passed  through  one  of  three  doorways  into  the  Princess's 
wonderful  conservatory,  or  winter  garden,  where  you  found  a 
surprising  wealth  of  tropical  plants  and  beautiful  statuary. 
Truncated  columns,  adorned  with  enamelwork,  served  as  stands 
for  lamps  and  candelabra ;  Eastern  rugs  were  spread  over 
the  paths,  rare  Chinese  and  Japanese  cabinets,  vases,  and  curios 
peeped  from  among  the  verdure  ;  armchairs  and  ottomans  and 
sofas  stood  invitingly  here  and  there ;  and  in  one  corner  you 
noticed  the  little  writing-table  at  which  the  Princess  usually 
attended  to  her  correspondence  in  the  morning,  surrounded  by 
her  four  pet  dogs,  Phil,  Tom,  Miss,  and  Lolotte,  whom  Jadin 
portrayed  on  canvas.  The  Princess"'s  customary  place  at  the 
Sunday  soiiSes  was  near  the  chimney-piece  in  the  Salon  de 
Conversation,  but  from  time  to  time  she  passed  through  the 
various  rooms,  and  whenever  she  paused  among  a  group  of 
guests  the  conversation  sparkled,  for  she  was  gifted  with  no 
little  natural  wit. 

When  she  was  young  there  had  been  some  question  of  her 
marrying  her  cousin,  the  future  Napoleon  III.  She  was  a 
woman  fit  for  a  throne,  but,  given  her  sense  of  personal  dignity 
and  her  independence  of  character,  her  union  with  a  man  of  the 
Emperor's  disposition  would  hardly  have  proved,  we  think,  a 
satisfactory  one.  As  it  happened,  she  made  a  most  unhappy 
marriage.  Born  at  Trieste  in  May,  1820,  she  was  wedded  at 
Florence,  on  November  1, 1840,  to  Prince  Anatole  Nicolaiewitch 
Demidoff',  of  San  Donato,  who  was  her  senior  by  seven  years.* 
One  is  reminded  of  the  irony  of  life  on  reading  the  effusive 
letters  by  which  that  young  Russian  millionaire  announced  the 
consent  of  the  Princess's  father  to  other  members  of  the  Bona- 
parte family.  His  dearest  wish  was  about  to  be  gratified,  his 
happiness  knew  no  bounds  !     Five  years  later  he  and  his  wife 

*  He  had  been  created  Prince  of  San  Donato  by  the  Grand  Duke  of 
Tuscany.  His  father  had  been  the  Eussian  diplomatic  representative  at  Rome 
and  Florence. 


236  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

were  separated.  He  had  treated  her  with  great  cruelty,  and  it 
was  the  Emperor  Nicholas  who  insisted  on  the  separation. 
According  to  one  account,  the  Czar  discovered  the  situation 
during  a  stay  he  made  at  Florence — probably  after  his  visit  to 
London  in  1844.  In  any  case  the  separation  was  effected  by 
his  authority,  and  Prince  Demidoif,  whose  income  was  then 
about  ^£"90,000  a  year,  was  ordered  to  pay  his  wife  ^£'20,000 
annually,  and  to  abstain  from  going  at  any  time  to  any  place 
within  a  hundred  miles  of  where  she  might  be  living.  Demidoff 
was  compelled  to  obey,  for  fear  lest  all  his  property  in  Russia 
should  be  confiscated.  It  is  thus  that  an  autocrat  is  able  to 
enforce  his  decision,  which,  in  the  case  in  point,  was  a  just  one. 
Prince  Demidoff  survived  until  May,  1870,  and  for  a  good 
many  years  Princess  Mathilde  enjoyed  the  jointure  fixed  by  the 
Czar,  in  addition  to  her  French  civil-list  allowance.  This 
enabled  her  to  live  in  dignity,  entertain  freely,  assist  many 
struggling  artists  and  writers,  and  do  no  little  good  unosten- 
tatiously in  various  ways.  She  was  long  the  providence  of  the 
village  of  St.  Gratien,  where  she  had  her  country  seat. 

At  the  same  time  she  was  a  Bonaparte,  the  daughter  of  old 
Jerome,  the  hero  of  a  hundred  gallantries  ;  and  after  brushing 
mere  scandal  aside,  it  must  be  said  that  her  name  was  associated 
with  those  of  two  men  of  her  time,  first  Alfred  Emilien,  Count 
de  Nieuwerkerke,  and  secondly  Claudius  Popelin.  Nieuwerkerke, 
Superintendent  of  Fine  Arts  under  the  Empire,  a  tall,  hand- 
some, bearded  man,  was  of  Dutch  origin,  but  was  born  in  Paris 
in  1811.  He  married  a  Mile,  de  Montessuy  (who  predeceased 
him),  and  survived  until  1892,  when  he  died  at  Lucca.  During 
the  Empire  his  relations  with  Princess  Mathilde  were  matter  of 
common  notoriety.  His  official  functions  frequently  exposed 
him  to  attack,  but  she  upheld  him  against  all  comers,  and  at 
one  time  had  a  very  serious  dispute  respecting  him  with  her 
bi'other.  Prince  Napoleon,  who,  in  order  to  annoy  her,  had 
omitted  Nieuwerkerke's  name  from  some  artistic  commission 
which  he  had  been  selected  to  appoint. 

Later,  Claudius  Popelin,  the  painter,  engraver,  and  enam- 
eller,  took  Nieuwerkerke's  place  beside  the  Princess.  The  son  of 
a  Paris  merchant,  and  born  in  1825,  Popelin  was  a  widower  at 
the  time,  having  lost  his  wife  in  1869.      Ten   years  later  the 


THE   IMPERIAL  FAMILY  237 

Almanack  de  Gotha  stated  that  Princess  Mathilda  and  M.  Paupe- 
lin  {sic)  had  been  married  in  England  in  December,  1871.  It  is 
certain  that  the  Princess  was  in  England  at  the  date  mentioned, 
but  subsequent  to  the  statement  of  the  Alvianach  de  Gotha  a 
paragraph  signed  A.  Rdnal  was  published  in  Le  Figaro  declar- 
ing, on  the  Princess's  behalf,  that  the  assertions  respecting 
the  marriage  were  untrue.  Nevertheless,  down  to  the  time  of 
Popelin's  death  in  1892,  the  Princess's  intimates  were  certainly 
under  the  impression  that  he  was  at  least  morganatically  her 
husband.  On  the  whole,  whatever  lapses  there  may  have  been 
in  the  Princess  Mathilde's  life,  we  feel  that  they  may  be  more 
readily  condoned  than  those  of  any  other  member  of  the 
imperial  family.  Bearing  in  mind  that  she  was  a  Bonaparte, 
with  all  the  temperament  of  that  race,  one  must  recollect  that, 
after  a  most  unhappy  period  of  wedlock,  she  was  separated 
from  her  husband  when  only  five  and  twenty  years  old,  and 
that  there  was  no  possibility  of  her  marrying  again  while  he 
lived — which  he  did,  as  already  mentioned,  until  1870.  Thus, 
after  the  separation,  the  only  prospect  before  the  young 
Princess  was  one  of  long  lonely  years.  That  may  not  be 
excuse,  but  it  will  serve  to  explain  her  position,  and  why  she 
accepted  such  consolation  as  she  found.  For  our  part  we  do 
not  feel  inclined  to  throw  stones  at  anybody,  either  man  or 
woman,  who  is  debarred  by  the  rigour  of  laws  or  the  dogmas 
of  churches  from  living  in  that  marital  state  for  which  all  of  us 
are  intended. 

Earlier  in  this  chapter  we  referred  to  the  Murat  family,* 
which  in  social  matters  often  figured  prominently  during  the 
Empire.  It  will  have  been  noticed  that  the  head  of  the  house, 
Prince  Lucien,  married  an  American  lady  of  Scotch  descent,  and 
that  their  children  were  born  at  Bordentown,  in  the  United 
States.  The  story  of  the  union  in  its  earlier  period  is  interesting. 
Until  Prince  Lucien — the  second  son  of  the  great  Murat — was 
twelve  years  old  he  saw  his  father  occupying  the  throne  of 
Naples,  but  in  1815  he  became  an  exile,  going  with  his  mother 
to  Trieste,  and  thence  to  Venice,  where  he  lived  till  1825.  He 
then  started  for  the  United  States,  intending  to  join  his  elder 
brother  and  his  uncle  Joseph  there,  but  unfortunately  his  ship 
*  ^QQ  ante,  p.  211. 


238  THE    COURT    OF  THE   TUILERIES 

ran  aground  off  the  coast  of  Spain,  and,  his  identity  being 
discovered,  he  was  for  some  time  kept  a  prisoner  by  the  Spanish 
Bourbons.  Ultimately  he  contrived  to  reach  America,  where 
he  married  Miss  Eraser  and  settled  down  to  commercial  pursuits. 
In  these,  however,  he  was  so  unlucky  that  his  means  were  soon 
exhausted,  and  the  situation  was  only  saved  by  his  wife,  a 
woman  of  high  character.  Calling  herself  simply  Madame 
Murat,  she  opened  at  Bordentown  a  school  for  girls,  by  which 
means  and  in  spite  of  many  difficulties  she  contrived  to  support 
herself,  her  husband,  and  their  children — there  being  in  all  five, 
one  of  whom  died  before  the  departure  of  the  family  for  France. 
This  occurred  about  the  time  of  the  election  of  Louis  Napoleon 
as  President  of  the  Republic.  Prince  Murat  then  became  a 
deputy,  exerted  himself  on  his  cousin's  behalf,  and  after  the 
Coup  d'Etat  was  created  a  senator  and  confirmed  in  his  rank 
and  titles.  Napoleon  III.  had  a  high  opinion  of  the  Princess, 
and  it  will  have  been  observed  that  her  personal  allowance  from 
the  civil  list  was  £4000  a  year.  We  believe  that  she  received 
that  sum  direct  because  the  Prince  was  extravagantly  inclined. 
All  his  children  were  favoured  by  the  Emperor  and  Empress, 
the  latter  of  whom  was  particularly  attached  to  the  tall  and 
beautiful  Princess  Anna,  who  married  the  hisch-born  but 
diminutive  Duke  de  Mouchy. 

In  1861,  after  Garibaldi  had  driven  Francis  II.  from  Naples, 
it  occurred  to  Prince  Murat  that  his  chance  had  come,  and 
not  only  were  certain  letters  published  in  which  he  asserted  a 
claim  to  the  Neapolitan  throne,  but  a  ridiculous  attempt  was 
even  made  to  form  a  Murat  party  in  Southern  Italy.  It  would 
certainly  have  failed  even  if  it  had  not  been  promptly  stopped 
by  the  intervention  of  Napoleon  III.  We  do  not  recall  any 
other  noteworthy  excursion  of  Prince  Murat's  into  politics 
during  the  Empire,  but  the  marriages  of  his  younger  son  and 
his  daughter  were  social  events  of  importance  in  the  eyes  of  the 
fashionable  Paris  of  that  time.  On  each  occasion  there  was  a 
ceremony  at  the  chapel  of  the  Tuileries,  and  in  the  case  of 
Prince  Achille  Murat,  his  bride  being  of  the  Greek  faith,  a 
second  and  gorgeous  one  took  place  at  the  Russian  church 
near  the  Pare  Monceau.  Prince  Joachim  Murat  (Achille's 
elder    brother)    figured    very    conspicuously    at    Court.       His, 


THE   IMPERIAL  FAMILY  239 

marriage,  in  1854,  with  the  daughter  of  the  Prince  de  Wagram 
had  enhanced  his  social  importance,  and  he  was  a  soldier  of 
some  ability,  besides  being  a  very  handsome  one,  superb  in  his 
uniform  as  Colonel  of  the  Guides — that  semi-hussar  regiment 
originally  formed  by  Count  Fleury.  Physically,  Prince  Joachim 
may  not  have  resembled  his  grandfather — he  certainly  displayed 
neither  his  whiskers  nor  his  mane  of  curly  hair — but  he  had  all 
the  dash  of  a  light  cavalryman,  and  this  and  the  picturesqueness 
of  his  uniform  often  conjured  up  a  memory  of  those  swift 
squadrons,  brave  alike  in  heart  and  apparel,  at  whose  head  the 
great  Murat  so  often  swept  the  legions  of  the  foe  from  the 
battlefield. 

In  his  old  age,  Prince  Lucien,  the  head  of  the  family,  led  a 
somewhat  singular  life.  His  circumstances  had  been  greatly 
reduced  by  the  fall  of  the  Empire,  and  he  had  also  become  very 
unwieldy,  gouty,  and  uncertain  on  his  legs.  One  evening  in 
1876  or  1877  we  saw  him  alight  with  difficulty  from  a  vehicle 
outside  the  Paris  music-hall  known  as  the  Folies-Bergere,  and, 
assisted  by  a  valet,  enter  that  house  of  entertainment  and  take 
a  seat  in  the  stalls.  On  inquiry,  we  ascertained  that  this  was 
his  practice  every  evening.  He  engaged  a  stall  by  the  month, 
crawled  to  it  with  his  valefs  help  night  after  night,  and  remained 
till  the  ballet  was  over,  when,  having  feasted  his  eyes  on  the 
agility  of  the  legs  of  the  danseuses,  he  once  more  tried  to  use 
his  own  and  shuffle  out  of  the  house.  It  was  a  curious  ending 
to  a  career  of  many  vicissitudes.  The  Prince  died  in  Paris  in 
April,  1878,  and  less  than  a  year  afterwards  his  devoted  wife 
followed  him  to  the  grave. 

Her  Scotch  descent  reminds  us  of  the  similar  origin  of 
another  connection  of  the  Bonaparte  family.  This  was  Lord 
Dudley  Coutts  Stuart,  the  eighth  son  of  the  first  Marquess  of 
Bute — in  fact,  his  only  son  by  his  second  marriage,  which  was 
with  Frances,  daughter  of  Thomas  Coutts,  the  banker.  In  1824 
Lord  Dudley  Stuart  married  Christiane  Egypta  Bonaparte,  a 
daughter  of  the  first  Napoleon's  brother  Lucien  by  his  marriage 
with  Catherine  Boyer.  The  Princess  Christiane  had  divorced 
Prince  Arved  Posse  of  Sweden  a  year  before  her  marriage  with 
Lord  Dudley  Stuart,  to  whom  in  1826  she  bore  a  son,  who 
became  a  captain  in  the  68th  Regiment  of  Foot,  and  died  at 


210  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Brompton  in  1889,  leaving,  we  think,  no  issue.  Both  Lord 
Dudley  and  Captain  Dudley  Stuart  were  well  known  to 
Napoleon  IH.  The  former  passed  away  in  1854,  but  for  some 
years  afterwards  the  latter  was  invited  to  the  Tuileries  and 
Compiegne  whenever  he  came  to  France. 

It  remains  for  us  to  say  something  respecting  a  Prince  who, 

in  one  or  another  way,  frequently  proved  himself  a  thorn  in  the 

Emperor's  side.      This  was  Prince  Pierre  Napoleon,  a  younger 

son  of  the  original  Lucien  Bonaparte.      Pierre  was  a  man  of 

violent   character   and  particularly  pugnacious  instincts.      In 

1832,  when   about  seventeen   years   old,  he  joined  his  uncle, 

ex-King  Joseph  of  Spain,  in  the  United  States,  and  afterwards 

took   service   in   Columbia   under   Santander,  the   Republican 

general.     Returning  to  Italy,  he  there  embroiled  himself  with 

the  Papal  authorities,  who  ordered  him  to  quit  the  States  of 

the  Church.     This  he  refused  to  do,  and  on  the  arrival  of  some 

gendarmes  to  expel  him  he  resisted  and  wounded  two  of  them. 

Nevertheless  he  was  apprehended  and  imprisoned  for  a  time  in 

the  castle  of  St.  Angelo.     On  his  release  he  returned  to  America, 

and  was  there  about  the  time  when,  after  the  Strasburg  exploit, 

his   cousin   the   future   Napoleon   III.  was  shipped  across  the 

Atlantic  by   order    of  Louis    Philippe.     However,    they    saw 

comparatively  little  of  each  other  at  that  time,  as  Pierre's  violent 

disposition   was   in  no  wise  to  Louis  Napoleon's  liking.     The 

former,  on  returning  to  Europe,  sought  service  in  Turkey,  fell 

out  with  some  Albanian  Palikares,  and  had  to  leave  the  country. 

After  the  French  revolution  of  1848  he   contrived  to  secure 

election  as  a  deputy,  but  he  frequently  displayed  the  utmost 

violence  in  the  Assembly,  often  insulting  his  colleagues,  and  on 

one  occasion  brutally  assaulting  one  of  them,  a  man  much  older 

than  himself.     To  get  rid  of  this  quarrelsome  cousin,  the  Prince 

President   at  last  procured  him  a  commission  in  the  Foreign 

Legion,  and  sent   him  to   Algeria.      He  was  present  at  the 

operations  against  Zaatcha,  but  again  misconducted  himself, 

returned  to  France  without  leave,  and  was  thereupon  cashiered. 

Nevertheless,   after  the   establishment   of   the   Empire  Pierre 

Bonaparte  was  recognized  as  a  Prince  of  the  imperial  house, 

included  in  the  Emperor's  civil  family,  and  allotted  an  annual 

civil-list  allowance  of  £4000.      He  repeatedly  applied  for  an 


THE  IMPERIAL  FAMILY  Ml 

official  post,  but  Napoleon  III.,  knowing  his  disposition,  was 
unwilling  to  give  him  public  employment.  Prince  Pierre  then 
pestered  his  cousin  year  after  year  for  loans,  advances,  and 
extra  allowances.  At  one  time  he  wished  the  Emperor  to  buy 
some  unproductive  property  which  he  owned  in  Corsica,  at 
another  he  needed  money  to  go  shooting  in  the  Ardennes,  and 
so  forth. 

At  last  on  January  10,  1870,  his  violent  temperament  led 
him  to  the  perpetration  of  a  crime  which  scandalized  the  whole 
world  and  shook  the  Empire  severely.  He  had  written  some 
heated  articles  for  a  Corsican  journal,  UAvenir^  in  reply  to 
an  attack  on  the  memory  of  Napoleon  I.  which  had  appeared  in 
La  Revanche,  another  newspaper  of  the  island,  and  one  which 
represented  the  democratic  party  there.  The  quarrel  was  taken 
up  by  a  Paris  journal.  La  Marseillaise,  the  organ  of  Henri 
Rochefort,  who  had  risen  to  fame  with  La  Lanterne ;  and  one 
of  La  Marseillaise''s  contributors.  Paschal  Grousset — later  of 
the  Paris  Commune,  and  also  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Corsican  print  La  Revanche — deeming  himself  to  be  insulted 
by  the  Prince,  sent  him  a  challenge.  The  seconds  who  carried 
it  were  Ulrich  de  Fonvielle,  a  well-known  journalist  of  the  time, 
and  a  young  man  of  about  one  and  twenty  who  contributed 
to  La  Marseillaise  under  the  nom  de  plume  of  Victor  Noir. 
His  real  name  was  Salmon,  a  contraction  of  Salomon,  and  he 
was  of  Jewish  blood.  His  father  had  been  a  watchmaker,  and 
he  himself  a  linendraper's  assistant  before  taking  to  journalism, 
to  which  he  seems  to  have  turned  in  imitation  of  his  elder 
brother,  Louis  Noir,  who,  in  course  of  time,  became  fairly  well 
known  as  a  writer  of  serial  stories. 

On  the  arrival  of  Fonvielle  and  Victor  Noir  at  Prince 
Pierre''s  residence  in  the  chief  street  of  the  virtually  suburban 
district  of  Auteuil,  an  unfortunate  altercation  arose.  The 
Prince  subsequently  alleged  that  he  had  been  provoked  and 
even  struck  by  Noir,  but  it  does  not  really  appear  that  any 
such  blow  was  dealt.  V^^hat  is  certain  is  that  the  Prince  refused 
the  challenge  handed  to  him,  declaring  that  he  would  not  fight 
M.  Grousset,  whom  he  held  to  be  a  mere  subordinate  of  Roche- 
forfs,  and,  according  to  Fonvielle's  account,  he  added :  "  I 
challenged  Rochefort  because  he  is  the  champion  of  la  crapide 


242  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

[i.e.  the  lowest  of  the  low].  As  for  M.  Grousset,  I  have  nothing 
to  say  to  him.  Are  you  jointly  responsible  for  those  carrion  ?'''' 
"Sir,"  replied  Fonvielle,  "we  have  come  here  loyally  and 
courteously  to  fulfil  the  commission  entrusted  to  us  by  our 
friend."  "  Do  you  accept  responsibility  for  those  scoundrels  ?  " 
the  Prince  reiterated.  "  We  are  responsible  for  our  friends," 
answered  Noir.  Thereupon  Prince  Pierre,  suddenly  stepping 
forward,  drew  a  revolver  from  his  pocket  and  fired  at  Noir, 
who,  pressing  both  hands  to  his  breast,  staggered  back  through 
the  doorway  by  which  he  and  Fonvielle  had  entered  the  room. 
Fonvielle,  according  to  his  own  account,  would  also  have  been 
shot  had  he  not  produced  a  pistol,  which  momentarily  checked 
the  Prince.  As  it  happened,  the  latter  fired  after  him  without 
effect  as  he  was  escaping  into  the  street,  where  he  found  Noir, 
who  had  mustered  sufficient  strength  to  descend  the  stairs,  but 
was  now  near  death — the  Prince's  bullet  having  injured  his 
heart  and  entered  his  lungs.  He  soon  afterwards  expired  in  a 
chemist's  shop. 

The  sensation  which  the  affair  created  was  profound,  and 
serious  were  the  troubles  in  which  it  involved  the  Government. 
There  were  tumultuous  scenes  at  Noir's  funeral,  the  democratic 
agitation  grew  apace,  and  but  for  the  strength  and  vigilance  of 
the  police  and  the  military,  Revolution  might  have  broken  out 
in  Paris.  Prince  Pierre  was  arrested — so  also  was  Fonvielle — 
lodged  in  the  Conciergerie,  and  finally  sent  for  trial  before  the 
High  Court  of  Justice  assembled  at  Tours.  That  tribunal,  as 
its  composition  foreshadowed,  contrived  to  acquit  him,  but  not 
even  in  the  days  of  the  Dreyfus  case  was  res  judicata  more 
liable  to  criticism.*  At  the  same  time,  outside  the  ranks  of  the 
extreme  anti-dynastic  party,  there  were  not  wanting  people  who 
expressed  sympathy  with  the  Emperor  on  account  of  the  trouble 
in  which  he  was  involved  by  members  of  his  family — trouble 
brought  to  a  climax  by  the  impetuous  violence  of  that  "  Corsican 
wild  boar,"  as  Prince  Pierre  was  not  unaptly  called. 

The  Prince's  matrimonial  entano-lement  had  also  long  been 
a  source  of  some  annoyance  to  Napoleon  III.  On  March  22, 
1853,   he    had    contracted   in ,  Paris   a   morganatic    marriage 

*  The  Prince,  though,  acquitted  of  murder,  was  sentenced  to  pay  £1000  as 
compensation  to  the  Nori  family. 


THE   IMPERIAL  FAMILY  243 

(a  religious  ceremony  alone  being  performed)  with  a  person  of 
modest  condition  named  Justine  Eleonore  RufRn,  who,  having 
been  born  in  1832,  was  seventeen  years  younger  than  himself. 
Under  the  circumstances  she  was  not  received  at  Court,  where 
by  the  way,  the  Prince  himself  seldom  put  in  an  appearance ; 
and  although,  at  the  time  of  the  Noir  affair  in  1870,  the  news- 
papers generally  alluded  to  her  as  the  "  Princess  Pierre,"  it  is  a 
question  (having  regard  to  the  family  discipline  of  the  imperial 
house)  whether  she  then  had  any  real  right  to  the  title,  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  the  Prince  had  married  her  a  second 
time,  on  October  2,  1867,  at  La  Cuisine,  in  the  Florenville 
canton  of  Belgian  Luxemburg.  That  marriage  legitimated  the 
childi-en  of  the  union,  a  boy  and  girl,  in  Belgium,  but  not, 
apparently,  in  France,  for  after  the  fall  of  the  Empire  Prince 
Pierre  (to  whom  we  would  give  all  possible  credit  for  stead- 
fastness in  his  affections)  married  Mile.  Ruffin  yet  a  third  time 
— that  is,  at  the  French  Legation  at  Brussels  on  November  11, 
1871.  The  private  decisions  and  enactments  of  the  Imperial 
Family  Council  respecting  the  marriages  of  the  Bonaparte 
Princes  were  then  null  and  void ;  and  Pierre  Bonaparte''s  wife 
fully  acquired  by  this  last  union  a  right  to  style  herself  Princess, 
while,  in  accordance  with  the  common  law  of  France,  her 
children  undoubtedly  became  legitimate  there,  with  a  right  to 
the  titles  of  Prince  and  Princess — though  without  the  qualification 
of  either  Imperial  Highness  or  Highness.* 

The  son  of  the  union,  Prince  Roland  Napoleon  Bonaparte, 
was  born  in  Paris  on  May  19,  1858.  Educated  for  the  military 
profession,  he  served  at  one  time  in  the  army  of  the  present 
Republic,  holding  a  commission  in  the  36th  Regiment  of  the 
Line ;  but  in  later  years  he  took,  with  infinite  credit  to  him- 
self, to  serious  scientific  pursuits.  He  married,  in  November, 
1880,  Mile.  Marie  Felice  Blanc,  daughter  of  Franpois  Blanc, 
the  millionaire  founder  of  the  famous  gaming  tables  of  Monte 
Carlo.  The  wedding  was  the  occasion  of  a  great  mustering  of 
the  French  imperialist  party.    The  Prince''s  mother  was  present, 

*  In  the  case  of  French  citizens,  those  qualifications  are  not  recognized  by 
French  law  any  more  than  is  that  of  Excellency,  formerly  used  in  addressing 
French  Ministers  of  State  and  Ambassadors.  Nevertheless,  it  is  occasionally 
given,  in  courtesy,  by  foreigners  to  the  French  envoys  abroad. 


244  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Ave  remember ;  but  his  father,  who  by  reason  of  his  antecedents 
would  scarcely  have  been  persona  grata  in  that  assemblage,  did 
not  attend.*  It  was  currently  reported  at  the  time  that  in 
addition  to  a  mansion  in  Paris  and  a  palace  in  Italy,  the  bride 
had  brought  her  husband  a  million  sterling.  The  union  was, 
unfortunately,  brief;  Princess  Roland  died  at  St.  Cloud  in 
1882,  some  four  weeks  after  giving  birth  to  a  daughter, 
Princess  Marie. 

Prince  Roland's  sister,  Princess  Jeanne,  was  born  on 
September  25,  1861,  at  UAbbaye-d'Orval,  in  Belgian  Luxem- 
burg, and  in  1882  she  married  Christian,  Marquis  de  Villeneuve, 
a  former  deputy  for  Corsica,  whom,  in  course  of  years,  she 
presented  with  two  sons  and  four  daughters. 

*  Prince  Pierre  Bonaparte  died  at  Versailles,  in  April,  1881, 


CHAPTER  X 

BANQUETS,    BALLS,    AND     OTHER    COURT    FESTIVITIES — 
THE    GREAT    YEAR,     1867 

Family  Dinners  at  the  Tuileries— The  Grand  Surtout— The  services  of  Plate, 
China,  and  Glass — The  Losses  and  Breakages— Halliard's  curious  Reports 
— The  Curee  of  the  Liberal  Empire — Maillard  at  the  Revolution — Dupuy, 
the  chief  Comptroller  of  the  Table— The  Maitres  d'Hotel— Benoit,  the 
Head  Cook  and  his  Assistants — Composition  of  the  Kitchen  Service — Table 
and  Kitchen  Salaries — State  and  other  Dinners  at  the  Tuileries — The 
Dinner  of  the  Beauties — The  Palace  Receptions — The  great  Balls — The 
Empress's  Mondays— Masked  and  Fancy-dress  Balls  of  the  Reign — 
The  Ballet  of  the  Bees — Strange  Costumes  at  Court— The  Pageant  of  the 
World— A  Triumph  of  American  Beauty— Some  of  Mme.  de  Metternich's 
Pleasantries— A  Jockey  Club  Ball— One  of  the  Emperor's  Riddles— Home 
the  Medium  at  Court  and  afterwards— Some  Parisian  Festivities— The 
Great  Year  1867— A  Political  Survey— All  the  Sovereigns  in  Paris— The 
Attempt  on  the  Czar— The  Shooting  of  Maximilian— The  Year  ends 
ominously. 

Every  Monday  when  the  Court  was  at  the  Tuileries  there  was  a 
family  dinner  there,  which  certain  Princes,  Princesses,  and  other 
connections  of  the  imperial  house  usually  attended  when  they 
were  in  Paris.  In  the  first  years  of  the  reign  this  dinner  took 
place  on  Sundays,  but  as  the  Emperor  often  had  to  devote  several 
hours  to  audiences  on  Sunday  afternoons,  and  afterwards  felt 
tired,  Monday  finally  prevailed  as  the  day  for  the  dinner.  Those 
who  usually  attended  the  family  dinners  were  Prince  Jerome  (with 
an  aide-de-camp)  whenever  his  health  allowed.  Prince  Napoleon 
(also  with  an  aide-de-camp,  but  not  during  his  hrouilleries  with 
the  Emperor),  Princess  Clotilde  (with  a  lady  of  honour),  Princess 
Mathilde  (with  a  lady  in  waiting  and  her  chevalier  dlionneur), 
Prince  and  Princess  Murat,  Prince  and  Princess  Joachim 
Murat,  the  Duke  and  Duchess  de  Mouchy,  Prince  and  Princess 
Gabrielli,  Marquis  and  Marchioqess  Roccagiovine,  Cqunt  and 


246  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Countess  Primoli,  and  the  Duke  and  Duchess  de  Cambaceres, 
as  well  as  the  Colonel  of  the  Cent-Gardes,  and  the  officers  and 
ladies  in  attendance  that  day  on  the  Emperor  and  Empress. 
The  guests  were  received  in  the  Empress"'s  private  apartments, 
and  at  table  Princess  Clotilde  invariably  sat  on  the  Emperor's 
right  hand  and  Princess  Mathilde  on  his  left ;  while  to  the 
Empress''s  right  was  Prince  Jerome  or  Prince  Napoleon,  and  to 
her  left  either  the  last-named  or  Prince  Murat.  The  menus  of 
these  dinners  did  not  differ  much  from  those  of  ordinary  days, 
but  silver-gilt  plate  and  fine  Sevres  porcelain  appeared  on 
the  table. 

The  "  Grand  Surtout  de  Table,"  in  the  execution  of  which 
eight  skilful  artists  had  co-operated  under  the  direction  of 
Messrs.  Christofle,  included  four  principal  pieces,  partly  cast, 
partly  ciseles,  and  in  a  few  respects  of  galvanic  work.  The 
centre-piece  represented  France,  standing  between  allegorical 
figures  of  religion,  justice,  concord,  and  strength,  and  distribut- 
ing crowns  both  to  the  glory  of  war  and  to  the  glory  of  peace. 
The  former  was  represented  by  a  warrior  urging  on  the  four 
fiery  steeds  of  his  chariot,  the  latter  by  a  woman  whose  car  was 
drawn  by  four  quiet  oxen.  There  were  also  four  large  cups 
with  figures  typifying  the  north,  east,  west,  and  south  of  France, 
and  four  candelabra  with  figures  emblematical  of  science,  art, 
industry,  and  agriculture,  together  with  ten  dishes  of  Sevres 
porcelain  mounted  on  stands  of  silvered  bronze.  All  the  plate 
displayed  the  finest  chiselled  repousse  work,  and  the  surtout 
was  altogether  very  remarkable.  When  the  question  of 
ordering  it  arose  early  in  the  reign,  it  was  suggested  to  the 
Emperor  that  it  ought  to  be  of  massive  silver,  but  he  rejected 
the  idea,  saying,  with  a  smile,  that  one  never  knew  what  vicissi- 
tudes history  might  bring  in  its  train,  and  that,  if  the  surtout 
should  be  of  massive  precious  metal,  somebody  might  be 
tempted  some  day  to  have  it  melted  down.  He  desired  a  fine 
work  of  comparatively  small  intrinsic  value,  which  might  be 
preserved  for  the  sake  of  its  artistic  merit  and  not  destroyed 
for  the  sake  of  its  substance.  His  wishes  were  respected,  and 
it  so  happened  that  in  later  years,  the  principal  pieces,  after 
being  somewhat  badly  damaged  in  the  conflagration  of  the 
Tuileries,  but  repaired  by  Messrs.  Christofle,  were  sent  to  the 


COURT  FESTIVITIES  247 

Musee  des  Arts  decoratifs  as  splendid  examples  of  the  art  to 
which  they  belonged. 

The  plate  at  the  Tuileries  also  comprised  four  dinner 
services ;  first,  a  silver  one  of  a  hundred  covers  decorated 
with  the  imperial  eagle,  and  known  accordingly ;  next  a  silver- 
gilt  service  of  forty  covers,  which  was  the  one  used  at  the 
family  dinners  and  at  those  attended  by  foreign  royalties ;  next 
an  elegant  silver  forty-cover  Louis  XVI.  service,  which  was 
used  on  ordinary  occasions ;  and,  finally,  a  silver  service  by 
Froment-Meurice,  in  which  all  the  tureen  and  dish  covers 
were  surmounted  by  finely-chiselled  nahires  mortes :  pheasants, 
partridges,  hares,  turkeys,  fowls,  vegetables  of  various  kinds, 
and  so  forth.  There  was  also  a  dessert  service  of  vermeil  with 
the  eagle  and  crown  in  relief  on  every  piece.  All  the  plate, 
china,  and  glass  were  in  the  keeping  of  an  official  named 
Maillard,  who  was  lodged  in  the  palace  and  received  a  salary 
of  £%'^0  a  year.  To  him  also  the  table-linen  was  delivered  by 
the  Lingerie  imperiale,  according  to  the  quantity  he  speci- 
fied. On  the  occasion  of  a  great  ball  at  the  palace  (a  ball, 
of  course,  meant  supper)  he  would  apply  for  a  hundred  and 
twenty  table-cloths,  and  a  hundred  and  thirty  dozens  of  nap- 
kins, that  is  sufficient  for  about  one  thousand  five  hundred 
people. 

The  porcelain  in  M.  Maillard's  charge  was  chiefly  Sevres. 
The  plates,  dishes,  and  stands  of  the  finest  dessert  service  had 
borders  of  a  light  grey  with  arabesque  work  in  gold.  Land- 
scapes with  figures  were  painted  in  the  centre  of  the  plates,  the 
actual  cost  of  production  of  each  of  which  was  £\%.  There 
Avas  next  a  service  with  the  well-known  Sevres-blue  border, 
golden  arabesque  work  and  golden  stars  spangling  the  plates. 
The  third  service  was  of  white  Sevres,  with  golden  bands  and 
the  imperial  crown  and  monogram  in  the  centre  of  the  pieces. 
Sets  of  soup-plates  were  adjoined  to  each  of  the  services  we  have 
described.  For  the  ball  suppers  there  was  a  very  large  service 
of  a  good  quality  of  "  commercial  china,"  decorated  in  the  same 
style  as  the  white  Sevres  set.  The  glass  comprised  a  service 
in  verre  mousseline  with  engraved  and  gilded  monograms  and 
bands,  this  being  used  in  conjunction  with  the  vermeil  plate , 
next  a  larger  and  simpler  set  decorated  in  corresponding  style ; 


248  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

and  a  third  and  yet  larger  one,  engraved  without  gilding.    This 
last  was  used  at  the  ball  suppers. 

M.  Maillard,  who  had  immediate  charge  of  all  those  things, 
was,  according  to  every  account,  a  painstaking,  orderly,  and 
reliable  man,  but  the  loss  and  breakage,  particularly  during  the 
last  year  of  the  Empire,  was  very  large,  and  more  than  once  the 
"  Chef  de  FArgenterie "  tore  his  hair  in  despair.  Here  is  a 
report  of  his,  addressed  to  the  Adjutant-general  of  the  Tuileries 
about  the  time  of  the  declaration  of  the  Franco-German  War : 

"  General, — There  are  the  following  deficiencies  in  the  linen  used  at 
the  balls : — 


Ball  of  January  16 

26 

napkins. 

..        80      ... 

22 

,,      February  13 

27 

>}            >>        27 

21 

„              May  18      ... 

28 

,,             June  10 

40 

^'^  Every  possible  search  and  endeavour  has  been  made  to  find  them, 
but  has  yielded  no  result,  and  it  is  at  the  last  extremity.  General,  that  I 
make  this  declaration  of  the  loss." 

On  April  1,  1870,  moreover,  Maillard  is  found  reporting 
that  the  breakages  at  recent  palace  dinners  and  ball  suppers 
have  amounted  to  no  less  than  474  pieces  of  china  (plates, 
cups,  etc.)  and  183  pieces  of  glass.  The  period,  it  will  be 
remembered,  was  that  of  Emile  Ollivier's  brief  spell  of  power, 
when,  while  the  democratic  revolutionaries  were  howling  and 
demonstrating  at  the  Belleville  public  meetings,  a  motley  crew  of 
new  parliamentarians,  who  claimed  to  support  the  "  reformed "" 
regime^  rushed  upon  the  Tuileries  to  feast  and  enjoy  themselves 
at  the  imperial  expense.  It  was  again  a  Curee,  not  that  of  the 
Coup  d'Etat,  but  that  of  L'Empire  Liberal.  Those  who  had 
participated  in  the  earlier  Curee  may  have  been  men  of  little 
principle,  but,  with  few  exceptions,  they  were  possessed  of 
manners ;  whereas  those  of  the  last  Cw^ee,  whatever  might  be 
their  moral  value,  had  no  manners  at  all.  While  their  leader, 
Ollivier,  beamed  on  them  benignly  from  behind  his  glasses,  they 
smashed  the  china  of  the  Tuileries  and  carried  off  the  napkins 
in  their  pockets.  When  an  Irish  peer,  who  strayed  into  one 
of  those  last  entertainments  at  the  palace,  was  asked  his  opinion 


COURT  FESTIVITIES  249 

of  it,  he  replied,  "  Oh,  Donny brook  Fair — only  more  so  ! ""  The 
disorder,  the  lack  of  propriety,  the  loud,  vulgar  criticism,  the 
mobbing  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress,  the  scrambling  for 
supper,  the  jeering  laughter  when  anything  was  damaged  or 
broken — all  those  little  incidents  were  premonitory  signs  of  the 
approaching  debacle. 

When  the  Revolution  came  at  last,  Maillard  inserted  a  final 
and  pathetic  little  entry  in  his  register: — "September  4,  1870. 
Her  Majesty  the  Empress  left  at  half-past  one,  by  way  of  the 
Palace  of  the  Louvre.  All  the  personnel  left  about  four  o''clock 
in  the  afternoon  after  the  occupation  of  the  Palace  of  the 
Tuileries  by  the  National  Guards.  They  wrote  up,  '  Death  to 
Thieves,'  on  all  sides.  I  have  been  unable  to  put  things  away 
in  their  proper  places ;  they  have  not  allowed  me  time  to  do 
so."  That  cri  du  cceur  of  a  good  servant  will  appeal  to  us  all, 
whatever  opinion  we  may  entertain  of  the  Empire. 

The  chief  Comptroller  of  the  Service  de  Bouche,  or  Table 
Service,  was  M.  Dupuy,  son  of  an  employe  in  the  household  of 
Charles  X.  He  had  served  the  Duchess  of  Orleans  as  a  maitre 
d'Jiotel,  and  was  chosen  in  1848  to  co-operate  in  the  organization 
of  the  Prince  President's  household.  In  a  gold-laced  coat,  with 
a  cocked  hat  under  his  arm  and  a  sword  at  his  side,  Dupuy 
attended  all  the  official  dinners  and  fetes,  exercising  a  Avatchful 
supervision  over  everything.  Subsequent  to  the  fall  of  the 
Empire,  Thiers,  on  becoming  Chief  of  the  Executive  Power, 
also  employed  Dupuy  to  organize  his  household.  At  the 
Tuileries  there  were  two  sub-comptrollers  under  Dupuy,  and, 
subject  to  the  instructions  of  the  Adjutant-general,  he  was 
supreme  over  tlie  table,  pantry,  plate,  and  cellar  services. 

There  were  four  chief  maitres  dliotel  at  the  palace,  two  for 
the  Emperor,  one  for  the  Empress,  and  one  for  the  Imperial 
Prince.  Next  there  were  four  table-layers,  and  two  principal 
carvers,  one  of  the  latter  having  been  cook  to  the  Prince  de 
Joinville  on  his  voyage  to  St.  Helena  to  fetch  the  remains  of 
Napoleon  I.  When  there  were  many  guests  at  table  a  certain 
number  of  ushers  and  valets-de-chamhx  served  as  additional 
maitres  d''h6tel.  Felix,  the  Emperor's  chief  usher,  always  carved 
for  him  personally.  The  ordinary  uniforms,  or  liveries,  of  the 
vialtres  (rhotel  were  of  brown   cloth,  with  velvet  collars,  and 


250  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

gold  eagle  buttons ;  but  on  gala  occasions  these  table  officers 
appeared  in  sky-blue  habits  a  lafran(^aise,  with  tails  lined  with 
white  satin,  collars  embroidered  with  white  silk,  bright  cut- 
steel  buttons,  white  waistcoats,  black  silk  breeches,  white  silk 
stockings,  and  shoes  with  silver  buckles.  Swords  in  white  scab- 
bards dangled  beside  them,  and  cocked  hats  with  black  plumes 
and  steel  galoon-work  were  carried  under  their  arms. 

M.  Benoit,  the  head  cook  of  the  palace,  had  previously 
served  the  Duke  de  Noailles.  He  entered  the  imperial  house- 
hold as  successor  to  an  Englishman,  Evans,  whose  cookery, 
perhaps,  may  have  inclined  Napoleon  HI.  to  the  plain  sub- 
stantial fare  which  he  preferred  during  the  last  five-and-twenty 
years  of  his  life.  Under  M.  Benoit  Avere  two  sous-chefs^  Meurice, 
who,  like  Evans,  had  served  the  Emperor  in  England,  and 
Brot,  who  had  held  a  post  in  Louis -Philippe''s  kitchen.  The 
kitchen  service  further  included  : — 


1  chief  larder-man 

with  6  assistants, 

1     „     roaster 

»     4 

1     ,,     sauce  cook 

„     4 

1     „     stewer 

"     I 

1     „     e7itremets  cook 

»     3 

1     ,,     pastrycook 

.,     6 

1  general  cook 

„     4 

6  kitchen  men. 

All  roasting  was  done  at  wood  fires,  and  all  grilling  and  frying 
were  included  in  the  roasting  service.  The  pantry  department 
comprised  a  chef,  sous-chef  and  twelve  assistants.  Maillard,  who 
really  belonged  to  this  section  of  the  household,  had  sixteen 
assistants  under  him.  Further,  there  was  the  cellar  service 
under  M.  Boule,  with  six  assistants.  Every  day  dinner  was 
served  at  the  Tuileries  for  130  domestics,  inclusive  of  the 
kitchen,  pantry,  and  cellar  services.  The  menus  comprised 
soup,  three  dishes  of  meat,  inclusive  of  fish,  one  of  vegetables, 
and  dessert,  with  a  half-bottle  of  vin  ordinaire  for  each  man. 

The  principal   salaries  of  the   table,  kitchen,  and  pantry 
services  were  as  follows  : — 

Classes.  Amounts  per  annum. 

Chief  comptroller  (Dupuy)  ...         ...         ...     £400 

Sub-comptrollers  with  rent  money  ...         ...         254 

Empress's  maitre  cVhotel 120 


COURT  FESTIVITIES  251 

Classps.  Amounts  per  annum. 

MoAtres  dliotel  with  rent  money  £112 

Table-layers  ...         ...         ...         ...         •••           72 

Carvers         ...  ...         ...          ...         ...          •••           ^0 

Head  cook  (Benoit)  200 

Assistant  c/ie/s  ...         ...         ...         ...         •••         120 

Chief  larder-man  ...         ...         ...         .-•         ...           72 

Assistants  from  £48  to  56 

Chief  roaster  60 

Assistants  from  £40  to  48 

Chief  sauce-cook  ...         ...         ...         ...         •••           60 

Assistants  48 

Chief  pastrycook    ...         56 

Assistants  ...         ...  48 

General  cook  ...         ...         ...         ...         ...           60 

Assistants  •  ...         ...         ...         ...         •••           48 

All  the  empIo7/es  of  the  table-service,  and  indeed  all  domestics 
of  the  household,  received  as  a  New  Year's  gift  double  wages 
each  time  that  the  month  of  January  came  round.  It  was 
known  to  them  as  "  the  Emperor's  month."  The  extra  pay- 
ments in  question  are  not  included  in  the  above  list.  It  should 
further  be  mentioned  that  all  servants  who  did  not  sleep  at 
the  palace  received  allowances  for  rent,  varying  from  £8  to 
£12  a  year — a  small  sum,  it  should  be  said,  when  one  remembers 
how  largely  rents  increased  in  Paris  under  the  Empire  owing 
to  the  Haussmanization  of  the  city. 

Every  morning  the  heads  of  the  various  departments 
presented  their  reports  to  the  Adjutant-general  of  the  Palace, 
to  whom  the  chief  cook  also  submitted  menus  for  the  meals  of 
the  following  day.  Besides  the  table  of  the  Emperor  and 
Empress,  several  others  had  to  be  served — for  instance  that  of 
General  Rolin,  which  included  six  covers,  that  of  Madame 
Pollet,  also  of  six  covers,  that  of  Bure,  the  Crown  treasurer, 
that  of  Pietri,  the  Emperor's  secretary,  that  of  Thelin,  of  the 
Privy  Purse,  that  of  Dupuy,  the  chief  comptroller,  etc.  Every 
year,  early  in  January,  a  grand  dinner  was  offered  to  the 
principal  officers  of  the  household  and  their  wives.  A  little 
later  came  the  so-called  Dinner  of  the  Marshals,  which  the  War 
Minister,  and  the  general  officers  holding  great  commands  like- 
wise attended.  Next  there  was  a  grand  dinner  given  to  the 
ministers  in  office  and  their  wives,  followed  by  dinners  to  the 


252  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

senators,  the  councillors  of  state,  the  chief  judges,  the  deputies, 
the  head  officials  of  charitable  societies  under  the  imperial 
patronage,  and  so  forth.  Each  of  those  repasts  was  a  banquet 
of  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  and  thirty  covers,  the  wives  of  those 
male  guests  who  were  married  men  being  invariably  included 
in  the  invitations.  At  that  time,  indeed.  Frenchmen  seldom 
if  ever  herded  together  by  themselves  to  gorge  and  guzzle 
a  VAnglaise.  They  did  not  think  of  sitting  down  to  table 
without  the  company  of  ladies,  but  in  these  Republican  days 
they  have  become  infected  with  English  egotism,  and  the 
exclusion  of  women,  which  once  would  have  been  regarded  as  a 
gross  insult  to  the  fair  sex  is  now  considered  a  mere  matter 
of  course  in  Paris. 

On  arriving  at  the  Tuileries  for  one  of  the  grand  dinners, 
the  gentlemen  ranged  themselves  in  a  row  on  one  side  of  the 
salon  where  they  awaited  the  coming  of  the  Emperor  and 
Empress.  The  ladies  formed  another  row  on  the  other  side, 
and  the  sovereigns  passed  down  those  lines  of  guests,  who  were 
presented  to  them  in  turn  by  the  chamberlains  and  ladies  of 
honour.  It  was  the  Prefect  of  the  Palace  who  allotted  the 
seats  at  the  table,  in  accordance  with  a  list  which  had  been 
previously  submitted  to  the  Emperor.  One  of  the  bands  of  the 
Imperial  Guard  usually  played  during  the  repast.  At  a  grand 
dinner  of  an  average  number  of  covers  there  would  be  about 
thirty  large  silver  candelabra  on  the  huge  horseshoe  table,  as 
well  as  numerous  plants  in  vases,  baskets  of  flowers,  and  some 
six  dozen  dessert  stands  and  dishes.  The  menu  generally  com- 
prised a  choice  of  two  soups,  two  dishes  of  fish,  eight  entrees, 
three  or  four  roasts,  four  sorts  of  vegetables,  and  half  a  dozen 
different  entremets,  together  with  a  succession  of  fine  wines. 

Somewhat  late  in  the  reign  the  Empress  secured  the  services 
of  a  young  African  attendant,  who  was  generally  called  her 
Abyssinian  page,  though  we  believe  that  he  came  from  the 
Egyptian  Soudan,  and  had  been  brought  or  sent  to  Paris  by 
M.  de  Lesseps.  The  young  fellow  answered  to  the  name  of 
Scander,  and  at  grand  dinners  he  usually  stood  behind  the 
Empress'^s  chair,  garbed  in  splendid  brocade,  in  a  semi- Venetian, 
semi-Oriental  style.  But  although  Scander  helped  to  enhance 
the  decorative  aspect  of  the  banquets,  he  was  by  no  means  a 


COURT  FESTIVITIES  253 

satisfactory  servant,  for  he  only  obeyed  orders  when  he  felt 
inclined  to  do  so,  and  was  often  insolent  with  other  domestics. 
What  became  of  him  we  cannot  say,  but  we  think  that  he  was 
no  longer  at  the  Tuileries  at  the  Revolution. 

One  of  the  most  memorable  of  the  palace  banquets  was  that 
given  after  the  Crimean  War,  when  the  Emperor,  suddenly 
rising  from  his  chair,  raised  his  glass  and  exclaimed  :  "  Gentle- 
men, I  drink  to  the  health  of  two  men  whom  I  hold  in  the 
highest  esteem — Marshal  Canrobert  and  Marshal  Bosquet." 
There  had  been  no  previous  indication  that  the  Emperor 
intended  to  raise  those  officers  to  the  highest  rank  in  the 
army,  and  the  surprise  at  the  announcement  was  very  great. 
Canrobert  expressed  his  gratitude  in  his  usual  effusive  way ; 
while  Bosquet,  a  grave,  taciturn  man,  who,  unhappily,  had 
already  contracted  the  pulmonary  complaint  which  carried  him 
off  betimes,  said  merely  a  few  words,  and  then  despatched  a 
telegram  to  his  mother.  Another  very  interesting  Tuileries 
dinner  was  offered  by  the  Empress  to  the  Emperor  in  fulfilment 
of  a  wager  she  had  lost.  It  has  passed  virtually  into  history  as 
the  Dinner  of  the  Twenty  Beauties,  the  invitations  being  con- 
fined, so  far  as  the  ladies  were  concerned,  to  the  most  beautiful 
women  whom  the  Empress  could  find  in  her  Court.  They 
included  ten  Frenchwomen :  the  Duchesses  de  Persigny,  de 
Cadore,  and  de  Montmorency,  the  Marchionesses  de  Canizy  and 
de  Las  Marismas,  the  Countesses  de  Pourtales  and  de  Monte- 
bello,  and  the  Baronesses  de  Bourgoing  and  de  Pierrebourg. 
There  were  also  two  Russians,  the  Duchess  de  Morny  and 
Mme.  Leopold  Magnan ;  two  Italians,  the  Countess  Walewska 
and  Mme.  Bartholoni ;  a  Jewess,  the  Baroness  Alphonse  de 
Rothschild ;  a  Scotchwoman,  the  Marechale  Canrobert ;  a 
Creole,  the  Marchioness  de  Chasseloup-Laubat ;  together  with 
the  Princess  Anna  Murat,  a  semi-American,  the  Marchioness  de 
Galliffet,  a  semi-Englishwoman,  and  the  Princess  de  Metternich, 
a  Hungarian,  who,  of  course,  was  included  less  for  the  beauty 
of  her  person  than  for  that  of  her  esprit.  Finally,  the  Empress 
lierself,  who  was  a  Spaniard,  completed  the  score. 

As  a  rule  the  grand  dinners  at  the  Tuileries  were  followed 
by  receptions,  often  open  ones  so  far  as  officials  and  their  wives 
were  concerned.     At  certain  periods  of  the  year  came  solemn 


254  THE  COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

State  receptions.  Each  1st  of  January,  for  instance,  there  was 
an  imposing  gathering  of  the  Corps  Diplomatique  and  all 
the  chief  services  of  the  Administration.  Napoleon  III.  then 
often  delivered  himself  of  those  oracular  pronouncements  on 
European  affairs  which  alternately  alarmed  or  tranquillized  the 
world.  Further,  he  generally  contrived  to  be  at  the  Tuileries 
on  St.  Napoleon"'s  Day,  August  15,  to  receive  congratulations ; 
and,  again,  at  the  opening  and  closing  of  legislative  sessions 
there  were  usually  gatherings  of  senators  and  deputies  to  hear 
the  speeches  from  the  throne.  On  those  occasions,  as  at  the 
concerts  during  Lent,  light  refreshments,  such  as  tea,  ices, 
sorbets,  coffee  and  pastry,  were  offered  to  the  company. 

The  balls  were  of  various  kinds — first  the  great  State  balls, 
then  the  masked  and  fancy  ones,  then  the  smaller  Monday 
balls  given  by  the  Empress,  and  finally  the  children's  balls  in 
honour  of  the  Imperial  Prince.  Paris  danced  in  those  days — 
on  a  volcano,  if  you  like,  but  none  the  less  right  merrily. 
Public  dancing  halls  were  scattered  all  over  the  city,  from  the 
Quartier  Latin  to  the  haunts  of  the  rag-pickers.  With  each 
ensuing  Carnival  there  came  numerous  masked  balls,  not  only 
at  the  Opera  house  and  a  score  of  other  public  establishments, 
but  also  at  the  palace  itself,  and  at  one  and  another  ministry 
and  embassy.  Even  clubs,  like  the  Jockey  and  the  Union,  gave 
balls  of  that  description  in  those  days.  Then,  too,  the  balls  of 
the  Hotel  de  Ville  were  famous ;  and  although  the  noble 
Faubourg  St.  Germain,  the  abode  of  the  Legitimist  society,  was 
supposed  to  be  sulking  because  the  Count  de  Chambord  was  not 
upon  the  throne,  some  splendid  entertainments  were  given  from 
time  to  time  in  its  spacious  drawing-rooms ;  while  in  the 
Bonapartist  districts  of  Monceau,  Beaujon,  the  Champs  Elysees, 
and  the  Faubourg  St.  Honore,  fete  followed  fete  throughout 
the  Paris  season. 

On  the  nights  of  a  great  ball  at  the  Tuileries  the  Place  du 
Carrousel  was  illumined  by  the  huge  bonfires  lighted  there  for 
the  benefit  of  the  many  waiting  carriage-servants,  and  by  the 
blaze  streaming  from  all  the  first-floor  windows  of  the  palace, 
from  the  Salle  des  Travees  to  the  Galerie  de  Diane.  Up 
the  grand  staircase  went  the  guests,  past  the  motionless 
Cent-Gardes  in  their  resplendent  uniforms.      The  Emperor  and 


COURT  FESTIVITIES  S55 

Empress  received  the  Diplomatic  Body  and  other  prominent 
personages  in  the  Salon  Louis  XIV.,  under  the  picture  which 
showed  the  Grand  Monarque  designating  the  Duke  d'Anjou  to 
the  Spanish  envoys,  and  saying  to  them,  "  Gentlemen,  here  is 
your  King."  The  Emperor  wore  the  uniform  of  a  general,  with 
the  ribbon  and  star  of  the  Legion  of  Honour  on  his  breast,  the 
Empress  was  in  silk  and  lace,  with  a  diadem  on  her  head,  the 
"  Regent "  on  her  bosom,  and  a  belt  of  brilliants  around  her 
waist.  The  presentations  over,  the  imperial  cortege  was  formed, 
the  officers  of  the  Cent-Gardes  opening  the  march,  while  in 
attendance  were  all  the  splendidly  attired  state  and  court 
officials.  Their  breeches  and  stockings  were  uniformly  of  white 
silk,  but  the  coats  of  the  masters  of  ceremonies  were  violet  and 
gold,  those  of  the  prefects  of  the  palace  amaranth  and  gold, 
those  of  the  chamberlains  scarlet  and  gold,  those  of  the  equerries 
green  and  gold,  those  of  the  orderlies  pale  blue  and  silver,  and 
those  of  the  officers  of  the  hunt  green  and  silver.  Then  the 
aides-de-camp  were  in  full  military  uniform  ;  and  there  was  also 
the  army  of  domestics — the  ushers  in  brown  and  gold,  the 
footmen  in  green  and  gold  and  scarlet,  and  the  beadles  or 
Suisses  with  plumed  hats  and  broad  red  baldricks  embroidered 
with  imperial  eagles.  In  the  train,  too,  of  the  Sovereigns  were 
Princes  and  Princesses  of  their  house,  foreign  Ambassadors  and 
envoys.  Marshals  of  France,  the  Presidents  of  the  Senate  and 
the  Legislative  Body,  and  other  high  and  mighty  personages  in 
more  or  less  splendid  uniforms,  with  ribbons  and  stars  and 
crosses  galore. 

Through  the  Salle  du  Trone,  the  Salon  d'Apollon,  and  the 
Salon  du  Premier  Consul  went  the  pompous  procession,  the 
Empress  with  glittering  eyes  and  smiling  lips,  the  Emperor  with 
his  far-away  or  his  moody  look,  and  the  usual  occasional  twirl 
of  his  moustache.  As  they  reached  the  entrance  of  the  Salle 
des  Marechaux,  the  chief  usher  cried  aloud,  "  The  Emperor  ! 
The  Empress ! "  The  Cent-Gardes  at  the  door  stood  at 
attention,  and  the  beadles  stationed  there  struck  the  floor 
with  their  staves,  and  repeated  the  cry,  "  The  Emperor !  The 
Empress  !  "  Whereupon,  passing  between  the  hangings  of  gold 
and  crimson,  their  Majesties  entered  the  huge,  lofty  hall, 
where  the  great  chandelier  and  the  many  tall  candelabra  cast 


256  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUlLERlES 

the  most  brilliant  light  over  the  wonderful  assemblage  of 
uniforms,  court  coats,  fair  shoulders,  jewels,  and  gowns  of  well- 
nigh  every  hue.  The  orchestra  struck  up  "  Partant  pour  la 
Syrie  "  while  down  the  hall,  past  the  life-size  portraits  of  the 
mighty  marshals  and  the  many  busts  of  distinguished  generals, 
their  Majesties  went  towards  a  raised  platform  where  chairs  of 
state  were  set.  When  they  had  taken  their  seats  the  dancing 
began. 

In  the  earlier  years  of  the  reign  there  was  always  a  quadrille 
cfJionneur^  in  which  the  Emperor  and  Empress,  Princess 
Mathilde,  Prince  Napoleon,  and  Princess  Clotilde  participated, 
with,  at  times,  Morny  or  Walewski.  The  last  named  was  a 
born  dancer  (dancing,  in  his  time,  was  considered  a  necessary 
accomplishment  in  the  diplomatic  profession),  and  it  Avas  with 
a  very  courtly  grace  that  he  went  through  the  steps  of  a 
cavalier  seul.^  Foreign  royalties,  when  any  were  present,  and 
certain  foreign  ambassadors  also  participated  in  the  quadrille 
d''ho7ineur  ;  but  in  the  later  years  of  the  Empire — if  we  except 
1867,  when  Paris  was  crowded  with  crowned  heads — the 
Emperor  and  Empress  seldom,  if  ever,  danced.  After  a  time 
they  quitted  their  seats  on  the  raised  platform  and  strolled 
through  the  various  rooms,  watching  the  evolutions  of  their 
guests  or  chatting  with  one  or  another  of  them.  There  were 
always  at  least  two  orchestras,  one  in  the  Salle  des  Marechaux, 
another  in  the  Galerie  de  la  Paix.  Waldteufel  and  Strauss 
(not  Johann)  conducted,  and  the  music  varied  according  to 
the  fashion  of  the  time.  From  the  earlier  Viennese  waltzes  one 
came  to  "  II  Bacio,"  and  then  to  the  dance  airs  of  "  La  Belle 
Helene,"  "La  Grande  Duchesse,"  and  "  Chilperic."" 

The  scene  in  the  Salle  des  Marechaux  was  a  dazzling  one 
on  the  night  of  a  great  ball.  Stands  were  sometimes  ranged 
around  it  for  the  convenience  of  the  great  throng  of  onlookers. 
It  was  the  fashion,  too,  for  lovers  to  make  appointments  under 
the  portrait  of  one  or  another  marshal.  When  some  enamou>red 
young  man  of  position  learnt  that  the  lady  of  his  heart  would 
be  at  the  next  Tuileries  ball,  he  would  say  to  her  :  "  Be  under 

*  Even  Bismarck  could  waltz,  and  it  was  at  the  Tuileries,  in  1867,  and  in 
his  "  White  Cuirassier  "  uniform,  that  he  waltzed  for  the  last  time.  His 
partner  was  the  beautiful  Mme.  Carette.    He  was  then  in  his  fifty-third  year. 


COUllT  FESTIVITIES  257 

Augereau,  or  Massena,  or  Berthier,  at  midnight."  That  witch- 
ing hour  was  the  favourite  one  for  such  assignations,  as  it  was 
also  the  supper-hour  when  the  imperial  party  quitted  the 
scene  and  the  dancing  flagged.  Love,  of  course,  was  in  no 
hurry  to  go  to  supper;  and,  besides,  from  the  opening  till 
the  close  of  the  ball  a  refreshment  buffet  was  installed  in  the 
Salle  des  Travdes — a  buffet  at  which  ices,  sorbets,  tea,  coffee, 
claret-cup,  lemonade,  syrups,  pastry,  and  cakes  were  freely 
dispensed,  the  Service  de  Bouche  providing  1000  cups  and 
saucers  and  like  numbers  of  ice-glasses,  coffee-glasses  and 
tumblers.  On  an  average,  8000  ices  and  from  150  to  200 
gallons  of  liquid  refreshment  were  consumed  at  a  grand  ball, 
the  lemonade  and  syrups  being  prepared  in  earthen  pitchers, 
which  kept  them  delightfully  cool.  Supper  was  served  in  the 
Galerie  de  Diane,  first  for  the  Emperor,  the  Empress,  their  family, 
the  Corps  diplomatique  and  other  important  guests,  others 
being  admitted  afterwards  in  batches  of  about  one  hundred  at 
a  time,  when  the  chamberlains  and  other  officials  zealously  gave 
preference  to  ladies.  It  was  a  standing  supper,  served  at 
a  huge  buffet  decorated  with  the  grand  surtout  and  other 
ornamental  plate.  At  one  of  the  fetes  offered  to  foreign 
sovereigns  in  1867,  the  guests  were  so  numerous  that  the 
palace  playhouse  had  to  be  turned  into  a  supper-room.  At  the 
Empress's  pg^ife  hols,  for  which  only  some  600  invitations  were 
issued  (whereas  there  were  often  3000  to  a  grand  ball)  the 
guests  took  supper  seated  at  thirty  tables  in  the  Galerie  de  la 
Paix  and  the  Salon  Louis  XIV. 

Those  petits  hols,  which  were  given  on  Monday  evenings, 
and  therefore  became  known  as  the  Empress's  Mondays,  were 
far  more  enjoyable  than  the  State  affairs.  The  ladies  were  as 
bravely  arrayed  as  ever,  but  the  men,  the  Emperor  included, 
wore  merely  evening  dress,  with  knee-breeches,  no  uniforms 
being  displayed.  The  guests,  on  arriving  at  the  palace,  went 
straight  to  the  Empress's  apartments,  whence  they  proceeded 
to  the  Salon  d'Apollon  and  the  Salon  du  Premier  Consul,  in 
the  last  of  which  the  orchestra  was  stationed  under  a  portrait 
of  Napoleon  I.,  which  gave  the  room  its  name — a  remarkable 
portrait,  by  the  way,  lost  unfortunately  in  the  conflagration 
of  1871.     The  young  Consul  of  France  appeared  in  it  with  a 


S58  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

fine  classical  profile,  and  long  hair  falling  over  the  collar  of 
a  red  uniform,  as  he  passed  on  horseback  before  a  veteran 
grenadier,  who  presented  arms  to  him.* 

At  the  petits  hals  it  was  chiefly  in  that  Salon  du  Premier 
Consul  that  dancing  took  place,  but  before  it  began  the  Empress 
entered  the  room  in  State,  preceded  by  the  officers  of  her 
Household  and  attended  by  her  ladies-in-waiting.  The  lady 
guests  were  drawn  up  on  either  side,  with  the  gentlemen  behind 
them,  but  once  this  review  was  over,  there  was  no  further 
formality.  The  Emperor,  for  his  part,  slipped  into  the  rooms 
without  ceremony,  as  his  wife's  private  guest.  She,  as  a  rule, 
did  not  dance  at  those  Monday  gatherings,  but  flitted  for 
a  while  about  the  salons,  and  then  retired  to  her  private 
apartments,  with  one  or  two  foreign  diplomatists  or  other  per- 
sonages, until  the  time  came  for  the  cotillon,  which  she  always 
witnessed.  We  mentioned  in  an  earlier  chapter  that  the 
cotillon  was  led  for  several  seasons  by  that  smart,  curly-haired 
equerry  (who,  to  the  disgust  of  others,  would  ride  a  Tanglaise, 
and  not  in  French  military  fashion),  the  Marquis  de  Caux, 
Madame  Patti's  first  husband.  After  his  marriage,  there  was 
no  conducteur  attitre  of  the  cotillon,  but  the  Empress  personally 
designated  one  or  another  younger  guest  for  the  duty.  One  night 
her  choice  fell  on  an  Englishman,  Mr.  Hubert  Jerningham,t 
who,  although  confronted  by  the  most  critical  Parisian  audience 
that  could  have  been  collected  together,  acquitted  himself  right 
brilliantly  of  the  task. 

During  the  earlier  years  of  the  Empire,  Carnival  time  was 
always  celebrated  at  the  Tuileries  by  a  grand  fancy-dress  ball — 
at  times  a  masked  one.  Abbe  Deguerry,  of  the  Madeleine,  did 
not  object  so  much  to  fancy  costumes,  but  he  did  seriously 
object  to  masks,  as  they  allowed,  said  he,  of  a  good  deal  of 
impropriety  which  would  not  otherwise  take  place.  Accordingly, 
he  did  not  hesitate  to  censure  the  practice  of  masking,  even 
denouncing    it   in   a   sermon   which   he    preached    before   the 

*  The  composition  undoubtedly  inspired  that  of  Miiller's  equestrian 
portrait  of  Napoleon  III.  In  this  a  grenadier  of  the  Second  Empire  was 
shown  presenting  arms  to  the  Emperor  as  he  rode  under  the  entrance  arch  of 
the  Tuileries.     It  was  a  good  painting,  of  both  artistic  and  historical  value. 

t  Later  Sir  Hubert,  and  Governor  of  Mauritius— a  far  cry  from  the 
Tuileries. 


COURT  FESTIVITIES  259 

Emperor  and  Empress.  As  it  happened,  in  the  last  years  of 
the  reign  the  fancy  balls  were  mostly  given  for  the  entertain- 
ment of  the  Imperial  Prince  and  his  young  friends — that  is, 
they  became  children's  parties,  at  which  the  little  Prince  figured, 
now  in  the  revolutionary  character  of  Massaniello,  now  as  a 
juvenile  mediasval  knight  wearing  chain  armour.  At  an  earlier 
period,  however,  when  those  balls  were  reserved  to  "  grown-ups," 
the  Emperor  (who  in  his  younger  days  had  figured  as  a 
troubadour  at  the  Eglinton  tournament)  frequently  assumed 
fancy  dress — swathing  himself  in  an  Arab  burnous,  or  else 
displaying  a  cfSOO  "  costume  Henri  II.,"  with  a  short  mantle 
hanging  from  his  shoulder  and  a  rapier  at  his  side.  At  one 
ball  of  the  time  the  Empress  was  seen  in  her  favourite 
character,  that  of  Marie  Antoinette,*  at  another  as  a  Titian- 
esque  patrician  lady  of  Venice — her  costume  then  being  of 
crimson  and  black,  spangled  with  sequins  interspersed  with 
diamonds.  The  fete  on  that  occasion  (March,  1863)  was 
remarkably  brilliant.  The  Emperor,  in  order  to  be  in  keep- 
ing with  his  consort,  had  also  donned  a  Venetian  costume, 
white  and  crimson.  Princess  Mathilde  represented  Anne  of 
Cleves,  after  Holbein's  picture  at  the  Louvre,  while  Princess 
Clotilde  wore  gold  brocade,  after  a  figure  in  a  painting  by 
Paul  Veronese.  The  Duchess  de  Persigny,  whose  hot  temper 
was  notorious,  appeared,  appropriately  enough,  as  Fire ;  Mme. 
Alphonse  de  Rothschild  was  a  bird  of  paradise,  and  the 
Countess  Aguado  a  pack  of  cards,  while  the  Princess  de  Metter- 
nich  flaunted  the  attire  of  an  "  Incroyable "  of  the  Directory. 
The  most  startling  costume,  however,  was  that  of  La  Castiglione, 
who  came  as  Flaubert's  Salammbo,  with  her  marvellous  hair 
streaming  around  her,  a  golden  diadem  circling  her  brow,  her 
bosom  virtually  as  bare  as  her  arms,  and  her  feet  likewise  bare, 
in  golden  sandals.  V^^ith  one  hand,  the  Count  de  Choiseul, 
who  impersonated  a  negro,  upheld  her  train  of  some  gossamer- 
like fabric,  while  with  the  other  he  bore  aloft  a  strange  antique- 
looking  parasol,  such  as  might  have  been  used,  indeed,  to  shade 
some  beauty  of  olden  Carthage. 

The  great  entertainment  of  that  evening  had  been  devised 
by  Countess  Stephanie  Tascher  de  la  Pagerie,  who,  for  all  her 

*  See  ante,  p.  201. 


260  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

services  in  matters  of  that  kind,  ought  to  have  been  appointed 
"  Directrice  des  Menus  Plaisirs."  Her  invention  on  the  occasion 
we  refer  to,  was  the  famous  "  Ballet  of  the  Bees,"  for  which 
Merante,  the  ballet-master  of  the  Opera,  had  trained  twelve 
of  the  most  beautiful  and  ablest  dancers  of  the  Court.  At  a 
given  signal  four  huge  beehives,  festooned  with  flowers,  were 
carried  on  litters  into  the  Salle  des  Marechaux  by  servants 
attired  as  seventeenth-century  gardeners.  As  soon  as  the  hives 
were  set  in  position  and  the  first  strains  of  the  orchestra  sounded, 
three  beautiful  women,  winged  and  wearing  short-skirted 
costumes,  which  simulated  as  closely  as  possible  the  appearance 
of  bees,  emerged  from  each  hive,  carrying  garlands  of  violets. 
Among  the  ladies  were  Princess  Lise  Troubetskoi,  Mile. 
de  Nelidoff,  Mme.  Leopold  Magnan,  Baroness  Molitor,  and 
Mme.  Brincard ;  and  again  and  again,  with  a  skill  rivalling 
that  of  professional  dancers,  they  executed  the  various  charming 
and  difficult  terpsichorean  feats  which  Merante  and  the 
Countess  Stephanie  had  assigned  to  them.  The  very  nature  of 
the  ballet  was,  of  course,  a  clever  compliment  to  the  Emperor, 
who,  with  the  Empress,  sat  on  his  throne  admiring  and 
applauding  it,  for  the  bee  is  the  family  emblem  of  the 
Bonapartes  and  the  violet  their  chosen  flower. 

Another  year,  the  Countess  Stephanie  planned  a  different 
entertainment — a  gipsy  quadrille,  with  her  brother,  the  ugly 
chamberlain.  Count  Charles,*  as  the  gipsy  king,  and  a  number 
of  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  title  as  his  subjects.  At  other 
times  still  stranger  figures  appeared  at  the  Tuileries  masked 
balls.  A  gigantic  flageolet,  which  careered  about  the  rooms  in 
eccentric  fashion,  turned  out  to  be  the  gallant  Marquis  de 
Galliffet,  a  horrid-looking  black  devil  proved  to  be  the  beautiful 
Baroness  Alphonse  de  Rothschild,  an  obelisk  was  none  other 
than  a  very  tall  officer  of  the  Cent-Gardes ;  while  a  quartette 
of  four  sphinxes,  who  propounded  impossible  riddles,  was  found 
to  consist  of  the  Duchess  dTsly,  the  Marechale  Canrobert, 
Countess  Fleury,  and  Baroness  de  Bourgoing. 

*  He  is  often  alluded  to  by  the  memoir  writers  as  "  Duke  Tascher  de  la 
Pagerie,"  and  was  so  styled  occasionally  by  his  contemporaries  ;  but,  in  point 
of  fact,  his  ducal  title  was  the  Bavarian  one  of  Waldburg,  which  the  Emperor 
allowed  him  to  assume. 


COURT  FESTIVITIES  261 

But  the  fancy  balls  at  the  Tuileries  had  several  serious  rivals, 
for  similar  entertainments  often  took  place  at  the  ministries 
and  the  foreign  embassies.  We  recall  one  given  by  Morny, 
at  which  the  Princess  Mathilde,  for  once  casting  her  dignity 
aside,  appeared  in  tatters  as  a  beggar-maid — whether  Tenny- 
son's, we  cannot  say,  but  in  any  case  no  King  Cophetua  "  sware 
a  royal  oath,"  on  that  occasion,  vowing  that  she  should  be  his 
queen.  It  would,  by  the  way,  have  been  a  futile  oath,  the 
Princess  being  bound  already  by  the  chains  of  matrimony. 
Again,  there  was  a  ball  given  by  Marshal  Randon  at  which,  to 
the  mingled  delight  and  dread  of  the  fair  guests,  four  young 
African  lions  were  introduced  into  some  of  the  pageantry  of  the 
entertainment.  One  year,  too,  at  the  Ministry  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  Count  Walewski  provided  a  "  Quadrille  des  Patineurs," 
the  participants  in  Avhich,  clad  in  Polish  costumes,  went  skating 
in  couples  round  an  ornamental  staff,  whence  radiated  cherry- 
coloured  ribbons  which  they  held. 

At  another  time  there  was  a  wonderful  pageant  at  the 
Ministry  of  Marine,  a  pageant  emblematical  of  all  the  countries 
in  the  world,  France  coming  first,  clad  in  white,  with  a  tricolour 
scarf  about  her,  and  an  olive  branch  in  her  hand.  Then 
Europe,  personified  by  Mme.  Bartholoni,  appeared  in  a  triumphal 
chariot,  escorted  by  ladies  representative  of  various  countries, 
and  followed  by  Mme.  Rimsky-Korsakoff  as  Asia,  with  attendant 
crocodiles,  houris,  Persian,  Chinese,  Japanese,  and  Indian  maids. 
Next,  to  the  strains  of  the  overture  of  "  L'Africaine,"  came  the 
Princess  Jablonowska,  garbed  as  Cleopatra,  with  a  lion  cub  at 
her  feet,  and  flanked  by  Mme.  de  Montaut  arrayed  as  a 
Soudanese  warrior,  mounted  on  a  dromedary.  But  "  Yankee 
Doodle  "  sounded,  and  then,  under  garlands  of  flowers,  America 
was  seen  in  a  hammock  hanging  between  palm  trees,  and 
attended  by  typical  "  uncle  Sams,''  Californian  miners,  Peruvian 
incas,  and  Mexicans  a  la  Montezuma. 

Ah  !  those  pageants  and  those  balls,  it  would  be  difficult  to 
exhaust  the  list  of  them.  There  was  a  ball  given  by  Mme. 
Drouyn  de  Lhuys  at  the  Foreign  Office  when  Mme.  de 
Metternich  appeared  as  a  Spanish  bull-fighter,  Mme.  de  Galliffet 
as  a  tulip,  and  Princess  Lise  Troubetskoi  as  a  butterfly,  while 
the  Emperor  and  Empress,  muffled  in  dominoes  and   closely 


262  THE   COURT  OF  THE   TUILERIES 

masked,  went  hither  and  thither  to  ascertain,  perhaps,  what 
good,  and  particularly  what  ill,  might  be  said  of  them.  Then, 
again  at  the  Foreign  Office,  but  in  the  Marquis  de  Moustier's 
time,  there  was  a  ball  at  which  young  America  carried  all  before 
her.  She  was  rising  rapidly  in  Parisian  society,  which,  following 
the  example  of  the  Tuileries  itself,  gave  a  cordial  welcome  to 
the  new  transatlantic  aristocracy,  the  Noblesse  of  the  Dollar. 
The  Miss  Slidells,  as  War  and  Peace,  Miss  Dix  as  the 
Marguerite  of  "Faust,"  Miss  Hitchcock  as  a  jockey,  the  lovely 
Miss  Beck  with  as  Aurora — they  were  the  young  ladies  whose 
charm  and  tastefulness  triumphed  at  the  "  Foreign  Affairs  "  in 
1867,  that  year  of  the  Empire''s  apogee.  Elsewhere  France 
held  her  own.  We  recall  an  entertainment  at  the  Prince  de  la 
Moskowa's  residence  in  the  Rue  de  Marignan,  when  a  most 
amusing  village  wedding-party  appeared  in  the  salons,  the 
blushing  bride  being  impersonated  by  a  distinguished  senator, 
the  amorous  bridegroom  by  the  staidest  of  judges,  and  the 
mayor,  gendarmes,  and  peasant  guests  by  a  series  of  princes, 
dukes,  and  counts. 

Then  there  were  the  balls  given  by  Princess  Pauline 
Metternich  at  the  Austrian  embassy  in  the  Rue  de  Varennes. 
One  time  the  palm  for  eifectiveness  went  to  Mme.  de  Morny 
and  Mme.  de  Girardin  for  their  impersonation  of  white  roses 
sprinkled  with  dewdrops  of  diamonds.  But  Princess  Pauline 
(of  whom  we  shall  have  more  to  say  a  little  later)  was  possessed 
of  no  little  eccentricity  as  well  as  wit.  One  Thursday  night — 
her  night,  as  a  rule — she  put  a  crowning  touch  to  a  farcical 
entertainment  by  lighting  a  cigar.  And  as  thirty  lady-guests 
did  likewise,  the  soiree  suddenly  became  a  tabagie.  Another 
time  the  Princess  announced  her  intention  of  giving  a  dance 
during  Lent.  Everybody  was  lost  in  amazement  at  the  idea, 
some  even  spoke  severely  of  such  an  infraction  of  both  religious 
duty  and  good  taste.  Nevertheless,  all  who  were  fortunate 
enough  to  secure  invitations  accepted  them.  Dancing  went  on 
till  nearly  midnight,  by  which  time  supper  was  very  generally 
expected.  But  all  at  once  the  orchestra  ceased  playing,  and 
the  Princess,  taking  her  stand  in  the  middle  of  the  room, 
exclaimed :  "  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  this  is  a  Lenten  ball. 
Lent  means  fasting,  as  you  are  aware ;  so  I  warn  you  that  you 


COURT  FESTIVITIES  263 

must  not  expect  supper  here  to-night.  Pray  stay  as  long  as 
you  please,  but  I  should  be  sorry  if  you  were  to  stay  so  long 
as  to  be  unable  to  get  supper  elsewhere,  should  you  desire  it." 
The  guests  listened,  stared,  and  finally  laughed,  deeming  it 
best  to  face  the  situation  with  good  countenances,  though  the 
laugh  was,  we  fancy,  on  the  wrong  side  of  their  mouths.  Some 
imagined,  however,  that  the  Princess's  speech  was  a  mere  joke, 
and  that  supper  would  be  duly  provided,  as  otherwise  the 
Austrian  embassy's  reputation  for  hospitality  might  be  seriously 
compromised.  But  they  were  quite  mistaken,  no  supper  was 
served,  and  one  and  all  withdrew,  tired  and  hungry  on  a  bleak 
March  night. 

That  little  episode  reminds  us  of  a  contretemps  that  occurred 
at  a  fancy  ball  given  one  year  at  the  Prussian  embassy.  So  far 
as  dancing  and  costumes  were  concerned  it  was  a  very  brilliant 
affair,  to  the  success  of  which  La  Castiglione  contributed  by 
appearing  in  the  costume  of  a  Red  Indian  "brave,"  with  an 
aureola  of  feathers  about  her  head.  Unfortunately  the  supper 
arrangements  were  defective.  Prussian  parsimony  had  pre- 
supposed that  a  very  limited  number  of  guests  would  require 
food,  and  even  the  appetites  of  the  Corps  diplomatique  were 
overlooked.  Turkey,  having  found  no  seat  at  table,  went 
home  famished  and  furious,  with  the  result  that  war  raged 
between  the  Sublime  Porte  and  Berlin  for  several  weeks  after- 
wards. Spain  was  even  more  angry  than  Turkey,  regarding  its 
failure  to  secure  any  supper  as  a  direct  insult  to  its  grandeeship, 
and  proclaiming  urhi  et  orbi  that  there  was  no  truth  whatever 
in  the  old  story  that  it  subsisted  entirely  on  cigarettes  and 
chocolate. 

A  propos,  however,  of  the  Princess  Metternich  to  whom  we 
were  referring  just  now,  it  was  she,  we  think  (may  we  be 
forgiven  if  we  are  in  error !),  who  on  one  occasion  invited  a 
number  of  Court  and  diplomatic  guests  to  a  dinner,  when 
they  were  vastly  amazed  by  the  behaviour  of  some  half-dozen 
servants,  who  not  only  pronounced  their  names  all  amiss  when 
announcing  them,  but  indulged  in  various  strange  pranks,  such 
as  flunkeys  usually  reserve  for  the  servants'  hall.  The  climax 
came  directly  dinner  was  served,  for  the  aforesaid  menials 
rushed  into  the  dining-room,  seated  themselves  at  table,  and 


264  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

raised  their  knives  and  forks  as  if  in  eagerness  to  despatch 
the  various  viands.  The  startled  guests  wondered  if  they  were 
dreaming,  and  some  testy  folk  among  them  were  already 
turning  on  their  heels  when  the  laughter  of  the  hostess, 
mingling  with  that  of  the  servants,  restrained  them.  Briefly, 
those  servants  were  all  young  men  of  good  position,  "  got  up  " 
to  act  the  parts  assigned  to  them.  Some,  not  content  with 
assuming  powdered  wigs  and  all  necessary  maguillage,  had  even 
been  brave  enough  to  sacrifice  their  moustaches  and  whiskers 
the  better  to  disguise  their  identity. 

Reverting  to  the  balls  of  the  time,  there  was  yet  another 
one,  deserving  of  mention  here,  although  it  was  not  attended 
by  ladies  of  society.  It  was  given,  indeed,  in  March  1865,  to 
persons  of  the  demi-monde  by  the  younger  and  more  frivolous 
members  of  the  French  Jockey  Club.  The  gilded  saloons  of 
Les  Trois  Freres  Provenpaux  were  selected  as  the  scene  of  the 
entertainment,  and  there  was  no  question  at  all  of  anybody 
being  sent  home  supperless.  But  a  serious  question  of  costume 
arose.  It  was  feared  that  there  might  be  some  very  unpleasant 
bickering  and  jealousy  if  Mile.  Chose — "protected"  at  the  rate 
of  odOOO  a  month — should  flaunt  all  her  diamonds  and  other 
finery  before  Mile.  Machin,  who  derived  but  a  quarter  of  the 
aforesaid  amount  from  her  own  particular  protectorate,  and  had 
very  few  diamonds  to  show.  So  the  Avord  went  forth  that  all 
the  invitees  were  to  appear  as  grisettes.  But  if  man  proposes, 
woman  disposes,  and  her  ingenuity  is  never  at  a  loss.  The 
more  opulent  "  ladies  of  the  lake,"  as  they  were  called  in  those 
days — after  the  lake  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  round  which 
they  drove  every  afternoon — arrived  on  the  scene  in  great 
splendour,  wearing  Manon  Lescaut,  Pompadour,  and  Camargo 
costumes,  with  no  lack  of  powder  in  their  hair  or  diamonds 
either.  When  the  organizers  of  the  entertainment  expressed 
their  surprise  at  this  magnificence,  they  were  quietly  answered : 
"  Oh  !  I  am  a  grisette  Louis  Quatorze," — or  Louis  Quinze,  as 
the  case  might  be.  Briefly,  the  gathering  did  not  include  a 
single  grisette  after  the  fashion  of  those  in  Murger's  "Vie  de 
Boheme." 

It  was  at  Compiegne  (we  shall  speak  hereafter  of  the  Court's 
annual   sojourn   there)    that    there   was    most    indulgence    in 


COURT   FESTIVITIES  265 

"  drawing-room  games ""  and  private  theatricals  ;  but  something 
of  the  kind  was  also  witnessed,  now  and  then,  at  the  Tuileries. 
There  was  no  card-playing  at  the  palace — except  on  the 
occasion  of  the  grand  balls,  when  a  few  tables  were  set  out 
for  whist ;  but  the  Emperor,  the  Empress  and  their  familiars 
sat  down  now  and  then  to  a  quiet  family  game  of  "  loto,"  or 
even  "  consequences."  The  Emperor,  moreover,  sometimes 
roused  himself  from  his  ruminations  to  ask  a  riddle.  One  night 
he  put  the  following  question  to  his  entourage :  "  Why  is  it 
that  in  winter  we  usually  feel  the  cold  more  in  our  feet, 
although  they  are  protected  by  boots,  than  we  do  on  our  faces 
which  are  bare  ?  "  Some  pedant,  who  was  present,  wished  to 
supply  a  scientific  explanation  of  the  phenomenon,  but  the 
Emperor  restrained  him.  The  others  "  gave  it  up,"  as  the 
saying  goes.  "  Well,"  said  Napoleon,  as  gravely  as  if  he  had 
been  warning  Austria  or  Prussia,  or  promising  France  the 
long-delayed  "  crowning  of  the  edifice,"  "  it  is  like  this  :  The 
temperature  being  low  naturally  affects  the  base  more  than  it 
does  the  summit."  That  may  not  be  a  particularly  good  joke, 
but  Napoleon  III.  was  certainly  not  destitute  of  wit  or  power 
of  repartee.  Unluckily,  his  jests  more  frequently  took  the  form 
of  play  upon  words,  double  enteiite,  as  it  is  called,  and  in  that 
case  all  point  is  usually  lost  in  a  translation.  For  instance, 
one  day,  when,  greatly  to  the  Empress*'s  annoyance,  some 
impossible  person  indulged  in  sundry  Voltairean  remarks 
respecting  the  Holy  Ghost  {UEsprit  Saint)  and  Pentecost, 
the  Emperor  quietly  remarked :  "  As  it  is  certain  that  that 
gentleman  does  not  possess  Fesprit  sain  (a  sound  mind)  he 
would  do  best  to  say  nothing  more  on  the  subject." 

At  times,  notably  as  the  Imperial  Prince  grew  older,  there 
were  conjuring  entertainments  at  the  Tuileries.  If  we  remember 
rightly,  too,  the  Davenport  brothers  gave  a  seance  there  before 
they  succumbed  to  the  ridicule  with  which  the  exposures  of 
Viscount  Alfred  de  Gaston  inspired  the  Parisians.  Subsequently 
a  very  notable  wizard  appeared  on  the  scene,  none  other  than 
David  Dunglas  Home,  whom  Robert  Browning  satirized  as 
"  Sludge."  It  was,  we  think,  a  Russian  ambassador.  Count 
KisselefF,  who  introduced  Home  to  the  Tuileries,  where  he 
turned  tables,  practised  crystal  gazing,  and  conjured  up  spirits. 


^66  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

To  some  it  may  seem  surprising  that  so  orthodox  a  Catholic 
as  the  Empress  Eugenie  should  have  shown  any  favour  to  a  man 
like  Home,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  superstitions 
of  the  Churches  often  induce  others.     Moreover,  the  Emperor 
himself  was  more  or  less  of  a  fatalist,  and  thus  Home  became  for 
a  time  persona  gratissima  at  the  Tuileries.     Sceptical  courtiers 
looked  on  and  wondered  at  the  infatuation  of  the  sovereigns  for 
that  long,  lanky,  lion-maned  individual,  who  before  giving  any 
grand  seance  lived,  according  to  his  own  account,  for  days  together 
on  nothing  more  substantial  than  sugared  water.     Ministers,  it 
has  been  said,  even  became  perturbed  at  the  influence  which 
Home  began  to  exercise ;  and,  according  to  one  account,  he  was 
denounced  as  a  foreign  spy,  and  as  such  expelled  from  France 
at  the  instigation  of  Count  Walewski.     But  many  years  ago, 
Baron  de  Billing,  who,  from  being  Walewski's  secretary,  rose  to 
a  high  position  in  the  French  diplomatic  world,  assured  us  that 
Home  did  not  quit  France  for  any  political  reason.     According 
to  M.  de  Billing  it  seems  that  so  long  as  Home  was  content  to 
conjure  up  the  spirits  of  certain  historical  personages,  such  as 
Napoleon    I.   and    Marie   Antoinette,   and    ascribe    to    them 
language  of  an  oracular  vagueness,  appropriate  to  the  spirit- 
world,  all  went  well  with  him.    He  followed  the  Court  from  the 
Tuileries  to  St.  Cloud,  and  thence  to  Biarritz,  where,  however, 
he   received    his   conge.      It    appears   that   the   proximity   of 
Biarritz  to  Spain  turned  his  thoughts  to  cosas  de  Espana  with 
which  he  was  by  no  means  well  acquainted,  though  they  were, 
of  course,  familiar  enough  to  the  Empress.     Thus  Home  for 
the  first  time  began  to  blunder,  and  finally,  on  an  occasion 
when,  imperfectly  informed  respecting  the  Empress's  childhood, 
he  nevertheless  presumed  to  evoke  the  spirit  of  her  father,  the 
Count  de  Montijo,  he  perpetrated  a  series  of  very  ridiculous 
mistakes.     The  Empress's  eyes  were  then  opened,  she  reahzed 
that  the  man  in  whom  she  had  foolishly  begun  to  believe  was 
merely  a  charlatan,  and  he  was  promptly  turned  out  of  the 
Villa  Eugenie. 

He  went  to  Russia  (where,  we  think,  he  had  been  before), 
and  the  Russian  Court,  which  has  often  yielded  to  ridiculous 
superstitions — the  more  recent  case  of  Philippe  will  be  re- 
membered—gave him  a  cordial  welcome.      In  1870,  hoAvever, 


COURT  FESTIVITIES  267 

he  followed  the  German  armies  to  France,  and,  ostensibly  as 
the  correspondent  of  a  Californian  newspaper,  installed  himself 
at  Versailles,  where  he  gave  seances  for  the  entertainment  of 
the  princelings  of  the  ornamental  staff.  We  remember  that  he 
subsequently  showed  us  a  little  Sevres  cup  or  vase  which  he  had 
taken  from  the  chateau  of  St.  Cloud  during  the  conflagration 
there,  and  that,  descanting  on  the  fate  of  the  Second  Empire, 
he  declared  he  had  been  treated  with  base  ingratitude  by 
Napoleon  III.  and  his  consort,  for  he  had  generously  warned 
them  of  the  danger  of  downfall.  They,  however,  refusing,  in 
their  pride,  to  believe  him,  had  dismissed  him  from  their 
presence.  However  the  "  Ides  of  March  "  had  come,  and  swept 
them  away. 

The  policy  of  the  Empire  towards  the  Parisian  working- 
classes  was  to  give  them,  first,  plenty  of  employment,  such  as  the 
Haussmannization  of  the  city  provided,  and,  secondly,  plenty 
of  amusement.  The  bourgeoisie  of  various  degrees  was  treated  in 
a  similar  manner.  We  have  alluded  to  the  multiplicity  of  the 
Parisian  dancing-halls  in  those  days.  Theatres,  circuses,  and 
concert-rooms  were  likewise  more  numerous  than  they  had  ever 
been  before ;  while  each  year  brought  in  its  train  a  succession 
of  pageants  and  fetes,  either  in  the  city  itself  or  its  immediate 
vicinity.  There  was  the  New  Year  Fair  on  the  Boulevards,  the 
Carnival  procession  of  the  Fat  Ox,  the  Mid-Lent  or  Washer- 
women's Festival,  the  Ham  Fair  and  the  Gingerbread  Fair  at 
the  Barriere  du  Trone,  the  Promenade  of  Longchamp,  the  Fete 
Napoleon  on  August  15,  the  fetes  of  St.  Cloud,  Les  Loges 
and  Sceaux,  the  annual  crowning  of  the  Rosiere  of  Nanterre, 
and  many  other  celebrations.  Both  the  Fat  Ox  and  the 
Washerwomen's  processions  went  the  round  of  Paris,  visiting 
the  various  ministries,  the  embassies,  and  even  the  Tuileries. 
In  1869,  when  the  prize  ox  of  the  Paris  cattle-show  was 
christened  Chilperic,  in  honour  of  Herve's  opera-bouffe  of  that 
name,  a  wag  wrote  some  verses  respecting  the  doomed  beast's 
progress  through  the  city,  and  a  few  of  them  may  be  quoted 

here  : 

II  visite  sur  sa  route 

Les  ministres  d'aujourd'hui, 
Qui  demain  seront,  sans  doute, 

Moins  a  la  mode  que  lui. 


268  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

Puis,  par  un  autre  caprice, 

On  introduit  Chilperic 
Pres  la  grande  ambassadrice, 

Madame  de  Metternich. 

La  cliente  noble  et  riche. 

Que  Worth  habille  de  neuf , 
Oublie  un  instant  I'Autricbe 

Au  spectacle  du  bcEuf . 
iti  *  *  *  * 

II  desire  peu  de  chose  : 

Voir  I'Empereur  et  mourir. 
II  le  voit,  et  Ton  suppose 

Que  cela  lui  fait  plaisir. 

On  coming  to  the  Tuileries  the  Fat  Ox  procession  passed 
under  the  triumphal  arch  into  the  reserved  part  of  the  Place 
du  Carrousel,  and  the  Emperor,  the  Empress,  and  the  Imperial 
Prince  stationed  themselves  on  the  palace  balcony  to  inspect 
it,  while  both  largesse  and  refreshment  were  distributed  among 
the  masqueraders  by  the  officers  and  servants.  Much  the  same 
reception  greeted  the  arrival  of  the  Washerwomen"'s  procession, 
only  then  the  Emperor  came  into  the  courtyard  to  kiss  the 
queen  of  the  day,  and  present  her  with  a  jewel.  When  the 
Court  was  at  St.  Cloud  in  the  early  autumn,  the  Emperor 
and  Empress  often  strolled  through  the  local  fete,  visiting 
the  various  booths,  admiring  in  turn  the  bearded  and  the 
colossal  lady,  the  sword-swallower,  and  the  two-headed  calf, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  familiar  "live  lion  stuffed  with  straw, 
and  the  dead  eagle  picking  his  eyes  out."  But  the  day  of  days 
for  the  Paris  populace  was  the  Fete  Napoleon,  that  precursor 
of  the  Fete  Nationale  of  present  times.  There  was  the  inevitable 
review,  usually  of  the  Army  of  Paris,  sometimes  80,000  strong, 
and  occasionally  of  the  National  Guard,  as  it  was  then  con- 
stituted. There  were  also  performances  "  gratis  "  at  the  theatres 
by  imperial  command ;  there  were  fairs  on  the  Place  de  la 
Bastille,  the  Place  du  Trone,  and  the  Trocadero;  balloon 
ascents  on  the  Champ  de  Mars ;  and  water-jousts  on  the  Seine ; 
too;ether  with  the  march  of  the  old  surviving  veterans  of  "  La 
Grande  Armee,"  from  their  asylum  at  the  Invalides  to  the  Place 
Vendome,  whither  they  went  to  deposit  wreaths  on  the  railings 
around  the  column  raised  to  that  same  army's  glory  by  the 
great  captain,  whose  effigy  arose  above  it.     By  day  the  streets 


THE   GREAT  YEAR,   1867  269 

of  Paris  were  bright  with  bunting,  at  night  they  blazed  with 
illuminations,  and  there  were  fireworks  galore — everything  being 
done  better  than  it  is  done  now,  because  it  was  so  largely 
undertaken  by  the  Parisian  authorities,  in  such  wise  that 
harmonious  schemes  of  decoration  and  illumination  were  carried 
out,  often  on  a  very  large  scale  indeed.  Of  course,  WveJ'ete 
had  its  purely  official  side,  such  as  the  great  reception  at  the 
Tuileries,  when  congratulatory  addresses  and  telegrams  poured 
in  without  cessation,  the  special  prayers,  too,  for  the  Emperor 
and  his  family  in  all  the  churches,  and  the  banquets  and  soirees 
given  in  connection  with  the  departments  of  the  State. 

One  year  stands  out  prominently  in  the  annals  of  the  time 
as  the  year  of  both  Imperial  and  Parisian  splendour.  That 
was  1867.  It  is  true  that,  since  we  last  glanced  at  the  political 
situation — in  or  about  1860 — the  Empire  had  received  many 
blows,  met  with  many  losses  and  reverses.  Its  most  able  men 
in  the  spheres  of  politics  and  finance  were  dead  or  in  retire- 
ment. Its  Mexican  policy  had  encountered  a  terrible  rebuff, 
the  United  States  having  compelled  the  withdrawal  of  the 
French  forces  of  occupation.  Again,  the  imperial  prestige  had 
suffered  badly  both  with  regard  to  Poland  and  to  Denmark,  in 
the  last  case  largely  through  the  refusal  of  England  to  join  in 
intervention.  Then,  too,  the  crash  of  Sadowa — or  Koniggratz, 
if  that  name  be  preferred — had  re-echoed  far  and  wide,  to  the 
serious  damage  of  the  Emperor''s  reputation.  Prussia  was  now 
supreme  in  Germany,  and  none  of  the  secretly  anticipated  com- 
pensations, either  on  the  Rhine  or  in  Belgium,  had  been  secured 
by  France.  The  menace  of  war  with  Prussia  hovered  over  the 
land,  for  it  seemed  as  if  the  difficulties  of  the  Luxemburg 
question  could  only  be  solved  by  gun  and  sword.  Further,  there 
was  trouble  imminent  with  Italy,  although  the  interposition 
of  Napoleon  III.  had  secured  that  country  the  possession  of 
Venetia,  for,  in  one  or  another  way,  she  still  demanded  Rome, 
and  the  French  troops,  previously  withdrawn  from  the  Eternal 
City,  had  to  be  despatched  there  afresh  to  check  the  designs  of 
Garibaldi. 

Over  home  affairs  hung  several  ominous  clouds.  The  year 
opened  with  the  Emperor's  decision  of  January  19,  cancelling 
the  Legislature's  right  to  present  addresses  to  the  Crown,  but 


270  THE  COUHT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

granting  it,  instead,  the  right  of  interpellating  Ministers. 
Braggart  Rouher,  the  so-called  Vice-Emperor,  was  more  power- 
ful than  ever,  being  now  both  Minister  of  State  and  Minister  of 
Finances ;  but  other  officials  had  lost  their  posts.  The 
Marquis  de  Chasseloup-Laubat  had  been  dismissed  from  the 
Ministry  of  Marine,  and  replaced  by  Admiral  Rigault  de 
Genouilly ;  Marshal  Randon  had  rightly  been  compelled  to 
surrender  the  Ministry  of  War  to  Marshal  Niel,  who  had, 
however,  a  formidable  task  of  army  reorganization  before  him. 
And  the  portfolio  of  Finances,  now  assigned  to  Rouher,  had 
been  relinquished  by  Fould.  The  latter's  departure  was  a 
serious  loss  to  France,  for  if  her  military  forces  needed  to  be 
strengthened,  her  finances  also  required  the  strictest  supervision, 
the  most  careful  handling.  Fould's  retirement  was  hailed  with 
applause,  however.  He  might  be  an  expert  financier,  but  he 
was  a  close-fisted  one,  and  such  as  he  were  not  liked  in  those 
spendthrift  days.  When  his  few  friends  claimed  that  he  had 
served  the  Empire  well,  they  were  answered  :  "  Oh,  he  need  not 
go  without  reward,  Jews  never  do ;  and  doubtless  the  Emperor 
will  be  pleased  to  create  him  Duke  de  Villejuif."  * 

But  there  were  other  notable  features  in  home  affairs  at 
that  period.  Both  the  anti-dynastic  and  the  constitutional 
Oppositions  in  the  Legislative  Body  were  gradually  growing 
stronger.  The  Republican  cause,  in  particular,  was  making 
steady  progress  in  Paris  and  other  large  cities.  Further,  owing 
in  part  to  the  check  which  the  Haussmannization  of  the  capital 
had  already  received  on  account  of  the  great  outlay  it  entailed, 
there  was  less  contentment  than  formerly  among  the  working- 
classes.  There  had  been  many  strikes,  and  great  was  the 
dissatisfaction  with  the  high  rents  prevailing  in  the  city.  The 
Emperor  knew  that  grievance  to  be  genuine,  and  although  he 
was  inadequately  seconded,  he  had  been  studying  it  seriously 
for  some  time  past,  devising  or  examining  plans  for  the  erection 
of  workmen's  dwellings  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Paris.  He 
himself  set  up  a  row  of  them  near  the  Avenue  Daumesnil  at 
Vincennes,  and  also  showed  some  pattern  cottages  at  the  Ex- 
hibition of  1867.  Of  late  years  his  ideas  on  this  subject  have 
found   some   favour  in   France.      Instead   of  workmen   being 

*  A  play  on  tlje  word — vile  juif  signifying  "  vile  Jew." 


THE   GREAT   YEAR,   1867  271 

invariably  herded  in  huge  tenements  inside  Paris,  many  now 
have  cottage-and-garden  abodes,  notably  in  the  south-west 
suburbs.  That,  of  course,  has  been  facilitated  by  the  vast 
improvement  in  means  of  communication  since  the  days  of  the 
Empire. 

The  great  Exhibition  of  1867  naturally  gave  impetus  to 
trade,  money  still  seemed  to  be  plentiful  enough ;  and  whatever 
ruins  might  lie,  whatever  crumbling  might  be  going  on,  behind 
the  fafade  of  the  Empire,  that  facade  still  remained  imposing, 
and  displayed  itself  in  all  its  magnificence  during  that  remark- 
able year — a  year  of  festivity  unparalleled  in  the  history  of 
any  other  nation.  The  huge  Exhibition  building  on  the  Champ 
de  Mars  may  not  have  been  outwardly  beautiful,  but  it  was 
extremely  well  arranged,  and  the  display  in  its  galleries  and 
in  the  pavilions  of  the  grounds,  surpassed  everything  of  a 
similar  nature  seen  at  previous  world-shows.  From  April  until 
mid-October  Paris  was  crowded  with  foreigners  from  all  parts 
of  the  world ;  and  emperors,  kings,  princes,  viceroys  and  other 
potentates  responded  with  alacrity  to  the  invitations  of  the 
Court  of  the  Tuileries.  A  full  recital  of  all  the  entertain- 
ments and  pageants  of  the  time,  banquets,  receptions,  balls, 
gala  theatrical  performances,  concerts,  reviews,  and  what  not 
besides,  would  make  a  volume;  and  here  we  can  only  treat 
the  subject  briefly.  One  entertainment,  however,  was  often 
much  like  another,  and  thus  a  detailed  narrative  might  prove 
tedious. 

Altogether  over  eighty  royalties — crowned  heads,  princes, 
princesses,  grand  and  arch  dukes  and  duchesses,  reigning  dukes, 
etc.,  etc.— flocked  to  Paris  in  that  year  of  jubilee.  The  very 
first  to  arrive  was  Prince,  now  King  Oscar  of  Sweden,  whom 
Baron  de  Billing  used  jocularly  to  call  the  King  of  the  Jews 
on  account  of  his  descent  from  Bernadotte.  Years  ago,  during 
some  of  the  early  talk  respecting  Zionism,  the  Baron  was  wont 
to  remark  :  "  Nonsense,  we  need  not  go  to  war  with  Turkey  to 
give  Palestine  back  to  the  Jews — let  them  emigrate  to  Sweden, 
they  will  find  a  king  of  their  race  on  the  throne  there."  After 
Prince  Oscar  came  the  young  Prince  of  Orange,  the  unfortunate 
Citron,  as  he  was  called.  Then,  in  turn  appeared  the  King 
and  Queen  of  the  Belgians,  the  King  and  Queen  of  the  Hellenes, 


27S  THE   COURT  OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Queen  Pia  of  Portugal,  the  Duke  of  Leuchtenberg,  the  Grand 
Duchess  Marie  of  Russia,  a  Prince  of  Japan,  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  and  the  Duke  of  Edinburgh.  The  month  of  June 
brought  both  the  Czar  Alexander  II.,  accompanied  by  his  sons 
and  other  grand-dukes,  and  the  King  of  Prussia,  with  his  son 
(later  the  Emperor  Frederick)  and  Bismarck  and  Moltke  also. 
Subsequently  came  the  Crown  Prince,  later  King  of  Saxony, 
Prince,  later  King,  Humbert  of  Italy,  his  brother,  the  Duke  of 
Aosta  (later  Amadeo  of  Spain),  the  Crown  Prince,  now  King  of 
Denmark,  the  Count  and  Countess  of  Flanders,  and  a  crowd 
of  German  and  other  princelings.  Next  we  saw  the  Khedive, 
Ismail  the  Lavish,  who  fell  desperately  in  love  with  Hortense 
Schneider,  Offenbach's  "  Grande  Duchesse  ; ""  and  Sultan  Abdul 
Aziz  the  Murdered,  with  whom  were  both  his  future  successors, 
Murad  the  Madman  and  Abdul  the  Damned.  Not  a  week, 
hardly  a  day,  elapsed  without  bringing  a  royalty  to  Paris,  where 
spring,  summer,  and  autumn  were  all  Shrove  Tuesday  and 
Carnival  time,  Lent  arriving  later — in  1870. 

The  Exhibition  was  opened  on  April  1 ;  the  political  clouds 
lifted  on  May  11,  when  the  neutralization  of  the  Grand-duchy 
of  Luxemburg  was  at  last  agreed  upon.  Then  Tout  a  la  Joie  ! 
became  the  cry  of  Paris.  Nevertheless,  the  summer  brought 
some  unpleasant  incidents.  On  June  6,  when  the  Czar  and  the 
Emperor  Napoleon  were  returning  together  from  Longchamp, 
after  passing,  in  company  with  the  King  of  Prussia,  some  forty 
battalions,  sixty  squadrons  and  twenty  batteries  of  the  army 
of  Paris  in  review,  the  first-named  was  fired  upon  by  a  Polish 
refugee  named  Berezowski.  The  only  injury  inflicted  on  the 
occasion  was  experienced  by  an  unfortunate  horse,  which  a 
zealous  equerry,  M.  Raimbeaux,  spurred  forward  to  cover  the 
menaced  monarch;  and  the  Czar,  like  all  the  other  royalties, 
attended  a  great  ball  at  the  Russian  embassy  that  same  evening 
as  though  nothing  unpleasant  had  happened.  But  a  day  or 
two  later,  when  he  visited  the  Palais  de  Justice,  some  young 
advocates  of  the  Republican  party,  more  zealous  than  well-bred, 
made  a  demonstration  against  him,  and  one  of  them,  Charles 
Floquet  (subsequently  a  pitiable  prime  minister  of  the  Republic), 
shouted  "  Long  live  Poland  ! "  in  his  face.  Thus,  in  spite  of  all 
the  courtesy  of  the  Tuileries,  the  splendour  of  the  hospitality 


THE   GREAT   YEAR,   1867  273 

extended  both  there  and  at  the  Elysee,  where  the  Czar  actually 
resided,  and  the  unparalleled  magnificence  of  the  ball  which 
Baron  Haussmann  gave  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville  at  a  cost  of 
,£'30,000  (8000  persons  being  present),  the  Russian  visit  ended 
very  badly.  The  King  of  Prussia  remained  in  Paris  some  days 
longer,  and  while  Moltke  quietly  went  hither  and  thither, 
taking  note  of  all  things  military,  the  equally  wily  Bismarck 
gratified  Napoleon  Avith  some  private  confabulations  in  the 
imperial  cabinet,  even  as  he  had  favoured  him  with  previous 
ones  on  the  sands  of  Biarritz  in  October,  1865.  At  that  time 
Napoleon  had  deemed  Bismarck  to  be  a  madman,  and  Bismarck 
had  regarded  Napoleon  as  a  fool.  What  were  their  respective 
thoughts  of  each  other  in  1867 — when  Koniggratz  had  come 
and  gone  ? 

But  let  us  proceed.     Trouble   again  arose  to  dismay  the 
Court  of  the  Tuileries  at  the  time  of  the   Sultan's  visit  in 
August  and   the  great  distribution   of  the  exhibition   prizes 
at   the  Palais  de  Tlndustrie.     This  was  a  gorgeous,   crowded 
ceremony,  when  Princes  and  Princesses  of  many  nations  mustered 
beside  the  Emperor,  the  Empress,  and  the  Sultan,  on  the  great 
throne,  all  gold  and  crimson.     Two  guests,  however,  who  were 
to  have  been  present  at  the  pageant  were  conspicuously  absent. 
They  were  the  Count  and  Countess  of  Flanders,  brother  and 
sister-in-law  of  the  unhappy  Empress  Charlotte  of  Mexico.    The 
news  had  come,  indeed,  that  Maximilian,  her  husband,  had  been 
shot  at  Queretaro  by  the  Mexican  Republicans.     The  blow  was 
a  severe  one  for  the  proud  Empire  of  France,  which  had  set 
hiui  on  his  precarious  throne.     The  "  greatest  scheme  of  the 
reign ""  was  quite  ended  now.     And  it  was  of  little  use  to  point 
out  that  Maximilian  had  brought  the  death-penalty  on  himself 
by  decreeing  it  for  his  adversaries.     The  Queretaro  execution 
recoiled  on  both  Napoleon  and  his  consort,  who  had  conjointly 
sent  the  unlucky  Archduke  on  the  maddest  of  enterprises  across 
the  seas. 

A  little  later,  after  remaining  in  Paris  to  entertain  the  Kings 
of  Sweden  and  Portugal,  who,  in  their  turn,  participated  in  the 
procession  of  royalties,  the  Emperor  and  Empress  journeyed  to 
Salzburg,  there  to  meet  Maximilian's  brother,  the  Emperor 
Francis  Joseph  of  Austria,  and  express,  perhaps,  their  belated 


274  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

penitence.  Subsequently  the  Austrian  ruler  came  to  Paris, 
going  thence  to  Compiegne ;  and  possibly  one  might  trace  back  to 
the  long  conversations  which  tooic  place  there  between  him  and 
Napoleon  III.,  the  first  idea  of  a  compact  which  might  enable 
them  to  revenge  themselves  on  Prussia — Prussia  which  had 
driven  Austria  out  of  Germany,  and  denied  France  all  com- 
pensation for  her  neutrality.  In  any  case  that  great  year,  1867, 
ended  inauspiciously.  Marshal  Niel  brought  forward  his  scheme 
for  the  creation  of  a  Garde  Mobile,  by  which  means  it  was  hoped 
to  give  France  an  army  of  1,200,000  men ;  and  the  atmosphere 
was  on  all  sides  heavy  with  rumours  of  approaching  war. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE   GKACES    OF   THE   EMPIRE — SOME   STATESMEN 
AND    DIPLOMATISTS 

Mesdames  de  Galliffet,  Pourtales  and  Metternich — Their  Husbands  also — The 
Gambling  Countess  Kisseleff — Other  Russian  'Ladies — Marshal  Magnan's 
Son  and  Daughters — The  Duchess  de  Morny — Countess  Lehon — Morny 
as  President  of  the  Chamber — His  Death  and  Fortune — The  Walewskis — 
Schneider  —  Mme.  Eattazzi  —  Billault  —  The  Sandon  Scandal  —  Vice- 
Emperor  Eouher — Some  last  Ministers  of  the  Interior — Pinard  and 
"  Madame  Bovary  " — Magne,  Delangle  and  Baroche — Baron  Haussmann 
— Ministers  for  Foreign  Affairs — Thouvenel,  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  and  others 
— Foreign  Ambassadors — Baron  Goltz  and  Napoleon  III. — "  The  Fatal 
Ambassador  " — Dix  and  Washburne — Lord  Cowley  and  Lord  Lyons. 

Three  ladies,  whom  we  have  ah-eady  had  occasion  to  mention 
incidentally,  have  virtually  passed  into  history  as  the  Graces  of 
the  Second  Empire.  The  Court  of  the  Tuileries  included  so 
many  beautiful,  charming  and  witty  women  that  perhaps  some 
injustice  has  been  done  in  raising  any  particular  trio  to  a 
pedestal.  Nevertheless,  the  ladies  in  question,  Mesdames  de 
Galliffet,  de  Pourtales,  and  de  Metternich,  were  undoubtedly,  in 
one  or  another  way,  fascinating  figures  of  the  reign.  The  two 
first  were  beautiful  in  different  styles,  the  third  was  distinguished 
by  her  wit,  sprightly  vivacity  and  elegance ;  and,  after  all,  the 
appellation  bestowed  upon  them  was  in  a  measure  justified, 
because  taken  conjointly  they  embodied  all  that  can  make  their 
sex  attractive. 

The  Marchioness  de  Galliffet,  who  bore  the  Christian  names 
of  Florence  Georgina,  was  the  daughter  of  Charles  Lafiitte — the 
banker  and  sportsman,  once  well  known  on  the  turf  as  "Major 
Fridolin "" — by  his  wife  Florence  Anna  Cunningham,  an  English 
lady.  Mile.  Laffitte  was  still  in  her  teens  when  in  November, 
1859,  she  was  wedded,  at  Maisons-Laffitte,  to  Gaston  Alexandre 
Auguste,   the    present    Marquis    de   Galliffet    and    Prince    de 


276  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Martigues.  He,  born  in  January,  1830,  and  now  therefore  in 
his  seventy-eighth  year,  is  the  son  of  Alexandre,  Marquis  de 
Galliffet  and  Prince  de  Martigues,  by  his  second  wife  nee 
Baulde  de  Vieuville,  By  a  first  marriage  with  Mile.  Adelaide 
des  Roys  d'Asport,  Marquis  Alexandre  had  a  daughter,  now 
deceased,  who  married  the  Marquis  de  Barbentane ;  and  the 
first  offspring  of  his  second  union  was  also  a  girl,  who  espoused 
Count  de  Vassinhac  dlmecourt,  and  who,  if  still  alive,  which 
we  doubt,  must  be  over  eighty  years  of  age. 

The  Galliffet  family  is  a  very  ancient  one,  originally  of 
Dauphine,  whence  the  still  existing  branch  passed  into  Provence 
in  or  about  1540.  It  can  trace  its  descent  back  to  Jean  de 
Galliffet,  damoiseau,  who  held  the  Dauphinese  lordships  of  La 
Galliffetiere  and  Savoyroux  in  1380 ;  and  it  claims  that  it  would 
have  been  able  to  prove  a  yet  remoter  ancestry  had  not  many 
early  title-deeds  been  destroyed  during  the  League  and  Huguenot 
wars.  The  principality  of  Martigues  (near  Marseilles  and  Aix- 
en-Provence)  dates  from  1580,  when  it  was  created  by  Henri 
III.  in  favour  of  Emmanuel  of  Lorraine,  Duke  de  Mercceur,  and 
his  heirs  and  assigns.  It  passed  by  acquisition  to  Marshal 
Villars  in  1714,  then  to  the  Vogiid  family  in  1764,  and  finally 
to  the  Galliffets  eight  years  later.  The  arms  of  the  latter  are 
gules,  charged  with  a  chevron  argent  and  three  trefles  or.  A 
ducal  coronet  surmounts  the  shield,  and  the  family  motto  is 
"  Bien  faire  et  laisser  dire,"  which  may  be  Anglicized  bluntly  as 
"  Do  right  and  let  folk  chatter."" 

Gaston,  Marquis  de  Galliffet,  enlisted  as  a  "  private "  in 
1848,  and  has  thus  risen  from  the  ranks  to  the  highest  position 
that  is  nowadays  attainable  in  the  French  army.  His  early 
career  was  marked  by  certain  episodes  on  which  we  will  not 
insist,  as  they  were  of  the  kind  commonly  known  as  youthful 
indiscretions.*  In  1853  young  Galliffet  had  become  a  Sub- 
Lieutenant  in  the  Guides,  and  it  was  as  such  that  he  went  to 

*  The  police  documents  concerning  them  have  been  published,  first  by  M. 
Millerand,  the  Eepublican  politician,  in  La  ^Petite  Bdjoubligue,  June,  1894, 
and  secondly  in  L'Aurore,  February  22,  1900.  Briefly  put,  the  affair  was 
this :  The  young  man  fell  into  ithe  clutches  of  a  designing  and  predatory 
•woman,  and  was  rescued  from  her  by  the  police  at  the  intervention  of  his 
family. 


THE   GRACES   OF  THE  EMPIRE  277 

the  Crimea,  where,  under  the  walls  of  SebastopoJ,  he  gained  the 
cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honour  and  ,  was  for  the  first  time 
mentioned  in  an  "  order  of  the  day."  In  1856  he  was  attached 
to  Morny's  embassy  to  St.  Petersburg  for  the  coronation  of  the 
Czar,  and  in  the  following  year  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  Lieutenant,  which  he  still  held  at  the  period  of  his  marriage ; 
but,  by  that  time,  he  had  already  exchanged  from  the  Guides 
to  the  Spahis,  and  seen  some  service  in  Algeria.  His  father 
was  then  dead,  and  Avhether  what  has  been  written  about  the 
state  of  his  fortune  at  that  moment  be  true  or  not,  it  is  certain 
that  his  charming  bride  brought  with  her  a  very  handsome 
dowry.  The  marriage  was  followed  by  M.  de  Galliffefs  pro- 
motion to  a  Captaincy  and  his  appointment  as  an  orderly  officer 
to  the  Emperor,  which  post  he  held  from  February,  I860,  till 
July,  1863,*  when  he  returned  to  Algeria  as  a  Major  {clief 
cTescadron)  in  the  1st  Hussars.  It  was,  then,  between  1860  and 
1863  that  M.  de  Galliffet  first  figured  at  the  Imperial  Court, 
where  both  he  and  his  young  wife  soon  became  conspicuous, 
he  by  reason  of  his  vivacity,  his  flow  of  spirits,  his  occasional 
eccentricities,  and  his  brilliant  horsemanship ;  she  by  reason  of 
her  blonde  beauty,  the  indescribable  grace  and  charm  of  a 
figure  which  was  perhaps  too  slender  to  be  altogether  perfect, 
the  readiness  and  spirit  of  her  conversational  powers,  and  the 
exquisite  taste  which  she  displayed  in  the  art  of  dress.  Two 
sons  and  a  daughter  were  born  of  the  marriage,  which,  as  we 
have  previously  mentioned,!  did  not  turn  out  satisfactory,  in 
some  measure  perhaps  by  reason  of  the  many  occasional 
separations  which  the  husband's  profession  necessarily  entailed, 
before  the  final  one  was  arrived  at. 

On  quitting  his  post  as  orderly  officer  to  the  Emperor, 
M.  de  Galliffet,  as  we  have  said,  returned  to  Algeria,  but  soon 
afterwards  he  proceeded  to  Mexico  with  the  12th  Chasseurs-a- 
cheval.  At  the  battle  of  Puebla  he  was  wounded  in  a  terrible 
manner   and   few   expected   that   he   would  survive;    but  he 

*  Many  misstatements  have  appeared  in  print  on  that  subject.  We  have 
even  read  that  the  Emperor  never  saw  M.  de  Galliffet  till  his  return  from 
Mexico ;  but  we  write  this  brief  account  with  a  full  official  list  of  M.  de 
Galliffet's  promotions  and  appointments  before  us.  That  is  better  than 
trusting  to  memory. 

t  See  ante,  p.  49. 


278  THE   COURT  OF  THE   TUILERIES 

fortunately  did  so,  and  was  selected  to  convey  some  flags  taken 
from  the  Mexican  Republicans  to  France,  and  to  present  them 
to  the  Emperor.  Napoleon,  who  was  at  Vichy,  received 
M.  de  Galliffet  with  great  kindness,  and  promoted  him  to  the 
rank  of  Lieutenant-colonel  (June,  1865).  For  a  while,  the 
injured  officer  lingered  at  Vichy,  and  was  often  to  be  seen 
either  hobbling  about  the  park  on  his  crutches,  or  resting 
there  under  the  shade  of  the  fine  old  trees.  Those  who  then 
happened  to  be  visiting  the  famous  spa  occasionally  heard  him 
relate  in  his  customary  picturesque  and  realistic  style  the  story 
of  his  terrible  injuries. 

"  How  it  happened  ? "  he  would  say.  "  Oh  !  we  were 
charging.  A  shell  exploded,  and  I  was  thrown  to  the  ground. 
But  that  does  not  stop  a  charge,  and  the  comrades  went  on 
fast  enough.  When  I  recovered  consciousness  I  found  that  a 
part  of  my  hip  had  been  carried  away,  and  that  my  abdomen 
had  been  cut  open.  My  entrails  were  coming  out.  But  what 
of  that  ?  When  we  go  boar-hunting,  and  a  hound  is  ripped 
up,  we  don't  let  it  die ;  we  put  its  entrails  back,  gather  the 
flesh  together  and  sew  it  up.  Well,  for  my  part,  I  tried  to 
get  on  my  feet  again.  At  first  I  could  only  struggle  on  to  my 
knees.  Still  that  was  something,  and  at  last,  holding  my  Icepi 
in  front  of  me  to  prevent  my  inside  from  coming  out  altogether, 
I  managed  to  stand  up.  That  done,  I  made  my  way  somehow 
to  the  ambulance,  and — -well,  here  I  am." 

At  the  ambulance,  as  it  happened,  M.  de  Galliffet  remained 
for  a  considerable  time  in  a  very  precarious  condition.  Ice  was 
particularly  needed  for  the  treatment  of  his  case,  and  at  first 
none  could  be  procured.  Tidings  of  his  dangerous  state  were 
sent  to  France,  and  many  sympathetic  remarks  on  the  subject 
were  addressed  to  Mme.  de  Galliffet  by  her  friends.  But  she 
reassured  them.  "  Oh,  he  will  recover,"  said  she,  "  he  is  such 
a  lucky  man ! "  At  that  same  period  it  so  chanced  that  the 
story  of  the  lack  of  ice  was  related  one  evening  at  the  imperial 
dinner- table  at  the  Tuileries,  just  as  the  Empress  had  asked  a 
servant  for  some  ice  to  cool  her  wine.  She  listened,  horror- 
stricken,  to  the  story  which  was  told,  and  then  turning  to  the 
valet,  exclaimed,  "No,  take  it  away — I  can't  bear  the  thought 
of  ice  now  that  I  know  there  is  none  for  our  wounded  soldiers." 


THE  GRACES  OF  THE  EMPIRE  279 

In  the  case  of  M.  de  Galliffefs  injuries,  it  became  necessary 
to  replace  missing  flesh  by  anatomical  appliances,  notably  a 
kind  of  shield,  which  he  has  worn  ever  since.  As  is  well  known, 
his  misadventure  by  no  means  impaired  his  military  capabilities. 
He  even  returned  to  Mexico  and  commanded  the  French 
Contra-ffuerilla  at  Orizaba  and  Medellin.  In  1867  he  became 
a  Colonel,  and  still  held  that  rank  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
Franco-German  War  of  1870.  Almost  on  the  eve  of  Sedan, 
that  is  on  August  30,  he  was  made  a  General  of  Brigade, 
and  as  such  he  commanded  the  2nd  Brigade  of  Margueritte's 
Division  of  light  cavalry  *  in  the  famous  if  unsuccessful 
charge  which  was  one  of  the  redeeming  episodes  of  the 
engagement  which  sealed  the  fate  of  the  Empire.  Mean- 
time Mme.  de  Galliffet  had  remained  in  Paris,  seconding  the 
Marechales  de  MacMahon  and  Canrobert  in  their  solicitude 
for  the  French  wounded,  all  three  being  prominently  connected 
with  the  Societe  de  Secours  aux  Blesses  which  had  its  head- 
quarters at  the  Palais  de  Tlndustrie.  We  often  saw  them 
there,  Mme.  de  Galliffet  and  the  Marechale  Canrobert — 
the  beautiful  dark,  slim,  queenly  Flora  Macdonald — simply 
dressed  in  slate  grey,  and  Mme.  de  MacMahon  in  more  solemn 
black.  The  last  named,  dark  like  Mme.  de  Canrobert  but 
short  and  over  buxom,  did  not  strike  one  at  first  as  looking 
particularly  aristocratic,  though  as  a  daughter  of  the  house 
of  Castries  she  belonged  to  the  most  authentic  old  noblesse  of 
France;  but  the  ring  of  her  voice,  the  flash  of  her  eyes, 
the  readiness  and  good  sense  of  her  decisions  at  committee 
meetings,  and  the  untiring  energy  which  she  ever  displayed  in 
connection  with  the  ambulance  services,  revealed  her  to  be  a 
maitresse  fevnne,  the  fit  spouse  of  one  who  had  already  risen  to 
the  highest  military  rank,  and  was  yet  destined  to  become  the 
Chief  of  the  State. 

Mme.  de  Canrobert,  leaving  Paris  after  the  fall  of  the 
Empire,  obtained  Prince  Frederick  Charles''s  permission  to 
enter  Metz  and  join  her  husband  at  the  time  of  that  strong- 
hold's surrender;  but  the  Marchioness  de  Galliflet  (while  the 

*  The  2nd  Brigade  was  composed  principally  of  Chasseurs  d'Afrique.  The 
1st  was  commanded  by  General  Tillard,  who,  like  Margueritte,  was  killed  at 
Sedan. 


280  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

Marquis,  as  one  of  the  prisoners  of  Sedan,  shared  the  captivity 
of  his  comrades  at  Coblenz)  remained  in  Paris,  heedless  of 
the  change  of  regime,  and  quietly  and  unobtrusively  devoted 
herself  to  ambulance  work  throughout  the  bitter  days  of  the 
German  siege.  We  also  remember  seeing  her  at  some  charity 
sales  which  took  place  at  that  time  for  the  benefit  of  destitute 
women — notably  one  at  the  Gare  du  Nord,  when  she  disposed 
of  eggs  (not  guaranteed  to  be  fresh)  at  five  shillings  apiece, 
butter  at  £1  the  tiny  pat,  and  pieces  of  gruyere  cheese  at  £Q 
each — only  people  like  Baron  Alphonse  de  Rothschild,  Sir 
Richard  Wallace,  the  Prince  de  Sagan,  and  the  Duke  de 
Castries  being  able  to  afford  those  rare  and  costly  luxuries  of 
the  siege  days. 

Later,  under  Marshal  MacMahon's  presidency  of  the 
Republic,  Mme.  de  Galliffet  again  appeared  in  society,  though 
in  a  less  prominent  manner  than  in  former  years.  The  last 
time  we  saw  her  was,  we  think,  at  a  great  chaxiiy  fete  given 
in  the  Tuileries  garden  in  or  about  1880.  She  contributed 
largely  to  the  success  of  that  enterprise,  and  her  unexpected 
reappearance  in  public  seemed  something  like  a  resurrection. 
Many  who  had  merely  heard  of  her,  who  knew  her  only  by 
name,  flocked  inquisitively  to  her  stall.  She  had  aged  un- 
doubtedly, but  all  the  grace  of  former  years  was  still  there, 
together  with  all  that  taste  in  matters  of  dress  which  had 
helped  to  make  her  famous. 

Another  zealous  worker  at  that  same  gathering  was  Mme. 
de  GallifFefs  friend  the  Countess  de  Pourtales,  over  whom  the 
years  had  passed,  leaving  little,  if  any,  trace  of  their  flight. 
Melanie  de  Bussieres  had  barely  completed  her  seventeenth 
year  when  she  married  Count  Edmond  de  Pourtales.  She  was 
by  birth  an  Alsatian,  her  father,  Alfred  Renouard  de  Bussieres, 
belonging  to  a  wealthy  family  of  manufacturers  of  the  Colmar 
district,  with  fine  seats  at  Schoppenwihr  and  Robertsau,  while 
her  mother  was  a  daughter  of  the  Baron  de  Franck.  As  for 
M.  de  Pourtales,  he  was  descended  from  a  French  Huguenot 
family,  which  had  emigrated  to  Switzerland  at  the  time  of  the 
revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  but  which  established  a 
banking  house  in  Paris  during  the  reign  of  Napoleon  I.,  when 
the  principality  of  Neufchatel,  to  which  the  family  belonged, 


THE   GRACES   OF  THE   EMPIRE  281 

after  being  ceded  by  Prussia  to  France,  was  bestowed  by  the 
Emperor  on  Berthier.  A  certain  Jeremie  Pourtales  had  been 
ennobled  by  Frederick  the  Great,  and  his  three  grandsons  by 
his  son  Jacques  were  created  Counts  by  Frederick  William  III. 
of  Prussia  in  December,  1815,  at  which  time,  as  may  be 
remembered,  the  Prussian  suzerainty  over  Neufchatel  was  with 
certain  limitations  revived.  It  was,  indeed,  only  brought  to 
an  end  by  the  intervention  of  France  and  Great  Britain  in 
1856-57,  when  war  seemed  imminent  between  Prussia  and 
Switzerland — the  result  being  that  the  Prussian  ruler  retained 
the  title  of  Prince  of  Neufchatel,  and  accepted  pecuniary 
compensation  for  the  loss  of  his  political  rights.  Whatever 
might  be  her  husband's  nationality,  Mme.  de  Pourtales  herself 
always  remained  tres  Frangaise  de  cceur,  and  in  1870  she 
protested  more  than  once  that  she  was  not  a  German  but  an 
Alsatian.  After  the  fall  of  the  Empire  she  was  repeatedly 
subjected  to  insult  and  annoyance,  being  denounced  as  a 
German  spy.  Other  ladies  had  a  similar  experience,  notably 
the  Countess  de  Behague,  the  Duchess  de  Waldburg  and  Countess 
Stephanie  Tascher  de  la  Pagerie.  At  one  moment  a  report 
even  circulated  that  Mme.  de  Pourtales  had  been  imprisoned  in 
the  fortress  of  Vincennes,  but  it  was  merely  one  of  the  canards 
of  the  time. 

Under  the  Empire  she  and  her  husband  resided  in  the  Rue 
Tronchet,  where  Count  Edmond's  father  had  gathered  together 
a  famous  collection  of  paintings  and  other  works  of  art.  When 
family  arrangements  necessitated  the  sale  of  that  collection  in 
April,  1865,  it  produced  £113,000,  or  about  £60,000  more 
than  the  original  outlay.  Several  of  the  pictures  were  then 
purchased  by  Baron  Seillieres,  Baron  James  de  Rothschild,  and 
Lord  Hertford — the  latter's  acquisitions  figuring  nowadays  in 
the  famous  Wallace  collection  ;  while  Count  Edmond,  for  his 
own  part,  bought  in  some  fine  examples  of  Rembrandt,  Philippe 
de  Champaigne,  Quentin  Matsys,  and  others,  which  still  con- 
tinued to  adorn  the  walls  of  the  mansion,  where,  prior  to  the 
sale,  you  could  scarcely  pass  along  the  passages  or  cross  the 
rooms,  so  large  was  the  assemblage  of  artistic  treasures,  bronze, 
marble,  glass,  china,  and  what  not  besides.  The  very  knocker  of 
the  porte-cochere  was  a  striking  curio ^  representing  a  Virgin  and 


282  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUH^ERIES 

Child  in  a  basin  of  holy  water,  and  we  often  wondered  that 
it  was  never  stolen  by  some  collector  carried  away  by  that 
passionate  craving  which  some  of  the  class  are  unable  to  resist. 

Count  and  Countess  de  Pourtales  entertained  in  the  Rue 
Tronchet  on  a  lavish  scale.  They  were  not  merely  society 
folk,  but  people  of  culture  also.  Of  late  years  several  of  the 
Countess's  letters  have  been  published,  showing  that  she  was  the 
active  collahoratrke  of  the  Marquis  Philippe  de  Massa  in  some 
of  the  amusing  sketches  which  he  wrote  for  the  private 
theatricals  at  Compiegne  and  elsewhere.  At  the  same  time, 
perhaps  because  she  was,  like  her  husband,  a  Protestant,  Mme. 
de  Pourtales  knew  where  to  draw  the  line  in  matters  of  social 
frivolity.  Her  personal  beauty  was  remarkable.  Above  an 
exquisitely  proportioned  figure,  with  perfect  arms  and  shoulders, 
her  head,  poised  on  a  graceful,  swan-like  neck,  was  crov/ned  with 
an  abundance  of  fair  hair  falling  in  what  one  may  nowadays 
call,  perhaps,  the  Edna  May  style,  on  either  side  of  a  low  brow. 
The  cheeks  and  chin  were  full ;  the  complexion  ever  remained 
that  of  an  English  girl  in  her  first  season ;  the  mouth  was  finely 
shaped,  and  the  large  liquid  eyes  were  beautifully  blue.  And, 
as  we  have  said,  time  seemed  to  pass  and  pass  without  impairing 
the  Countess's  charms. 

Fifteen  years  after  the  Franco-German  war,  when  she  was 
again  residing  in  Paris,  trying,  so  it  seemed,  to  effect  a  recon- 
ciliation between  the  Legitimist  and  Bonapartist  aristocracies, 
and  mixing  no  little  in  cosmopolitan  society,  particularly  among 
Americans,  in  whom  she  appeared  to  take  an  especial  interest, 
she  was  still  for  everybody  la  helle  Mme.  de  Pourtales. 

Her  friend,  the  Princess  Pauline  Metternich,  was  not  a 
beauty.  Somebody  styled  her  cette  jolie  laide,  she  styled  herself 
the  monkey  d  la  mode.  The  brow  was  good,  distinctly  in- 
tellectual, and  the  dark,  sparkling,  laughing  eyes  had  a  charm 
peculiarly  their  own.  But  the  nose  was  bad,  the  nostrils  were 
too  open,  and  the  ears  elongated,  almost  pointed,  a  defect 
which  the  Princess  scorned  to  conceal.  The  worst,  however, 
was  the  mouth,  whose  defects  were  plainly  due  to  a  malformation 
of  the  upper  jaw.  Yet  even  that  was  forgotten  when  the 
Princess  spoke,  for  she  was  the  wittiest  woman  of  the  age.  Of 
average  height,  she  originally  had  a  very  slim  figure,  and  could 


THE   GRACES   OF  THE   EMPIRE  283 

assume,  whenever  necessary,  the  most  aristocratic  bearing  in  the 
world.  With  advancing  years,  however,  she  became  somewhat 
stout.  If  she  were  occasionally  eccentric,  too  vivacious  or 
free  spoken,  in  the  old  Tuileries  days,  there  could  be  no  question 
of  her  talents ;  and  though  she  was  not  personally  the  Austrian 
ambassador,  but  simply  that  ambassador's  wife,  she  undoubtedly 
exercised  no  little  political  as  well  as  social  influence  at  the 
Court  of  the  Empire. 

Daughter  of  a  Hungarian  magnate.  Count  Sandor,  who  was 
renowned  for  his  breakneck  feats  of  horsemanship,  she  married 
Prince  Richard  Metternich,  son  of  the  great  Austrian  Chan- 
cellor, when  she  was  in  her  twenty-second  year,  her  husband 
being  eight  years  her  senior.  He  was  appointed  Austrian 
ambassador  to  France  in  1860,  that  is,  after  the  Solferino- 
Magenta  campaign.  It  seemed,  therefore,  as  if  his  position  in 
Paris  might  be  for  some  time  rather  delicate.  Besides,  the 
hriisquerie  with  which  Baron  Hiibner,  his  predecessor,  had  been 
treated  by  Napoleon  HI.  was  not  easily  forgotten.  However, 
the  Prince  and  his  wife  Avere  received  with  the  greatest  cordiality, 
and  were  soon  quite  at  home  at  the  Tuileries.  Fully  a  head 
taller  than  his  wife,  and  inclined  to  be  burly,  Prince  Richard 
had  a  broad,  open,  smiling  face,  with  a  moustache  and  whiskers 
which  suggested  a  cross  between  the  orthodox  Austrian  style 
and  the  Lord  Dundreary  pattern.  He  was  a  born  musician, 
havino;  all  the  waltzes  of  Lanner  and  Guno-l  and  Strauss  at  his 
fingers'  tips ;  and  many  a  time,  en  petit  comite  at  the  Tuileries, 
he  would  seat  himself  at  the  grand  piano  in  the  Salon  d'Apollon 
and  play  air  after  air  to  the  delight  of  all  who  were  present. 
The  Princess,  for  her  part,  was  a  fervent  partisan  of  Wagner,  and 
it  is  well  known  that  it  was  she  who  prevailed  on  Walewski  to 
allow  the  performance  of  "  Tannhaiiser ""  at  the  Paris  Opera  in 
1861.  She  had  previously  tried  to  obtain  the  authorization  from 
Fould,  but  he,  possibly  foreseeing  the  result,  had  refused  it. 
There  were  only  three  performances,  we  think.  At  the  second 
Princess  Metternich  broke  her  fan  in  vexation  and  left  the  house. 
The  third  was  a  perfect  charivari,  and  a  good  many  years 
elapsed  before  Wagner's  music  became  acceptable  to  the 
Parisians  generally.  Mme.  de  Metternich  was  more  successful 
in  introducing  Liszt  to  the  Tuileries. 


284  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

It  has  sometimes  been  claimed  that  she  invented  Worth,  the 
famous  English  costumier.  It  seems  better  to  say  that  she 
speedily  recognized  the  great  talents  of  the  man  who  waged  war 
against  the  crinoline,  but  who  was  obliged  to  compromise  with 
it,  accepting  it  in  an  attenuated  form  in  his  jupe  houjfante — 
Anglicized  at  the  time  as  the  "  puffed  skirt " — and  other 
creations.  Worth  had  already  been  in  business  a  couple  of 
years  when  Mme.  de  Metternich  became  his  customer,  but  her 
patronage  undoubtedly  helped  him  on  to  fame  and  fortune. 
Still  she  was  not  exclusively  Parisienne,  she  remembered  Vienna, 
whence  she  occasionally  imported  some  novelty  in  dress.  Her 
taste  may  not  have  been  always  impeccable,  but  her  innate 
elegance,  her  grand  air,  enabled  her  to  wear  things  unsuited  to 
others.  That  was  a  point  too  often  forgotten  by  those  who 
took  her  as  their  pattern.  Besides,  it  often  happened  that  when 
she  set  a  viode  imitators  exaggerated  and  thereby  disfigured 
it,  in  such  a  way  that  what  was  alleged  to  be  the  Metternich 
style  was  not  really  that  style  at  all.  At  times  the  Princess's 
ideas  were  quite  charming,  as,  for  instance,  when  she  appeared 
one  evening  at  a  Court  entertainment  in  a  robe  of  white  satin 
festooned  with  ivy  leaves,  with  others  serving  for  a  girdle,  and 
others  again  for  both  necklace  and  bracelets,  the  whole  shimmer- 
ing with  diamond  dewdrops  cunningly  set  in  their  midst.  She 
put  her  brilliants,  and  indeed  all  her  jewels,  to  many  uses,  con- 
stantly having  them  reset,  in  such  wise  that  folk  who  were  not 
in  the  secret  imagined  her  casket  to  be  inexhaustible. 

Yellow,  being  the  Austrian  colour,  figured  prominently  in 
the  Princess's  equipages  when  she  first  came  to  Paris,  the 
wheels  and  a  part  of  the  body  of  her  carriages  being  of 
that  conspicuous  hue,  even  as  her  livery  also  was  black  and 
yellow.  But  for  some  reason,  perhaps  on  account  of  the  start- 
ling yellow  chariots  in  which  the  "  dead  and  dyed  "  Duke  of 
Brunswick  displayed  his  painted  cheeks  and  flaxen  wig,  she  at 
one  time  adopted  a  particular  shade  of  green.  Now  it 
happened  that  one  afternoon,  when  a  carriage  of  that  tint 
was  seen  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  several  gentlemen,  imagining 
that  it  must  be  the  Princess's,  hastened  to  uncover.  But  a 
moment  afterwards  they  found,  to  their  horror  and  amazement, 
that  they  had  bowed  to  a  notorious  woman,  whom  they  were 


THE   GRACES   OF  THE    EMPIRE  285 

by  no  means  desirous  of  saluting.  When  this  person's  imper- 
tinence in  adopting  her  colour  came  to  Mme.  de  Metternich's 
knowledge,  she  was  momentarily  dumfounded.  But  with 
sudden  resolution  she  gave  orders  that  her  carriages  were  to 
be  painted  black,  and  until  that  was  done  she  would  not  stir 
from  the  Embassy  in  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain.* 

She  was  particularly  fond  of  private  theatricals,  tableaux, 
charades,  short  comedies,  and  other  little  pieces,  and  frequently 
appeared  in  one  or  another  character  on  the  drawing-room 
stage  at  Compiegne,t  thereby  contributing  largely  to  the  gaiety 
of  the  Court's  annual  sojourn  there.  In  the  famous  "  Review  of 
1865  " — "  Les  Commentaires  de  Cesar  " — while  the  Prince  de 
Metternich  acted  as  orchestra,  that  is,  by  accompanyino-  the 
entire  performance  on  a  cottage  piano,  the  Princess  appeared 
in  three  of  the  thirty  roles  which  the  piece  comprised,  first 
in  a  blue  "  uniform  "  as  a  vivandiere  of  Turcos,  secondly  in  a 
"  carrick  "  as  a  Paris  cabman,  and  thirdly  in  a  fancy  costume 
of  white  satin  trimmed  with  "  notes  of  music  "  in  black  velvet, 
as  the  personification  of  Song.  She  was  the  soul  of  that  per- 
formance of  which  we  shall  have  more  to  say  when  we  deal 
with  the  Court  amusements  at  Compiegne.  At  another  time 
she  figured  with  Princess  Czartoryska  and  others  in  a  short- 
skirted  "  Diable  a  quatre  "  ballet ;  at  another  she  danced  in  a 
ballet  called  "La  Couronne  Enchant^e";  at  another  she 
appeared  in  a  charade  signifying  Eugenie.  She  also  collaborated 
with  Octave  Feuillet,  Massa,  and  others  in  devising  charades 
and  other  short  pieces.  On  one  occasion  when  the  word 
adopted  was  mmiversaire  she  assigned  the  interpretation  of 
the  second  and  third  syllables  (iver  =  hiver)  to  M.  de  Galliffet 
who  amused  everybody  by  the  manner  in  which  he  kept  on 
falling  down  and  trying  to  pick  himself  up  on  what  was 
supposed  to  be  ice.  That  was  after  his  severe  injuries  in 
Mexico,  and  some  concern  was  expressed  lest  he  should  hurt 
himself.  "  Oh  !  I'm  plated,"  he  rejoined ;  adding  in  memory  of 
his  ambulance  experiences,  "  Besides,  there  is  plenty  of  ice  here." 

*  In  the  last  years  of  the  Empire  it  was  removed  to  the  Champs  Elys^es 
district, 

t  Not,  as  some  have  supposed,  in  the  theatre  of  the  chateau.  The  private 
performances  never  took  place  there,  but  on  a  stage  erected  at  the  end  of  a 
salon  on  the  right  of  the  long  Gallery  of  Maps. 


286  THE   COURT  OF  THE   TUILERIES 

M.  de  Galliff'et,  be  it  said,  was  en  tout  bien,  tout  Tionneur,  a 
very  great  admirer  of  Princess  Metternich ;  and  whenever  he 
heard  or  read  any  disparaging  remark  concerning  her,  he  called 
the  offender  to  account  with  a  promptness  which  left  the  Prince 
no  opportunity  to  intervene,  even  if  he  had  been  so  minded. 
In  the  same  way  as  Paul  de  Cassagnac  became  known  as  the 
champion  of  the  Empress,  so  was  M.  de  Galliffet  the  Princess's. 
He  fought  various  duels  on  her  account,  notably  one  with 
M.  de  Charnace  which  made  a  stir.  M.  de  Metternich  also 
on  one  occasion  fought  a  duel,  but  not  on  account  of  his  wife. 
The  affair  occurred  in  October,  1869,  and  the  Prince's  adversary 
was  Count  de  Beaumont,  who,  not  content  with  having  a  very 
charming  wife  (a  near  relation  of  Mme.  de  MacMahon's),  was 
also  foolishly,  inordinately,  morbidly  jealous.  Nobody  could 
glance  at,  nobody  could  say  a  word  to  la  helle  Mme.  de  Beau- 
mont without  incurring  the  Count's  displeasure  and  suspicion. 
It  was  monomania  which  became  so  bad  that  in  the  autumn  of 
1869  he  called  out  no  fewer  than  four  gentlemen  in  succession,  one, 
as  we  have  mentioned,  being  M.  de  Metternich.  The  duel  was 
fought  at  Kehl  with  cavalry  sabres,  and  resulted  in  the  Prince 
receiving  an  ugly  gash  in  the  right  arm.  For  the  rest,  what- 
ever remarks  malicious  people  may  have  indulged  in,  it  need 
only  be  said  that  M.  and  Mme.  de  Metternich  were  greatly 
attached  to  each  other,  and  that  the  affair  was,  from  beginning 
to  end,  an  extremely  stupid  one. 

The  Princess's  occasional  eccentricities  were  counterbalanced 
by  many  good  qualities.  Her  life  was  no  mere  whirl  of  amuse- 
ment, as  some  have  imagined,  she  was  a  devoted  wife  and  mother, 
and  a  first-rate  manageress  in  her  home.  She  also  dispensed 
no  little  charity  privately,  and  readily  helped  in  any  public 
work  of  benevolence.  There  was,  however,  one  very  strange 
character  among  the  ambassadresses  of  those  days.  This  was 
Countess  Kisseleff,  wife  of  the  Russian  representative  in  France 
after  the  Peace  of  Paris  in  1856  :  a  man  who,  before  turning  to 
diplomacy,  had  distinguished  himself  as  a  general  officer  against 
the  Turks.  He  suffered  from  insomnia,  and  his  wife,  who 
ought  to  have  lived  in  this  age  of  "  bridge,"  was  a  born  gamester. 
Now,  some  time  in  the  early  sixties,  the  embassy  was  installed 
in  the  Champs  Elysees,  that  is  in  the  Countess  Lehon's  former 


THE   GRACES   OF  THE   EMPIRE  287 

abode,  the  little  house  adjoining  which,  once  tenanted  by  M.  de 
Morny,*  had  also  been  secured  as  a  kind  of  annexe.  Count 
KisselefT,  keeping  very  late  hours,  although  he  was  a  septua- 
genarian, and  often  walking  up  and  down  the  Champs  Elysees 
before  he  turned  in  for  the  night,  noticed  after  a  time  that 
whatever  the  hour  might  be  there  were  always  lights  burning 
on  the  ground  floor  of  the  little  house.  Further,  by  peeping 
through  the  shutters  he  was  able  to  detect  that  nocturnal  card- 
play  went  on  there.  On  one  occasion,  just  as  he  had  vainly 
tried  to  ascertain  who  the  players  might  be,  and  was  about  to 
enter  the  adjoining  mansion,  a  policeman  happened  to  come  up. 
So  he  inquired  of  him  :  "  Do  you  know  who  it  is  that  plays 
cards  in  there  all  night  and  every  night  ?  "  "Oh  yes,"  said 
the  policeman,  cheerfully,  "  it  is  Countess  KisselefF."  "  Ah  !  my 
wife,"  the  ambassador  replied.  "  Thanks.  Good  night."  He, 
not  long  afterwards,  shuffled  off  this  mortal  coil,  but  the 
Countess  went  on  shuffling  cards  and  losing  money  till  the 
downfall  of  the  Empire.  "  Of  course  I  regret  my  husband," 
she  was  once  reported  to  have  said ;  "  but  now  that  he  is  dead 
there  is  no  further  necessity  for  me  to  go  to  Court.  That  gives 
me  more  time  to  amuse  myself.  When  the  Count  was  alive,  I 
could  only  play  cards  at  night,  but  now,  you  see,  I  can  play  all 
day  as  well." 

Eccentric  also,  but  in  a  different  way,  w^as  Mme.  Rimsky- 
Korsakoff,  another  Russian,  and  one  who  in  the  matter  of  costumes 
did  her  utmost  to  outvie  both  Princess  Metternich  and  La 
Castiglione.  Yet  another  prominent  lady  of  Muscovite  origin  was 
Mile.  Helen  Haritoff,  niece  of  M.  Garfunkel,  the  banker,  who, 
for  her  part,  was  content  to  be  lively  and  charming.  After  her 
marriage  to  Captain  Leopold  Magnan,  the  Marshal's  son,  in 
1861,  she  was  received  with  marked  favour  by  the  Empress 
Eugenie.  Four  of  her  sisters-in-law.  Marshal  Magnan's 
daughters,  figured  at  Court,  where  during  their  earlier  seasons 
they  were  known  as  "  the  Dresden  chinas."  They  often  took 
part  in  the  private  theatricals  of  the  time,  and  speedily  finding 
suitors  they  became  respectively  Mesdames  Barrachin,  Cottreau, 
Haentjens,  and  Legendre.  Reverting,  however,  to  the  Russian 
elegantes.,    we  must  not  omit  from  our  list   the  Duchess   de 

*  See  ante,  p,  26. 


288  THE   COURT   OF    THE   TUILERIES 

Morny,   previously   Princess    Troubetskoi,*   for  during  several 
years  her  position  in  France  was  of  the  highest. 

Reared  at  the  court  of  St.  Petersburg  among  the  Maids  of 
Honour,  and  said  to  be  really  a  natural  daughter  of  the 
Emperor  Nicholas,  she  was  still  in  her  teens  in  February,  1857, 
— the  date  of  her  marriage  with  Morny — a  marriage  which  was 
distinctly  favoured  by  Alexander  II.,  who,  after  it  had  been 
arranged,  settled,  according  to  some  accounts,  a  considerable  sum 
of  money  on  the  charming  but  portionless  bride.  Nevertheless, 
the  marriage  did  not  take  place  without  difficulty  and  delay, 
owing  largely  to  Morny 's  position  with  respect  to  the  Countess 
Zoe  Lehon,  that  greatly  admired  "blue-eyed  Iris,"  whom  we 
previously  had  occasion  to  mention.f  The  daughter  of  the 
Flemish  financier  Mosselman,  and  born  at  his  Paris  establish- 
ment in  the  Chaussee  d''Antin,  she  married  in  1827  Charles 
Aime  Lehon  of  Tournay,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Belgian 
monarchy.  Nine  years  later  Leopold  I.  created  Lehon  a  Count, 
and  subsequently  appointed  him  Belgian  Minister  in  Paris, 
which  post  he  retained  for  a  dozen  years.  In  1842,  however, 
when  the  Count  had  lost  a  good  deal  of  money,  owing  to  the 
frauds  of  his  brother,  a  notary,  the  court  of  Tournay  decreed  a 
judicial  separation  between  him  and  his  wife  with  regard  to 
their  respective  property,  which  separation  soon  extended, 
de  facto  if  not  legally,  to  their  marital  relations  also.  The 
Countess  Lehon's  wealth,  with  which  she  so  largely  assisted  her 
lover  Morny  in  his  earlier  career,  was  derived  chiefly  from  the 
large  interest  which  her  father  had  bequeathed  to  her  in  the 
famous  mines  of  La  Vieille  Montague,  near  Moresnet,  north- 
east of  Liege — mines  renowned  in  those  days  for  their  deposits 
of  coal,  iron,  copper,  and  lead,  as  well  as  zinc,  in  such  forms 
as  blende  and  calamine.  The  Countess's  salon  in  Paris  was 
distinctly  an  Orleanist  one,  being  frequented  notably  by  the 
sons  of  Louis  Philippe,  as  well  as  by  Van  Praet,  the  Belgian 
politician,  Thouvenel,  subsequently  one  of  Napoleon  IH.'s 
Ministers  of  Foreign  Affairs,  and  most  of  the  diplomatists  of 
the  time.  Count  Lehon,  born  in  1792,  was  some  seventeen 
years  older  than  his  wife,  who,  it  is  certain,  long  hoped  that 
Morny  would  marry  her  as  soon  as  she  should  be  free.     It  so 

*  See  also  antz,  p.  29.  f  See  ante,  p.  26. 


SOME   STATESMEN   AND   DIPLOMATISTS     289 

happened  that  in  1856  the  Count  was  very  ill  and  not  expected 
to  recover,*  and  thus  the  Countess  could  not  control  her 
indignation  on  hearing  of  Morny's  projected  marriage  with 
the  youthful  Princess  Troubetskoi.  Dramatic  incidents  marked 
the  negotiations  which  ensued,  and  it  was  only  by  a  payment 
of  about  d^'100,000  that  Morny  was  able  to  free  himself  from 
his  long  entanglement.  The  Countess  Lehon  had  two  sons 
and  a  daughter.  One  of  the  former.  Count  Leopold,  became 
a  naturalized  French  subject  and  sat  in  the  Legislative  Body 
of  the  Empire  as  a  deputy  for  the  Ain.f  His  wife,  a  beautiful 
woman,  often  figured  at  Court,  and  some  ill-informed  writers 
have  more  than  once  confounded  her  with  her  mother-in-law. 
The  latter's  daughter,  Mile.  Louise  Lehon,  married  Prince 
Stanislas  Poniatowski,  son  of  Prince  Joseph,  the  senator  of 
the  Second  Empire,  in  June,  1856  ;  and  after  Morny's  marriage 
early  in  the  following  year,  the  Countess  Lehon,  her  children 
being  established  in  life,  withdrew  altogether  from  society. 
She  Avas  almost  forgotten  when  she  passed  away  in  the  Rue  de 
Tilsitt,  Paris,  early  in  March,  1880. 

The  half-brother  of  Napoleon  III.  found  a  devoted  wife  in 
the  Princess  Troubetskoi.  We  have  previously  referred  to  her 
beauty — she  was  a  Greuze — and  it  may  be  added  that  her 
training  at  the  Court  of  Russia  had  qualified  her  for  the 
highest  position.  Her  husband  was  conspicuous  in  society  and 
powerful  in  politics.  It  has  been  said  of  Morny  that  he  did 
most  things,  and  did  them  well.  Certainly  nobody  was  more 
skilful  in  making  money,  nobody  more  lavish  in  spending  it. 
Some  have  asserted  that  he  presided  over  the  Legislative  Body 
of  the  Empire  with  an  elegance  and  distinction  unequalled 
by  any  other  parliamentary  president;  but  his  amiability, 
his  smiles,  and  his  jests  were,  in  reality,  similar  to  those 
of  a  wild  beast  tamer,  whose  helles  manieres  are  assumed 
to  curry  favour  with  the  gallery,  and  who,  in  dealing  with 
his  beasts,  neither  forgets  that  he  has  a  whip  in  his  hand  nor 
hesitates,  when  occasion  arises,  to  use  it.  At  heart  Morny 
detested  parliamentary  institutions,  and  felt  no  little  scorn  for 
the  men  who  sat  under  him.     Yet  he  certainly  managed  the 

*  He  did  recover,  however,  and  survived  until  April  30,  1868. 
t  He  died,  October  31,  1879. 

U 


290  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Legislative  Body  with  skill,  and  when  tact  became  necessary  he 
could  show  it.  His  political  role  was  by  no  means  confined  to 
his  duties  as  President  of  the  Chamber.  That  position  gave 
him  access  to  the  Council  of  Ministers,  and  he  did  no  little 
work  behind  the  scenes,  either  in  the  council  or  in  private 
conferences  with  the  Emperor. 

His  death,  in  March,  1865,  was  a  great  surprise,  both  to  the 
Court  and  the  general  public.     He  had  been  suflPering  for  a 
month   past   from  neuralgic  trouble,  coupled  with   symptoms 
suggestive  of  the  influenza  of  these  later  days.     He  frequently 
complained  of  feeling  run-down,  exhausted,  feverish,  and  sleepy. 
Nevertheless,  Trousseau,  Ricord,  and  other  medical  men,  whom 
he  consulted,  detected  nothing  serious.      Indeed,  at  the  end 
of  February  the  Duke  seemed  to  be  much  better,  and  on  the 
28th,  Shrove  Tuesday,  he  drove  out.     But  on  his  return  home 
he  complained  that  he  felt  as  if  he  were  on  fire.     Bronchitis 
supervened,  but  did   not    cause   much   anxiety.     Preparations 
for  a  grand  mid-Lent  fete  at  the  Palais  Bourbon  went  on  as  a 
matter  of  course.     But  all  at  once  an  ardent  fever  again  came 
upon  the  Duke,   delirium  followed,  and  the  doctors  declared 
that  there  was  little  hope  of  saving   his  life.      He  could  no 
longer   take    food,    his   throat   contracted   till    it   was   almost 
closed,  and  it  was  even  difficult  for  him  to  speak.     He  was 
dying  of  a  form  of  pancreatitis,  a  complaint  of  which  medical 
science  knew  little  or  nothing  before  the  discoveries  of  Claude 
Bernard.      It   must  be  said   that  he   died   bravely.      Aware 
that  his  case  was  hopeless,  he  gave  instructions  about  his  will, 
and  took  leave  of  a  number  of  his  friends,  as  well  as  of  his  wife 
and  their  four  young  children.     On  the  evening  of  March  9, 
news  reached  the  Tuileries  that  he  was  sinking  fast.     Thereupon 
the   Empieror  and   Empress   drove   to   his   residence,   but   on 
their  arrival  they  found  that  he  was  delirious  and  unable  to 
recognize  them.     Napoleon  seated  himself  at  the  bedside,  and 
took  hold  of  his  brother's  hand,  while  the  Empress  fell  upon 
her  knees  and  prayed.     After  remaining  there  about  half  an 
hour,  they  withdrew  to  an  adjoining  room.      A   little    later 
lucidity  returned  to  Morny,  and  Count  de  Flahault  (his  father), 
who   had   arrived,  told   him  of  the  Emperor''s  visit,  adding : 
"He   is   still   in   the  house.     Shall  he  come  back.^"     "Yes, 


SOME   STATESMEN   AND   DIPLOMATISTS     291 

yes,"  gasped  the  dying  man,  "  let  him  come  to  me."  Napoleon 
then  returned  to  the  sick-room,  but  only  a  few  words  were 
exchanged,  for  delirium  speedily  reappeared.  The  Emperor 
then  finally  retired,  shaken  by  convulsive  sobs,  and  holding 
his  hands  to  his  face. 

About  one  o''clock  in  the  morning  the  last  agony  seemed 
imminent,  and  a  messenger  was  sent  for  the  Archbishop  of 
Paris,  who  came  and  administered  the  viaticum.  Some  six 
or  seven  hours  later,  when  the  doctor  in  attendance  entered 
the  room,  the  valet  who  had  devotedly  nursed  the  Duke 
throughout  his  illness,  said  to  him :  "  Monsieur  le  Due  is 
going  fast."  "  Oh,  the  end  will  not  come  for  some  hours 
yet,"  the  doctor  answered;  "but  that  blister  makes  him  suffer 
without  doing  him  any  good.  We  must  remove  it."  They 
then  went  to  turn  the  Duke  on  his  side,  but  at  that  same 
moment  he  gave  a  slight  sigh  and  expired.  Thus  died  the 
man  who  made  Napoleon  III.,  Emperor  of  the  French.* 

The  young  Duchess  displayed  great  grief.  In  accordance 
with  the  Russian  custom,  she  had  her  splendid  hair  cut  off"  close 
to  the  head,  and  laid  the  long,  fair  tresses  between  her  husband's 
hands  in  his  coffin.  For  a  long  time,  by  her  instructions,  a 
cover  was  laid  for  him  at  every  meal,  as  if  he  were  still  alive. 
But  sorrow  is  seldom  eternal,  and,  in  1867,  Mme,  de  Morny 
became  the  wife  of  the  Duke  de  Sesto.f 

Very  pompous  were  the  obsequies  of  Napoleon"'s  half-brother. 
The  entry  of  his  birth  in  the  register  of  Versailles  had  been 
attested  merely  by  a  cobbler  and  a  jobbing  tailor,  but  all  the 
great  officers  of  state,  thousands  of  troops,  and  half  the 
population  of  Paris  witnessed  his  funeral.  He  left  a  fairly 
large  fortune  for  that  period,  but  he  had  long  lived  in  a 
style  which  had  precluded  the  saving  of  money.  For  instance, 
there  was  his  stud,  which,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  numbered 
145  horses,  and  cost  £60  a  day,  or  nearly  .£22,000  per  annum. 
Yet  the  total  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  those  animals  at  Chantilly 
were  under  ,£'13,000.  It  is  true  that  the  Duke's  pictures  and 
other  oeuvres  cVart  fetched  better  prices,  amounting  to  about 

*  Private  narrative  of  the  Duke's  valet. 

t  Three  of  her  four  children  are,  we  believe,  still  alive — the  Duke  and  the 
Marquis  de  Morny,  as  well  as  the  daughter  who  became  Marchioness  de 
Belboeuf. 


292  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

^100,000,  or,  roughly,  a  quarter  of  his  fortune.  On  the 
other  hand,  during  the  last  decade  of  his  life  he  had  spent 
quite  <£*40,000  a  year. 

He  was  succeeded  for  a  while  in  the  Presidency  of  the 
Chamber  by  Count  Walewski,  who  cut  a  poor  figure  in  the 
post,  being  far  better  suited  to  diplomacy,  and,  one  may  add, 
far  more  of  a  gentleman  than  Morny  ;  for,  whatever  might 
have  been  the  latter's  grand  seigneur  manner,  the  insolence  of 
a  grand  seigneur  towards  inferiors  had  been  blended  with  it 
too  often.  Walewsti,  however,  was  uniformly  urbane  and 
considerate.  He  amassed  no  fortune.  When  he  died,  in  1868, 
Mme.  Walewski  was  left  with  perhaps  £1000  a  year,  and  was 
glad  of  her  appointment  as  Lady  of  Honour  to  the  Empress. 
She  willingly  surrendered  the  Landes  property  given  to  her 
husband  by  the  Emperor,  for  numerous  expenses  attached 
to  it,  expenses  for  which  there  could  be  little  or  no  return  for 
several  years.  In  writing  previously  concerning  this  lady,* 
we  should  have  said  that,  in  1877,  she  contracted  a  second 
marriage — one  with  Signor  Guiseppe  Alessandro  of  Palermo. 
She  was  pensioned  by  the  present  Republic. 

Walewski''s  successor  at  the  Chamber  was  the  great  iron- 
master of  Le  Creusot,  M.  Schneider,!  who  had  long  been  one 
of  the  Vice-Presidents,  in  such  wise  that  on  occasions  when 
he  had  taken  the  chair,  jocular  deputies  had  remarked :  "  See 
Avhat  an  aristocrat  M.  de  Morny  is.  He  can't  come  himself, 
so  he  has  sent  us  his  tailor."  The  reader  may  remember  that 
it  was  for  attacking  M.  Schneider  as  M.  Tailleur,  that  Mme. 
Rattazzi  was  exiled  from  France.^  That  play  on  the  meaning 
of  M.  Schneider's  name  was  not,  perhaps,  in  the  best  of  taste. 
A  more  amusing  appellation,  however,  was  found  for  him  as 

*  See  ante,  pp.' 70, 154, 160, 179. 

t  Eugene  Schneider,  born  in  1805,  died  in  1875,  President  of  the 
Legislative  Body  from  1865  till  September  4,  1870. 

X  See  ante,  p.  214.  She  was,  in  her  way,  a  wonderful  woman — one, 
too,  who  contrived  to  dispose  of  three  husbands  of  different  nationalities  ; 
first,  Count  Friedrichi  Solms,  a  German,  next  Urbano  Eattazzi,  the  eminent 
Italian  statesman,  and  finally  Senor  Luis  de  Kute,  an  es-Secretary  of  State  in 
Spain.  At  one  time.  La  Eattazzi's  declared  ambition  was  to  become  the 
Mme.  de  Stael  of  the  Second  Empire,  but  it  was  in  vain  that  she  piled  up 
volumes  of  history,  poetry,  romance,  politics,  and  travels,  Few  were  regid, 
and  all  are  now  forgotten. 


I 


SOME  STATESMEN  AND  DIPLOMATISTS     S93 

time  went  on.  Age  did  not  deprive  him  of  his  hair,  but  the 
latter's  hue  turned  from  red  to  a  snowy  whiteness,  which 
circumstance,  combined  with  certain  gestures  to  which  M. 
Schneider  was  addicted  when  he  occupied  the  presidential 
chair,  procured  him  the  name  of  the  White  Rabbit,  as  if, 
indeed,  he  had  been  one  of  those  toy,  drum-beating  rabbits 
beloved  of  childhood.  Schneider  was  a  very  shrewd  man,  with 
but  one  defect  as  President  of  the  Chamber  :  he  talked  too 
much,  he  explained  too  much,  he  always  seemed  to  fear  that 
the  deputies  did  not  understand  him.  However,  he  retained 
his  post  till  the  end — the  bitter  end — doing,  vainly,  of  course, 
all  he  could  do  to  save  the  Empire. 

The  death  of  Morny  had  been  preceded  by  that  of  Billault,* 
the  most  dexterous  of  all  Napoleon  III.''s  ministers,  a  skilful  and 
resolute  man,  one  who  was  never  at  a  loss  in  a  difficulty,  who 
was  always  prepared  to  assume  an  amiable  expression  even  when 
he  was  acting  most  despotically — in  fact,  the  very  man  the 
regime  needed.  Short  and  slight,  with  a  shrewd  face  and 
courtly  manners,  he  was  a  Breton  by  birth,  married  to  a 
daughter  of  one  of  the  chief  shipowners  of  Nantes  ;  and  he  had 
come  to  the  front  very  rapidly  in  his  original  profession,  that 
of  the  bar.  Moreover,  at  the  age  of  thirty-five  he  was  already 
under-secretary  of  State  to  Thiers.  But  his  Liberalism  did  not 
survive  the  success  of  the  Coup  d'Etat.  Taking  the  tide  at 
its  flood,  he  caused  it  to  bear  him  to  the  highest  position  as 
Minister  of  State  and  speaker  for  the  Imperial  Government. 
He  was  often  taunted  with  his  earlier  career.  One  day  in  the 
Senate,  while  he  was  singing  the  praises  of  the  Coup  d'Etat, 
Prince  Napoleon  suddenly  exclaimed  :  "  That's  why  you  voted 
against  Napoleon  when  I  voted  for  him  ! "  And  amidst  the 
general  uproar  the  Prince  added :  "  Yes,  you  voted  for  Cavaignac  ; 
I  know  it ! "  The  Minister  could  only  stammer  in  reply  :  "  But 
for  ten  years  past,  having  seen  the  Emperor  at  work,  I  have 
served  him  with  fidelity  and  honour.*" 

"  Honour"  was  perhaps  de  trop^  for  Billault  had  been  guilty 

of  an  infamous  action  ;  he  had  sent  a  former  friend,  an  advocate 

named  Sandon,  to  the  madhouse  of  Charenton  on  the  pretext 

that   he   was   insane.     It   is   true   that   Sandon   had  tried  to 

*  Auguste  Adolphe  Billault ;  born  November,  1805. 


294  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

blackmail  him  by  threatening  to  divulge  certain  letters  in  which 
Billault,  before  the  Coup  d'Etat,  had  written  what  he  really- 
thought  of  Napoleon  III.  Nevertheless,  the  man  was  not  mad, 
and  Billault's  action,  in  which  medical  practitioners  of  standing 
and  officers  of  the  law  acted  as  his  accomplices,  was  a  gross 
abuse  of  authority,  a  revival,  so  to  say,  of  the  old  lettre-de- 
cacliet  system.  There  was  some  little  scandal  about  the  affair 
already  in  Billault's  lifetime,  a  petition  on  Sandon's  behalf 
being  addressed  to  the  Senate,  but  it  was  only  after  the  Minister's 
sudden  death  in  1863  that  the  spurious  madman  recovered  his 
liberty.  Three  years  later  Persigny  wrote  to  Conti,  the 
Emperor's  Chef-de-cabinet,  "  M.  Billaulfs  conduct  was  beyond 
belief.  The  man  whom  he  victimized  is  on  the  point  of 
surrendering  himself  into  the  hands  of  the  Opposition.  We 
may  have  a  frightful  scandal.  It  seems  that  everything  might  be 
arranged  for  20,000  or  30,000  francs  which  Conneau  would  under- 
take to  draw  from  the  funds  {i.e.  the  Privy  Purse).  Besides,  a 
frightful  iniquity  was  committed  and  must  be  repaired."  The 
Emperor,  however,  though  he  had  given  Billault  a  fine  mansion 
near  the  Boulevards,  refused  to  pay  for  his  sins ;  and,  though 
Sandon  ultimately  brought  the  affair  before  the  courts,  he 
obtained  no  compensation. 

After  the  death  of  Billault  came  the  pre-eminence  of  M. 
Rouher,*  that  vastly  over-rated  Auvergnat  advocate,  unparalleled 
for  haughtiness  and  insolence  by  any  statesman  of  any  period 
and  any  country.  That  "  Vice-Emperor,"  as  he  became  from 
1866  to  1869,  did  much  harm  to  the  Empire.  His  utterances 
were  often  most  unlucky,  his  predictions  almost  invariably 
falsified  by  events.  His  meddling  in  foreign  affairs  had  deplor- 
able consequences.  It  is  well  known  that  Benedetti,  the 
French  representative  at  Berlin,  communicated  with  Rouher 
over  the  head  of  his  hierarchical  chief,  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  in 
moments  of  vital  importance,  such  as  the  Prusso-Austrian 
war  of  1866.  Rouher  was  at  that  time  one  of  the  dupes  of 
Bismarck ;  like  the  Palais  Royal  party,  he  favoured  an  under- 
standing with  Prussia;  he  opposed  in  the  council  all  idea  of 
intervention  or  demonstration ;  he  thwarted  the  sensible  policy 

*  Eugene  Bouher,  born  at  Riom,  November,  1814 ;  died  at  Paris,  February, 
1884. 


SOME   STATESMEN   AND   DIPLOMATISTS     295 

of  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  and  scorned  the  statesmanlike  advice  of 
the  Queen  of  Holland ;  he  played  a  leading  part  in  the  pro- 
posals that  France  should  obtain,  with  Prussian  connivance, 
"  compensation  "  on  the  Rhine  or  in  Belgium ;  and  it  was  at 
his  chateau  of  Cergay  that  the  invaders  of  1870  discovered 
confirmatory  evidence  respecting  the  damnifying  documents 
on  the  subject  of  that  "  compensation,"  which  Benedetti  so 
foolishly  left  in  Bismarck's  hands.  Rouher  lacked,  indeed,  even 
the  common-sense  and  foresight  to  destroy  the  proofs  he  held  of 
the  unscrupulous  imbecility  of  the  imperial  policy  in  1866,  for 
which  policy  he  was  so  largely  responsible. 

For  the  rest,  there  was  a  good  deal  of  Barnum  and  some- 
thing of  Legree  in  Ilouher''s  composition.  He  could  bluster 
well  enough  when  he  felt  himself  the  stronger.  But,  like  most 
bullies,  he  was  a  coward  at  heart.  He  had  behaved  as  one  at 
the  Coup  d'Etat,  and  it  followed,  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  he 
could  muster  no  courage  at  the  Revolution.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  minor  offices  of  state,  he  showed  himself  a  hard 
worker.  He  was  also  a  ready,  fluent  speaker,  with  a  gift  of 
alternately  pompous  and  vulgar  eloquence.  He  possessed, 
moreover,  a  decorative  presence  which  deceived  superficial 
observers  as  to  the  real  extent  of  his  capabilities.  He  had  a 
fine  head  set  on  a  broad-shouldered  frame,  which  unluckily 
became  over-stout  in  his  last  years.  He  was  married  to  a 
dark,  plump,  little  woman  of  his  own  part  of  France,  who  seldom 
appeared  at  Court,  but  who  was  nicknamed  La  petite  Prune  by 
that  lively  "  lady  of  the  palace,"  Mme.  de  Sancy  de  Parabere, 
who,  on  her  side,  and  by  reason  of  her  disputatious  nature, 
received  the  nickname  of  Corse  entetee  from  the  Empress. 

We  cannot  pass  every  one  of  Napoleon's  ministers  in  review. 
After  all,  they  were  for  the  most  part  but  secondary  figures  at 
the  Court,  and  a  glance  at  a  few  of  them  will  sufiice.  The  last 
Ministers  of  the  Interior,  Ernest  Pinard,  Forcade  de  la  Roquette, 
Chevandier  de  Valdrome  (nicknamed  "  the  white  horse  "  because 
he  cantered  about  on  horseback  at  popular  demonstrations)  and 
Chevreau  (for  a  while  Haussmann's  successor  as  Prefect  in  Paris) 
were  all  failures.  The  personality  of  Pinard,  who  has  left  an 
interesting  "  Journal "  throwing  light  on  the  home-policy  of 
the  Empire,  and  who   came  to  grief  over  all  the  newspaper 


£96  TR^  COURT  OP  THE  TUILERIES 

prosecutions,  the  Baudin  subscriptions  and  demonstrations  in 

1868,  is  of  interest  to  students  of  Gustave  Flaubert's  writings. 
It  was  Pinard  who  spoke  for  the  prosecution  when  proceedings 
were  instituted  against  "  Mme.  Bovary  ; "  and  his  "  Journal "  * 
shows  that  he  went  into  the  affair  with  distaste  and  distrust, 
but  that  having  been  designated  as  prosecuting  counsel,  he 
thought  it  would  be  cowardly  to  decline  the  duty.  He  seems 
also  to  have  had  a  real  grievance  respecting  the  report  of  his 
speech  as  given  in  editions  of  "  Mme.  Bovary  "  issued  seventeen 
years  after  the  proceedings. 

As  for  Forcade  de  la  Roquette,  Marshal  St.  Arnaud's  step- 
brother, he  served  as  chief  minister  during  the  latter  part  of 

1869,  when  the  Emperor's  inclination  towards  a  more  liberal 
policy  (consequent  on  the  result  of  the  general  elections)  led  to 
the  resignation  of  Rouher  and  others.  After  Forcade  de  la 
Roquette  came  Emile  Ollivier,  of  whom  we  shall  speak  in  due 
course,  but  another  prominent  minister  of  the  reign  we  may 
mention  here  was  Magne,  who,  like  Rouher,  had  a  belle  tete, 
who  like  him  dabbled  disastrously  in  foreign  politics,  and 
who  managed  yet  more  disastrously  his  own  particular  depart- 
ment of  Finance.  Fould  had  struggled  bravely,  if  often 
unsuccessfully,  against  the  ever-growing  extravagance  of  the 
Empire,  but  his  successor  accepted,  even  encouraged  it.  If 
the  Empress  was  the  Marie  Antoinette,  then  Magne  was 
certainly  the  Calonne  of  the  Empire.  His  administration  of 
French  finances  may  be  summed  up  in  few  words  :  it  was  a  mere 
policy  of  loans.  There  was  also  Delangle,  a  Minister  of  the 
Interior  (later  of  Justice)  who  was  possessed  of  some  capacity 
and  liberalism,  and  came  as  welcome  relief  after  the  horrible 
General  Espinasse  and  the  law  of  public  safety  (1859-60). 
Again,  there  was  the  sententious  law-twisting  Baroche,  whose 
last  appointment  was  that  of  President  of  the  Council  of  State 
and  expounder  of  Government  measures  to  the  Chamber.  He 
came  into  violent  collision  with  Rochefort  and  the  other 
adversaries  of  the  Empire,  and  fell  with  Rouher. 

Then,  long  a  Minister  de  facto  if  not  in  name,  there  was 
Baron  Haussmann,  the  famous  Prefect  of  the  Seine,  who  purified 

*  Pierre  Ernest  Pinard  (born  1822,  died  1896),  "Mon  Journal,"  3  vols., 
Paris,  1892,  1893. 


SOME   STATESMEN  AND   DIPLOMATISTS     297 

and  embellished  the  city  of  Paris,  but  at  the  same  time  plunged 
it  into  debt.  It  was  shown  by  the  parliamentary  debates  in 
1869  that  some  £90,000,000  had  then  been  actually  paid  for 
the  Paris  improvements,  and  that  over  £40,000,000  were  owing 
on  account  of  them.  Onerous  loans  also  had  been  contracted 
with  the  Credit  Foncier,  which,  in  order  to  save  its  governor, 
Fremy,  from  prosecution,  had  to  reimburse  some  £700,000. 
However,  to  enable  the  city  to  continue  its  work,  and  pay 
interest  on  its  debts,  it  was  authorized  to  borrow  another 
£18,600,000.  Since  then  Republican  administrations  have  spent 
over  £100,000,000  in  perfecting  Paris.  In  Haussmann's  days 
there  was  undoubtedly  great  financial  mismanagement,  but, 
if  the  work  was  done  regardless  of  expense  it  was  also  done 
well;  and  in  these  later  times  a  more  indulgent  view  has 
been  taken  of  the  Baron''s  administration.  In  twelve  years  he 
achieved  more  than  his  predecessors  had  achieved  in  a  century. 
And,  whatever  might  be  the  illicit  gains  of  certain  speculators, 
his  own  hands,  as  we  remarked  once  before,  remained  clean.  A 
Parisian  by  birth,  vigorous,  handsome,  with  a  beardless  face 
and  laughing  eyes,  he  was  a  man  who  cared  nothing  for  money. 
His  despotic,  enthusiastic,  all-absorbing  passion  was  to  build 
his  native  city  afresh,  cleanse  it,  beautify  it,  make  it  the  wonder 
of  the  world.  And,  as  the  Emperor — lavish  on  his  own  side  as 
Haussmann  was  on  his — shared  that  same  passion,  the  Baron, 
until  the  days  of  Ollivier,  remamed  persona  gratissima  at  court. 
He  had  a  charming  and  beautiful  daughter,  who  figured  promi- 
nently at  the  Tuileries  both  before  and  after  her  marriage  to 
Viscount  Pernetty.  Those  who  libelled  her  father  did  not 
scruple  to  libel  her  also,  and  in  a  particularly  abominable 
manner.     But  passons. 

Probably  the  Ministers  of  the  Empire  most  frequently 
seen  at  the  Tuileries  were  those  who  were  entrusted  with  the 
department  of  Foreign  Affairs,  for  they  constantly  worked 
with  the  Emperor.  Among  them  was  Walewski,  of  whom 
we  have  repeatedly  spoken,  and  who,  like  Marshal  Randon  and 
the  Duke  de  Padoue,  ranked  among  the  "  elegant"  ministers  of 
the  reign.  There  was  also  Thouvenel,  Walewski's  successor,  an 
ex -ambassador  at  Constantinople  and  a  man  of  uncommon 
ability,    who    was    sacrificed   because   he  failed    to   effect    an 


298  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

impossible  modus  vivendi  between  Italy  and  the  Pope.  There  was, 
too,  in  particular,  Drou3^n  de  Lhuys,  who  served  as  Foreign 
Minister  at  various  periods,  and  who,  had  he  been  allowed  a 
free  hand,  might  possibly  have  extricated  France  from  her 
difficulties,  with  regard  both  to  Mexico,  the  Schleswig-Holstein 
question,  and  the  predominance  of  Prussia  in  Germany.  He,  at 
all  events,  distrusted  Bismarck  from  the  outset,  as  many 
documents  show,  but  he  was  thwarted  by  Rouher,  Benedetti, 
and  others,  overruled  by  his  imperial  master,  and  finally  threw 
up  his  post  in  disgust.  Then  came  the  Marquis  de  Moustier, 
the  Marquis  de  La  Valette,  Count  Napoleon  Daru,  Duke  Agenor 
de  Gramont,  and  the  Prince  de  la  Tour  d'Auvergne,  all  nominally 
at  the  head  of  a  foreign  policy  which  became  more  and  more 
incoherent  as  the  influence  of  Rouher  or  the  Empress  Eugenie 
predominated. 

With  respect  to  the  foreign  ambassadors  at  the  Court  of  the 
Tuileries,  we  have  already  spoken  of  Prince  Metternich,  Count 
Nigra,  and  Count  Kisseleff;  Prussia  (and  later  the  North 
German  Confederation)  was  represented  in  Paris  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  reign  by  Baron  Goltz,  an  expert  diplo- 
matist, in  whom  Bismarck  had  much  confidence,  and  who  for 
several  years  contributed  powerfully  to  ward  off  war  between  his 
own  country  and  France.  He  was,  by  the  way,  both  by  his 
birth  and  his  death,  somewhat  of  a  Frenchman,  for  he  had  come 
into  the  world  at  the  Prussian  embassy  in  Paris,  and  he  died  at 
a  Biarritz  hotel.  He  had  a  very  pleasant,  tactful  way,  with 
some  wit.  On  one  occasion  in  1866,  during  the  Prusso-Austrian 
war,  when  the  victors  were  levying  large  contributions  on  all 
the  German  cities  they  entered,  the  Emperor  Napoleon  remarked 
to  Goltz  that  he  regarded  such  treatment  as  very  oppressive. 
And  he  instanced  the  case  of  Frankfort,  where  Vogel  von 
Falkenstein  and  ManteufFel  had  levied  between  them  over 
thirty  millions  of  florins.  "  Surely  that  is  too  harsh,""  said  the 
Emperor.  "  Oh  dear  no,"'  replied  Baron  Goltz,  smiling,  "  your 
Majesty  forgets  that  Frankfort  is  the  city  of  the  Rothschilds." 
What  would  he  have  said  had  he  lived  to  witness  the  German 
exactions  in  France  in  1870-71?  One  can  picture  him 
remarking,  with  a  chuckle,  that  the  war  levy  of  eight  millions 
sterling  paid  by  Paris  was  by  no  means  too  large  for  the  city  on 
which  Haussmann  had  spent  twenty  times  that  sum. 


SOME  STATESMEN   AND  DIPLOMATISTS     299 

Count  Solms  took  charge  of  the  North  German  embassy 
after  Goltz's  death  in  1869.  Then  came  Baron  von  Werther, 
whose  nomination  to  the  post,  though  nobody  noticed  it,  was 
very  inauspicious.  The  war  of  1866  had  followed  his  appoint- 
ment to  Vienna,  and  that  of  1870  followed  his  appointment  to 
Paris.  He  was  Vamhassadeur  fatal.  Russia*'s  representative  in 
France  after  Kisseleff 's  time  was  Baron  Budberg,  who  fought 
a  savage  duel  with  his  colleague,  Baron  MeyendorfF,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Count  Stackelberg.  Belgium  long  entrusted  her 
interests  to  spruce  little  Baron  Beyens,  of  whom  it  was  said : 
"  If  ever  you  see  Beyens  near  a  petticoat  you  may  be  sure  that 
it  has  a  very  pretty  face."  There  were  also  occasional  gorgeous 
embassies  from  distant  lands,  such  as  Persia  and  Siam  and 
Japan,  embassies  which  afforded  no  little  entertainment  at 
Court,  where  not  even  the  Japanese  were  taken  au  serieux.  The 
American  diplomatists  in  Paris  had  a  trying  time  during 
the  Civil  War  and  the  Mexican  affair,  but  at  a  later  date 
General  Dix  achieved  considerable  social  success,  it  being  under 
his  patronage  that  the  Court  was  first  really  invaded  by  a  host 
of  American  beauties.  Mr.  Washburne,  the  last  of  the 
American  envoys  to  the  Empire,  was,  perhaps,  too  sincere  a 
Republican  to  be  altogether  suitable  to  the  Tuileries. 

As  for  Great  Britain,  her  representatives.  Lord  Cowley  and 
Lord  Lyons,  were  both  men  of  high  ability.  It  was  said  they  did 
not  entertain  sufficiently,  but  the  salary  attached  to  the  Paris 
embassy  was  not  adequate  for  the  time — nor  is  it  now — and 
Cowley  had  reasons  for  husbanding  his  fortune,  while  Lord 
Lyons's  was  small.  Cowley's  task  as  a  diplomatist  was  often 
most  arduous,  and  great  credit  attaches  to  him  for  the  manner 
in  which  he  contrived  to  prevent  any  rupture  between  France 
and  Great  Britain  amid  the  many  difficulties  which  arose. 
Lord  Lyons  appeared  on  the  scene  at  a  much  later  date,  and  his 
career  in  Paris  belongs,  perhaps,  more  to  the  third  Republic 
than  to  the  Empire.  Still,  as  we  all  know,  both  by  suggestions 
to  his  own  government  and  suggestions  to  the  imperial  govern- 
ment, he  did  all  that  lay  in  his  power  to  prevent  the  war  which 
swept  the  Empire  away  and  mutilated  France.  Here  let  us 
pause  in  our  survey  of  the  men  and  women  of  the  time,  and  pass 
to  another  phase  of  the  Court  life. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE    IMPERIAL    STABLES — FEMININE     FASHIONS— SOME 
FEATURES    OP    PARIS    LIFE 

The  Imperial  Stables — The  appointments  of  Fleury  and  Ney — The  cost  of  the 
stables — The  grand  Gala  Carriages — The  Empress's  Gift  to  the  Duke 
d'Aumale — The  Head  Piqueur  and  others — Some  of  the  Wages — The 
Posting  Service— The  "  Petit  Service  "  and  Mr.  Bridges — The  Estafette 
Service — The  Preliminary  Ceremonial  to  a  Drive — The  Emperor's  Phaeton 
Horses — His  Speed  and  his  Mishaps  while  Driving — The  Saddle  Service 
and  Mr.  Gamble — The  Emperor's  favourite  Saddle  Horses — Lizzy,  the 
English  Mare  of  the  Coup  d'Etat — The  Emperor's  Chargers — The 
Empress's  Service — Her  "  Due  "  and  her  favourite  Horses — The  Imperial 
Equerries — The  Emperor  and  Count  Lagrange — Life  in  Paris — Feminine 
Fashions — Great  Costumiers  and  Milliners — A  Peep  into  Worth's — The 
Crinoline  and  Principles  of  Dress — Colours  of  the  Empire — The  famous 
Bismarck  Hue — Some  striking  Gowns — The  Jargon  of  Fashion — The 
Chignon  and  the  Bonnet — -Strange  Boots  and  Wonderful  Garters — 
Eccentric  Jewellery — Seven  Toilettes  a  Day — -Court  Trains — Fashions  for 
Men — The  Boulevards,  their  Restaurants,  Clubs,  and  Cafe's — The  Hour  of 
Absinthe— The  Drive  in  the  Bols — A  great  Gambling  Scandal — Journalism, 
Literature,  Science,  and  Fads. 

We  mentioned  in  an  early  section  of  this  work  that  the 
Imperial  Stables  were  organized  by  Count  Fleury,  just  as  the 
Hunt  was  organized  by  the  Prince  de  la  Moskowa,  Edgar  Ney.* 
There  was  at  first  some  difficulty  respecting  the  appointments. 
At  the  period  immediately  following  the  Coup  d'Etat,  Fleury 
was  neither  a  Count  nor  Ney  a  Prince,  and  the  Emperor  felt 
that  he  could  not  appoint  them  as  Great  Equerry  and  Great 
Huntsman.  Wishing  to  assemble  around  the  new  throne  as 
many  as  possible  of  the  famous  names  of  the  First  Empire,  he 
proposed  to  give  the  former  post  to  Caulaincourt  Duke  de 
Vicence,  and  the  second  to  Berthier  Prince  de  Wagram,  and 
he  fancied  that  Fleury  and  Ney  would  be  willing  to  serve 
under  them  as  First  Equerry  and  First  Huntsman  respectively 
*  See  ante,  pp.  50  and  52, 


THE   IMPERIAL  STABLES  301 

But  Fleury,  who  rightly  felt  that  he  knew  a  great  deal  more 
about  horses  than  Caulaincourt  did,  and  Ney,  who  rightly  held 
that  his  name  and  origin  were  fully  equal  to  Berthier's,  were 
greatly  offended  by  the  suggestion.  Besides,  there  was  the 
question  of  giving  high  Court  offices  to  men  who  had  taken  no 
part  in  the  Coup  d'Etat,  when  others  had  staked  their  lives  and 
fortunes.  That  was  the  objection  which  Fleury,  conscious  of 
the  fact  that  he  could  not  himself  as  yet  claim  the  highest  rank, 
laid  before  the  Emperor,  Avho  met  it  by  proposing  Marshals 
Sb.  Arnaud  and  Magnan  for  the  chief  offices,  or  rather  the 
ornamental  dignity  attaching  to  them.  That  arrangement  was 
accepted  by  Fleury  and  Ney,  as  they  were  quite  disposed  to 
serve  under  the  Marshals,  whom,  as  we  previously  said,  they 
ultimately  succeeded.  They  were  the  very  men  for  the  duties 
they  undertook,  and  in  their  respective  spheres  they  contributed 
in  no  small  degree  to  the  splendour  or  enjoyment  of  the 
Imperial  Court. 

The  reader  may  wonder  what  an  Emperor's  stables  may  cost. 
We  will  at  least  tell  him  what  Napoleon  HI.  spent  on  his.  The 
average  number  of  horses  which  the  stables  contained  was 
320,  whose  food  alone,  at  the  rate  of  £38  per  head  per 
annum,  cost  dfPlSjlGO.  But  that  was  merely  an  item.  There 
was  a  large  staff,  and  scores  of  salaries,  amounting  altogether  to 
£3^,4^00  a  year ;  while  the  total  annual  outlay  for  the  purchase 
and  keep  of  horses,  the  purchase  and  upkeep  of  carriages, 
the  repair,  warming,  and  lighting  of  stables  and  coachhouses, 
the  liveries,  office  expenses,  stable  appliances,  litter,  medicine, 
etc. — briefly  everything  classed  as  materiel — was,  on  an  average, 
c£'42,100.  The  total  annual  cost,  then,  was  =£'74,500,  in  return 
for  which  expenditure  Napoleon  III.,  the  Empress  Eugenie,  and 
the  Imperial  Prince  (whose  minor  establishments  are  included 
in  our  figures)  had  many  of  the  finest  horses  and  carriages, 
as  well  as  some  of  the  most  efficient  equerries,  trainers,  grooms, 
and  coachmen  then  to  be  found  in  the  Avorld.  Perhaps  even  an 
American  millionaire  might  contrive  to  spend  rather  less  on  his 
service  cCecurie.  But  there  is  no  gainsaying  the  fact  that  Count 
Fleury  did  things  well.  Like  Haussmann,  he  cared  nothing  for 
money,  he  was  only  interested  in  what  money  could  procure. 
You  gave   him   carte  hlancJie,  and  he  in  return  gave  you  full 


302  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

value  for  it.  As  it  happened,  large  as  the  total  outlay  may 
have  been,  many  of  the  stable  salaries  were  really  small,  and 
from  time  to  time  Napoleon  III.  had  to  make  special  grants 
from  the  Privy  Purse. 

But  let  us  consider  the  carriages,  particularly  the  gala  ones, 
which  were  kept  at  Trianon,  and  only  brought  to  Paris  on 
grand  occasions.  There  was  the  so-called  Coronation  Coach,  a 
masterpiece  in  its  way,  built  for  the  coronation  of  Charles  X., 
and  completely  restored — in  fact  modified — in  1852.  The 
upholstery  was  of  superb  crimson  velvet,  with  embroidery  and 
tassels  of  gold.  The  eight  glass  panels  were  separated  from 
each  other  by  gilded  caryatides  and  figures  of  fame  ;  round  the 
roof  there  was  a  gallery  of  gilded  bronze  ;  at  each  corner  an 
eagle,  also  of  gilded  bronze;  and  on  the  summit  a  dazzling 
imperial  crown.  The  body  was  richly  carved  and  gilded, 
ornamented,  too,  with  chiselled  and  gilded  bronze  work  ;  and 
the  harness  was  of  red  morocco  with  gilded  ornaments.  Before 
the  coach  was  restored  it  had  been  valued  at  ,£2400.  In 
restoring  and  modifying  it  Fleury  spent  £364!0.  And  through- 
out the  whole  period  of  the  Empire  it  was  used  on  only  one 
occasion — the  baptism  of  the  Imperial  Prince. 

The  second  coach,  known  as  the  "Voiture  du  Bapteme," 
served  both  then  and  at  the  marriage  of  Napoleon  III.,  as  well 
as  at  Queen  Victoria's  departure  from  Paris  in  1855  and  on 
other  special  occasions.  It  had  seven  glass  panels,  was  richly 
carved  and  gilded,  and  lined  with  white  satin.  Then  came  the 
Topaz,  the  Turquoise,  the  Diamond,  the  Opal,  the  Amethyst, 
the  Cornaline,  and  the  Victory  coaches,  all  superbly  decorated 
and  gilded,  several  thousands  of  pounds  being  spent  upon  them 
under  Fleury's  orders.  Further,  he  provided,  for  the  gala  and 
semi-gala  services,  eighteen  berlines  built  by  Ehrler  of  Paris. 
These  also  displayed  no  little  gilding  and  bronze  work,  corner 
eagles,  imperial  escutcheons,  and  linings  of  white,  green,  and 
red  satin.  Finally,  there  was  a  very  striking  caTeche  de  gala, 
called  La  Cybele,  which,  after  being  built  for  Napoleon  I.,  had 
passed  into  the  possession  of  Louis  Philippe''s  consort.  Queen 
Marie  Amelie.  At  the  time  of  the  restoration  of  the  Empire, 
this  coach  was  purchased  by  Napoleon  III.  for  the  small  sum 
of  .£'400,  and  was  duly  restored.     No  use,  however,  was  made 


THE   IMPERIAL  STABLES  303 

of  it ;  like  the  coronation  coach,  it  simply  remained  on  show  at 
Trianon.  Some  years  subsequent  to  the  fall  of  the  Empire, 
when  nearly  all  those  vehicles  which  were  not  state  property 
had  been  disposed  of,  it  occurred  to  the  Empress  Eugenie  to 
offer  La  Cybele  to  the  Duke  d'Aumale,  who,  she  thought,  might 
be  glad  to  find  room  for  it  in  his  splendid  coachhouses  at 
Chantilly.  With  this  offer  was  coupled  a  request  that  the 
Duke  would  refrain  from  thanking  her.  Made  in  an  indirect 
manner,  the  offer  was  accepted,  and  the  Duke  d'Aumale 
requested  Queen  Victoria  to  express  to  the  Empress  his 
appreciation  of  this  gift  of  a  carriage  which  his  mother  had 
frequently  used.  Two  years  later  the  Empress  was  spending 
the  winter  in  the  environs  of  Naples  when  the  Duke,  on  his 
way  to  his  Sicilian  vineyards,  made  a  short  stay  in  that  city. 
Hearing  that  the  Empress  was  in  the  neighbourhood,  he  decided 
to  call  upon  her,  taking  her  gift  of  La  Cybele  as  his  pretext. 
It  thus  came  to  pass  that  these  representatives  of  two  dynasties 
which  had  once  reigned  over  France,  met  for  the  first  time. 
The  Empress,  be  it  added,  was  then  already  a  widow,  and  her 
son  was  dead. 

The  head  "  Piqueur "  of  the  imperial  carriage  service  was 
M.  Thuillier,  who  had  previously  been  in  the  employment  of 
the  Marquis  de  Las  Marismas,  and  who  retained  his  post  under 
Fleury  until  the  fall  of  the  Empire.  With  Thuillier  there 
were  several  subordinate  piqueurs,  who  had  served  Louis  Philippe 
and  the  Duchess  de  Berry.  Some  of  the  imperial  coachmen 
and  postilions  had  had  a  similar  experience.  One  of  the  latter 
had  even  overturned  Louis  Philippe  and  his  family  into  a  ditch 
one  day,  in  the  environs  of  Treport — an  accident  which  did  not 
prevent  Fleury  from  engaging  him.  Among  the  coachmen, 
Chapelle  had  received  as  a  lad  his  first  training  in  the  stables  of 
Napoleon  I.,  and  had  driven  both  Louis  XVIII.  and  Charles  X. 
As  we  have  already  indicated,  the  wages  of  these  men  were  not 
high.  The  head  piqueur  received  =£^240  a  year,  the  second  <£144, 
three  others  £1^0  apiece,  while  each  of  the  remaining  four  had 
to  be  content  with  from  .^^'SO  to  ,£90.  The  coachmen's  wajres 
were  as  follows :  Six  of  the  first-class,  £11  each ;  seven  of  the 
second-class,  £12  each ;  four  of  the  third-class,  ^£"60  each,  and 
four  others,  £5Q  each ;  while  the  remuneration  of  the  twenty 


304  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

postilions  varied  from  £4<4!  to  .£50.  However,  the  mere perso7iiiel 
of  the  carriage  service  comprised  another  eighty  men  of  various 
categories,  with  salaries  ranging  from  ^£'48  to  dS'lSO — the  last 
figures  representing  the  emoluments  of  the  chef  de  carrosserie  et 
sellerie. 

There  was  also  a  posting  service  organized  by  Fleury  in 
conjunction  with  Baron  de  Pierres.  At  that  time,  it  must  be 
remembered,  railway  communication  was  still  very  imperfect  in 
some  parts  of  the  country,  and  when  the  Court  was  sojourning 
in  the  provinces,  it  often  became  necessary  to  post  from  place 
to  place.  Baron  de  Pierres,  a  native  of  the  west  of  France, 
secured  for  the  posting  service,  when  it  was  first  started,  some 
forty  Norman  bay  mares,  which  cost,  on  an  average,  £%%  apiece, 
and  he  also  recruited  in  Normandy  the  first  dozen  postilions. 
The  number  of  the  latter  was  subsequently  raised  to  twenty, 
and  that  of  the  mares  to  seventy.  It  had  become  known,  how- 
ever, that  the  animals  were  required  for  the  Emperor,  and  the 
prices  consequently  went  up  to  about  i?48.  In  the  last  years 
of  the  Empire,  when,  apparently,  mares  of  the  required  class 
were  no  longer  so  plentiful  as  formerly,  as  much  as  £h%  was 
paid  for  one  of  them.  The  chief  head-quarters  of  the  posting 
service  was  at  St.  Cloud,  but  in  the  winter  a  "brigade"  was 
quartered  at  the  imperial  stables  near  the  Pont  de  TAlma  in 
Paris,  for  the  Emperor's  use  whenever  he  went  hunting  or 
shooting  in  the  immediate  environs  of  the  capital.  Brigades 
of  the  posting  service  always  followed  the  Court  to  Compiegne, 
Fontainebleau,  and  its  other  places  of  sojourn  in  the  provinces, 
the  postilions  being  employed  for  the  large  four  and  six  horse 
chars-a-hancs  occupied  by  the  Court  guests. 

One  brigade  of  the  carriage  service  (that  of  the  petit  service, 
in  fact)  was  lodged  at  the  Tuileries.  It  included  the  Emperor's 
brougham  and  phaeton  horses,  the  Empress's  blue  landau 
horses,  and  the  brougham  horses  of  the  officials  on  duty.  At 
the  head  of  this  service  was  an  Englishman,  named,  we  think, 
Bridges,  or  Briggs,  who,  in  later  years,  when  Marshal  MacMahon 
became  President  of  the  Republic,  was  engaged  to  direct  the 
stables  at  the  Elysee  Palace,  and  who  finally  entered  the  service 
of  the  Count  de  Paris.  Bridges  trained  and  exercised  all  the 
Emperor's  phaeton  and  brougham  horses.     Under  his  orders 


THE  IMPERIAL  STABLES  305 

were  Cerf,  the  Emperor's  special  brougham-coachman,  and 
others  who  drove  the  broughams  assigned  to  the  aides-de-camp, 
orderlies,  and  chamberlains.  Several  horses  were  always  kept 
harnessed  in  the  palace  stables,  in  such  wise  that  whenever  the 
Emperor  wished  to  send  any  officer  to  one  or  another  part  of 
Paris,  the  envoy  was  able  to  start  at  once.  It  should  also  be 
mentioned  that  there  was  an  imperial  estafette  service  of  five 
men,  one  of  whom  was  always  in  attendance  in  an  ante-room 
at  the  Tuileries,  ready,  at  a  moment's  notice,  to  mount  on 
horseback  and  carry  any  letter  or  despatch  to  its  destination. 
These  estafettes  had  a  courier-like  uniform,  that  is,  a  short 
green  and  gold  jacket,  a  red  waistcoat,  white  leather  breeches, 
long  boots,  a  gold-braided  hat  with  the  tricolour  cockade,  and 
a  gold  belt  from  which  a  long  hunting-knife  depended.  They 
rode  fast  Norman  mares,  and  in  the  streets  of  Paris  everybody 
had  to  make  way  for  them,  as  is  done  in  London  for  the  royal 
mail  and  the  fire  brigade. 

Whenever  the  Emperor  was  at  the  Tuileries  it  was,  for 
several  years,  his  habit  to  drive  out  almost  every  day  in  a 
phaeton,  accompanied  by  an  aide-de-camp.  As  a  rule  the 
equerry  on  duty  presented  himself  every  morning  at  eleven 
o'clock  to  take  the  sovereign's  orders,  and  at  the  hour  appointed 
for  the  drive  (or  ride,  as  the  case  might  be)  he  returned  to 
announce  that  the  horses  were  ready.  All  the  officers  on  duty 
that  day,  the  aide-de-camp,  the  chamberlain,  the  prefect  of  the 
palace,  and  the  orderlies,  then  mustered  in  the  chamberlains' 
salon,  through  which  the  Emperor  passed  on  his  way  out,  every- 
thing which  he  might  require,  hat,  overcoat,  gloves,  cane  or 
riding- whip,  being  deposited  on  a  table  there.  The  Emperor 
came  in,  exchanged  a  few  words  with  the  officers,  and  put  on  or 
took  up  whatever  he  might  want.  The  ushers  then  threw  the 
folding  doors  open,  and,  preceded  by  the  chamberlain  and  the 
equerry,  the  Emperor  passed  through  the  ante-rooms,  on  either 
side  of  which  the  footmen  were  drawn  up  at  attention.  At  the 
moment  the  sovereign  reached  the  vestibule  the  Suisse  on  duty 
there  struck  the  marble  flooring  with  his  staff,  crying  aloud, 
"  The  Emperor ! "  Then,  while  Napoleon  was  mounting  on 
horseback  or  getting  into  his  carriage,  the  guard  turned  out, 
the  drums  beat,  and  the  colours  saluted,  the  same  ceremony 
taking  place  on  the  return  to  the  palace. 


30G  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

There  were  always  some  sev6n  or  eight  pairs  of  phaeton 
horses  at  the  Tuileries.  Those  which  the  Emperor  preferred 
were  two  American  bays,  Good  Hope  and  American,  which  had 
cost  o£'600,  and  two  EngHsh  bays.  Flick  and  Flock,  for  which 
the  same  amount  had  been  paid  by  Count  Fleury.  They  were 
remarkably  fast  and  even  trotters  and  were  never  known  to 
break  into  a  gallop.  Among  the  other  pairs  were  Commodore 
and  General,  Pretty  and  Fulton — all  English,  and  costing  =£'600 
a  pair — and  Ohio  and  San  tana,  Jerry  and  Jackson,  Jersey  and 
Cob — all  American,  and  costing  from  £360  to  d£'480  a  pair. 
Nearly  all  the  brougham  horses  were  Russian,  the  finest  ones, 
Peterhof  and  Dnieper,  having  been  given  to  Napoleon  by 
Czar  Alexander  II.  There  were  also  two  fine  pairs  from  the 
famous  Orloff  stud,  the  prices  of  which  ranged  from  =£"500  to 
i?720. 

To  give  an  idea  of  the  speed  at  which  Napoleon  drove,  it 
may  be  stated  as  a  fact  that  he  invariably  covered  the  distance 
between  the  chateau  of  St.  Cloud  and  the  Tuileries — six  miles 
— in  less  than  twenty  minutes,  that  on  some  occasions  he  did  so 
in  fifteen  minutes,  and  once  or  twice  in  thirteen.  He  was  not 
a  perfect  driver,  for  he  was  almost  invariably  too  severe  on  the 
off-side  horse,  and  unpleasant,  even  disastrous,  consequences 
occasionally  ensued.  The  Duke  de  Conegliano  recollects  that 
one  afternoon  at  Compiegne,  after  a  ministerial  council,  Napo- 
leon, accompanied  by  an  aide-de-camp,  set  off  in  his  due  *  to 
which  the  American  itrotters  Jersey  and  Cob  were  that  day 
harnessed,  in  order  to  join  the  Empress,  who  had  accompanied 
the  court  guests  on  an  excursion  to  Pierrefonds.  The  Emperor 
cut  through  the  forest,  forcing  the  pace,  and  driving  in  his 
usual  impetuous  and  defective  style,  in  such  wise  that  Jersey, 
the  offside  horse,  who  was  both  brave  and  fast,  drew  his  comrade 
Cob  along  as  well  as  the  carriage,  until  on  turning  into  the 
Pierrefonds  road,  he  suddenly  stifled  and  dropped  dead  upon 
a  heap  of  stones.  Fortunately  the  Empress  was  near  at  hand 
and  was  able  to  give  the  Emperor  and  the  aide-de-camp  a  lift 
in  her  char-a-bancs.  On  another  occasion  while  Napoleon  was 
driving  in  Paris  at  his  customary  speed,  one  of  the  reins  broke 
and  the  position  appeared  very  critical,  but,  fortunately^ 
*  A  low  park  phaeton. 


THE   IMPERIAL  STABLES  307 

on  drawing  near  to  some  palings,  the  horses  stopped  short  of 
their  own  accord.  From  that  time  forward  a  pair  of  safety-reins 
was  always  provided,  and  attached  to  the  splash-board  of  the 
carriage. 

The  saddle-horse  service  was  under  the  orders  of  our  old 
acquaintance  the  famous  Mr.  Gamble,  who  had  already  been  in 
Napoleon's  employment  in  England,  and  retained  office  in  the 
exiled  household  until  the  funeral  of  the  Imperial  Prince,  whose 
.horse  he  led  in  the  procession.  Gamble,  who  rode  in  much  the 
same  style  as  the  Emperor,  was  the  only  man  who  could  train  a 
horse  to  suit  him.  At  one  moment  some  clever  French  riding- 
masters  were  engaged  for  the  purpose,  but  their  horsemanship 
was  far  too  classical.  As  a  rule  the  Emperor  allowed  his  mounts 
considerable  freedom  of  action  and  rode  very  little  with  the  legs, 
but  at  times  he  suddenly  and  vigorously  tightened  his  hold  and 
used  his  horse  severely.  Under  Mr.  Gamble  were  two  French 
piqueurs,  MM.  Bonigal  and  Glatron,  well  known  for  their  fine 
horsemanship  ;  and  at  one  time  considerable  assistance  was 
rendered  to  the  service  by  Count  Czernowitz,  a  Hungarian 
exile,  who  accompanied  the  Emperor  on  the  Solferino-Magenta 
campaign,  and  subsequently  (at  Count  Fleury''s  recommendation) 
entered  the  service  of  the  present  King  of  Greece,  organizing 
the  latter''s  stables  and  becoming  his  first  equerry. 

The  Emperor's  saddle-horses  were  almost  invariably  English, 
well  formed  and  with  good  action.  There  were  a  few  bays 
among  them,  but  Napoleon's  preference  was  for  chestnuts.  It 
was  on  an  English  chestnut  mare,  Lizzy,  that  he  rode  out  of  the 
Elysee  Palace  followed  by  his  staff,  to  review  the  troops  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  Coup  d'Etat.  He  had  previously  ridden  Lizzy 
in  High  Park,  and  after  his  election  to  the  Presidency  of  the 
Republic,  Gamble  brought  her  to  France,  where  she  lived  to  a 
considerable  age,  well  cared  for  in  her  decline,  like  a  particular 
favourite  of  the  Emperor's. 

During  his  earlier  years  of  sovereignty,  when  Napoleon  did 
not  drive  out  in  his  phaeton,  he  rode  out  attended  by  an  aide- 
de-camp,  an  equerry,  and  two  grooms,  proceeding,  as  a  rule,  by 
way  of  the  Champs  Elysees  to  the  Bois  de  Boulogne.  On  those 
occasions  he  sometimes  rode  a  hack,  sometimes  a  charger.  He 
was   on   a   favourite    English   charger,   Philip,    when    Pianori 


308  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

attempted  his  life,*  and  Philip  was  also  his  mount  at  the  battle 
of  Solferino,  but  on  that  occasion  the  unlucky  horse  was  so 
severely  punished  that  he  died  on  the  morrow.  There  were, 
however,  other  chargers,  Ajax  and  Walter  Scott,  at  the 
Emperor's  disposal  at  the  time.  In  1870  four  English  chargers 
were  provided  for  him,  Hero,  Bolero,  Nabob,  and  Sultan  ;  and 
Hero  was  his  mount  at  Sedan  on  the  occasion  when,  before 
ordering  the  white  flag  to  be  hoisted,  he  vainly  courted  death 
near  the  brick-works  of  La  Moncelle.f 

Except  when  the  Empress  quitted  the  Tuileries,  incognita, 
in  the  morning,  for  some  charitable  purpose,  her  departure  for 
a  drive  was  marked  by  a  ceremonial  similar  to  that  observed  in 
the  Emperor's  case.  Her  ladies  of  the  palace,  her  equerry 
and  her  chamberlain  came  down  to  the  chamberlains'  salon, 
where  they  were  joined  by  all  the  Emperor's  officers  on  duty, 
the  two  services  combining  to  escort  her  Majesty  to  her  carriage. 
The  guard  also  turned  out,  and  the  drums  beat  as  when  the 
Emperor  left  the  palace.  At  the  morning  drives  to  hospitals, 
asylums,  and  the  homes  of  poor  folk  in  whom  the  Empress  took 
an  interest,  she  used  either  a  dark  brougham  or  a  blue  landau, 
in  any  case  a  carriage  bearing  neither  arms  nor  monogram  ; 
while  the  coachman  and  footman  wore  long  putty-coloured 
overcoats  in  lieu  of  the  imperial  livery.  As  a  rule  the  Empress 
was  only  accompanied  on  those  occasions  by  a  lady,  but  now 
and  then  a  chamberlain  also  went  with  her.  At  other  times 
she  used  the  Emperor's  berlines  and  D'Aumonts,  but  she  had 
a  due  of  her  own,  which  she  drove  a  few  times  in  the  Bois  de 
Boulogne,  though  it  was  usually  reserved  for  her  sojourns  in 
the  country.  A  pair  of  little  thoroughbred  mares,  Hdlene  and 
Isaure,  or  a  four-hundred  guinea  pair  of  English  ponies,  Dove 
and  Vingt-Mars,  were  specially  assigned  to  that  carriage.  It 
should  be  added  that  the  Empress's  establishment  Avas  included 
in  the  Emperor's  with  respect  to  its  expenses  and  all  other 
matters  excepting  one,  that  is,  her  saddle-horses  were  under  the 
direct  control  of  her  first  equerry.  Baron  de  Pierres.  Of  those 
horses  there  were  about  a  score,  not  that  the  Empress  personally 
used  that  number,  the  majority  being  kept  for  the  benefit  of 
the  ladies  of  the  palace  and  the  lady  guests  at  Compiegne, 
*  See  ante,  p.  104, 105.  f  See  ante,  p.  54. 


THE   IMPERIAL   STABLES  309 

Fontainebleau,  and  other  places.  When  the  Empress  went 
riding  she  was  always  attended  by  an  equerry  and  by  Baroness 
de  Pierres,  a  fine  horsewoman,  of  whom  we  spoke  in  an  earlier 
chapter.*  Her  Majesty's  first  piqueur,  who  had  served  Louis- 
Philippe,  like  so  many  of  the  stable  officials  and  domestics,  only 
followed  her  at  reviews  and  hunts.  She  had  four  favourite 
horses,  Phoebus,  Langiewicz,  Elastic,  and  Chevreuil,  the  last- 
named  being  a  capital  hunter. 

Except  in  time  of  war  (Italy,  1859,  and  France,  1870)  the 
duties  of  the  imperial  equerries  were  light.  Each  had  two 
horses  at  his  disposal,  which  he  could  ride  as  he  pleased  whenever 
he  was  off  duty.  In  accompanying  the  Emperor  the  aide-de- 
camp in  attendance  rode  on  the  right,  and  the  equerry  on  the 
left.  In  hunting,  however,  or  on  a  country-ride,  if  the  road 
became  bad  or  darkness  fell,  it  was  the  equerry's  duty  to  go 
ahead  and  point  out  the  right  way,  or  anything  in  the  nature 
of  the  ground  that  called  for  caution.  If  the  Emperor  were 
driving  in  a  carriage  harnessed  a  la  d'Aumont,  the  equerry  rode 
on  the  right  side.  Though  the  ordinary  equerries  were  some- 
times numerous,  they  were  not  a  source  of  great  expense  to  the 
civil  list,  for  the  salary  of  the  post  was  but  ri6'400  a  year,  and 
they  personally  bore  the  cost  of  their  various  handsome  undress, 
full-dress,  and  campaigning  uniforms,  in  which  green  and  gold 
predominated.  The  Service  des  Ecuries  included,  however,  in 
addition  to  the  Great  Equerry,  the  First  Equerry,  and  the 
others,  a  complete  office-staff  of  secretaries  and  book-keepers, 
as  well  as  a  foreign  correspondence  clerk  and  an  interpreter — 
the  two  last  named  being  requisite  on  account  both  of  the 
department's  constant  relations  with  foreign  countries,  notably 
with  England,  and  the  number  of  foreigners,  chiefly  English- 
men, in  its  employment. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  Emperor's  interest  in  man's  noblest 
conquest  was  not  limited  to  his  stables.  He  was  fully  alive  to 
the  necessity  of  improving  the  various  French  breeds  of  horses, 
and  he  promoted  the  establishment  of  several  State  stud-farms 
under  the  control  of  Fleury  and  others.  He  was  also,  in  the 
matter  of  prizes,  a  very  liberal  patron  of  the  turf,  and  the 
establishment  of  the  racecourse  of  Longchamp  was  due  as  much 
*  See  anie,  p.  71, 


310  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

to  his  initiative  as  to  Morny''s.  He  always  repaired  there  on 
the  days  when  the  race  for  the  Grand  Prix  de  Paris  was  run, 
and  now  and  then  at  other  times.  We  confess  that  we  are  not 
acquainted  with  the  exact  circumstances  of  his  connection  with 
the  racing  stable  of  Count  Frederic  Lagrange,  the  famous  owner 
of  Fille  de  TAir,  Gladiateur,  and  other  horses  renowned  in  turf 
annals;  but  there  is  little  doubt,  we  think,  that  at  one  and 
another  time  the  Count,  although  a  large  landowner  possessed 
of  considerable  means,  received  financial  support  from  the 
Emperor.  Count  Lagrange  was  often  at  the  Tuileries  and  at 
Compiegne.  The  son  of  a  general  officer  of  the  first  Napoleon, 
he  does  not  appear  to  have  been  really  entitled  to  the  "  de  "  so 
often  set  before  his  name,  but  he  was  connected  by  marriage 
with  several  great  houses,  notably  that  of  the  Princes  de  Chimay  ; 
and  throughout  the  Empire  he  sat  in  the  Legislative  Body  for 
his  native  department,  the  Gers.  Still,  he  did  not  take  any 
very  active  part  in  politics  until  1870,  when  he  became  a 
member  of  the  Central  Committee  organized  in  view  of  the  last 
Plebiscitum,  his  services  in  that  matter  leading  to  his  appoint- 
ment as  a  senator  virtually  on  the  eve  of  the  Franco-German 
war,  in  such  wise  that  he  did  not  long  enjoy  the  dignity.  He 
survived,  however,  until  the  close  of  1883. 

The  general  life  of  Paris  under  the  Empire  scarcely  comes 
within  the  scope  of  this  work.  It  embraces,  too,  so  many 
features  that  anything  approaching  a  complete  survey  would 
require  more  pages  than  we  can  allow.  It  should  be  studied 
in  the  newspapers  of  the  period,  in  the  volumes  in  which  clever 
journalists  gathered  their  chroniques  together,  in  serious  works 
like  that  of  Maxime  Ducamp,  and  in  some  of  the  lighter  ones 
such  as  the  entertaining  "  Vie  et  Opinions  de  M.  Graindorge," 
by  Taine,  and  the  sprightly  "  Monsieur,  Madame  et  Bebe  "  by 
Gustave  Droz.  Here  we  can  only  glance  at  a  few  features  of 
la  vie  parisienne  of  those  days.  We  will  take  first  a  matter  in 
which  it  was  certainly  influenced  by  the  example  of  the  Court — 
that  of  the  feminine  fashions  of  the  reign,  which  were  set  by 
the  Tuileries  in  conjunction  with  one  or  two  foreign  embassies, 
a  few  aristocratic  mansions,  and  half  a  dozen  costumiers  and 
milliners. 

At  the  time  of  the  imperial  wedding,  it  was  Mme.  Palmyre 


FEMININE   FASHIONS  311 

who  made  the  twenty  toilettes  de  soiree  and  Mme.  Vignon  the 
thirty-two  toilettes  de  jour  (inclusive  of  the  wedding  gowns) 
which  figured  in  the  Empress''s  corheille  de  mariage.*  Later 
came  the  ascendency  of  the  Englishman  Worth,  particularly  in 
respect  to  evening  gowns,  and  the  rise  of  Laferriere  as  an  artist 
in  promenade  and  visiting  toilettes.  Mme.  Felicie  long  reigned 
supreme  in  the  domain  of  mantles  and  coats,  while  Virot  and 
Lebel  triumphed  in  bonnets  and  hats.  Moreover,  as  the  shawl 
was  still  worn  during  the  earlier  years  of  the  Empire,  and  at 
least  continued  to  be  for  many  years  a  necessary  adjunct  to  a 
corheille  de  mariage,  there  was  also  the  famous  Compagnie  des 
Indes  in  the  Rue  de  Richelieu.  Then,  among  the  best  ladies' 
bootmakers  we  recall  the  name  of  Massez,  while  Leroy  and 
Bysterveld  rivalled  each  other  in  the  art  of  dressing  and 
adorning  the  hair,  and  Fiver  excelled  in  the  preparation  of 
perfumes  and  cosmetics. 

Worth,  Laferriere,  Virot,  and  others  waited  on  the  Empress, 
Princess  Metternich,  and  a  few  other  grandes  dames^  but  most 
of  their  customers  went  to  them ;  and  there  were  afternoons 
when  half  the  elegantes  of  Paris  might  be  seen  in  the  Rue  de 
la  Paix  and  adjoining  thoroughfares.  The  stairs  at  Worth's 
were  likened  to  Jacob's  ladder :  an  angel  was  to  be  met  on 
every  step.  You  fancied,  too,  that  you  were  entering  a  hot- 
house, such  was  the  pleasant  warmth  on  quitting  the  cold  street 
and  such  the  wealth  of  camelias,  draca^nas,  and  other  plants 
displayed  both  on  the  stairs  and  the  landing,  across  which  flitted 
one  or  another  of  the  great  costumier's  jolies  demoiselles,  in- 
variably wearing  a  gown  and  a  chignon  of  the  style  which 
would  be  fashionable  next  day.  On  the  right-hand  of  the 
landing  was  the  "  Secretary's  Office,"  where  orders  and  addresses 
were  noted,  but  on  turning  to  the  left  you  found  a  succession 
of  salons  with  large  oak  tables,  on  which  lay  pieces  of  silk, 
satin  and  other  materials,  with  some  of  the  finest  artificial 
flowers  that  Paris  could  produce  and  an  infinity  of  elegant 
chitons.  Handsome  young  men,  cravatted  a  la  colin,  and  wear- 
ing tightly-buttoned  frockcoats,  stood  here  and  there  prepared 
to  minister  to  the  ladies'  choice ;  but  they  did  so  in  an  easy, 
nonchalant  way,  without  any  of  that  terrible  persuasiveness 
*  The  number  was  fixed  by  the  Emperor  himself. 


312  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

characteristic  of  the  young  man  of  the  magas'in  de  nouveaiites 
who  is  consumed  by  a  desire  to  "  sell.""  Yet  they  were  always 
ready  with  an  appropriate  answer  when  they  were  questioned 
respecting  any  combination  of  different  shades  or  materials,  any 
question  of  trimmings  or  measurements.  Again,  passing  hither 
and  thither,  there  were  young  girls  whose  gowns,  though  black, 
represented  the  latest  styles  invented  by  the  master,  in  such 
wise  that  by  pointing  to  one  or  another  of  them  a  customer 
could  at  once  indicate  what  kind  of  corsage,  or  sash,  or  "  puff" 
she  desired.  The  first-hand,  elegant,  but  looking  tired,  was 
there  also,  welcoming  the  customers  with  great  dignity. 

On  some  stands  in  the  fourth  room,  you  saw  a  few  of  the 
master's  very  last  creations,  finished  and  ready  for  delivery,  but 
shown  to  you  just  as  a  painter  shows  a  picture  in  his  studio 
before  sending  it  to  the  Salon  or  the  Academy.  They  stood  there, 
those  wonderful  robes,  three  or  four  in  a  row,  and  admirably 
lighted — the  Avail  behind  them  being,  moreover,  all  "looking 
glass,""  so  that  you  at  once  perceived  how  the  sash  was  arranged, 
how  the  tunic  fell,  and  the  train  flowed.  They  were,  too,  often 
as  intricate  as  five-act  plays,  they  were  elaborate,  carefully 
studied  compositions  ;  and  even  as  the  value  of  a  picture  is  not 
estimated  according  to  the  cost  of  the  pigments  which  the 
artist  may  have  employed,  so  the  value  of  those  gowns  did  not 
depend  on  the  cost  of  the  materials  used  in  making  them.  The 
latter  might  not  exceed  two  hundred  francs,  but  the  amount  of 
genius  lavished  on  the  design  and  the  making  might  represent 
two  thousand. 

The  fair  clients  gathered  in  ecstasy  in  front  of  those  new 
creations,  and  while  a  little  cry  of  admiration  escaped  from  one 
of  them,  and  a  sigh  or  a  purr  of  delight  from  another,  something 
like  a  whirlwind  of  tulle  and  lace  and  Crepe  de  chine  would  sud- 
denly flit  by  and  vanish  into  a  room,  whence,  as  the  door  opened, 
there  came  a  stream  of  pale  light.  That  Avas  the  salon  de 
hcmiere,  where  the  windows  were  hermetically  sealed  and  the 
Avails  were  all  huge  mirrors.  By  the  light  of  a  dozen  gas-jets 
Avith  movable  shades,  the  lady  who  there  tried  on  her  new 
toilette  de  hal  was  seen  as  she  Avould  be  seen  the  following  night 
at  the  Tuileries.  And  noAV  it  Avas  that  the  master  made  his 
appearance — a  man  rather  below  the  average   height,  with   a 


1 


FEMININE  FASHIONS  313 

full,  shiny  face,  all  pink  and  white,  his  fair  hair  parted  in  the 
middle,  his  whiskers  closely  cropped,  his  moustaches  drooping 
and  glittering  like  gold.  He  wore  a  perpetual  smile,  he  seemed 
to  bow  without  bending,  perhaps  because  his  short  frock- 
coat  was  so  very  tightly  buttoned.  As  a  rule  it  was  only 
with  customers  that  he  spoke  French — and  then  with  a  marked 
accent.  His  subordinates  in  the  salon  de  lumiere  were  usually 
English  girls.  Miss  Mary,  Miss  Esther.  And  he  always  re- 
mained quite  calm,  he  never  made  a  fuss,  never  addressed  an 
angry  word  to  a  subordinate.  But  his  coup  cToe'il  was  Napo- 
leonic. He  immediately  detected  a  fault,  and  indicated  in  very 
few  words  what  should  be  done  to  repair  it.  Not  only  did  he 
fight  against  the  crinoline,  succeeding  by  1868  in  reducing  it 
to  something  like  a  verkigadin^  but  he  also  opposed  the  exces- 
sively decollete  bodice.  "  I  dress  ladies,"  he  remarked  one  day 
to  a  journalist.  "  Let  the  demi-monde  go  elsewhere  ! "  Such 
was  Mr.  Worth,  the  King  of  Fashion. 

The  taste  of  the  Second  Empire  in  matters  of  dress  has 
often  been  bitterly  assailed.  The  styles  of  the  period  are  still, 
perhaps,  too  near  to  us  to  be  judged  impartially.  As  time 
elapses  a  fairer  estimate  may  be  formed.  It  must  be  confessed, 
however,  that  anything  which  tends  to  expand  and  stiffen  the 
skirt  of  the  female  costume  necessarily  engenders  monstrosity, 
alien  alike  to  nature  and  true  art.  Such  was  undoubtedly  the 
effect  of  the  crinoline,  the  battle  against  whose  tyranny  was  so 
prolonged  and,  for  years,  so  uncertain.  In  court  circles,  at  one 
period,  the  contrivance  assumed  such  huge  proportions  that,  for 
the  convenience  of  the  Empress  and  her  ladies  sailing  from 
Cherbourg  or  arriving  there  in  the  imperial  yacht,  it  became 
necessary  to  widen  all  the  landing-stages.  At  a  visit  paid 
by  Napoleon  and  his  consort  to  Osborne,  in  August,  1857,  old 
Lord  Palmerston  was  both  fascinated  and  annoyed  by  the 
appearance  of  the  ladies  of  the  party.  It  was  a  case  of  "  so  near 
and  yet  so  far."  How  could  you  possibly  flirt  with  a  pretty 
woman  when  you  could  not  get  within  three  yards  of  her  ? 
How  could  a  tete-a-tete  have  any  charm  whatever,  under  such 
conditions?  There  was  an  entente  cordiale  in  those  days,  but 
it  was  not  marked  by  the  kissing  which  has  distinguished  the 
entente  cordiale  of  the   present   time,     Perhaps  that  was  the 


314  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

fault  of  the  crinoline,  whose  sway  was  so  despotic  that  when 
Hortense  Schneider  performed  in  Offenbach''s  "  Belle  Helene," 
taking,  as  will  be  remembered,  the  title  role,  she  actually  wore 
one  of  those  hateful  cages.  It  was  certainly  much  smaller  than 
the  prevailing  fashion,  but  it  was,  none  the  less,  a  crinoline.  How 
Paris  and  Menelaus  and  Helen  herself  must  have  turned  in  their 
g-raves  at  the  thouffht  of  it !  If  the  reader  doubt  our  statement 
let  him  look  at  the  portraits  taken  of  Schneider  at  the  time. 

One  may  well  wonder  that  the  reign  of  the  "  cage  "  should 
have  lasted  so  long,  in  spite  of  all  artistic  feeling  and  percep- 
tion. It  is  true,  however,  that  nobody  had  as  yet  set  out 
tersely  and  plainly,  so  as  to  be  understood  by  one  and  all, 
those  elementary  principles  which  Charles  Blanc  subsequently 
recapitulated  in  his  famous  essay  on  feminine  dress.  Chevreul's 
learned  work  on  colours  certainly  contained  a  short  section  on 
the  hues  most  appropriate  to  one  and  another  complexion, 
and  the  advantages  to  be  derived  now  from  harmony  and  now 
from  contrast ;  but  those  few  pages  were  scarcely  known  to  the 
average  Pai-isienne,  who  relied  almost  entirely  on  her  instinct, 
an  instinct  which,  in  spite  of  the  lavish  praise  and  admiration 
of  innumerable  writers,  was  not  infrequently  at  fault.  The 
reign  of  the  crinoline  showed,  moreover,  that  she  had  little  or 
no  appreciation  of  that  simple  science  of  lines,  which  Blanc  re- 
stated so  well  in  the  early  years  of  the  present  Republic,  and 
which  at  last  brought  home  to  many  a  thoughtless  woman  the 
fact  that  she  would  increase  her  height  and  reduce  her  bulk  by 
vertical  lines,  reduce  her  height  and  add  ampleur  to  a  spare 
figure  by  horizontal  ones  ;  while  in  certain  instances  the  diagonal 
line  might  prove  an  advantage. 

In  the  matter  of  colours,  the  fashions  of  the  Second  Empire 
were  often  daring.  The  most  abominable  innovation  of  the 
period  was  that  variety  of  purple  which,  coming  into  fashion 
about  the  time  of  the  Italian  war,  was  patriotically  christened 
"  magenta."  Some  famous  hues  of  the  period  were  the  Eugenie 
blue,  the  Mathilde  pearl-white,  the  Pompadour  green,  the 
Benoiton  green,*  the  frog-green,  the  nuance  Teha,  the  avantu- 
rine  yellow,  the  vin  de  Bordeaux,  the  Ispahan  pink,  and  the 
hleu    des    blondes.     Then    there   were   more   or   less    startling 


& 


So  called  after  Sardou's  comedy,  "  La  Famille  Benoiton," 


FEMININE   FASHIONS  315 

combinations  of  tints,  primrose  and  blue,  lavender  and  maize, 
mauve  and  white,  pink  and  pearl  grey,  but,  after  all,  a  fairly 
sober  colour  proved  the  great  one  of  the  reign — that,  of  course, 
being  the  unforgettable  Bismarck.  It  came  upon  Paris  in  1866, 
it  flourished  throughout  1867,  it  was  still  e7i  vogue  at  the  end 
of  1868.  Never,  in  all  the  annals  of  fashion,  has  a  colour  had 
so  long  and  popular  a  run.  It  was,  after  all,  merely  a  kind  of 
Havannah  brown,  and  owed  its  fortune  solely  to  its  name.  But 
in  the  days  of  Sadowa  that  was  a  name  to  conjure  with.  At 
first  this  fashionable  colour  appeared  in  a  fairly  warm  shade, 
known  simply  as  Bismarck — written  "  Bismark,""  by  the  way ; 
but  it  suddenly  took  a  duller  tone,  and  became  known  as 
Bismarck  malade,  until  at  last,  assuming  yet  warmer  tints  than 
before,  it  was  christened  successively  Bismarck  content  and 
Bismarck  en  coTere.  There  were  also  such  varieties  as  Bismarck 
glace  and  Bismarck  scintillant.  And  it  was  Bismarck  of  one  or 
another  shade  everywhere ;  there  were  Bismarck  silks,  satins, 
and  velvets,  woollen  stuffs  and  cotton  fabrics,  Bismarck  boots, 
Bismarck  gloves,  Bismarck  parasols,  and  Bismarck  bonnets. 
The  last  were  naturally  of  Bismarck  straw,  trimmed  with 
Bismarck  lace,  the  only  relief  from  the  various  shades  of  the 
all-prevailing  colour  being  supplied  by  gold  and  scarlet  berries. 
But  even  the  Bismarck  bonnet  was  not  the  "  last  cry,"  for  there 
came  the  Bismarck  chignon,  which  compelled  ladies  to  dye  their 
hair  the  fashionable  hue. 

About  the  time  of  Queen  Victoria's  visit  to  Paris  in  1855, 
the  flounced  skirt  was  "  all  the  rage,"  four  or  five  flounces  of 
varying  depths  succeeding  each  other  from  the  hips  to  the  hem 
of  the  gown.  But  that  mode  passed,  and  the  great  balloon-like 
skirts  became  trimmed  with  huge  bows,  or  chonx  of  ribbon,  or 
lozenges  of  velvet,  or  elaborate  and,  at  times,  medallion-like 
ornaments  of  passementerie.  At  last  we  reached  the  rohe  a 
deux  jupes,  the  rohe  a  tunique,  the  pufl'ed  skirt,  the  costume 
Watteau,  the  jupe  a  la  chinoise,  and  other  styles.  Picture  the 
overskirt  of  a  gown  caught  up  at  the  sides  with  strap-like 
bands  or  ribbons ;  picture  tunics  falling  in  sharp  tasselled 
points,  basques  edged  with  fringes  or  feathers.  Pompadour 
bodices  all  velvet,  lace,  ribbons,  and  flowers.  Picture  also  a 
gown  of  white  satin,  with  the  skirt  embroidered  from  top  to 


316  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

bottom  with  long  peacock-feathers,  placed  so  closely  that  the 
wearer  appeared  to  be  garbed  in  those  feathers  from  her  Avaist 
downwards.  Add  thereto  long  open  sleeves  embroidered  with 
rather  smaller  feathers,  and  a  corsage  with  yet  smaller  ones. 
Imagine  also  a  costume  all  ton  sur  ton^  scalloped,  pinked, 
decoupe  in  such  wise  as  to  suggest  fretwork.  Think  of  a  soft 
white  skirt,  puffed  in  the  style  of  osivfs  a  la  neige  and  adorned 
with  diagonal  bands  of  amber  satin,  and  wreathed  at  the  bottom 
with  flowers  of  that  shade.  Think  also  of  a  Court  dress  of  white 
satin,  trimmed  with  transverse  bands  of  green  velvet  (edged 
with  gold),  which  met  V-like  behind,  descending  towards  a  long 
train  of  lace  and  gold  embroidery,  over  which  fell  the  ends  of 
an  interminable  velvet  sash,  all  green  and  gold  like  the  bands 
of  the  skirt.  And,  speaking  of  sashes,  imagine  a  gold-chain 
waistband,  having  in  the  rear  a  large  pendant  ring,  from  which 
the  sash  fell  to  the  bottom  of  the  skirt. 

But  in  addition  to  all  the  gros  de  Naples,  the  gros  de 
Navarre,  the  poults-de-soie,  the  rose  and  blue  moires  antiques, 
the  tarlatans,  the  grenadines,  the  crepes  de  Chine,  and  the  fayes, 
here  are  the  famous  Lyons  brocades,  displaying  narcissi,  crimson 
carnations,  variegated  tulips,  and  bunches  of  lilac  on  grey 
grounds  ;  while  on  maize  grounds  you  will  find  heart's-eases, 
damask  roses,  and  bluebells.  You  will  even  perceive  brocaded 
Bismarck,  whose  brown  favours  the  yellow  iris  and  the  daffodil. 
"  Save  us  from  all  this  ! "  was  virtually  one  of  the  "  notes  ""  of 
Sardou's  "  Famille  Benoiton,"  in  which  Mile.  Fargueil  exclaimed 
so  fervently,  "  Protect  us,  holy  Muslin  ! "  But  muslin  did  no 
such  thing;  it  appeared  covered  with  coloured  medallions  of 
Daphne,  Chloe,  and  Amaryllis,  after  the  style  of  Watteau  and 
Boucher.  It  seemed  to  know  that  unless  it  were  thus  adorned 
the  Parisienne  would  not  wear  it. 

Leave  Paris  and  go  to  the  seaside — to  Trouville  or  Deauville. 
Yonder  elegante  in  the  Japanese  hat,  the  short  scarlet  skirt, 
and  the  dark-blue  yachting  jacket  with  scarlet  collar  and  cuffs 
may  not  be  very  wonderful  to  look  at ;  but  here  you  will  also 
see  Mile.  Anonyma  garbed  in  white,  though  not  with  a  sweet 
simplicity,  for  her  skirt  is  festooned  with  black  death's  heads, 
linked  one  to  another  by  true-lovers'  knots  of  pink  ribbon  ! 
The    2Iouave   jacket,   the  Breton  jacket    (nowadays    called  a 


FEMININE  FASHIONS  Sll 

bolero),  and  the  Garibaldi  will  be  recollected,  the  Jichu  Marie 
Antoinette,  if  not  the  Jichu  Letta,  is  still  often  with  us,  but  we 
confess  that  we  do  not  exactly  recall  the  styles,  even  if  we 
remember  the  names,  of  the  Vespertina  opera-wrap,  or  the 
Lamballe  puff,  or  the  paletot -chale.  That  is  the  worst  of 
fashion's  jargon,  a  great  deal  of  which  soon  becomes  obsolete 
and  suggests  little  or  no  meaning  at  all.  Yet,  in  that  respect, 
matters  were  not  quite  so  bad  under  the  Empire  as  they 
were  towards  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  some 
mysterious,  semi-poetical  name  was  bestowed  on  every  kind 
of  fabric,  trimming,  and  cut.  Open  the  Marquis  de  Valfons' 
memoirs  and  interpret,  if  you  can,  his  description  of  the 
costume  of  La  Duthe,  the  famous  courtesan-actress.  "She 
was  attired,"  says  the  Marquis,  "in  a  robe  of  stifled  sighs, 
adorned  with  superfluous  regrets,  the  point  edged  with  perfect 
candour,  trimmed  with  indiscreet  complaints.  She  wore  ribbons 
of  marked  attentions  and  shoes  of  the  colour  of  Queen"'s  hair,* 
embroidered  with  diamonds  in  treacherous  stripes.  Above  her 
curls  of  elevated  sentiments  was  a  head-dress  of  certain  con- 
quest, trimmed  with  fickle  feathers,  while  over  her  shoulder 
fell  an  Absolom  tress  of  momentary  agitation."  Now  all  that, 
though  much  of  it  is  absolute  gibberish  to  us,  in  1907,  was 
perfectly  well  understood  by  the  last  great  ladies  of  the  old 
regime. 

But,  returning  to  the  Empire''s  fashions,  let  us  just  mention 
all  those  wonderful  mantles  of  green,  blue,  puce,  grey,  and  violet 
velvet,  which  often  assumed  such  extraordinary  shapes,  and  say 
a  few  words  respecting  the  bonnets,  which  passed  from  the 
coal-scuttle  to  the  peaked  and  thence  to  the  fanclion  or 
small  inverted-platter  style.  It  was  the  gradual  growth  of 
the  chignon,  the  Empire's  last  word  in  the  matter  of  hair- 
dressing,  that  killed  the  coal-scuttle  and  peaked  bonnets,  for 
which  good  work  the  chignon  deserved  much  thanks.  But  the 
chignon  itself  assumed  eccentric  forms  and  proportions.  The 
Empress  long  clung  to  her  own  particular  style  of  coiffure,  and 
the  pendant  Eugenie  curls  did  not  abdicate  their  sway  until 
the  chignon  had  repeatedly  attacked  them.     At  the  Tuileries 

*  Marie  Antoinette's  hair.  Count  d'Artois  sent  a  lock  of  it  to  Lyons,  in 
order  that  the  exact  hue  might  be  imitated  by  the  silk-workers. 


318  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

the  chignon*'s  chief  pioneer  was  probably  the  charming  Baroness 
de  Poilly,  wife  of  Baron  Henri  de  Poilly,  the  great  sportsman 
of  Follembray  and  Coucy-le-Chateau.  The  Baroness  was  assailed 
and  derided ;  she  was  asked  whether  she  would  next  show  her- 
self with  a  monkey  clinging  to  her  head,  but  she  went  her  way 
and  gained  the  victory. 

The  fanchon,  or  inverted  straw-platter  bonnet,  which 
favoured  the  display  of  the  chignon,  was  followed  by  a  mere 
tuft  of  tulle,  or  crape,  whose  strings  were  simply  of  narrow 
ribbon,  or  else  of  small  trailing  leaves.  An  attempt  to  intro- 
duce so-called  Marie  Antoinette  and  Trianon  hats  came  to 
nothing,  but  in  winter  various  fur  toques  and  feather  hats 
were  often  much  in  favour.  As  for  the  boots  of  the  Empire 
they  were  such  as  are  now  only  seen  upon  the  stage.  The 
Parisienne  of  those  days  wore  morocco  and  russia  leather,  and 
the  colour  of  her  boots  harmonized  or  contrasted  effectively 
with  the  colour  of  her  frock.  The  short  skirt,  not  a  mere 
trotteicse,  but  something  quite  three  inches  shorter,  became  at 
one  time  fashionable  wear  at  the  promenade  in  Paris  as  well  as 
in  the  country  and  at  the  seaside,  and  this  led  to  the  so-called 
hottine  a  mi-jambe — that  is,  a  boot  reaching  halfway  up  the  calf 
of  the  leg.  Sometimes  the  ordinary  tan  boot  was  to  be  seen, 
but  it  generally  had  a  facing  and  top  trimming  of  the  same  hue 
as  the  skirt.  The  bronze  boot  was  somewhat  common,  the 
violet  one  was  more  fashionable  ;  the  scarlet  one  belonged  to 
the  demi-monde.  Russia  leather  boots  were  embroidered  with 
gold  and  coloured  silks,  and  ornamented  with  tassels,  rosettes, 
beads  of  crystal,  jet,  and  gold.  When  shoes  were  worn  the 
stockings  were  elaborately  embroidered.  The  black  stocking 
was  then  virtually  unknown  ;  white  ones  were  still  worn  by 
the  hourgeoisie  and  the  masses,  while  the  elegante  displayed 
one  or  another  bright  or  delicate  hue  in  keeping  with  her 
toilette.  Again,  the  stocking-suspender  was  unknown,  the  garter 
flourished,  and  was  a  thing  of  beauty.  Sometimes  it  was  an 
objet  d'art,  an  elaborate  piece  of  jewellery,  designed  by  Froment- 
Meurice,  at  others  it  was  of  gold  or  silver  filigree,  at  others 
of  either  velvet  or  moire.  In  the  last  case  it  was  enriched  with 
lace  and  pendant  ribbons.  It  usually  bore  a  crest  or  emblem, 
and  a  motto,  sometimes  figured  in  precious  stones,  at  others 


FEMININE  FASHIONS  319 

beautifully  euibroidered.*  That  was  the  age  of  embroidery 
in  gold  and  silver  thread  and  coloured  silks.  There  were 
exquisitely  embroidered  parasols,  and  quaintly  embroidered 
gloves,  whose  gauntlets  displayed  birds,  butterflies,  and  flowers, 
or,  if  the  wearer  were  going  to  the  races,  a  few  horseshoes  or  a 
jockey's  cap  and  whip. 

In  the  last  years  of  the  Empire  there  came  a  passion  for 
eccentric  jewellery.  After  the  victories  of  Fille  de  FAir  and 
Gladiateur  all  jewellery  emblematical  of  the  turf  became  very 
popular.  Birds,  too,  of  many  kinds — swallows,  swans,  eagles, 
and  robins,  dangled  from  the  ears  of  the  Parisiennes.  There 
were  also  tambourine,  zither,  and  padlock  earrings.  We 
remember,  too,  a  lady  of  nautical  tastes  from  whose  ears 
depended  a  couple  of  miniature  yachts,  while  at  one  moment 
there  was  as  great  a  rage  for  dragonflies,  butterflies,  and  beetles 
as  there  ever  was  for  miniature  guillotines  in  the  days  of  the 
great  Revolution.  The  little  hats  or  bonnets  were  sometimes 
literally  spangled  with  beetles  of  various  hues,  among  which 
there  appeared,  perhaps,  a  dragonfly  all  aglitter  with  its  real 
or  its  imitation  stones.  Again,  those  beetles  and  dragonflies 
figured  as  earrings  or  brooches ;  but  when  a  lady  had  no 
entomological  inclinations  she  could  wear  in  her  ears  a  pair 
of  tiny  gold  baskets  containing  little  flowers  formed  of  pearls, 
rubies,  brilliants,  and  turquoises,  or,  if  that  were  too  elaborate, 
she  might  content  herself  with  a  couple  of  gold  pea-pods 
containing  emerald  peas,  or  else  with  mere  cherries  of  coral. 

It  was  the  Empire  that  witnessed  the  foundation  and  rise 
of  "  the  great  bazaars,"  the  Louvre,  the  Bon  Marche,  the 
St.  Thomas,  and  so  forth,  all  those  Temples  of  Perdition  which 
popularized  the  love  of  finery  and  fostered  the  spirit  of  imitation 
among  women,  inspiring  the  Parisienne  of  limited  means  with  a 
more  and  more  ardent  desire  to  array  herself  like  the  great 
lady  of  wealth.  Still  it  was  only  the  leaders  of  fashion  who 
could  manage  to  dress  six  and  seven  times  a  day,  assuming  first 

*  A  pair  of  jewelled  garters  by  Proment-Meurice  bore  in  diamonds  the 
motto,  Honi  soit  qici  point  n'y  pense.  Other  garter  mottoes  of  the  time  were 
Goethe's  Persistaiice  \en  a-mour,  Montaigne's  Que  sgais-je,  and  Charles  I.'s 
Eemember.  For  widow  ladies  there  were  garters  embroidered  with  pansies 
and  silver  tears. 


S^O  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

the  dressing-gown,  next  the  riding-habit,  then  the  neglige 
elegant  for  dejeuner,  then  the  toilette  de  ville  or  de  visite  for 
"  morning  calls,"  then  the  toilette  de  Bois  for  the  orthodox 
drive,  then  the  toilette  de  diner,  then  the  toilette  de  bal,  and 
finally  the  toilette  de  nuit. 

Soon  after  the  imperial  marriage  society  was  fluttered  by 
the  great  question  of  the  Court  trains  (manteaiuc  de  cour  falling 
from  the  shoulders),  which  it  was  decreed  that  ladies  should 
wear  at  State  receptions  at  the  Tuileries.  The  subject  was 
carefully  studied  by  the  Empress  and  Emperor  in  council  with 
Mme.  Roger,  and  sumptuary  regulations  ensued,  specifying  the 
colours  which  those  trains  should  assume,  the  materials  they 
should  consist  of,  the  amount  of  trimming  they  should  have, 
and  the  length  to  which  they  might  extend.  The  more  splendid 
trains  were  reserved  for  Princesses  of  the  Imperial  House,  then 
came  the  trains  of  the  wives  of  high  functionaries,  marshals, 
senators,  and  so  forth,  while  mere  invitees^  even  if  they  were  the 
wives  of  millionaires,  were  not  entitled  to  wear  trains  above  a 
certain  length  and  value.  The  joke  was  that  many  ladies  did 
not  know  how  to  wear  such  trains  at  all,  and  there  was  a  great 
rush  to  secure  the  advice  of  Cellarius  and  the  other  leading  dancing 
masters  of  Paris.  It  was,  however,  a  clever  actress,  Augustine 
Brohan,  of  the  Comedie  Franpaise,  who  schooled  the  lady  train- 
wearers  most  effectively,  teaching  them  how  to  walk  and  how 
to  give,  when  occasion  required,  the  elegant  little  kick  by  which 
the  train  was  brought  into  the  required  position.  For  the  trifle 
of  three  louis  {£^  8*.)  a  lesson — and  a  course  of  not  more  than 
four  or  five  lessons  was  required — Mile.  Brohan  charitably  saved 
some  scores  of  her  sex  from  making  themselves  ridiculous  on 
their  first  appearance  at  the  Tuileries. 

The  foregoing  remarks  on  the  subject  of  feminine  fashions 
may  have  helped  the  reader  to  understand  how  the  Parisienne 
of  Gavarni  became  gradually  transformed  into  the  Parisienne 
of  Grevin.  Of  masculine  fashions  we  have  not  space  to  speak 
at  leno-th.  The  heio-ht  of  the  silk  hat — the  orthodox  headgear 
of  civilization — varied  exceedingly ;  at  times  it  was  more  than 
two  inches  above  that  of  the  silk  hat  of  to-day  (1907),  at  others 
it  decreased  till  it  corresponded  with  that  of  a  "bowler;""  and 
it  was  amusing,  indeed,  to  see  the  Boulevardiers  of  1866  and 


SOME  FEATURES  OF  PARIS   LIFE  321 

1867  wearing,  at  the  same  time  as  those  diminutive  silk  hats, 
which  suggested  the  "cut-downs"  of  a  slop-shop,  both  the 
tightest  of  trousers  and  the  shortest  of  jackets — the  last  leaving 
the  seat  of  the  trousers  fully  exposed.  Then  the  straw  hat 
for  men  was  also  somewhat  quaint.  It  vaguely  resembled  the 
"boater"  of  to-day,  but  the  ribbon  was  fastened  behind,  and 
its  ends  dangled  some  inches  below  the  brim.  As  for  the  frock- 
coat  it  underwent  repeated  modifications ;  at  times  its  sleeves 
were  very  tight,  at  others  most  awkwardly  full,  while  the  skirts 
generally  ended  above  the  knees.  With  respect  to  trousers, 
virtually  every  huge  check-pattern  that  could  be  devised,  figured 
for  years  on  the  Boulevards. 

The  Boulevards — from  the  Madeleine  to  the  Faubourg 
Montmartre — were  then  in  many  respects  the  real  centre  of 
Parisian  life.  Nearly  all  the  greatest  restaurants,  the  Cafe 
Anglais,  the  Maison  Dorde,  the  Cafe  Riche,  Durand"'s,  Brebant- 
Vachette's  were  there ;  the  Trois  Freres  and  Vefour's  being  the 
only  really  first-class  establishments  left  at  the  Palais  Royal. 
Excepting  the  Cercle  Imperial,  at  the  corner  of  the  Avenue 
Gabriel,  all  the  great  clubs,  too,  were  either  on  or  near  the 
Boulevards — the  Union  and  the  Agricole  patronized  by  the  old 
noblesse,  the  Jockey  by  sportsmen  and  men  of  fashion,*  the 
Chemins  de  Fer  by  stockbrokers,  great  engineers,  and  directors 
of  public  companies,  the  Union  artistique  by  men  who  practised 
or  dabbled  in  the  arts,t  the  Ganaches  by  a  great  variety  of 
old  fogeys,  both  civil  and  military,  the  Baby  and  the  Sporting 
by  very  young  men  intent  on  sowing  their  wild  oats,  the 
Americain  by  gamblers,  the  St.  Hubert  by  devotees  of  la 
chasse,  and  the  Cercle  des  Arts  by  notaries,  commercial  people, 
and  other  good  bourgeois.  In  those  days,  too,  there  were  real 
cctfes  on  the  Boulevards,  for  the  Parisian  had  not  yet  taken  to 
lager  beer.  Virtually  each  cafe  had  its  habitues,  its  special 
class  of  customers,  and  if  you  wished  to  find  an  actor,  a  govern- 
ment journalist,  an  opposition  one,  an  ofiicer  on  leave,  a 
boursier,  a  merchant  or  commission  agent  in  some  particular 
line  of  business,  you  knew  precisely  where  to  go. 

*  Through  Morny,  the  Jockey  Club  had  virtually  been  captured  by  the 
Empire. 

t  Its  real  founder  was  the  father  of  Guy  da  Maupassant, 

Y 


322  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Passing  along  the  Boulevards  during  that  hour  before  dinner 
time,  which  was  called  the  Hour  of  Absinthe,  you  would  meet 
or  see  seated  outside  one  or  another  cafe  two-thirds  of  the  men 
whose  names  had  been  mentioned  in  that  day's  newspapers. 
There  was  Auber,  the  youthful  septuagenarian,  talking  to 
Offenbach,  there  was  Timothee  Trimm  airing  his  importance 
to  a  tribe  of  smaller  journalists,  there  was  Leonce  of  the 
Varietes  cracking  jokes  with  Cham  the  caricaturist.  A  bored- 
looking  elderly  Englishman  passed,  and  you  recognized  Lord 
Hertford.  Turning  the  corner  of  the  Rue  Laffitte  you  espied 
old  Baron  James  de  Rothschild,  followed  by  the  eternal  foot- 
man carrying  his  overcoat.  Just  inside  the  Librairie  Nouvelle 
stood  Prince  Metternich  purchasing  books  for  the  Princess. 
The  mysterious  Persian  who  haunted  the  Imperial  Library 
strolled  by.  There  went  Mustapha  Pasha  in  converse  with 
Khalil  Bey.  Yonder,  sundered  by  politics  but  drawn  together 
again  by  art,  sat  Courbet  in  the  company  of  Carpeaux. 
Then,  all  at  once,  loud-voiced  and  exuberant,  Dumas  of  the 
Musketeers  appeared,  attended  by  some  of  the  sycophants  on 
whom  he  lavished  his  last  napoleons.  All  the  men  of  the 
reign  might  be  met  at  one  time  or  another  on  those  Boulevards, 
Ponsard,  Scholl,  Henri  de  Pene,  Dr.  V^ron,  Bressant,  Goncourt, 
Baron  Brisse,  Villemessant,  M.  de  Foy,  Siraudin,  Valles, 
Barriere,  Banville,  Sardou,  Pereire,  Gramont  -  Caderousse, 
Frederick  Lemaitre,  Nadar,  Girardin,  Rossini,  Houssaye,  Paul 
de  Kock,  Paul  Feval,  About,  Roqueplan,  young  Rochefort  and 
young  Gambetta,  mediums  Home  and  Squire,  Paul  Baudry 
and  Manet,  Markowski  and  Cellarius,  Millaud  and  Mires, 
and  so  on,  and  so  on.  And  as  time  elapsed  vocalists  and 
actresses  went  by  in  their  victorias  and  broughams — Patti, 
Nilsson,  Alboni,  Hortense  Schneider,  Zulma  Bouffar,  L^onide 
Leblanc,  Madeleine  Brohan,  Rose  Cheri,  La  Desclee,  Fargueil, 
and  all  the  others — pending  the  time  when  processions  of 
carriages  would  halt  outside  the  theatres,  and  ladies  alight 
from  them  in  all  the  glory  of  their  toilettes  de  spectacle. 

An  hour  or  two  ago  those  ladies  were  in  the  Bois  de 
Boulogne.  "  Round  the  lake,"  and  not  the  Allee  des  Acacias, 
was  then  the  fashionable  drive,  and  great  was  the  mustering  of 
equipages,  wonderful  the  display  of  frocks.      At  times^  at  a 


i 


SOME   FEATURES   OF  PARIS   LIFE  323 

word  from  some  mounted  guard,  the  procession  would  suddenly 
be  stopped,  and  a  piqueur  wearing  the  imperial  livery  would 
appear,  preceding  an  open  carriage  with  horses  harnessed  a  la 
D'Aumont  and  ridden  by  postilions.  Then  you  would  see  the 
Empress,  sometimes  accompanied  by  the  Emperor,  at  others  by 
her  nieces  Miles.  d''Albe,  or  else  attended  by  one  or  two  of  her 
ladies  of  the  palace.  The  gentlemen,  riding  on  the  left  side  of 
the  road  (reserved  for  equestrians),  would  then  muster  in  a  line 
near  the  Rond  des  Cascades,  and  a  couple  of  hundred  heads 
would  be  uncovered  as  the  imperial  equipage  went  by  at  a  slow 
trot,  the  Empress  gracefully  acknowledging  the  salutations. 

But  among  the  carriages  in  which  ladies  of  rank  and 
position  reclined,  there  were  others,  often  the  showiest  of  all, 
occupied  by  women  of  another  kind.  There  went  Cora  Pearl, 
there  Giulia  Barucci,  there  Anna  Deslions,  there  La  Paiva, 
not  far  from  her  old  acquaintance,  Esther  Guimond.  All 
the  "  Dames  aux  Camelias,"  the  "  Filles  de  Marbre,""  the 
"  Madelons  *'  of  the  period  mingled  with  the  highest  in  the 
land,  displaying  their  painted  charms  and  costly  costumes. 

If,  by-and-by,  after  dinner  and  the  theatre,  you  had  peeped 
into  the  mansion  of  one  of  those  women,  that  of  La  Barucci, 
whose  real  name,  by  the  way,  was  Julie  Benin,  you  would  have 
seen  a  strange  sight.  It  was  a  night  early  in  1863,  the  mansion 
was  in  the  Champs  Elysees,  and  had  just  been  taken  by  La 
Barucci,  who  was  giving  a  "house-warming'"  party.  Among 
her  guests  were  Prince  Paul  Demidoff,  Count  Tolstoy,  the 
young  Duke  de  Gramont-Caderousse  (the  great  plunger  of 
the  period),  the  Marquis  de  Vimeux,  Count  de  Chambrun, 
Viscount  de  Poix,  Viscount  de  Brimeux,  M.  de  Feuilhade- 
Chauvin,  Herr  von  Schonen  of  the  Prussian  embassy,  and  a 
gentleman  of  the  Queen  of  Spain's  household,  SeSor  Angelo  de 
Miranda.  La  Barucci  had  also  invited  Signor  Calzado,  the 
director  of  the  Theatre  Italien  (where  Patti  was  singing),  but 
the  affair  was  to  be  a  very  quiet  one — a  cup  of  tea,  a  little 
music,  and  then  supper.  Calzado,  however,  arrived  accompanied 
by  a  friend,  Garcia,  a  notorious  gambler,  famous  for  having 
"  broken  the  bank,"  both  at  Wiesbaden  and  Homburg.  And, 
briefly,  cards  were  produced  and  a  game  of  baccarat  began — ■ 
.£''800,  d£*2000,  ifi'SOOO,  and  even  larger  amounts  figuring  on 


S24  THE  COURT  OF  THE   TUILERlES 

the  table  at  one  or  another  moment.  Garcia  held  the  bank 
and  carried  all  before  him,  Miranda,  who  staked  large  suras, 
losing  heavily ;  until  at  last  his  suspicions  and  those  of  others 
being  aroused,  Garcia  was  watched  and  detected  in  the  act  of 
cheating.  A  terrific  fracas  ensued.  Both  Garcia  and  Calzado 
were  seized,  and  prepared  cards  being  found  in  their  possession, 
all  the  money  they  had  stolen  was  taken  from  them,  and  they 
were  kicked  out  of  the  house.  At  Miranda's  suit  Calzado  was 
tried  and  sentenced  to  fine  and  imprisonment,  but  Garcia 
managed  to  escape  from  France. 

The  affair  caused  no  little  stir  in  Paris,  notably  by  reason 
of  Calzado''s  position  there ;  but  before  long  some  other  mal- 
practices diverted  public  attention.  The  age  was  a  gambling 
one,  and  financial  scandals  were  as  frequent  then  as  they  are 
now.  There  were  the  affairs  of  the  Docks  Napoleon,  the  Credit 
Mobilier,  the  Caisse  des  Chemins  de  Fer — with  which  the  names 
of  Millaud,  Pereire  and  Mires  were  associated — and  others  of  but 
slighter  magnitude.  Yet  Paris  was  no  more  all  corruption  in 
those  days  than  it  has  been  at  other  periods  of  its  history. 
Stones  have  been  often  flung  at  the  journalism,  the  literature, 
the  stage,  the  music,  the  art  of  the  Empire,  but  though  some 
severe  strictures  have  been  deserved,  partisanship  has  often 
supplied  a  very  one-sided  view  of  the  period.  It  is  true 
that  there  was  distinct  danger  at  times.  The  regime  in  its 
vain  endeavour  to  prevent  people  from  intruding  into  politics 
seemed  to  have  appropriated  Rabelais'*  motto —  Vivez  joyeux  ! 
— and  those  who  denounced  that  enthronement  of  pleasure 
as  a  deity  did  good  work.  But  let  us  be  fair.  If  we  had 
space  at  our  command,  it  would  be  easy  to  show  that  things 
were  not  so  black  as  some  have  painted  them.  In  the  sphere 
of  journalism  there  arose  some  of  the  ablest,  wittiest,  most 
cultured  chromqueurs  known  to  the  French  press,  men  like 
Villemot  and  Noriac,  Audebrand  and  Scholl,  Adrien  Marx, 
and  Henri  de  Pene,  followed  by  Sarcey,  Wolff",  Monselet, 
Pierre  Veron,  Rochefort  in  his  premiere  maniere,  and  Claretie, 
then  also  making  his  debut.  The  field  of  literature  is  too  vast 
to  be  surveyed  here,  but  among  the  writers  of  the  time  were 
Ste.  Beuve,  Janin,  Taine,  Cousin,  Littre,  Renan,  Michelet, 
Mignet,  Toqueville,  St.  Marc-Girardin,  Henri  Martin,  Havet, 


SOME   FEATURES   OF   PARIS  LIFE  325 

Paulin  Paris,  Laboulaye,  Baudrillart,  Wolowski.  As  for  the 
novel  in  those  days,  if  Feydeau  and  Belot  achieved,  by  mere 
pruriency,  success  with  such  works  as  "  Fanny "  and  "  Mile. 
Giraud,"  Flaubert  gave  to  the  world  his  epoch-making  master- 
piece, while  his  friends  the  Goncourts  strove  in  fiction,  history 
and  biography  alternately.  Again,  Alphonse  Daudet,  thanks, 
be  it  remembered,  to  the  generosity  of  his  patron  Morny,  was 
able  to  pen  both  "  Tartarin"  and  the  "Lettres  de  mon  Moulin." 
Let  us  also  recall  the  names  of  Feuillet,  George  Sand,  Gautier, 
Banville,  Prevost-Paradol,  Erckmann-Chatrian.  Among  poets, 
the  Parnassians  arose  with  Leconte  de  Lisle,  Heredia  and  Sully 
Prudhomme,  while  Coppee  wrote  "Le  Passant",  which  intro- 
duced Sarah  Bernhardt  to  celebrity.  The  stage  was  not  all 
Meilhac  and  Halevy,  Clairville,  and  Ernest  Blum,  amusing  as 
these  often  were.  It  was  also  Augier  and  Dumas  fils,  Ponsard 
and  Barriere,  Cadol  and  Sardou.  All  Sardou's  best  work  was 
done  under  the  Empire,  and  nearly  all  of  Dumas'.  And  the 
actors  and  actresses  of  that  time  might  well  challenge  comparison 
with  those  of  this.  They  were  Regnier,  Bressant,  Delaunay, 
Febvre,  Got,  Coquelin,  St.  Germain,  Mounet-Sully,  Rachel, 
Ristori,  Favart,  Arnould-Plessy,  Judith,  the  sisters  Brohan, 
Fargueil,  Reichemberg,  and  many  others  famous  in  theatrical 
annals. 

Again,  dancing  was  not  all  Rigolboche,  Clodoche,  and 
cancan.  In  the  ballroom  it  was  the  graceful  mazurka  introduced 
to  the  Parisians  by  Markowski ;  on  the  stage,  after  Livry  had 
been  unhappily  burnt  to  death,  it  was  the  art  of  Ferraris, 
Cerito,  Rosati,  St.  Leon,  Merante.  Nor  was  music  all 
Offenbach,  Herve,  and  Jonas.  It  was  also  Gounod,  Auber, 
Ambroise  Thomas,  Felicien  David,  Halevy,  Berlioz,  Bizet, 
Verdi,  Rossini,  and  Meyerbeer.  The  three  last  named  might 
be  foreigners,  but  two  of  them  were  Parisians  also.  And 
if  the  period  was  that  of  "La  Belle  Helene,"  "La  Grande 
Duchesse,"  "Chilperic,"  "Le  Canard  a  trois  Bees,"  and  "  Le 
Petit  Faust,"  it  was  also  that  of  the  other  "Faust,"  and  of 
"  KAfricaine,"  "  Romeo  et  Juliette,"  "  Le  Pardon  de  Ploermel," 
"  Le  Prophete,"  and  "  L'Etoile  du  Nord."  Our  vocalists  were 
Patti,  Alboni,  Cruvelli,  Nilsson,  Viardot,  Miolan-Carvalho, 
Sass,  Gardoni,  Tamberlick,  Nicolini,  Faure,  Tngliafico — /(??//<? 


326  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

la  lyre  !  Then,  too,  great  men  laboured  in  various  branches  of 
science  :  Pasteur,  Berthelot,  Leverrier,  Bernard,  Flourens, 
Chevreul,  Milne-Edwards,  Quatrefages,  St.  Hilaire,  Tresca, 
Trelat.  In  painting  and  sculpture  and  architecture,*  also, 
famous  names  and  famous  works  might  be  enumerated,  and  if  the 
whole  field  were  surveyed  with  fairness,  it  would  be  found  that 
during  the  eighteen  years  of  the  Empire  the  genius  of  France 
never  abdicated. 

The  period  had  its  failings,  its  frivolities,  its  foibles,  its 
fads,  like  all  others.  Much  that  was  evil  might  be  traced, 
however,  to  the  cosmopolitan  element  which  mingled  with  the 
population.  Paris  became  crowded  with  foreigners,  some  of 
them  men  of  rank  and  substance,  others  mere  adventurers,  but 
nearly  all  of  them  folk  of  little  morality.  It  has  generally 
been  assumed  that  they  were  debauched  by  Parisian  life,  but 
it  is  a  question  whether  they  did  not  debauch  Paris.  At  times 
of  course  the  Parisian  himself  was  largely  to  blame.  Shut  out 
from  healthy  participation  in  politics  (and  that  was  the  regimes 
particular  sin),  he  turned  far  too  readily  to  whatever  might 
present  itself  to  fill  the  void  in  his  life.  Thus  pleasure,  frivolity, 
folly,  secured  only  too  many  votaries.  At  one  time  you  saw 
half  Paris  rushing  in  a  kind  of  delirium  to  consult  an  extra- 
ordinary quack,  the  Zouave  Jacob,  who  claimed  to  cure  every 
possible  disease ;  at  another  you  found  thousands  of  people 
absolutely  believing  that  the  Emperor  had  paid  the  cruel 
assassin  Tropmann  to  murder  the  Kinck  family,  in  order  to 
divert  attention  from  politics,  and  that  some  "dummy"  or 
other  had  really  been  executed  in  Tropmann's  place — he  being 
discreetly  sent  abroad  with  his  pockets  full  of  secret-service 
money !  The  Parisian  was  far  better  inspired  when,  in  the 
late  sixties,  he  helped  to  resuscitate  the  "velocipede" — that  fore- 
runner of  to-day's  bicycle — in  spite  of  all  the  derision  heaped 
upon  the  appliance  by  flippant  correspondents  of  the  foreign 
press,  who  did  not  foresee  its  possibilities.  One  may  still  smile, 
perhaps,  at  the  thought  of  velocipedes  de  luxe  mounted  in  rose- 
wood and  aluminium  bronze,  nevertheless  the  "  fad "  was  one 
that  yielded  fruit  in  later  years. 

*  Notably  as  regards  the  Grand  Opera  and  the  additions  to  the  Louvre. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

THE   VILLEGIATURA   OF    THE     COUHT THE    EMPEROR's 

ILLNESS CHALONS — THE    MARSHALS — THE    HUNT 

The  Chateau  of  St.  Cloud— The  Empress  Charlotte  of  Mexico— The  Malady 
of  Napoleon  III. — His  Sojourns  at  Plombieres  and  Vichy — His  visits  to 
the  Camp  of  Chalons — The  Zouaves  in  Camp — Napoleon's  Illness  and 
Baron  Larrey — Military  High  Mass — The  Marshals  of  France,  Randon, 
Pelissier,  MacMahon,  Bazaine,  and  others — IMesdames  les  Marechales — 
The  Court  at  Fontainebleau — Biarritz  and  the  Villa  Eugenie — A  Victory  of 
the  Crinoline — The  Empress  and  Imperial  Prince  in  Peril — Compiegne — 
The  Imperial  Hunt  and  its  Organization — St.  Hubert's  Day — Despatching 
the  Stag — Serious  Accidents — The  Cur^e  by  Torchlight — Boar-hunting  and 
Hawking — The  Shooting  Grounds — The  Battues — The  Emperor  a  good 
shot — Prince  Napoleon  and  the  Pelicans — Some  bad  Shots — Boar  or 
Badger  ? — Life  at  the  Chateau — The  Series  of  Guests — The  Day's  Routine 
— Evening  Recreations — Pasteur  and  the  Frogs — A  few  of  the  Guests — 
Nero  and  Tita — Napoleon  and  the  Nicaraguan  Canal — Some  Ladies  at 
Compiegne — Theatrical  Performances — The  "  Commentaires  de  C^sar  " — 
The  Emperor  and  the  Invalide — France,  England,  and  the  Channel  Bridge. 

Only  part  of  the  time  of  the  Imperial  Court  was  spent  at  the 
Tuileries ;  it  was  often  elsewhere.  It  installed  itself  at  the 
chateau  of  St.  Cloud  during  the  spring,  and  then  returned  for 
a  short  time  to  Paris.  Later  the  Emperor  went  to  Plombieres 
or  Vichy  to  drink  the  waters ;  next  he  betook  himself  to  the 
camp  of  Chalons ;  then,  after  returning  to  St.  Cloud,  where  it 
often  happened  that  the  Empress  had  remained  in  the  interval, 
he  repaired  with  her  to  Fontainebleau.  A  stay  at  Biarritz 
ensued,  but  towards  the  close  of  October  the  Court  was  again  in 
Paris,  whence,  immediately  after  All  Saints'  Day,  it  started  for 
Compiegne,  its  sojourn  at  that  "residence"  lasting  until  the 
end  of  the  year. 

Apart  from  the  peregrinations  we  have  just  enumerated, 
there  was  no  little  travelling  to  various  parts  of  France,  now  to 
inaugurate  some  monument  or  public  work,  now  to  relieve  the 
distress   resulting  from  inundations,  now  to   cheer  those  who 


S28  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

were  stricken  by  outbreaks  of  cholera  or  other  afflictions. 
Further,  for  political  reasons,  the  Emperor  went  to  Germany 
at  different  times.  He  paid  an  important  visit  to  Stuttgart 
in  1857,  when  he  met  the  Emperor  of  Russia  and  other 
sovereigns,  and  another  to  Baden  in  I860,  while  on  two 
occasions  during  the  last  period  of  his  reign  he  met  the  Austrian 
Emperor  at  Salzburg.  Of  his  visits  to  Queen  Victoria,  first  at 
Windsor  and  later  at  Osborne,  and  of  the  Empress's  more 
important  journeys,  we  have  already  spoken. 

The  Empress,  it  seems,  was  not  particularly  fond  of  the 
chateau  of  St.  Cloud,  in  spite  of  its  associations  with  the 
memory  of  Marie  Antoinette,  for  she  did  not  find  it  sufficiently 
in  the  country,  sufficiently  rural  as  regards  its  surroundings. 
For  political  business,  however,  it  was  a  convenient  place  of 
sojourn.  The  Emperor  could  speedily  drive  into  Paris  when- 
ever circumstances  required  his  presence  there,  and  it  was 
comparatively  easy  for  his  ministers  to  attend  the  councils 
which,  as  a  rule,  were  held  at  the  chateau  twice  a  week,  becom- 
ing rather  more  frequent  in  the  autumn,  when  the  ensuing 
year's  budget  was  discussed.  It  may  be  pointed  out  that  the 
Emperor  was  present  on  those  occasions,  that,  in  fact,  he 
participated  in  the  preparation  of  the  estimates,  Avhence  it 
follows  that  no  small  share  of  responsibility  for  the  finances  of 
the  Empire  devolved  on  him.  He  was,  however,  a  very  poor 
financier,  as  his  private  affairs  showed,  and,  with  respect  to  the 
financial  position  of  the  State,  we  suspect  that  he  often 
accepted  the  assertions  of  his  ministers  without  troubling  to 
verify  them. 

As  is  the  case  with  the  Tuileries,  nothing  but  a  memory 
now  remains  of  the  chateau  of  St.  Cloud,  so  unfortunately 
destroyed,  together  with  its  many  art  treasures,  during  the 
German  siege  of  Paris.  Dating  from  the  time  of  the  Duke  of 
Orleans,  brother  of  Louis  XIV.,  it  was  a  large  and  handsome 
structure,  the  scene  of  many  a  great  historical  fe.te  of  the  old 
regime.  From  the  House  of  Orleans  it  passed,  in  1785,  into  the 
possession  of  Marie  Antoinette,  who  purchased  it  for  a  sum  of 
six  million  livres.  It  was  there,  in  the  Orangerie,  demolished 
in  or  about  1864  by  Napoleon  III.,  that  Bonaparte,  on  the 
famous    18th   Brumaire,    finally    destroyed    the    first    French 


THE   VILLEGIATURA   OF  THE   COURT       329 

Republic ;  it  was  there  that  he  was  proclaimed  Emperor,  and 
subsequently  espoused  the  Archduchess  Marie  Louise  of  Austria. 
It  was  also  at  St.  Cloud  that  Charles  X.  signed  those  fatal 
ordonnances  which  overthrew  the  regime  of  the  Restoration ; 
there,  too,  that  he  quietly  but  fatuitously  went  on  playing  whist 
while  his  guard  was  dying  for  him  in  Paris,  replying  to  M.  de 
Semonville,  who  warned  him  that  if  he  did  not  withdraw  his 
ordonnances  and  change  his  ministers,  the  monarchy  would  be 
swept  away,  "  I  do  not  believe  it.  If  my  brother,  Louis  XVI., 
fell,  it  was  from  weakness ;  besides,  I  am  quite  ready  to  appear 
before  God." 

Again,  it  was  at  St.  Cloud  that  Napoleon  III.  received 
official  communication  of  the  plebiscitum  which  made  him 
Emperor  of  the  French ;  it  was  from  the  chateau  that  he 
started  on  his  triumphal  entry  into  Paris ;  and  it  was  there 
that  he  decided,  in  1870,  on  the  disastrous  war  which  swept 
him  from  his  throne.  The  official  proclamation  of  that  war 
was  dated  from  the  chateau,  and  it  was  from  a  railway  siding 
in  the  park  that  the  Emperor  set  out  for  Metz  with  the  young 
Imperial  Prince,  who  was  soon  to  receive  his  baptism  of  fire. 

We  have  said  that  the  chateau  was  large.  In  addition  to 
all  the  State  rooms  and  the  private  apartments  of  the  Emperor 
and  Empress,  it  included  forty-five  small  suites  for  guests, 
accommodation  for  six  hundred  officials  and  domestics, -together 
with  stabling  for  two  hundred  and  thirty  horses,  and  coach- 
houses for  twenty  carriages.  In  the  guard-house  forty  troopers 
and  nearly  two  hundred  infantrymen  could  be  quartered,  but 
there  was  also  a  neighbouring  barracks  for  more  than  fifteen 
hundred  men.  The  fine  park  spread  over  an  expanse  of  nearly 
a  thousand  acres. 

The  interior  decorations  of  the  chateau  were  superb.  The 
ceilings  of  the  state  apartments — the  great  Gallery  of  Apollo, 
the  Salons  of  Mars,  Diana,  Venus,  and  Truth — ranked  as 
masterpieces  of  Mignard,  Coypel,  and  Le  Moyne.  Valuable 
pictures  and  statuary  decorated  the  rooms — Pradier"'s  Sappho, 
Van  der  Meulen's  equestrian  portrait  of  Louis  XIV.,  a  large 
number  of  Canalettos,  a  fine  series  of  Vernets,  some  good 
Bouchers,  a  precious  suite  of  Gobelins  tapestry  after  Rubens.,* 
*  The  Marie  de'  Medici  series  at  the  Louvre, 


830  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

an  infinity  of  Boule  work,  and  other  valuable  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  century  furniture.  Looking  towards  the  chateau, 
the  private  apartments  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress  were  on 
the  first-floor  of  the  right-hand  wing.  The  Emperor's  suite 
was  one  of  five  rooms ;  his  cabinet  had  been  Louis  Philippe's 
dressing-room,  his  bedchamber  that  sovereign's  study.  The 
Empress's  suite  included  several  salons  with  historical  associa- 
tions. That  assigned  to  her  ladies-in-waiting  had  witnessed 
the  famous  fracas  between  the  Duke  d'Angouleme  and  Marshal 
Marmont  at  the  Revolution  of  1 830,  when  the  former  assaulted 
the  latter  in  a  fashion  as  cowardly  as  it  was  brutal.  Li  the 
Empress's  cabinet  stood  the  writing-table  of  Louis  XVI.,  and 
several  articles  of  furniture  which  had  been  used  by  Marie 
Antoinette,  while  the  locks  of  the  doors  of  this  apartment,  as 
well  as  those  of  others,  were  entirely  the  handiwork  of 
Louis  XVI.,  an  expert  locksmith,  as  we  know.  Then  there 
was  the  Vernet  salon,  at  one  time  the  study  of  Louis  XVIII. 
and  Charles  X.,  and  the  salon  which  had  once  been  the  bed- 
chamber of  Henrietta  of  England,  daughter  of  Charles  I.,  and 
which  had  witnessed  her  sudden  death  when  she  was  so  foully 
poisoned  by  D'Effiat  at  the  instigation  of  the  Chevalier  de 
Lorraine.  The  dining-room  had  been  occupied  by  Peter  the 
Great  when  he  sojourned  at  the  chateau,  and  it  was  there  that 
Napoleon  I.  had  taken  his  meals,  assigning  armchairs  to  him- 
self, the  Empress  Marie  Louise,  and  Madame  Mere,  but 
instructing  his  majordomo  that  only  ordinary  chairs  were  to  be 
provided  for  his  brothers,  the  Kings  of  Spain,  Holland,  and 
Westphalia,  and  his  brother-in-law,  the  King  of  Naples. 
Further,  there  was  the  salon  where  the  Council  of  Ministers 
assembled  when  the  Court  of  the  Second  Empire  was  at  St. 
Cloud.  This  had  been  the  bedchamber  in  turn  of  Marie 
Antoinette,  Josephine,  and  Marie  Louise. 

The  apartments  of  the  Imperial  Prince  were  on  the  ground- 
floor  of  the  chateau,  under  those  of  his  father  and  mother. 
Prior  to  the  establishment  of  the  Empire  they  had  been  occupied 
by  Miss  Howard.  On  the  ground-floor  of  the  wing  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Cour  d'honneur  were  the  quarters  of  Marshal 
Vaillant  and  General  Rolin,  over  which  extended  the  great 
Gallery  of  Apollo,  so  wonderfully  and  pompously  decorated  by 


THE   VILLEGIATURA   OF  THE   COURT      331 

Mignard,  whose  mythological  and  other  paintings  possessed 
historical  as  well  as  artistic  value,  since  so  many  of  them 
represented  great  personages  of  his  period :  Louis  XIII., 
Louis  XIV.,  his  brother  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  Anne  of  Austria, 
the  great  Dauphin,  the  Princess  Palatine,  the  future  Regent 
of  Orleans,  and  many  great  ladies  of  the  Court.  Unhappily 
all  was  lost  in  the  conflagration  of  1870 — a  conflagration 
which  may  have  been  caused  by  French  or  by  German  shells,* 
All  that  can  be  said  with  absolute  certainty  is  that  the 
Germans  appropriated  most  of  the  valuable  articles  saved 
from  the  Are — relics  of  St.  Cloud  being  nowadays  scattered 
over  the  Fatherland.  Already,  in  1815,  Blucher,  who  then 
occupied  the  chateau,  had  marked  his  envy  and  hatred  of  its 
magnificence  by  tearing  the  hangings  and  even  the  bed  linen 
with  his  spurs,  smashing  the  mirrors  and  allowing  his  pack  of 
hounds  the  free  run  of  the  stateliest  apartments.  Fortunately 
the  arrival  of  Wellinoton  to  settle  the  terms  of  the  surrender  of 
Paris  prevented  further  excesses. 

In  addition  to  Queen  Victoria,  the  royalties  entertained  at 
St.  Cloud  during  the  Second  Empire  included  Victor  Emmanuel 
and  Humbert  of  Italy,  Francis  King-Consort  of  Spain,  and 
Maximilian  of  Bavaria,  son  of  the  lover  of  "Lola  Months." 
Thither,  too,  came  the  wife  of  another  Maximilian,  the  un- 
fortunate Charlotte  of  Mexico.  A  few  years  previously  she 
and  her  husband  had  been  guests  at  the  Tuileries,  where  the 
latter  was  prevailed  upon  to  accept  the  Mexican  crown.  It  has 
been  said  that  he  yielded  not  only  to  the  persuasions  of 
Napoleon  III.  and  the  Empress  Eugenie,  but  also  to  those  of 
his  wife,  whose  disposition  was  ambitious.  The  youngest  and 
favourite  brother  of  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph,  Maximilian 
was  supreme  head  of  the  Austrian  navy,  and  had  served  his 
apprenticeship  in  statecraft  as  governor  of  the  Italian  possessions 
of  Austria.  But  his  wife,  Charlotte,  the  youngest  child  of 
Leopold  I.  of  Belgium  by  Louise  of  Orleans,  had  desires  above 
a  position  which,  however  high  and  honourable,  was  neverthe- 
less a  subordinate  one.     She,  then,  it  appears,  yielded  the  more 

*  The  destruction  of  the  palace,  in  October,  1870,  has  been  variously 
ascribed  to  the  fire  of  the  German  artillery  on  adjacent  heights,  to  a  French 
shell  from  Mont  Valerien,  and  to  one  from  the  French  gunboat  the  Farcy. 


332  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

readily  to  the  temptations  of  the  French  Court,  and  helped  to 
prevail  upon  her  husband  to  embark  on  that  disastrous  Mexican 
adventure.  They  were  both  quite  young  at  the  time,  he  not 
more  than  one  and  thirty,  tall,  slim,  aristocratic,  with  a  fair 
flowing  beard,  she  only  three  and  twenty,  but  accomplished, 
speaking  five  languages,  with  a  tall,  well-proportioned  figure,  a 
distinguished  if  somewhat  stiff  bearing,  a  round  face,  a  bright 
complexion,  and  large,  dark,  beaded  eyes. 

In  April,  1866,  the  Moniteur  announced  the  approaching 
withdrawal  of  the  French  troops  from  Mexico.  They  were  to 
quit  the  country  at  intervals,  in  detachments,  and  though  it  was 
asserted  by  French  imperialists  that  Maximilian''s  position  was 
such  that  he  would  easily  maintain  himself  on  the  throne,  he 
was  in  reality  overwhelmed  by  Napoleon's  decision  to  abandon 
him.  The  Empress  Charlotte  hastened  to  France,  and  reaching 
Paris  early  in  August  repaired  to  the  Grand  Hotel,  whence  she 
wrote  to  Napoleon  asking  him  to  receive  her.  Court  carriages 
and  a  sovereign's  escort  of  cuirassiers  were  despatched  to  convey 
her  to  St.  Cloud,  where  the  Emperor  and  Empress  awaited  her 
at  the  entrance  of  the  chateau.  The  scene  was  a  moving  one. 
The  countenance  of  the  Empress  Charlotte  proclaimed  her 
agitation,  her  anxiety,  the  many  trials  and  sufferings  through 
which  she  had  passed.  Napoleon  and  his  consort  were  likewise 
stirred.  Their  consciences  may  well  have  reproached  them,  for 
it  was  they  who  had  sent  that  unhappy  woman  and  her  husband 
on  that  wild  adventure  across  the  Atlantic,  and  now  the  great 
enterprise  was  fast  collapsing,  and  Charlotte,  who  had  quitted 
France  radiant  with  joyful  ambition,  had  returned  haggard, 
careworn,  and  despairing.  There  was  a  long  interview  in  the 
private  rooms  of  the  Empress  Eugenie.  For  two  hours  the 
Empress  Charlotte  pleaded  her  husband's  cause,  beseeching 
Napoleon  not  to  abandon  him.  But  in  vain.  Confronted  by 
the  threats  of  the  United  States,  the  Emperor  dared  not 
prolong  the  French  occupation  beyond  the  dates  agreed  upon. 

A  strange  incident  marked  the  interview.  The  Empress 
Charlotte  was  accompanied  by  two  Mexican  ladies-in-waiting, 
to  whom  Mme.  Carette,  the  Empress  Eugenie's  lady,  offered 
some  refreshment.  Thereupon  one  of  them  particularly 
requested  her  to  send  some  orangeade  to  the  Empress  Charlotte, 


THE   VILLEGIATURA   OF  THE  COURT      333 

and  orders  to  that  effect  were  given  to  a  maitre  d'hote!.  But 
the  Empress  Euge'nie  expressed  great  surprise  at  the  arrival 
of  this  orangeade  in  the  midst  of  such  an  important  discussion, 
and  inquired  who  had  ordered  it  to  be  sent.  The  man  explained 
that  he  had  brought  it  by  Mme.  Carette's  instructions,  and  the 
Empress  Eugenie  thereupon  offered  the  beverage  to  the  Empress 
Charlotte,  who,  however,  only  accepted  it  after  a  good  deal  of 
insistence.*  The  interview  then  proceeded,  and  Maximilian's 
consort  renewed  her  entreaties.  But  Napoleon  could  only 
tender  advice,  which  was  that,  if  Maximilian's  position  was  such 
as  the  Empress  Charlotte  depicted  it,  he  had  better  return 
to  Europe  with  the  French  troops.  Napoleon  repeated  that 
advice  on  the  morrow,  when  he  visited  the  Empress  Charlotte 
at  the  Grand  Hotel.  But  if  Maximilian  had  originally  hesitated 
to  embark  on  the  enterprise,  he  was  now  unwilling  to  abandon 
it.  A  genuine  Hapsburg,  with  all  the  obstinate  pride  of  his 
race,  he  held  that  his  honour  was  involved  in  the  task  to  which 
he  had  put  his  hand.  Nor  did  the  idea  of  relinquishment 
appeal  to  the  Empress  Charlotte,  for  it  meant  the  downfall  of 
her  hopes,  the  wrecking  of  her  ambition.  She  resolved  to  apply 
to  the  Emperor  of  Austria  for  help,  and  enlist  the  influence  of 
her  brother,  the  King  of  the  Belgians.-j*  Under  the  adverse 
blows  of  fate,  however,  her  reason  was  already  tottering.  Before 
she  quitted  Paris  she  already  complained  of  violent  pains  in  the 
head,  of  feverishness  and  agitation,  which  she  could  not  subdue, 
and  for  which  she  could  not  account  until  the  idea  suddenly 
seized  upon  her  that  she  had  been  poisoned — poisoned  by  the 
orangeade  which  had  been  given  her  at  St.  Cloud  !  Napoleon, 
bent  on  abandoning  her  husband,  and  wishing  to  get  rid  of  her 
importunities,  stifle  her  protests  and  complaints,  had  tendered 
her  a  poisoned  cup  by  which  he  had  hoped  to  silence  her  for 
ever ! 

It  was,  of  course,  mere  delusion.     The  Emperor,  whatever 
may  be  thought  of  him,  was  no  Borgia,  and  the  fancies  of  the 

*  The  story  will  be  found  related  in  detail  in  the  first  part  of  Mme.  Carette's 
"  Souvenirs  intimes." 

t  Leopold  I.  had  died  in  December,  1865.  Mme.  Carette,  who  often  errs  in 
her  "  history,"  and  can  only  be  followed  in  matters  which  came  under  her 
immediate  observation,  writes  as  though  the  Empress  Charlotte's  father  had 
been  still  alive  in  the  autumn  of  1866. 


334  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

Empress  Charlotte  would  merely  have  been  amusing  had  they 
not  ended  so  tragically.  She  went  on  her  desperate  pilgrimage. 
She  appealed  to  both  her  brother  and  her  brother-in-law,  but 
they  could  only  repeat  the  advice  of  the  Emperor  of  the  French  : 
Maximilian  must  quit  Mexico.  At  last  the  Empress  Charlotte 
turned  to  the  Pope  as  to  a  supreme  resource.  She  felt  that  it 
was  in  the  PontifTs  power  both  to  influence  the  Catholic 
sovereigns  of  Europe  in  her  favour,  and,  in  the  name  of  religion, 
to  exact  of  the  Mexicans  themselves  submission  to  her  husband's 
rule.  She  repaired,  then,  to  Rome,  and  it  was  there  that  her 
reason  finally  gave  way.  In  a  dramatic  interview  at  the  Vatican 
she  threw  herself  at  the  feet  of  Pius  IX.,  beseeching  him  to 
shield  her,  imploring  him  to  lodge  her  in  his  palace,  the  only 
place,  she  said,  where  she  would  be  safe  from  the  poisoners  who 
pursued  her.     Her  mind  was  gone. 

It  does  hot  appear  that  she  ever  became  violently  insane. 
The  state  in  which  she  at  first  remained  was  one  of  profound 
mental  dejection,  induced  by  her  anxieties  and  disappointments. 
She  had  put  her  trust  in  princes  and  the  sons  of  men,  and 
the  result  was  too  hard  for  her  to  bear.  At  first,  the  doctors 
did  not  despair  of  a  cure.  They  advised,  by  way  of  remedy,  a 
total  change  of  scene,  and  Como  was  suggested  as  a  residence. 
The  unfortunate  woman  was,  in  the  first  instance,  removed  from 
Rome  to  Vienna,  and  was  still  there  in  1867  when  the  news 
arrived  that  her  husband  had  become  a  prisoner  of  the  Mexican 
Republicans.  Her  intellect  had  then  grown  weaker,  but,  as  in 
the  earlier  stages  of  her  aberration,  there  were  yet  some  occa- 
sional brief  intervals  of  sanity,  though  it  may  be  taken,  broadly, 
that  the  idea  that  she  was  threatened  by  poisoners  had  become 
a  fixed  one.  She  spent  many  hours  in  writing  her  husband 
letters,  which  were  brimful  of  affection,  but  which,  it  seems, 
yere  never  forwarded — indeed,  it  soon  became  impossible  to  do 
so.  We  cannot  say  if  there  is  any  truth  in  the  story  that  a 
rumour  of  the  Empress  Charlotte's  death  reached  Mexico  before 
Maximilian's  execution,  and  that  he,  on  hearing  it,  exclaimed : 
"  It  is  better  thus,  she  will  not  know  my  fate ; "  but  it  is  certain 
that  when  the  news  of  the  execution  at  Queretaro  arrived  in 
Europe,  the  doctors  attending  the  Empress  Charlotte  thought 
that  the  tragedy  might  lead  to  the  cure  of  their  patient.     They 


THE   VILLEGIATURA  OF  THE   COURT      835 

were  of  opinion  that,  in  addition  to  a  return  to  the  scenes  of 
youth,  a  sudden  shock — such  as  the  tidings  of  her  husband's 
death  might  give  her — would  greatly  help  to  restore  her  reason. 
Those  hopes  were  disappointed.  The  subject  was  broached  one 
day  during  a  brief  lucid  interval,  the  Empress  being  told  that 
her  husband  was  in  peril  and  might  lose  his  life.  "  Better  that 
than  his  honour,"  she  replied,  and  before  the  whole  truth  could 
be  brought  home  to  her  she  had  relapsed  into  her  usual  con- 
dition. It  does  not  appear  that  she  has  ever  known,  ever  been 
really  conscious  of  her  husband's  fate.  The  return  to  youthful 
scenes  failed  like  other  suggested  remedies.  For  long  years 
now  the  unfortunate  Princess  has  lived  in  Belgium,  chiefly, 
we  believe,  at  the  Boushout  palace,  where  she  has  often  been 
visited  by  her  brother  the  King,  and  her  niece,  the  Princess 
Clementine.  Now  and  then,  as  in  earlier  years,  the  mental 
gloom  has  seemed  to  lift,  and  she  has  spoken  rationally  enough 
on  one  or  another  subject.  But  the  veil  has  suddenly  fallen 
again,  and  she  has  failed  to  recognize  those  about  her.  Of 
Mexico  she  appears  to  retain  no  recollection,  never  mentioning 
it  even  in  lucid  moments.  Only  one  thought  seems  to  survive 
in  her  mind — the  obligation  to  worship  God.  Every  day  she 
prays  in  the  chapel  of  the  palace,  repeating  her  rosary  aloud 
— consciously  or  unconsciously,  we  cannot  say.  For  some 
forty  years  has  the  unhappy  lady  endured  this  dreadful  living 
death. 

The  fates  of  Maximilian  and  Charlotte  constitute  one  of  the 
crimes  of  the  Empire,  which  nothing  can  wash  away.  Whatever 
may  have  been  the  former's  arbitrary  decrees,  whatever  the 
latter's  young  ambition,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  these 
two  would  never  have  gone  to  Mexico  had  it  not  been  for  the 
blandishments  and  persuasion  brought  to  bear  on  them,  the 
temptations  and  promises  held  out  to  them  at  that  palace — that 
fatal  palace,  we  repeat  it — of  the  Tuileries. 

At  the  time  of  the  Empress  Charlotte's  visit  to  St.  Cloud, 
Napoleon  IH.  was  in  very  bad  health,  owing  to  the  progress 
already  made  by  the  complaint  which  led  to  his  death  in  18T3. 
The  English  doctors  were  then  of  opinion  that  the  affection 
had  originated  some  eight  or  ten  years  previously^  and  a  private 
letter  written  by  M.  Rouher  (who  was  in  a  position  to  know  a 


Sm  THE  COURT  OF   THE  TUILERIES 

great  deal)  confirms  that  view,  it  being  stated  therein  that  the 
first  characteristic  symptoms  showed  themselves  in  1863.  In 
the  following  year  while  the  Emperor  was  in  Switzerland  there 
came  a  very  bad  attack,  attended  by  hematuria.  His  doctors 
thereupon  ordered  complete  rest,  and  after  a  delay  of  some 
three  weeks  he  was  able  to  return  to  France.  A  short  time 
previously  a  severe  accident  had  befallen  some  members  of  the 
imperial  party,  notably  Princess  Anna  Murat  and  Mme.  Carette, 
and  the  prolongation  of  the  Emperor's  sojourn  in  Switzerland 
was  generally,  though  wrongly,  attributed  at  that  time  to  his 
solicitude  for  those  ladies. 

During  the  ensuing  summer  (1865)  while  Napoleon  was  at 
the  camp  of  Chalons  he  sent  one  morning  for  his  medical 
attendant,  Baron  Larrey,  to  whom  he  made  certain  communi- 
cations. "  The  symptoms,  as  fully  explained  by  himself,"  wrote 
Baron  Larrey  twenty-one  years  afterwards,*  "  were  for  me,  as 
they  would  have  been  for  any  other  surgeon,  conclusive 
symptoms  of  calculus  in  the  vesica."  The  Baron  accordingly 
begged  the  Emperor  to  submit  to  proper  examination,  but  he 
would  not  consent,  indeed  he  strictly  enjoined  on  the  doctor 
that  he  should  say  nothing  on  the  subject  to  anybody  what- 
ever. In  the  following  year  there  was  a  repetition  of  the 
same  symptoms,  and  various  doctors  were  consulted  by  the 
Emperor,  but  Larrey  was  not  among  them,  nor  was  he  included 
in  subsequent  consultations. 

Napoleon  did  not  put  much  faith  either  in  the  medical  art 
or  in  those  who  practised  it.  On  various  occasions,  instead  of 
applying  to  any  of  the  eminent  men  included  in  his  service 
medical,  he  consulted  any  staff-doctor  who  happened  to  be  on 
duty  at  the  Tuileries.  The  latter  often  ascribed  serious 
symptoms  to  a  mere  passing  indisposition,  and  prescribed  some 
simple  palliative  remedy.  Moreover,  several  of  the  better  men 
differed  respecting  the  nature  of  the  Emperor"'s  complaint,  some 
opining  that  it  was  vesical  catarrh  and  others  diagnosing  gouty 
symptoms ;  which  conflict  of  views  tended  to  increase  the 
Emperor's  scepticism  respecting  medical  science. 

He  was  of  a  lymphatic  nature,  and  anosmia  had  been  induced 
by  his  long  imprisonment  at  Ham,  resulting  in  cutaneous  and 
*  Letter  addressed  to  Le  Figaro,  on  February  8,  1886. 


THE   EMPEROR'S   ILLNESS  337 

muscular  hyperaesthesia,  which  became  most  marked  under  the 
influence  of  cold,  when  also  great  sensibility,  as  manifested  by 
shooting  pains,  sometimes  appeared  in  the  extremities.  An 
hemorrhoidal  complaint,  which  had  also  been  induced  by  the 
confinement  at  Ham,  had  increased  the  anaemia,  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  Emperor's  subsequent  admissions,  had  sometimes  led 
to  fainting  fits  ;  but  virtually  the  only  trace  of  it  left  in  the 
last  year  of  the  reign  was  the  hyperesthesia  we  have  mentioned. 
There  were  no  symptoms  of  rheumatism  (as  some  had  diagnosed) 
at  all.  If  the  hyperaesthesia  had  been  due  to  rheumatic  causes 
and  not  to  anemia,  there  would  have  been  heart  complaint,  but 
there  was  none.  Further,  the  few  gouty  symptoms  which  had 
shown  themselves  were  in  no  wise  of  a  rheumatic  nature ;  but 
vesical  lesion  existed.  All  other  organs  were  regarded  as  sound.* 
From  the  presence  of  calculus  it  would  seem  that  the  treatment 
prescribed  for  the  Emperor  throughout  a  period  of  many  years 
was  altogether  wrong.  The  first  spa  selected  for  him  by  his 
medical  advisers  was  Plombieres  in  the  Vosges,  whose  waters 
may  not  have  done  him  any  particular  harm,  and  may  even 
have  been  beneficial  with  respect  to  passing  affections,  but  a 
terrible  blunder  was  committed  when  he  was  sent  to  Vichy 
in  the  Bourbonnais.  This  first  occurred,  we  believe,  in  July, 
1861,  while  his  complaint  was  in  an  incipient  state,  and  Vichy 
becoming  his  usual  place  of  resort  for  treatment,  pernicious 
consequences  ensued.  The  effect  indeed  of  the  Vichy  waters 
was  to  increase  the  volume  of  the  calculus.! 

In  1865,  when  the  true  character  of  his  symptoms  was 
secretly  revealed  to  Baron  Larrey,  the  Emperor  paid  a  visit  to 
Algeria.  There  were  good  political  reasons  for  the  journey, 
but,  according  to  some  accounts,  it  was  really  undertaken  by 
medical  advice,  it  being  thought  that  the  sufferer  might  benefit 
by  a  sojourn  in  a  warm  climate.  It  is  pointed  out  that  the 
situation  was  then  evidently  regarded  as  serious  by  some  of  the 
doctors,  for,  although  the  Emperor  did  not  quit  French 
territory,  he  invested  the  Empress  with  the  powers  of  Regent, 
and  also  made  his  will  before  quitting  St.  Cloud.     But  there 

*  The  above  account  is  abbreviated  from  the  report  of  the  famous  medical 
consultation  on  the  eve  of  the  Franco-German  War, 
f  Dr.  Constantiij  James. 

z 


338  THE   COURT   OF   THE   TUILERIES 

are  some  other  points  to  be  considered,  such  as  the  Marguerite 
Bellanger  affair,  the  intervention  of  President  Devienne,  the 
estrangement  between  Napoleon  and  his  consort,  and  the  neces- 
sity of  effecting  a  reconciliation,  in  which  respect  the  regency, 
the  will,  and  the  Algerian  journey  may  all  have  been  helpful. 
In  the  following  year,  however,  the  Emperor*'s  symptoms  were 
certainly  severe.  Mental  anxiety  always  reacts  on  such  com- 
plaints as  his,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  his  health  at  the 
time — it  was  the  year  of  the  war  between  Prussia  and  Austria — 
greatly  influenced  his  foreign  policy,  inclining  him  the  more  to 
accept  the  suggestions  of  those  who  advised  negotiation  with 
Prussia  rather  than  armed  intervention.  Eager  for  treatment 
after  great  worries  of  State,  which  were  not  yet  ended,  he 
repaired  to  Vichy  on  July  27,  that  is  about  three  weeks  after 
the  battle  of  Koniggratz,  attended  by  his  Chef-de-cabinet, 
Conti,  and  speedily  followed  by  his  Foreign  Minister,  Drouyn 
de  Lhuys.  But  the  arrival  of  the  Empress  Charlotte  in  France 
necessitated  his  prompt  return  to  St.  Cloud.  Somewhat  later 
his  complaint  gave  much  trouble,  and  alarming  rumours  led  to 
a  fall  in  the  funds.  But  in  the  latter  part  of  October  he 
was  restored  to  average  good  health,  making  excursions  in  the 
environs  of  Paris,  experimenting  with  the  Chassepot  rifle,  and 
shooting  over  the  coverts  at  St.  Cloud. 

In  1867  he  went  to  Vichy  again,  and  this  time  the  ill  effects 
of  the  waters  became  so  marked,  the  hematuria  re-appearing, 
that  the  treatment  was  stopped.  In  the  following  year  he  did 
not  visit  Vichy,  but  reverted  to  Plombieres,  hoping,  perhaps,  to 
obtain  relief  from  the  waters  there.  It  seems  as  if  his  doctors 
hardly  knew  what  course  to  suggest.  That,  in  addition  to 
being  sceptical  in  medical  matters,  he  was  also  a  very  reticent 
man  is  well  known.  Although,  in  a  sudden  moment  of  anxiety, 
he  had  confided  everything  to  Larrey,  it  does  not  follow  that 
he  acted  likewise  with  other  medical  advisers.  W^e  at  least 
know  that  until  his  stay  at  Vichy  in  1867  he  submitted  to  no 
examination  at  all,  and  the  discord  among  the  doctors  and  the 
erroneous  early  treatment  may  have  been  due  in  some  degree  to 
his  own  lack  of  outspoken  confidence.  In  any  case,  his  complaint 
was  not  checked,  but  grew  more  serious  each  year.  In  August, 
1869,  he  became  so  ill  that  he  had  to  keep  his  room,  and  in 


THE  EMPEROR'S   ILLNESS  339 

spite  of  all  precautions  ominous  rumours  again  spread  through 
Paris.  The  old  story  of  rheumatism  which  had  so  often  done 
duty  already,  was  thereupon  repeated  in  order  to  allay  public 
apprehension,  the  Journal  Officiel  stating,  on  August  18 : 
"  Alarming  reports  respecting  the  Emperor's  health  have  been 
circulated.  Those  reports  are  incorrect.  His  Majesty's  rheu- 
matic pains  are  subsiding.""  But  people  with  any  acumen  were 
not  deceived.  It  was  known  that  Dr.  Ricord  had  been  sum- 
moned, and  the  mere  name  of  that  renowned  specialist  indicated 
that  the  Emperor's  complaint,  whatever  might  be  exactly  its 
nature,  came  within  the  range  of  the  cases  which  Ricord 
treated.  Moreover,  on  the  same  day  as  the  official  note 
appeared,  the  Independance  Beige  published  a  telegram  from 
Paris  stating  that  the  Emperor's  health  Avas  improving,  favour- 
able results  having  attended  the  employment  of  an  instrument  * 
which  was  named.  Henri  Rochefort  immediately  pointed  out 
in  Le  Rappel  that  this  nevvs  amply  proved  that  the  Emperor's 
complaint  could  not  be  rheumatism.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
though  some  persons,  such  as  Prince  Napoleon,  Marshal 
Leboeuf,  and  even  General  Lebrun,  subsequently  declared  that 
they  were  ignorant  of  the  truth  until  the  early  stages  of  the 
war  of  1870,  the  secret  of  the  Emperor's  condition  was  already, 
in  1869,  tending  to  become  a  "  secret  de  Polichinelle "  in 
various  Parisian  circles. 

Respecting  the  social  side  of  the  visits  which  the  Emperor,  in 
his  desire  for  cure,  paid  annually  to  Plombieres  or  Vichy  there  is 
not  much  to  be  said.  Both  at  the  spa  commended  by  Montaigne, 
and  that  celebrated  by  Mme.  de  Sevigne,  his  patronage  led  to  a 
great  influx  of  fashionable  folk  and  money  ;  and  the  State,  the 
municipalities,  and  the  water  companies  spent  large  sums  on 
the  improvement  of  both  the  baths  and  the  towns.  The 
Emperor's  retinue  was  usually  very  small  as  the  Empress  did 
not  accompany  him  on  those  trips.f  He  was  often  pursued  by 
urgent  State  business.  The  famous  conference  with  Count 
Cavour  on  Italian  affairs  took  place,  it  will  be  remembered,  at 

*  We  know  from  the  diagnosis  of  July,  1870,  that  the  same  course  had 
become  necessary  at  Vichy  in  1867. 

t  One  year,  when  suffering  from  a  stomachic  complaint,  she  repaired  to 
the  spa  of  Schwalbach,  in  Nassau,  where  she  was  extremely  well  received  by 
the  inhabitants. 


340  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Plombieres  in  1858.  There  were  also  official  receptions  which 
the  Emperor  could  not  escape.  For  the  rest  he  led  a  very 
simple  life,  drinking  the  waters,  making  excursions  in  the 
surrounding  country,  and  occasionally  attending  a  concert  or 
theatrical  performance  at  a  casino.  Sometimes  he  patronized 
a  neighbouring  village  fete^  and  the  good-natured  familiarity 
with  which  he  then  mixed  with  the  peasants  won  him  many  a 
staunch  adherent  in  those  parts  of  France. 

One  evening,  on  turning  up  at  a  village  dance  near  Vichy, 
he  singled  out  a  good-looking  girl  and  asked  her  to  be  his 
partner.  It  was  by  no  means  the  first  time  he  had  done  such  a 
thing,  but  it  aroused  all  the  customary  enthusiasm.  While  the 
dance  proceeded,  however,  an  old  peasant  among  the  onlookers 
remarked  to  the  orderly  in  mufti,  who  was  in  attendance  on  the 
Emperor :  "  Think  of  that,  now  !  Do  you  see  how  pleased 
Marie  Boilon  looks  at  having  the  Emperor  for  her  partner  ? 
She's  my  niece,  you  know."  "Ah!"  said  the  officer,  "she 
certainly  does  look  pleased,  as  you  say."  "  Yes,"  continued  the 
old  man,  "  she  won't  forget  it,  not  if  she  lives  for  a  hundred 
years.  Voyez  vous,  monsieur,  Fm  getting  old,  and  Fve  seen  a 
few  things  in  my  time.  We  had  Charles  X.,  he  was  the  King 
of  the  Nobility.  Then  we  had  Louis  Philippe,  he  was  the 
King  of  the  Bourgeois;  but  Napoleon — you  can't  say  the 
contrary — he's  the  Emperor  of  the  Peasants  ! "  Marie  Boilon's 
uncle  was  right.  He  had  briefly  summed  up  the  history  of  France 
for  a  period  of  half  a  century,  and  there  is  no  gainsaying  the 
fact  that  the  peasantry  constituted  the  backbone  of  the  Empire. 

Another  element  of  the  nation  with  which  the  Emperor 
strove  to  ingratiate  himself  was  the  army,  not  merely  the  officers 
but  the  ranks  also ;  and,  on  the  whole,  he  succeeded  in  this 
respect  until  that  fateful  year  1870,  when,  after  the  Plebiscitum 
had  revealed  the  presence  of  a  certain  contingent  of  malcon- 
tents in  the  forces,  the  advent  of  war  a  little  later  introduced 
with  the  Mobile  Guard  a  yet  stronger  Republican  element, 
impatient  of  discipline,  into  their  midst,  while  the  early 
disastrous  reverses  capped  everything  by  destroying  confidence 
in  the  military  capacity  of  the  Emperor  and  his  Marshals. 
For  years,  however.  Napoleon  made  much  of  his  soldiers.  If  he 
sent  them  to  die  amid  the  snow  and  ice  of  the  Crimea,  among 


THE   CAMP  OF  CHALONS  341 

the  maize  fields  of  Lombardy,  or  under  the  fierce  sun  of  Mexico, 
he  petted  them  in  France;  and  in  time  of  peace,  during  his 
more  vigorous  years,  he  interested  himself  in  the  question  of 
their  creature-comforts  with  as  much  zealous  assiduity  as  the 
Duke  of  Cambridge  displayed  in  England. 

The  Camp  of  Chalons  was  a  great  institution  of  the  reign. 
It  dated  from  1857,  when  the  earlier  Camp  of  Boulogne  was 
raised.  It  seems  certain  that  the  change  was  brought  about  by 
considerations  of  policy.  An  entente  cordiale  existing  with 
Great  Britain,  the  continuance  of  a  great  camp  on  the  Channel 
coast  might  well  seem  offensive  to  that  power.  But  apart  from 
any  regard  for  British  feeling,  the  transference  of  the  army's 
chief  training  camp  from  the  west  to  the  east  of  France,  was 
dictated,  we  think,  even  at  so  early  a  date  as  1857,  by  the 
Emperor's  aspirations  to  restore  to  France  what  was  deemed  to 
be  her  legitimate  frontier  on  the  Rhine.  The  opportunity  for 
an  effort  of  that  kind,  lost  in  1864  and  again  in  1866,  presented 
itself  once  more,  though  under  different  and  more  difficult 
circumstances,  in  1870 — with  what  results  we  know.  Yet  for 
thirteen  years  the  Camp  of  Chalons  had  existed  with  a  view 
to  facilitating  the  invasion  of  Germany.  Its  creation  testified 
to  foresight  as  well  as  ambition  on  the  Emperor's  part.  If, 
instead  of  invading,  he  should  be  invaded,  that  camp  and  its 
organization  might  render  good  service.  But,  again,  it  all 
ended  as  we  know. 

The  camp  was  established  on  a  great  heath-like  expanse 
lying  several  miles  north  of  Chalons,  and  limited  by  rivers  on 
the  south-west  and  north-east.  The  front  line  was  about 
eight  miles  long,  the  area  available  for  encampments,  ranges, 
and  manoeuvring  being  about  30,000  acres.  Water  was 
abundant,  thanks  to  the  boring  of  wells,  the  proximity  of  the 
two  rivers  we  have  mentioned,  and  the  existence  of  a  streamlet 
called  the  Cheneu  which  intersected  the  camp  for  some  distance, 
the  cavalry  and  infantry  quarters  being  located  on  one  side  of 
that  streamlet,  while  the  artillery,  the  service  corps,  the  adminis- 
trative departments,  the  magazines,  slaughter-houses,  bake- 
houses, etc.,  were  on  the  other.  Each  division  had  its  hospital, 
and  a  tramway  ran  through  the  entire  camp,  which  was 
illumined  at  night  by  four  large  lighthouses.    Wooden  buildings 


342  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

were  provided  for  some  of  the  troops,  while  others  slept  under 
canvas.  On  some  rising  ground  near  a  fine  old  Roman  road  by 
which  the  camp  was  also  crossed,  various  pavilions  and  chalets 
were  erected  for  the  headquarters  of  the  marshal  or  general  in 
command  and  the  accommodation  of  the  Emperor  and  his  suite 
Avhen  he  visited  the  camp.  There  was  also  a  small  dairy  farm 
near  this  spot,  in  addition  to  seven  other  farms  which  Napoleon, 
with  a  view  to  utilizing  all  the  manure  yielded  by  the  camp, 
established  around  it  on  land  which  had  been  lying  waste  for 
centuries.  For  that  he  must  be  commended.  Those  farms, 
managed  on  the  best  principles  and  extending  over  some 
6000  acres,  were  so  many  practical  schools  of  agriculture,  and 
exercised  no  little  influence  on  agricultural  methods  in  that  part 
of  France.  For  some  years  there  was  little  return  for  the  money 
expended  on  them,  but  by  1867  they  were  paying  ten  per  cent, 
on  the  capital  invested. 

During  June,  July,  and  August,  as  many  as  60,000  men 
were  sometimes  assembled  at  the  Camp  of  Chalons,  but  the 
average  number  was  then  about  40,000,  falling  to  a  quarter 
or  a  fifth  of  that  figure  at  other  seasons  of  the  year.  The 
Emperor's  visit  usually  took  place  during  the  first  fortnight 
in  August.  Many  foreign  royalties  and  generals  were  present 
at  one  or  another  time.  The  Empress  was  also  an  occasional 
visitor,  and  from  1860  onward  the  young  Imperial  Prince  came 
from  Paris  to  witness  the  manoeuvres  and  reviews.  His  first 
visit,  at  the  date  we  have  mentioned,  when  he  was  little  more 
than  four  years  old  and  rode  a  diminutive  Shetland  pony  called 
Balmoral,  the  gift  of  Queen  Victoria,  aroused  delirious  enthu- 
siasm among  the  soldiers.  The  routine  of  camp-life  was  as 
follows :  On  Mondays,  Wednesdays,  and  Fridays,  manoeuvres 
by  part  or  all  of  the  forces ;  on  Tuesdays,  Thursdays,  and 
Saturdays,  artillery  practice  from  dawn  until  11  a.m.,  then 
infantry  practice  until  nightfall.  It  was  at  Chalons  that  De 
Reffye's  mitrailleuses  were  first  tested  on  any  considerable  scale, 
and  that  the  famous  Chassepot  rifle  inspired  those  great 
expectations  which  were  in  a  considerable  measure  falfilled 
the  first  time  the  weapon  was  used  in  action — against  the 
Garibaldians  at  Mentana. 

Napoleon  was  always  keenly  interested  in  the  gun  and  rifle 


THE   CAMP   OF  CHALONS  343 

practice.  The  greater  part  of  his  time  at  Chalons  was  given 
to  noting  its  results.  Even  in  the  final  years  of  his  reign  he 
showed  no  little  activity  when  he  was  at  the  camp,  an  activity 
simply  marvellous  when  one  remembers  his  complaint.  On 
horseback,  when  he  had  once  really  sat  down  and  taken  his 
charger,  Hero,  by  the  head,  he  still  made  the  pace  very  strong, 
too  strong,  indeed,  for  some  of  the  generals.  There  can  be 
little  doubt  that  he  often  punished  himself  severely.  But  he 
was  a  man  of  great  physical  courage.  All  imputations  of 
cowardice  cast  at  him  in  former  years,  should  be  unreservedly 
withdrawn,  they  are  unworthy  of  figuring  in  the  pages  of 
history.  The  saying  "  to  grin  and  bear  it ""  expresses,  in  our 
opinion,  his  line  of  conduct  with  reference  to  his  malady.  In 
a  mistaken  way,  he  sacrificed  himself  to  the  regime  he  had 
founded.  All  the  concealment  so  long  practised  respecting  his 
illness  was  inspired  by  solicitude  for  the  Empire.  Nobody 
was  to  know  the  truth  lest  the  regime  should  totter  under  the 
revelation,  and  its  adversaries  be  inspirited  to  yet  greater  efforts 
against  it.  Yet  it  would  have  been  better  for  the  Empire,  as 
well  as  for  the  Emperor  himself,  if  he  had  submitted  to  proper 
treatment  when  he  was  first  urged  to  do  so  by  Baron  Larrey. 
The  course  of  the  disease  might  then  have  been  arrested,  and 
France  might  have  retained  a  still  vigorous  instead  of  a  more 
and  more  valetudinarian  monarch.  But  there  was  Prussia, 
there  was  the  succession  to  the  throne,  there  were  so  many 
interests  to  be  considered.  And  no,  no,  there  must  be  no 
revelation,  no  risk  of  operation,  he  must  jog  on  as  best  he 
could,  even  supposing  that  Larrey  were  right — which,  judging 
by  what  other  doctors  said,  was  by  no  means  certain. 

Napoleon  mixed  freely  with  his  soldiers  during  his  stay  at 
the  Camp  of  Chalons.  Often,  while  he  was  strolling  about  in 
undress  uniform,  he  would  ask  Corporal  Lagloire  for  a  light,  or 
exchange  a  few  words  with  Drummer  Rataplan  and  offer  him  a 
cigarette.  He  frequently  dined  in  the  open  air,  and  afterwards 
sat  over  a  camp  fire,  smoking  and  partaking  of  coffee.  The  men 
on  their  side  got  up  entertainments  to  amuse  the  imperial 
party  in  the  evening.  The  Zouaves  could  always  be  relied 
upon  to  improvise  some  laughable  show.  They  "played  at 
Arabs"   in   a   manner    which    vastly    diverted    the    Duke    of 


344  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

Cambridge  on  one  of  his  visits  to  the  camp.  One  Zouave 
would  climb  on  another's  shoulders,  and  the  pair,  after  being 
robed  by  their  comrades  as  if  forming  but  a  single  individual, 
appeared  before  the  company  in  the  guise  of  a  truly  gigantic 
Bedouin.  Again,  in  some  mysterious  fashion,  two  or  three  men 
combined  together  so  as  to  form  a  very  realistic  camel,  their 
grey  blankets  simulating  the  hide  of  the  animal,  on  whose 
hump  another  Zouave,  robed  in  sheeting,  presently  perched 
himself,  gazing  around  with  all  the  dignity  of  a  genuine  desert 
sheik.  There  was  also  the  Arab  wedding,  when  the  young 
bride,  impersonated  by  some  bearded  Zouave,  swathed  from 
head  to  foot,  sat  on  the  ground  attended  by  matrons,  who 
sang  the  praises  of  her  many  virtues,  while  some  scores  of  com- 
rades, draped  in  sheeting  and  blankets,  danced  around  to  wild, 
discordant  music. 

There  were  many  other  entertainments  and  amusements 
for  the  soldiers — skittle  alleys,  jugglers'  booths,  a  theatre,  and 
a  cafe-concert  where  professional  talent  was  displayed,  while 
some  crazy  billiard-tables  were  to  be  found  in  the  adjacent 
village  of  Mourmelan-le-Grand.  Again,  strips  of  land  for 
gardens  vrere  allotted  to  different  regiments,  and  many  men 
spent  their  spare  time  in  raising  lettuces  and  radishes,  the 
Zouaves  further  adorning  their  plots  with  flowers  and  young 
fir  trees.  They  of  course  were  a  genre  a  part,  but  one  was 
struck,  particularly  in  the  camp's  earlier  years,  by  the  similarity 
of  many  of  the  uniforms  of  the  Second  Empire  with  those  of 
the  First.  The  Grenadiers  of  the  Guard,  with  their  huge 
busbies  of  an  old-fashioned  type,  their  bronzed  cheeks  and  big 
moustaches,  particularly  suggested  the  vieucc  de  la  vieille  of 
1812  and  1813.  They  more  than  once  sat  to  Horace  Vernet 
and  Meissonier  as  models.  Unluckily  few  of  those  men  were  left 
in  1870. 

High  Mass  on  Sunday  mornings,  particularly  during  the 
Emperor's  stay  at  the  camp,  was  an  impressive  if  somewhat 
theatrical  spectacle.  There  was  a  chapel  on  the  ground,  but 
Sunday  Mass  was  celebrated  at  an  altar  on  a  lofty  staging, 
around  which  the  troops  assembled  in  full  uniform  and  under 
arms,  the  cavalry,  however,  being  on  foot.  Thousands  of 
people  came  from  neighbouring  towns  and  villages  to  see  the 


THE   MARSHALS   OF  FRANCE  345 

sight.  Sometimes  the  chief  Army-Chaplain,  sometimes  the 
Bishop  of  Nancy,  and  on  special  occasions, like  the  Fete  Napoleon, 
the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Reims,  officiated.  The  Emperor 
stood  just  below  the  staging,  surrounded  by  marshals  and 
generals  and  attended  by  Cent-Gardes.  The  Domine  salvumfac 
Imperatoreni  and  the  Te  Deum  were  accompanied  by  massed 
military  bands,  but  the  supreme  moment  of  the  ceremony  was 
that  of  the  elevation  of  the  Host.  As  the  officiant  turned  and 
raised  the  glittering  monstrance  towards  the  broad  blue  heavens 
each  soldier  fell  on  one  knee,  presenting  arms  or  saluting  with 
the  sword,  and  at  the  same  moment  the  colours  were  lowered, 
the  drums  beat,  and  the  field-pieces  roared  in  unison. 

But,  as  we  previously  indicated,  life  at  the  camp  of  Chalons 
was  not  all  amusement  and  pageantry.  The  reviews,  retraites 
mixflambeaux^Qxidi  other  solemnities  and  diversions  which  marked 
the  Emperor's  visits  came  as  interludes  amid  the  more  serious 
work.  We  cannot  here  enter  in  detail  into  the  question  why 
that  work  did  not  prove  more  successful  when  put  to  the  test,  but 
the  chief  cause  seems  to  have  been  lack  of  real  military  genius 
among  those  to  whom  the  charge  of  the  French  army  was 
committed.  The  Empire  was  unfortunate  in  its  Ministers  of 
War.  Marshal  St.  Arnaud  died  prematurely  in  the  Crimea, 
Marshal  Niel  was  carried  off  by  the  same  complaint  as  Napoleon's, 
leaving  his  efforts  at  reorganization  unfinished.*  One  who,  had 
he  been  trusted,  might,  perhaps,  have  proved  an  efficient  War 
Minister,  Marshal  Bosquet,  also  died  early. 

We  have  previously  said  something  of  those  commanders 
and  a  few  others,  and  it  is,  perhaps,  appropriate  to  add  some 
particulars  respecting  their  colleagues  in  the  Marechalat  of  the 
second  Napoleonic  era.  The  first,  we  think,  counted  three  and 
twenty  Marshals  of  France,  in  the  second  we  find  as  many  as 
nineteen,!  some  of  whom,  as  already  indicated,  were  cut  off 
prematurely  or  died  in  the  Empire's  early  years.     In  that  respect, 

*  By  great  misfortune  an  instrument  broke  during  one  of  Nelaton's 
operations  on  Marshal  Niel,  and  the  pieces  could  not  be  extracted.  Napoleon 
heard  of  this,  and  shrank  the  more  from  the  risk  of  an  operation,  not  from 
cowardice,  but  on  account  of  the  great  issues  at  stake. 

t  We  include  in  that  number  all  who  were  created  Marshals  by  Napoleon 
III.,  either  as  President  or  as  Emperor. 


346  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

Excelmans,  Ornano  and  Harispe  may  be  added  to  Bosquet, 
Niel,  and  St.  Arnaud.  Further,  Jerome  Bonaparte  was  past  all 
service  at  the  time  of  his  promotion.  Then  Vaillant,  after 
acting  as  War  Minister  during  the  Crimean  campaign,  confined 
himself  to  his  position  at  the  head  of  the  Emperor"'s  Household. 
There  remain  eleven  to  be  mentioned.  First,  there  was  the  one- 
armed  veteran  Baraguey  d'Hilliers,  born  in  1795,  who  took 
Bomarsund  in  1854,  defeated  the  Austrians  in  1859,  and  returned 
to  active  service — though  not  to  command  in  the  field — in  1870 
when  he  was  seventy-five  years  of  age.  He  was  a  soldier  of  the 
old-fashioned  type,  capable  in  his  way.  Next  may  be  mentioned 
Castellane,  Baraguey 's  senior  by  eight  years,  a  good  soldier  in 
his  younger  days  but  employed  by  the  Empire,  if  we  remember 
rightly,  only  on  home  service,  mainly  as  Governor  of  Lyons. 
Then  there  was  Magnan,  Governor  of  Paris,  whose  chief  military 
exploit,  as  previously  narrated,  was  the  Coup  d'Etat  and  who 
was  removed  from  the  scene  in  1865.  On  the  other  hand, 
Regnault  de  St.  Jean  d'Angely  showed  some  capacity  during 
the  Italian  war  of  1859  and  commanded  the  Imperial  Guard 
until  his  death  early  in  1870,  when  he  was  succeeded  in  that 
post  by  General  Bourbaki. 

A  more  important  man  was  Marshal  Randon,  who  also  died 
in  1870.  He  had  been  War  Minister  for  a  while  in  1851,  and 
again  held  that  office  from  1859  to  1867,  during  which  period 
his  authority  proved  disastrous  for  the  army,  for  as  ex-Governor 
of  Algeria  he  was  an  apostle  as  well  as  a  pupil  of  that  Algerian 
school  of  warfare  which,  as  a  school  for  hostilities  against 
European  forces,  was  the  worst  that  could  have  been  found. 
Randon  was  also  very  neglectful  in  his  departmental  duties, 
and  much  that  happened  in  1870  may  be  directly  traced  back 
to  him.  If  he  retained  his  position  so  long,  it  was,  perhaps, 
because  as  an  "elegant  Minister,"  renowned  for  his  entertain- 
ments, he  was  supported  by  so  much  Court  influence. 

He  had  been  succeeded  in  Algeria  by  Marshal  Pelissier,  the 
"  conqueror  of  Sebastopol,"  a  plump,  stumpy  little  man,  with 
dark  eyes,  black  moustache,  and  white  hair,  in  whom  the 
military  ability  and  confidence  of  an  old  soudard  were  united 
with  the  worst  characteristics  of  the  Norman  peasantry,  from 
whose  ranks  he  had  sprung.     Entering  the  Artillery  of  Louis 


THE   MARSHALS   OF  FRANCE  347 

XVIII.'s  Guard  in  1815,  just  before  Napoleon's  return  from 
Elba,  Pelissier  had  seen  active  service  in  Spain  under  the  Duke 
d'Angouleme,  then  in  Morea,  and  next  in  Algeria,  where  he 
achieved  European  notoriety  by  "  smoking"  some  five  hundred 
Arab  fugitives  in  their  caves.  In  1855  he  took  over  the 
Crimean  command  from  Canrobert,  and  reduced  Sebastopol,  for 
which  achievement  he  was  rewarded  with  the  rank  of  Marshal 
of  France,  the  title  of  Duke  of  Malakoff',  a  senatorship,  and  the 
Grand  Cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honour. 

Thereby  hangs  a  tale.  Pelissier,  as  we  have  said,  had  some 
peasant  characteristics,  and  among  them  were  greed  and  par- 
simony. Still  there  was  justification  for  the  attitude  he 
assumed  when  he  was  called  upon  to  pay  the  various  fees  of 
investiture  connected  with  the  dignities  conferred  on  him. 
Those  fees  amounted  to  about  ^£"400,  and  the  usual  application 
was  made  to  the  Marshal.  "  What ! "  he  angrily  exclaimed ; 
"  I  took  Sebastopol  for  you,  and  you  want  me  to  pay  for  doing 
so !  Tonnerre  de  Dieit,  you  won't  get  a  sou  from  me  ! "  The 
matter  was  reported  to  the  Emperor,  who  laughed  good- 
naturedly,  put  his  hand  in  his  pocket,  and  paid  the  fees  himself. 
On  the  whole,  although  Pelissier's  rewards  meant  a  large 
increase  of  emoluments,  one  can  understand  his  irritation. 
National  services,  so  different  from  services  to  a  political  party, 
ought  always  to  be  rewarded  "  free  of  charge." 

Unfortunately,  Pelissier  did  not  merely  tighten  his  purse- 
strings  under  justifiable  circumstances.  He  was  invariably 
niggardly  and  grasping.  His  Christian  name,  Aimable,  was  the 
very  antithesis  of  his  snappish,  cantankerous  disposition.  The 
vulgarity  of  his  speech  and  the  ribald  coarseness  of  his  jests 
were  a  perpetual  shock  to  people  of  culture  and  decency. 
Nevertheless,  thanks  to  the  interposition  of  the  Empress 
Eugenie,  he  contrived  to  marry  a  bewitching  Andalucian 
beauty,  the  SeSorita  Sophia  de  la  Paniega,  of  Granada,*  who 
survived  him  for  several  years,  after  leading  a  by  no  means 
happy  life  in  her  matrimonial  bonds.  Although  PeHssier  had 
no  courtly  or  diplomatic  qualifications — being  but  a  rough 
soldier,  brave  undoubtedly,  intelligent  also  in  his  profession 
(yet  achieving  pre-eminence  in  the  Crimea  chiefly  by  reason  of 

*  Her  father  was  an  impoverished  Marquis.     At  the  time  of  the  marriage 
in  1858  she  was  26  years  old,  Pelissier  being  38  years  her  senior. 


348  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

the  marked  mediocrity  of  the  men  around  him) — he  was  sent, 
after  the  Orsini  affair,  to  replace  Persigny  as  French  ambassador 
in  London.  The  British  Government,  mindful  of  Pelissier's 
Crimean  record,  could  not  object  to  the  appointment,  but  it 
was  one  for  which  the  Marshal  was  in  no  way  fit.  Later,  as  we 
have  said,  he  went  to  Algeria,  where  his  administration  proved 
galling,  predatory,  and  brutal,  engendering  rising  after  rising 
among  the  natives.  The  Marshal's  chief  aim  seemed  to  be  the 
augmentation  of  his  fortune,  and  as  his  subordinates  followed  his 
example,  the  native  population  was  despoiled  in  so  scandalous  a 
manner  that  the  home  government  had  to  intervene  to  ensure 
to  the  Arabs  the  possession  of  their  remaining  lands.  Never- 
theless, insurrection  spread,  and  was  only  being  reduced  after 
great  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  French,  when  in  May,  1864, 
Pelissier  died  suddenly  at  Algiers.  He  was*  succeeded  by 
MacMahon,  who  soon  re-established  order  in  the  colony,  its 
pacification  being  confirmed  by  the  Emperor's  visit  in  the 
following  year. 

MacMahon  was  a  born  gentleman,  and  contrasted  strongly 
with  Pelissier.  In  his  earlier  years  he  had  seen  considerable 
service  in  Algeria ;  then,  removed  to  the  Crimea,  he  had  carried, 
as  we  all  remember,  the  Malakoff"  works  of  Sebastopol.  Later, 
in  Italy,  his  share  of  the  victory  of  Magenta,  had  procured  him 
both  a  Marshal's  haton  and  the  title  of  Duke.  His  abilities 
were  not  of  the  highest  order,  but  he  was  a  good  divisional 
general,  and  as  an  administrator  he  at  least  managed  to  keep 
Algeria  quiet  during  his  command  there.  How,  in  1870,  he 
led  his  army  to  Sedan,  how  he  was  wounded  there,  will  be 
readily  recalled.  How  far,  in  later  years,  as  President  of  the 
Republic,  he  became  a  consenting  party  to  the  schemes  to 
restore  a  monarchy  in  France,  cannot  as  yet  be  fully  determined. 
Claiming  descent  from  an  ancient  and  noble  Irish  sept,  he  was 
an  aristocrat  by  inclination,  confirmed,  too,  in  such  sympathies 
by  his  marriage  with  a  lady  of  high  birth,  whose  influence  over 
him  was  considerable.  His  rule  in  Algeria,  which  was  almost 
absolute,  his  experience  in  command  of  the  army  which  subdued 
the  Commune  of  Paris,  and  thereby  prevented  the  disruption 
of  France,  had  made  him  an  authoritarian,  opposed  to  popular 
clamour  and  ascendency.    At  the  same  time,  he  had  less  personal 


THE   MARSHALS   OF  FRANCE  349 

ambition  and  a  great  deal  less  unscrupulousness  than  Bazaine. 
His  hands,  too,  were  clean.  If,  then,  he  favoured  a  monarchical 
restoration,  it  was,  we  think,  solely  by  lawful  means.  We  have 
great  doubts  whether  General  de  Rochebouefs  scheme  for  a 
monarchist  Coup  d'Etat  in  the  seventies  really  had  MacMahon's 
assent  and  support. 

While  he  was  President  of  the  Republic,  it  was  often  said 
that  he  was  deficient  in  intellect,  a  mere  puppet  in  the  hands 
of  others,  unable  to  make  a  sjjeech,  and  addicted  to  numerous 
failings.  We  were  on  the  side  against  him  in  those  days, 
holding  that  he  had  to  give  in  or  go  out,  even  as  Gambetta 
had  said.  But  we  never  thought  him  quite  the  puppet  that 
others  asserted.  We  recognized  then,  as  we  do  now,  that  the 
power  of  oratory  is  not  given  to  everybody,  and  we  were 
quite  ready  to  admit  the  exaggeration,  if  not  falsity,  of  other 
assertions.  And  now  that  the  political  passions  stirred  up  at 
that  period  have  long  since  been  stilled,  nobody,  we  think,  will 
gainsay  the  fact  that  MacMahon  had  a  courtly  way,  as  well  as 
a  soldierly  bearing.  It  was  delightful  to  see  how  he  handed 
Madame  la  Mar(^chale  either  out  of  a  carriage,  or,  if  they  were 
walking,  across  a  street.  It  was  like  a  sudden  flash  of  the 
manners  of  the  old  regime,  that  polished  yet  easy  gallantry  of 
long  ago,  such  as  was  displayed  at  the  Imperial  Court  by  only 
two  other  men.  Count  Walewski  and  Prince  Jerome. 

The  best  trait  of  MacMahon''s  comrade  Canrobert  was  a 
consciousness  of  his  limitations.  Brave,  dashing,  like  the  old 
Zouave  leader  he  was,  always  prepared — rrran! — to  crush,  as 
military  governor,  either  the  unarmed  Lyonnese  or  Parisians, 
should  they  rise  against  the  imperial  authority,  he  shrank  with 
good  reason  from  supreme  command  in  the  field.  No  doubts, 
however,  disturbed  the  tranquillity  of  Marshal  Lebceuf,  who, 
rising  to  a  supreme  position,  honestly  but  foolishly  harboured 
the  delusion  that  France,  in  1870,  was  indeed  ready  for  war. 
Forey,  the  first  of  the  Mexican  marshals,  figured  only  a  few 
years  upon  the  scene.  By  treating  the  Mexicans  as  brigands, 
and  at  least  conniving  at  the  barbarities  perpetrated  by  Colonel 
Dupin  of  the  Contra-guerilla,  he  contributed  to  the  fate  of 
Maximilian.  In  1870,  when  the  Germans  refused  to  recognize 
the  French  Francs-tireurs  as  troops,  the  Berlin  press  was  able 


350  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

to  point  out  that  this  was  by  no  means  an  innovation — a 
similar  course  having  been  followed  by  the  French  themselves 
in  Mexico.  When  Forey  was  superseded  there  by  Bazaine,  he 
returned  very  regretfully  to  France,  holding  that  he  had  been 
badly  treated.  But  a  year  or  two  later,  when  the  Mexican 
business  collapsed,  he  was  well  pleased  that  he  had  extricated 
himself  from  it  at  an  early  date.  "  It  was  Bazaine's  fault  if 
the  new  Empire  had  not  found  acceptance  among  the  Mexicans. 
Bazaine  was  a  most  incompetent  man,"  said  he,  forgetting  that 
he  had  previously  lauded  him  to  the  skies. 

There  was,  however,  truth  in  his  last  assertion,  Bazaine, 
who,  like  so  many  others,  had  been  trained  in  the  Algerian 
school,  serving  also  against  Carlist  bands  in  Spain,  and  com- 
manding the  French  contingent  against  Kinburn  in  1855,  rose 
from  the  ranks  to  supreme  command  by  a  combination  of  good 
luck  and  pushfulness.  The  gaps  in  his  military  knowledge  were 
amazing.  He  was  deficient  precisely  in  what  made  Moltke 
pre-eminent,  his  acquaintance  with  the  real  science  of  war  being 
most  limited.  It  is  frequently  asserted  that  an  ounce  of 
practice  is  worth  a  ton  of  theory.  Bazaine  was  a  living  proof 
that  this  aphorism  is  not  always  borne  out  by  facts.  Bonaparte, 
the  greatest  captain  of  the  modern  era,  at  least  studied  at 
Brienne,  but  where  and  how  did  Bazaine  study  .f*  Natural 
aptitude,  which  Bazaine  certainly  possessed,  requires  to  be 
reinforced  by  knowledge,  such  as  he  lacked.  Yet,  until  the 
autumn  of  1870,  he  always  had  his  partisans,  and  circumstances 
served  him.  While  fighting  with  the  Cristinos  against  the 
Carlists,  he  had  acquired  some  knowledge  of  the  Spanish 
language,  and  that  largely  helped  to  secure  him  a  command 
in  Mexico.  Then  came  his  opportunity.  We  will  not  say 
that,  on  succeeding  Forey,  he  might  have  firmly  established 
Maximilian  on  his  throne,  but  it  seems  clear  that  he  re- 
peatedly lied  in  his  despatches,  and  systematically  placed  his 
own  personal  interests  above  those  of  France.  If  the  contrary 
were  true,  then  all  the  many  private  letters  emanating  from 
officers  of  the  French  forces  in  Mexico,  notably  those  from 
General  Abel  Douay  and  Commander  Bressonet — letters  which 
were  so  often  opened  and  copied  for  the  Imperial  Cabinet  at  the 
Tuileries — must  have  been  mendacious.     In  Mexico  Bazaine  also 


THE   MARSHALS   OF   FRANCE  351 

acquired  a  reputation  for  rapacity,  but,  in  that  respect,  the 
poverty  into  which  he  fell  during  his  last  years  seems  to  indicate 
that  he  never  amassed  any  great  amount  of  money.  It  was  at 
Maximilian's  Court  that  he  contracted  his  second  marriage. 
His  first  wife  had  died  under  very  tragical  circumstances,  and, 
in  the  summer  of  1865,  he  espoused  a  young  Mexican  lady  of 
considerable  charm  of  person,  the  Senorita  Josefa  de  Pena  y 
Azcarate.  In  conjunction  with  a  devoted  aide-de-camp  of  the 
Marshal,  it  was  she  who,  after  his  trial  for  the  surrender  of 
Metz,  helped  him  to  escape  from  the  He  Ste  Marguerite. 

Whether  Bazaine  would  have  fared  at  all  better  than  he  did 
with  the  army  under  his  command  in  1870,  even  if,  from  the 
very  outset,  he  had  been  allowed  a  free  hand  instead  of  being 
subordinated  to  the  Emperor  and  the  latter''s  entourage^  must 
remain  doubtful;  but,  after  attending  his  trial  from  beffinnino- 
to  end,  noting  the  manner  of  the  witnesses  as  well  as  their 
evidence,  and  the  prisoner''s  own  bearing  throughout  the  pro- 
ceedings, it  has  always  seemed  to  us  only  too  clear  that,  after 
being  shut  up  in  Metz,  he  listened  to  the  voice  of  personal 
ambition.  It  may  be  taken,  we  think,  that  he  neglected  the 
true  .  interests  of  France  for  those  of  the  imperial  cause, 
imagining  that  he  would  be  able  to  restore  the  Empire  under 
the  young  Imperial  Prince,  whose  High  Constable  and  protector 
he  would  become.  He  was  a  Lorrainer  by  birth,  Metz  was 
almost  his  native  spot,  and,  however  much  he  secluded  himself 
during  those  siege-days,  he  must  have  ridden  more  than  once 
across  the  Place  Napole'on  and  along  the  Esplanade.  Statues 
of  two  great  soldiers,  Lorrainers  like  himself,  rose  upon  those 
spots — on  the  first  that  of  Abraham  Fabert,  and  on  the  second 
that  of  Michel  Ney,  that  is,  one  who  never  swerved  from  his 
duty,  but  died  honoured  by  all  men,  and  one  who,  though  brave 
among  the  brave,  suffered  death  for  having  violated  his  oath. 
But  the  lesson  of  those  two  statues  was  unheeded  by  Bazaine ; 
and  Metz,  known  until  his  time  as  Metz  la  Pucelle,  nunquam 
'polluta,  fell,  and  was  lost  to  France. 

In  the  last  days  of  1866,  a  great  council  of  the  Marshals  of 
F'rance,  with  the  Emperor  in  the  chair,  assembled  at  Compiegne, 
where  the  Court  was  then  staying.  Baraguey  d"'Hilliers, 
Canrobert,  Forey,  MacMahon,   Niel,  Randon,  Regnault,  and 


^52  THE   COURT   OF   THE   TUILERIES 

Vaillant  were  present,  the  only  absentee  being  Bazaine,  then 
in  Mexico.  Four  general  officers  also  attended  the  gathering, 
these  being  Frossard,  Montauban  (Palikao),  Trochu,  and 
Lebceuf,  the  last  named  of  whom  had  not  yet  secured  his 
marshaPs  baton.  It  was  at  this  tardy  meeting,  after  all  the 
successes  of  Prussia,  that  the  re-organization  of  the  French 
army  was  first  debated.  A  Committee  of  Reorganization  was 
afterwards  formed,  and  General  Trochu,  whom  we  have  just 
named,  was  originally  a  member  of  it.  But  his  views,  which 
went  much  further  than  Niers,  found  little  or  no  support,  and 
he  was  before  long  excluded  de  facto  from  the  committee. 
When,  therefore,  the  scheme  which  it  evolved  was  declared  to 
have  been  unanimously  arrived  at,  Trochu,  unwilling  to  let 
such  a  statement  pass  unnoticed,  penned  his  famous  pamphlet, 
"  L'Armee  Frangaise  en  1867,"Avhich  created  so  great  a  sensation 
in  every  military  circle  of  Europe,  and  led,  in  some  matters  of 
detail,  to  a  modification  of  the  plans  which  Niel  was  appointed 
to  carry  out. 

All  those  men  have  now  passed  away.  There  are  no  more 
Marshals  of  France  left — Canrobert  was  the  last  survivor.  We 
are  not  quite  certain,  however,  whether  any  of  Mesdames  les 
Marechales  remain,  but  early  in  the  eighties  there  was  still 
quite  a  company  of  them,  including  even  the  relict  of  one  of 
the  first  Napoleon's  marshals,  the  venerable  Duchess  d'Albufera, 
who,  after  wedding  Marshal  Suchet  in  1808,  had  remained  a 
widow  ever  since  1826.  A  daughter  of  Antoine  de  St.  Joseph,' 
mayor  of  Marseilles,  and  therefore  a  close  connection  by 
marriage  of  Joseph  Bonaparte,  King  of  Spain,  she  had  received 
from  him  as  a  wedding  gift  the  fine  mansion  adjoining  the 
British  Embassy  in  the  Faubourg  St.  Hondre,  in  which  she 
resided'  until  her  death.  During  the  Second  Empire  the 
Duchess  frequently  figured  at  the  Tuileries,  and  the  enter- 
tainments at  the  Hotel  dAlbufera  were  at  one  time  renowned. 
She  bore  Suchet  two  children — a  son,  who  married  the  daughter 
of  the  famous  banker  Schickler,  and  who  was  long  a  member  of 
the  Legislative  Body ;  and  a  daughter,  who  became  Countess  de 
la  Redorte.  Other  widowed  Marechales,  who  still  figured  in 
Parisian  society  a  score  of  years  ago,  were  Mesdames  Regnault 
de  St.  Jean  dAngely  and  Niel,  and  the  Duchess  de  Malakoft", 


THE   VILLEGIATURA   OF  THE   COURT       353 

Then  there  were  Mme.  de  MacMahon  and  the  Marechale 
Canrobert,  whose  husbands  were  still  alive ;  while  in  seclusion, 
somewhere  in  the  provinces,  Leboeuf  and  his  wife  were  to  be 
found. 

All  those  high  commanders  and  their  ladies  figured  from 
time  to  time,  not  only  at  the  Tuileries,  St.  Cloud,  and  the 
camp  of  Chalons,  but  at  the  other  places  whither  the  Emperor 
transported  himself.  The  annual  stay  at  Fontainebleau  some- 
times preceded  and  sometimes  followed  the  imperial  visit  to 
Chalons.  In  various  respects  the  Court's  life  at  Fontainebleau 
resembled  that  which  it  led  at  Compiegne  later  in  the  year,  but 
the  gatherings,  which  generally  coincided  with  the  Fontaine- 
bleau race  meetings,  were  perhaps  rather  more  "  fussy "  (if  we 
may  be  again  allowed  a  vulgarism),  and  whereas  at  Compiegne, 
apart  from  costumes  de  chasse,  only  the  furs  and  cloaks  and 
sombre  gowns  of  winter  were  to  be  observed  out-of-doors,  at 
Fontainebleau  the  scene  was  bright  with  all  the  hues  of  dainty 
summer  toilettes.  Unfortunately,  the  gentlemen  were  pursued 
by  the  etiquette  of  the  time,  and  in  that  connection  we  recall 
a  delightful  picture.  Imagine  the  lake  near  the  "English 
garden"  covered  with  sailing-boats,  rowing-boats,  punts,  and 
canoes,  in  most  of  which  sit  ladies  in  leghorn  hats  and 
crinolines,  while  the  gentlemen  who  are  rowing,  punting, 
paddling,  or  hoisting  sails,  invariably  wear  the  solemn  orthodox 
frockcoats  and  silk  hats  of  the  Boulevard  des  Italiens.  The 
idea  of  such  a  thing  nowadays  seems "  too  preposterous ;  but, 
then,  did  not  Marshal  Magnan,  soon  after  he  was  appointed 
"  Great  Huntsman,""  go  shooting  at  Compiegne  in  similar 
attire,  with  the  addition  of  a  white  neck-cloth  ?  And  does 
none  of  our  readers  remember  the  lithographs  of  the  late 
forties  in  which  English  tourists  were  depicted  climbing  Mount 
Vesuvius  in  frockcoats  and  "  chimney-pots "  ?  Not  so  many 
years  ago,  after  the  disruption  of  an  Alpine  glacier,  an  old 
English  beaver  hat,  such  as  must  have  once  figured  in  the  Park 
and  about  St.  James''s,  was  accidentally  discovered  by  some 
Savoyard  mountaineers.  If  such  headgear  might  be  worn  amid 
the  avalanches  of  the  Alps  and  around  the  crater  of  Vesuvius, 
it  is  not  surprising  that  it  should  have  been  thought  "  correct " 
when   you  were   paddling  your    own    canoe — or,   rather,  one 

til     A 


354  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

belonging  to  the  Emperor — on  that  lake  at  Fontainebleau. 
The  sight  may  have  been  scarcely  pleasing  to  the  tri-centenarian 
carp  in  the  water,  but  they  cannot  have  wondered  at  it,  for 
they  were  biases^  having  witnessed  so  many  vagaries  of  fashion 
since  their  youthful  days  under  the  first  Francis  ! 

We  need  give  no  account  of  the  palace  of  Fontainebleau. 
If  we  wrote  at  some  length  about  the  chateau  of  St.  Cloud,  it 
was  because  it  exists  no  more,  whereas  Fontainebleau,  happily, 
may  still  be  seen  and  admired.  Besides  having  many  associa- 
tions with  monarchical  times,  it  recalled  to  the  Imperialists  of 
the  Second  Empire  the  downfall  of  the  First,  for  it  had  witnessed 
Napoleon's  memorable  abdication,  and  his  pathetic  farewell  to 
the  Old  Guard  in  1814.  In  the  time  of  Louis  Philippe,  who 
did  much  to  restore  the  palace,  a  framed  facsimile  of  that  deed 
of  abdication  had  been  hung  in  the  room  where  the  original 
was  drawn  up,  but  it  was  removed  soon  after  the  re-establish- 
ment of  the  imperial  regime,  as  Napoleon  III.  did  not  wish 
visitors  to  be  reminded  too  pointedly  that  Napoleon  I.  had 
*' renounced  for  himself  and  his  successors  the  throne  of 
France.""  The  chief  work  accomplished  by  the  Second  Empire 
at  Fontainebleau  was  the  restoration  of  the  gallery  of  Francis  I. 
and  the  building  of  a  new  playhouse. 

From  "the  palace  in  the  forest"  the  Court  betook  itself 
to  the  shores  of  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  The  Empress  had  been 
acquainted  with  Biarritz  before  her  marriage,  and  the  Emperor 
accompanied  her  thither  early  in  the  reign.  They  first  resided 
at  a  villa  erected  by  a  Prefect  of  Bayonne,  but  in  1854  a  large 
tract  of  land,  half  reclaimed  from  the  sea,  was  purchased  for 
the  bagatelle  of  £1%  and  in  the  following  year  the  building  of 
the  Villa  Eugenie  was  begun  on  a  barren,  unsheltered,  terraced 
slope,  beaten  at  high  tide  by  the  waves,  whose  spray,  when  the 
wind  was  strong,  often  lashed  the  windows.  There  was,  how- 
ever, a  superb  view  of  the  sea  breaking  over  the  many  huge 
rocks  arising  in  the  bay ;  and  although  at  first  a  tangle  of 
juniper  bushes  and  a  few  dwarf  trees  were  the  only  vegetation 
in  the  grounds,  the  latter  were  soon  improved,  thanks  to  proper 
manuring  and  irrigation  by  means  of  an  artificial  lake  and  a 
system  of  runlets.  The  "  villa "  itself  was  originally  small, 
and  intense  was  the  dismay  of  the  Empress"'s  ladies-in-waiting 


THE   VILLEGIATURA   OF  THE   COURT       355 

the  first  time  the}'  saw  their  appointed  quarters.  "  Mais,  rnon 
Dieu!''''  exclaimed  the  gay  and  brilliant  Mme.  de  La  Bedoyere, 
whose  arrival  in  a  room  was  often  likened  by  the  Tuileries  set 
to  the  lighting  of  a  chandelier ;  "  mais,  mon  Dieu,  this  is  not  as 
large  as  a  cell  in  the  convent  where  we  were  brought  up  ! ""  "  No, 
indeed,"  protested  her  sister,  the  slim  and  willowy  Mme.  de  La 
Poeze,*  "  we  shall  never  be  able  to  squeeze  into  such  cabanons!  " 
The  consternation  of  the  ladies'  maids  found  even  more  vigorous 
expression.  The  joke  of  the  situation  was  that  this  particular 
part  of  the  villa  had  been  specially  designed  by  the  Emperor, 
who  had  imagined  that  a  room  ten  feet  square,  and  furnished 
with  a  small  iron  bedstead,  two  chairs,  and  a  dressing-table, 
would  amply  suffice  for  a  lady-in-waiting. 

The  Duchess  de  Bassano,  as  chief  of  the  ladies  in  question, 
was  naturally  bombarded  with  complaints,  and  bethinking  her- 
self of  some  means  by  which  the  grievance  might  be  ventilated 
without  giving  undue  offence,  she  drew  up  a  petition  in  verse — 
the  petition  of  all  the  crinolines,  tournitres,  and  bustles,  which 
finding  themselves  cribbed,  cabined,  and  confined  in  so  many 
hermits'  cells  at  the  Villa  Eugenie,  were  fast  losing  all  the 
vigour  and  elasticity  with  which  they  had  fascinated  the 
Parisians.  And  this  petition  was  confided  to  the  tiny  hands 
of  the  Imperial  Prince,  and  delivered  by  him  to  his  papa. 
Napoleon  took  it,  read  it,  laughed,  twirled  his  moustaches,  and 
became  thoughtful.  For  the  time  nothing  more  was  said  on 
the  subject,  but  directly  the  Court  quitted  Biarritz  that  year, 
a  small  army  of  men  set  to  work  to  enlarge  the  Villa  Eugenie. 
St.  Crinoline  had  won  the  day. 

The  villa  was  again  enlarged  on  two  other  occasions,  and  it 
at  last  assumed  the  proportions  and  appearance  of  a  college  or 
a  barracks.  Meantime  Biarritz  itself  was  growing  fast.  A 
place  of  some  importance  in  olden  days,  it  had  gradually  sunk  to 
the  status  of  a  mere  fisher's  hamlet,  but  the  imperial  patronage 
brought  it  a  renewal  of  life.     Its  resident  population  rapidly 

*  Those  attractive  ladies,  the  daughters  of  the  Marquis  de  La  Eoche 
Lambert,  at  one  time  a  Gentleman  of  the  Chamber  to  Charles  X.,  and  later 
Ambassador  at  Berlin,  and  a  Senator  of  the  Second  Empire,  have  been  referred 
to  on  p.  72.  They  had  a  sister,  the  Countess  de  Valon,  who  alone  upheld  the 
royalist  traditions  of  her  family  and  never  came  to  Court. 


356  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

increased ;  it  had  its  large  hotels,  its  restaurants,  cafes,  casino, 
and  theatre.  The  earlier  scarcity  of  vegetation  was  consider- 
ably remedied,  the  streets  being  lined  with  sycamores,  and  a 
miniature  Bois  de  Boulogne  being  planted  in  the  vicinity,  where 
many  handsome  residences,  such  as  the  so-called  chateau  de 
Gramont  and  Lord  Ernest  Bruce's  mauresque  villa,  also  sprang 
up.  Further,  there  was  a  new  church,  which  the  municipality, 
in  a  courtier-like  spirit,  caused  to  be  dedicated  to  St.  Eugenia 
— a  proceeding  that  shocked  a  good  many  of  the  devout,  as  the 
church  the  new  one  replaced  had  been  dedicated  to  Our  Lady 
of  Pity.  It  was  not  right,  said  some,  that  St.  Eugenia  should 
turn  the  Virgin  out-of-doors.  With  the  prosperity  of  Biarritz 
much  of  its  picturesqueness  departed.  Gracieuse,  the  pretty 
Basquaise  with  her  mule  and  her  cacolet,  was  seen  no  more ; 
Marinette,  who,  short-skirted  and  bare-legged,  had  raced  from 
Bayonne  with  her  basket  of  fresh  sardines  on  her  head,  also 
belonged  to  the  past.  You  no  longer  rode  a  donkey  but  a 
hack,  on  your  excursions.  The  popular  dances  were  no  longer 
seen,  the  wild  music  of  the  Basque  mountain-side  was  no  longer 
heard.  The  waltz  reigned  at  the  casino,  and  a  military  band 
played  tunes  from  "  Chilperic  "  or  "  Orphee  aux  enfers  "  on  the 
sands. 

Affairs  of  State  pursued  the  Emperor  to  Biarritz  as  they 
pursued  him  to  other  places.  Such  is  the  result  of  personal 
rule.  There  were  always  two  or  three  ministers  at  the  Villa 
Eugenie,  as  well  as  one  or  another  foreign  ambassador.  Baron 
Goltz,  the  Prussian  representative,  became  quite  enamoured  of 
Biarritz,  and  repaired  thither  every  year.  In  1865,  too, 
Bismarck's  memorable  conferences  with  Napoleon  took  place 
there,  as  we  previously  mentioned.  There  were  also  many 
visits  from  crowned  heads  and  other  royalties,  for  whose  enter- 
tainment elaborate  excursions  and  picnics  in  the  picturesque 
environs — Ustaritz,  Cambo,  the  Pas  de  Roland,  or  more  distant 
spots — were  organized  with  the  help  of  the  imperial  posting 
service.  Occasionally,  too,  the  Emperor  and  Empress  witnessed 
some  bull-fighting  at  Bayonne.  The  Emperor,  who  was  so 
susceptible  to  cold,  seldom  bathed,  but  the  Empress  (a  good 
swimmer)  did  so  regularly,  and  there  were  frequent  trips  at  sea 
—a  despatch-boat  being  stationed  in  the  old  harbour — until, 


THE   VILLEGIATURA  OF  THE  COURT       857 

a  serious  mishap  on  the  water  in  October,  1867,  alarmed  the 
Emperor  for  the  safety  of  his  wife  and  son. 

They  had  embarked  in  the  despatch-boat,  accompanied  by 
the  Demoiselles  d'Albe,  Admiral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere,  two 
ladies-in-waiting  (one  of  them  Mme.  Carette),  Dr.  Corvisart, 
and  Monsignor  Bauer — a  prelate  of  the  Papal  Household,  who 
ended  badly.  The  weather  was  fine  at  first,  but  after  the 
steamer  had  gone  as  far  as  San  Sebastian,  the  breeze  freshened 
to  half  a  gale,  and  the  sea  became  so  rough  that  the  captain 
declared  it  impossible  to  put  back  into  Biarritz,  particularly  as 
night  was  fast  falling.  The  vessel,  therefore,  made  for  St.  Jean 
de  Luz,  where  it  became  necessary  to  land  the  imperial  party  in 
its  boats.  The  fisher-folk,  who  had  recognized  it,  hurried  to 
the  jetty  with  torches  and  lanterns,  in  order  to  light  the 
channel,  and  one  boat  soon  brought  some  of  the  party  to 
shore.  But  the  other,  containing  the  Empress,  the  little 
Prince,  the  admiral,  the  doctor,  and  the  priest,  struck  a  rock 
and  began  to  fill  rapidly.  The  pilot  in  charge,  losing  his  head, 
jumped  into  the  water,  fell  back  against  the  rock,  and  was 
stunned  and  drowned ;  but  the  others  succeeded  in  getting  on 
the  rock,  the  Empress  carrying  her  son,  at  that  time  eleven 
years  old,  in  her  arms.  One  of  the  bluejackets  then  offered  to 
swim  ashore  to  procure  help,  but  the  tide  was  fast  running  out, 
and  once  the  man  was  in  the  water  he  found  that  he  touched 
bottom.  It  therefore  became  possible  for  the  crew  to  form  a 
kind  of  chain  and  pass  the  passengers  ashore — that  is  to  say,  all 
were  carried  in  that  fashion  except  Monsignor  Bauer,  who  had 
to  wade  through  the  water,  the  sailors  refusing  him  their  assist- 
ance, as  they  held  him  responsible  for  what  had  happened;  it 
being  an  axiom  among  them  that  a  priest  always  brought  bad 
luck  on  a  sea  trip.  On  the  return  of  the  party  to  Biarritz  by 
road,  the  Emperor  was  found  to  be  in  a  state  of  great  alarm. 
Owing  to  this  mishap,  and  the  undoubtedly  dangerous  nature 
of  the  coast,  he  forbade  all  such  excursions  in  future,  while,  for 
the  protection  of  others,  he  ordered  the  erection  of  a  lighthouse 
on  the- mole  of  St.  Jean  de  Luz. 

From  Biarritz  the  Court  usually  returned  to  St.  Cloud,  and 
remained  there  until  the  period  of  its  annual  stay  at  Compiegne, 
where  it  was  generally  installed  by  November  3,  that  being  the 


358  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

day  consecrated  to  St.  Hubert,  the  patron  of  the  chase.  We 
have  now  to  speak  of  the  Imperial  Venery,  otherwise  the 
hunting  and  shooting  service,  which  dated  from  April,  1852.* 
Since  Charles  X.  there  had  been  no  such  service,  and  the  work 
of  organization  was  attended  by  various  difficulties.  Edgar 
Ney,  to  whom  it  was  entrusted,  was  assisted  by  his  relative,  the 
jovial  bon-vivant  Baron  Lambert,  Lieutenant  of  the  Hunt,  and 
the  Marquis  de  Toulongeon,  a  member  of  the  house  of  Gramont 
and  at  one  period  Napoleon"'s  orderly-officer,  who  became 
Captain  of  the  Shooting-Grounds.  Fortunately  the  Marquis 
de  I'Aigle,  the  head  of  an  old  family  of  sportsmen  residing  at 
the  chateau  of  Francport,  between  the  forests  of  Compiegne 
and  Laigue,  offered  Napoleon  a  pack  of  thirty  hounds  and  two 
hunters,  and  in  return  for  this  gift  (which  formed  the  nucleus 
of  the  imperial  equipage)  he  secured  boar-hunting  rights  in  the 
forests  mentioned.! 

The  post  of  chief  huntsman  was  given  to  M.  Reverdy, 
called  "  La  Trace,"  who  had  entered  the  first  Napoleon's  service 
in  1803  as  a  kennelman,  and,  rising  in  rank,  had  succeeded 
Dutillet,  called  "  Mousquetaire,"  as  chief  huntsman  to  Charles  X. 
It  was  to  Reverdy  that  fell  most  of  the  preliminary  work  in 
1852,  but  he  was  assisted  by  the  Marquis  de  TAigle's  huntsman, 
who  entered  the  Emperor's  service.  Born  in  1785,  and  the  son 
of  an  official  of  Louis  XVL's  hunt,  Reverdy  was  a  depository 
of  all  the  old  traditions  of  the  chase,  one  schooled  in  the 
mariners  of  other  times.  Nothing  could  have  been  more 
dixhuitievie  niecle  than  the  manner  in  which  he  approached 
Ney,  with  his  whip  at  the  correct  angle  in  his  right  hand,  and 
his  three-cornered  hat  in  his  left,  and  exclaimed  while  bowing, 
"  Le  hon  plaisir  de  Monsieur  le  Comte.''''  He  had  a  high  opinion 
of  his  office,  and  quickly  resented  anything  in  the  way  of 
impertinence.  One  day  at  Compiegne  a  foolish  young  officer 
called  him  a  valet.  "  A  valet !  So  be  it,  monsieur,"  answered 
La  Trace,  "  but  please  do  not  forget  that  I  am  the  valet  of 
your  master."  He  was  also  a  very  honest  and  well-conducted 
man,  and  organized  the  imperial  service  skilfully,  this  being  the 
less  easy  as  many  of  the  men  who  were  engaged  came  from 

*  Napoleon  was,  of  course,  only  President  at  that  time. 

f  The  Imperial  Hunt  confined  itself  to  stag  or  buck  hunting. 


THE  IMPERIAL  HUNT  359 

different  hunts  with  varying  traditions  or  else  with  none  at  all. 
Among  the  assistant  huntsmen,  however,  there  was  Leroux, 
who  had  entered  the  first  Napoleon's  Hunt  in  1812,  afterwards 
passing  into  the  royal  service.  It  was  he  who  succeeded 
Reverdy  when  the  latter  retired.  There  was  also  Camus,  the 
first  mounted  limer-man,  who  had  done  duty  in  the  Hunts  of 
the  First  Empire  and  the  monarchy  ;  while  another  of  the  staff, 
Landouillet,  the  most  proficient  of  all  on  the  horn,  had 
graduated  in  the  famous  Chantilly  Hunt  of  the  last  Prince  de 
Conde.  Leemans,  who  quitted  the  Marquis  de  FAigle's  service 
for  the  Emperor's  as  whipper-in,  was  well  acquainted  with  the 
English  language,  and  accompanied  Baron  Lambert  to  England 
and  Ireland  every  year  to  purchase  hounds  and  horses.  Lee- 
mans succeeded  Reverdy  and  Leroux  in  the  chief  post,  which  he 
held  in  1870,  and  thus  it  was  to  him  that  fell  the  melancholy 
duty  of  poisoning  the  hounds,  it  being  impossible  to  keep  them 
or  sell  them  in  the  midst  of  war. 

Leaving  the  service  dlionneur  on  one  side,  the  staff  of 
the  Hunt  under  chief  huntsman  Reverdy  and  his  successors 
included  two  huntsmen,  one  mounted  valet-de-limier,  two  on 
foot,  three  mounted  whippers-in,  four  on  foot,  and  a  baker,  who 
made  the  dogs'  bread  and  prepared  their  soupe.  There  was 
also  the  stable  department  with  three  piqueurs,  a  coachman,  a 
farrier,  an  'hifirmier,  and  a  score  of  men  and  lads.  The  chief 
huntsman,  and  the  head  stable  piqueur  received  £120  a  year, 
the  huntsmen  £8  a  month,  and  the  whippers-in,  the  valets, 
kennelmen,  and  stablemen  from  £4  to  £6  a  month.  They  all 
had  free  quarters,  firing,  etc.,  received  double  pay  every  month 
of  January,  and  perquisites  representing  from  £4  to  £12, 
whenever  St.  Hubert's  Day  came  round.  The  Hunt  cost  the 
Civil  List  about  £22,000  annually. 

Attached  to  the  service  dlionneur  was  a  medical  man.  Dr. 
Aubin  des  Fougerais,  who,  curiously  enough,  was  also  doctor 
to  the  Opera-house  in  Paris,  in  such  wise  that  he  divided  his 
time  between  the  men  of  the  greenwood  and  the  ladies  of  the 
ballet.  M.  des  Fougerais  was  a  good  judge  of  horses,  and  rode 
extremely  well  until  his  leg  was  broken  by  a  kick  from  a  vicious 
animal  at  Compiegne.  From  that  time  he  was  obliged  to 
follow  the  chase  in  a  conveyance.     The    Hunt   also   had    its 


860  THE   COURT  OF  THE   TUILERIES 

painter,  Jadin,  famous  for  his  portraits  of  dogs;  he  wore  the 
uniform  of  the  Hunt,  which  he  often  joined. 

The  stables  contained  from  fifty  to  sixty  horses,  each  officer 
of  the  Hunt  and  each  huntsman  having  three,  and  the  doctor 
and  each  valet  two  at  his  disposal.  The  horses  were  always 
bought  in  Ireland  by  Baron  Lambert,  who  paid  about  d^lOO  for 
every  animal  intended  for  an  officer  of  the  Hunt,  and  from  c£'50 
to  £60  for  the  others.  The  staff  were  instructed  to  take  great 
care  of  their  mounts.  Baron  Lambert  was  too  good  natured  to 
treat  anybody  with  deliberate  harshness,  but  he  lost  his  temper 
if  a  man  of  the  staff  returned  from  the  chase  with  his  horse 
broken  down.  There  were  usually  about  120  hounds,  inclusive 
of  30  limers,  in  the  kennels.  They  were  big  English  foxhounds, 
white,  with  the  correct  black  and  fulvous  colourings,  and,  as 
in  the  old  days  of  French  royalty,  each  was  marked  with  St. 
Hubert's  cross.  Their  food  was  invariably  pounded-barley 
bread,  except  on  hunting  days,  when,  after  partaking  of  the 
curee,  they  were  treated,  on  returning  to  the  kennels,  to  soicpe 
with  beef  or  horseflesh.  They  were  all  intelligent  dogs,  came 
out  of  the  pack  in  answer  to  their  names,  proved  themselves 
well  acquainted  with  the  forests  and  adept  in  finding  their  way 
home.  On  one  occasion,  when  a  hound  had  been  lost  in  the 
forest  of  Fontainebleau,  he  arrived  three  days  later  at  the 
kennels  at  Compiegne,  having  made  a  journey  of  some  forty 
leagues.  While  M.  Leemans  was  chief  huntsman,  he  looked  after 
the  dogs  and  horses  so  well  that  the  Society  for  the  Protection 
of  Animals  awarded  him  its  medal. 

Green  was  the  predominant  colour  of  the  uniform  and  the 
liveries  of  the  Hunt.  The  former  had  a  collar  and  cuffs  of 
crimson  velvet,  and  silver  buttons  bearing  gold  stags.  There 
was  also  no  little  silver  embroidery  and  braid.  Further,  three- 
cornered  hats  were  worn,  those  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
having  their  brims  edged  with  white  plumes.  The  various 
officers  carried  long  hunting-knives.  The  Empress's  habit 
was  of  green  cloth  with  trimmings  of  crimson  velvet,  gallooned 
and  embroidered  with  gold.  In  accordance  with  the  custom  of 
former  reigns,  whenever  the  Emperor  granted  anybody  the 
right  to  follow  the  Hunt  and  wear  its  uniform,  he  sent  the 
favoured   individual   the   necessary   buttons   for  the   costume. 


THE   IMPERIAL   HUNT  361 

whence  it  resulted  that  members  of  the  company  were  often 
called  "the  Buttons."  The  Emperor's  aides-de-camp  and 
orderhes  belonged  to  the  Hunt  by  right,  and  any  civilian 
officers  of  the  Household  who  applied  for  the  buttons  usually 
obtained  them.  The  Great  Chamberlain,  the  Duke  de  Bassano, 
and  the  Great  Master  of  Ceremonies,  the  Duke  de  Cambaceres, 
wore  the  uniform,  as  did  also  Prince  Napoleon,  Prince  Murat, 
several  foreign  princes  and  diplomatists,  such  as  Lord  Cowley, 
Prince  Metternich,  and  Baron  Budberg.  Marshal  de  Castellane's 
daughter,  the  sprightly  and  witty  Marquise  de  Contades,  who, 
by  her  second  marriage  with  a  captain  of  the  Artillery  of  the 
Guard,  became  Countess  de  Beaulaincourt-Marles,  and  who,  in 
conjunction  with  Princess  Mathilde,  had  kept  house  for  Napoleon 
during  his  presidency  days  at  the  Elysee  Palace,  was,  like  that 
skilful  horsewoman  the  Baroness  de  Pierres,  one  of  the  few 
ladies  to  whom  the  privilege  of  wearing  the  uniform  was 
accorded.  Among  well-known  men  who  enjoyed  it  were  the 
Dukes  de  Morny,  Persigny,  Caumont-Laforce,  and  Vicence,  the 
Marquis  de  L'Aigle,  Marshal  MacMahon,  Count  Nieuwerkerke, 
the  Aguados,  Achille  Fould,  Baron  Henri  de  Poilly,  MM. 
d'Offemont,  de  Montgermont,  and  Edouard  Delessert.  The 
liveries  of  the  huntsmen,  whippers-in,  and  kennelmen  of  the 
Venery  partook  of  the  character  of  the  uniform,  but  the 
embroidery  was  somewhat  less  rich,  and  white  metal  buttons, 
in  some  instances,  took  the  place  of  the  silver  ones.  The 
costumes,  which  were  in  most  respects  of  an  eighteenth-century 
style,  suggestive  of  the  garb  of  Captain  MacHeath  and  Claude 
Duval,  encountered  no  little  criticism  and  ridicule  in  many 
quarters,  but  they  were  undoubtedly  picturesque,  and  not 
much  more  absurd  or  extraordinary,  perhaps,  than  the  English 
"  pink." 

At  three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  November  3,  St.  Hubert's 
Day,  when  the  Hunt  was  usually  quartered  at  Corapiegne,  a 
fanfare  sounded  in  honour  of  the  saint,  and  the  officers  and 
men,  mustering  in  full  costume,  repaired  to  the  old  church  of 
St.  Jacques,  where  a  low  mass  was  celebrated,  the  consecrated 
bread  being  offered  by  the  kennelmen.  Immediately  afterwards, 
the  forest  was  tried,  and  when  the  best  hound  in  the  pack  had 
been  singled  out  at  the  ensuing  meet,  a  lady  was  requested  to 


362  THE   COURT  OF  THE   TUILERIES 

affix  to  its  neck  a  green  silk  cockade,  the  ribbons  of  which  the  men 
shared  on  their  return  in  the  evening,  employing  them  through- 
out the  ensuing  year  to  secure  the  mouthpieces  of  their  horns. 
On  the  same  day  the  huntsmen  and  whippers-in  presented  the 
Emperor  with  a  consecrated  brioche,  and  the  Empress  with  a 
bouquet. 

The  Hunt  moved  about  during  the  year,  being  quartered 
now  at  Compiegne,  now  at  Fontainebleau,  now  at  St.  Germain- 
en-Laye,  or  elsewhere.  There  was  no  hunting  in  July  or  August, 
but  in  other  months  a  meet  usually  took  place  every  five  or  six 
days.  On  an  average,  at  some  forty  runs,  about  thirty-three 
stags  were  taken,  the  others  escaping.  The  proportion  was 
much  the  same  as  in  the  time  of  Charles  X.,  when  forty-seven 
stags  were  credited  to  sixty  hunts.  Napoleon  was  no  disciple 
of  the  old  hunting  school.  If  he  were  partial  to  the  chase,  it 
was  chiefly  for  the  sake  of  the  exercise  it  gave.  He  believed 
in  speed  ;  he  had  enjoyed  many  a  fox-hunting  run  in  England, 
and  the  comparatively  slow  and  elaborate  system  of  stag-hunting 
which  had  been  formerly  practised  in  France  by  its  princes  and 
its  nobility  did  not  appeal  to  him.  Besides,  he  could  not  give 
days  and  weeks  together  to  the  chase  as  the  Bourbons  had 
done.  Nevertheless,  the  stag-hunting  of  the  Second  Empire 
was  not  a  mere  gallop  through  the  forest  glades  amid  much 
tooting  of  horns,  as  some  writers,  who  never  witnessed  it,  have 
foolishly  asserted.  There  was  no  question  of  pursuing  "  carted 
deer,"  but  of  following  wild  and  vigorous  bucks,  sometimes 
ten-tined  stags,  who,  when  brought  to  bay,  often  proved 
dangerous.  At  those  times  the  Emperor  frequently  showed  no 
little  audacity.  To  the  Empress*'s  alarm,  he  more  than  once 
"  served "  some  monarch  of  the  forest  with  his  hunting-knife, 
and  even  when  he  employed  a  carbine  for  the  purpose,  he 
ventured  so  near  to  the  infuriated  animal  that  he  incurred 
considerable  risk.*  On  one  occasion  he  only  escaped  injury 
by  throwing  himself  flat  on  the  ground  in  such  wise  that  the 
stag  jumped  over  him.      There  were  many  bad  accidents  at 

*  The  young  Prince  Imperial's  first  hunt  was  in  1865,  On  seeing  a  carbine 
employed  to  despatch  the  stag,  he  remarked,  "  Oh  1  why  is  that  used?  When 
I'm  big  enough  I  shall  use  my  knife.  That's  what  the  kings  used  to  do.  I'm 
not  afraid  of  a  stag." 


THE  IMPERIAL  HUNT  363 

Fontainebleau  and  Compiegne.  One  day,  when  Baron  Lambert 
was  about  to  despatch  a  stag,  the  beast  charged  him,  threw 
him  down,  dislocated  one  of  his  shoulders,  and  pierced  his  arm 
with  a  tine.  On  another  occasion,  at  a  hallali  at  Compiegne, 
when  it  fell  to  the  Prince  de  la  Moskowa  to  kill  the  stag,  the 
latter  charged  M.  de  la  Rue,  one  of  the  head  forest-keepers, 
threw  him  off  his  horse,  killed  that  animal  by  ripping  it  open, 
and  then  turned  upon  Achille  Fould,  pierced  one  of  his  boots 
with  a  prod  of  its  antlers,  and  next  dashed  upon  the  mount  of 
the  charming  Mme.  Araedee  Thayer,  whose  horse  reared  in 
alarm.  Unluckily,  one  of  Mme.  Thayer's  feet  became  caught 
in  a  wheel  of  Princess  Mathilde's  carriage,  which  had  just  come 
up,  and  in  the  result  the  foot  was  broken,  and  the  unfortunate 
lady,  lamed  for  life,  had  to  be  conveyed  to  the  chateau  of 
Compiegne  on  a  litter,  and  thence,  by  special  train,  to  Paris. 

Those  are  examples  of  the  incidents  which  occurred  from 
time  to  time.  We  also  remember  witnessing  the  mishap  which 
late  in  1869  befell  the  Prince  of  Wales  (now  Edward  VII.), 
who  was  unhorsed  by  a  big  buck  in  the  forest  of  Compiegne, 
though  fortunately  with  no  worse  result  than  a  shaking,  the 
Prince  speedily  jumping  on  to  a  spare  mount,  led  for  him  by  an 
officer  of  the  Hunt,  and  at  once  resuming  the  chase  amid  the 
applause  of  the  entire  company.  With  the  conditions  of  buck- 
hunting  in  England,  and  the  reasons  of  the  opposition  offered  to 
it  of  recent  years,  we  do  not  profess  to  be  acquainted.  But  in 
France  the  sport  was  genuine  enough,  the  wild  red  deer  of 
Compiegne  and  Fontainebleau  being  by  no  means  the  meek, 
mild,  inoffensive  creatures  that  some  might  suppose.  The 
hounds  were  often  injured,  but  received  prompt  treatment,  each 
man  of  the  Hunt  being  provided  with  a  case  containing  lances, 
needles,  thread,  and  ammonia.  After  a  month's  rest  an  injured 
hound  would  readily  hunt  again,  but  he  was  never  afterwards 
quite  so  brave  at  the  hallali  as  he  had  been  before. 

One  of  the  great  sights  at  Compiegne  a,nd  Fontainebleau 
was  the  curee  in  the  evening  after  a  run.  The  Emperor,  the 
Empress,  and  the  guests  were  assembled  on  the  balconies  or  at 
the  windows  overlooking  the  courtyard  selected  for  the  occasion. 
Blazing  cressets  fixed  to  long  staves,  carried  by  soldiers  or 
servants,  illumined  the  scene,  which,  if  not  refined,  was  certainly 


364  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

most  interesting,  for  it  showed  how  well  the  hounds  could  be 
trained  and  controlled.  At  first  the  skin,  entrails,  head,  and 
antlers  of  the  stag  caught  that  day,  were  brought  into  the  yard 
and  carried  to  one  end  of  it.  The  dogs,  though  sorely  tantalized 
by  the  sight,  remained  perfectly  quiet  under  the  control  of  the 
kennelmen  at  the  other  end  of  the  yard,  until  the  royale  began 
to  sound.  Then  they  yelped  with  ever  increasing  impatience ; 
and  all  at  once,  as  the  notes  of  the  curee  came  from  the  horns 
of  the  assembled  piqueurs  and  valets,  and  the  chief  huntsman, 
who  stood  behind  the  remains  of  the  stag,  lowered  his 
whip,  they  bounded  forward  in  eager  unison.  But  when 
they  were  within  six  feet  of  their  prey  they  saw  the  huntsman's 
whip  raised  again,  and  they  immediately  halted — turning  back, 
moreover,  directly  the  kennelmen  bade  them  do  so.  Three 
times  was  that  performance  enacted,  and  though  the  hounds 
quivered  and  howled  with  excitement,  they  ever  obeyed  the 
mute  command  of  the  huntsman's  whip.  It  was  only  at  their 
third  charge  that  the  whip  remained  lowered,  and  that  the 
stag's  skin  and  antlers  were  deftly  thrown  aside,  disclosing  the 
other  remains,  on  which  the  dogs  at  last  threw  themselves  with 
wild,  ravenous  appetite  and  zest.  Nobody  could  witness  the 
sight  without  experiencing  a  thrill. 

There  was  also  some  boar-hunting  at  Compiegne  and  in  its 
vicinity  with  the  Marquis  de  FAigle's  hounds  or  those  of  Baron 
Henri  de  Poilly  of  Follembray,  whose  hunt  wore  the  English 
"  pink."  The  forest  of  Ourscamp  was  in  those  days  as  full  of 
boars  as  the  Ardennes,  where,  however,  it  is  the  practice  for  one 
to  shoot  the  boar  on  foot — a  fine  sport,  attended  by  some  risk, 
to  which  Prince  Pierre  Bonaparte  was  partial.  We  remember, 
too,  that  on  the  occasion  of  the  visit  of  several  Spanish  noble- 
men to  the  French  Court  there  was  boar-hunting  at  Marly  in 
the  Andalusian  style.  The  Emperor  also  favoured  the  attempts 
to  reintroduce  hawking  into  France,  which  were  made  by  Count 
Alfred  Werle  (of  the  Maison  Veuve  Cliquot),  with  the  assistance 
of  an  English  falconer,  John  Barr,  who  had  previously  been  in 
the  employment  of  the  Maharajah  Dhuleep  Singh  in  Suffolk. 
Count  Werle  obtained  the  Emperor's  permission  to  fly  his  hawks 
over  some  of  the  camp  of  Chalons  land,  but  the  sport  was 
stopped  by  the  advent  of  the  Franco-German  war. 


THE  IMPERIAL  HUNT  365 

There  were  four  tires  or  shooting-grounds  at  Compiegne, 
and  others  at  Versailles  and  Marly — abundant  in  hares — • 
Fontainebleau,  St.  Germain — good  in  pheasants — and  Ram- 
bouillet — noted  for  partridges.  Great  efforts  were  made  to 
acclimatize  the  Algerian  "  Garnbra "  partridge  at  Compiegne. 
In  1859  forty  thousand  eggs  were  imported,  and  the  greater 
number  of  them  were  successfully  hatched  ;  but  the  young  birds 
died  off  very  rapidly,  and  there  were  eventually  not  more  than 
two  thousand  to  turn  into  the  tii'Ss.  Even  those  disappeared  in 
a  mysterious  Avay,  and  the  phenomenon  was  not  accounted  for 
until  Geoffroy  de  St.  Plilaire,  the  director  of  the  Paris  Jardin 
d'Acclimatation,  discovered  that  the  Barbary  birds  mated  with 
the  European  species,  producing  a  cross-breed. 

The  hattue  shooting  of  the  Imperial  Court  was  on  the  whole 
very  fair,  when  one  remembers  that  the  forests  had  to  be  re- 
stocked with  game  of  various  kinds,  and  that  little  time  was 
allowed  it  to  increase.  There  was  room  for  nine  guns  at  each 
tire.  With  the  help  of  Baron  de  Lage — a  clever  and  amiable 
man,  who  was  unfortunately  somewhat  of  a  coxcomb,  and, 
according  to  one  of  his  colleagues,  killed  himself  by  his  im- 
moderate use  of  a  poisonous  hair-dye — M.  de  Toulongeon,  the 
Captain  of  the  Shooting  Grounds,  set  up  pheasantries  at 
Compiegne,  Fontainebleau,  and  Rambouillet,  which  yielded 
about  4000  birds  annually,  some  600  partridges  being  reared 
at  the  same  time.  Each  shooting-ground  was  about  six  miles 
long  and  rather  more  than  two  hundred  yards  broad.  All 
the  wood  on  the  ground  was  cut  to  a  height  of  about  four  feet, 
in  order  that  the  sportsmen  might  have  a  good  view  of  the 
game,  and  also  see  each  other.  The  shooting  parties  assembled 
about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  Emperor's  customary 
attire  was  a  dull  brown  knickerbocker-suit  and  a  soft  felt  hat,  in 
which  he  wore  a  feather,  sometimes  a  pheasanfs,  sometimes  a 
jay's.  He  was  attended  by  Baron  de  Lage,  Gastine-Reinette, 
his  gunsmith,  two  men  who  loaded  his  weapons,  the  doctor  of 
the  Hunt,  and  a  forest-keeper  in  charge  of  his  retriever,  a  well- 
trained  dog,  who  only  fetched  the  game  which  his  master  shot, 
remaining  perfectly  indifferent  to  anything  that  was  brought 
down  by  other  sportsmen.  The  beaters  were  soldiers  of  the 
garrison,  generally  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  in  number,  and 


366  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

provided  with  staves  and  clappers.  Each  man  received  for 
his  services  a  franc  and  a  rabbit  at  the  close  of  the  day's 
shooting. 

Napoleon  was  a  very  good  shot,  very  fond  of  trying  distant 
shots,  and  generally  succeeding  in  them ;  but  he  was  excelled  by 
that  born  sportsman  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  of  Austria. 
In  1867,  when  the  pair  shot  together  at  St.  Germain,  the 
number  of  head  of  game  credited  to  the  latter  was  419,  while 
the  French  Emperor's  score  was  265.  Later,  at  Compiegne, 
Francis  Joseph's  score  rose  to  600,  Napoleon's  being  200  less. 
On  the  other  hand,  Victor  Emmanuel  and  his  son.  Prince 
Humbert,  who  also  shot  over  the  Compiegne  ground,  were 
on  about  a  level  with  their  host,  while  one  of  the  most 
indifferent  shots  among  the  royalties  who  visited  the  French 
Court  was  William  of  Prussia,  subsequently  first  German 
Emperor.  Among  the  diplomatists,  Lord  Cowley  was  par- 
ticularly expert;  he  seldom,  if  ever,  missed  a  bird.  Prince 
Metternich  also  shot  well,  and  so  did  Chevalier  Nigra.  The 
last  named  was  fond  of  various  kinds  of  sport,  and  had  a  water- 
spaniel  which  caught  fish  like  a  cormorant.  Thereby  hangs  a 
rather  amusing  tale. 

One  day,  a  conversation  which  Prince  Napoleon  had  with 
Nio-ra  respecting  the  dog  in  question  led  to  the  mention  of 
cormorants  and  their  fishing  habits.  The  Prince  stored  up  the 
information  which  he  thus  acquired,  and  some  time  afterwards, 
being  with  his  father-in-law  King  Victor  Emmanuel  in  Italy, 
he  conveyed  it  to  him,  making,  however,  a  very  amusing  blunder, 
for  he  had  forgotten  the  name  of  the  bird  mentioned  by  Nigra, 
and  imagined  it  to  be  the  pelican.  When  Victor  Emmanuel 
heard  that  pelicans  could  be  trained  to  bring  the  fish  they 
caught  to  their  masters,  he  was  rather  incredulous  ;  nevertheless, 
as  the  information  was  said  to  have  come  from  Nigra,  he  thought 
he  would  test  its  accuracy.  He  had  some  pelicans  at  his  strange 
menagerie  at  Monza,  and  at  once  gave  orders  to  one  of  the 
keepers  there  to  train  those  birds  with  the  object  we  have 
mentioned.  The  attempt  was  made.  There  was  some  orna- 
mental water,  stocked  with  fish,  and  for  days  and  weeks  together 
the  keeper  walked  round  and  round  this  water,  carrying  one  or 
another  pelican  on  his  arm,  and  vainly  striving  to  persuade  the; 


THE   IMPERIAL  HUNT  367 

bird  to  dive,  fish,  and  bring  back  its  catch.  But  whenever  a 
pelican  took  to  the  water  and  caught  a  fish,  it  promptly  con- 
cealed it  in  its  pouch,  and  was  in  nowise  disposed  to  disgorge 
it  to  please  the  keeper.  The  latter  at  last  sent  word  to  the 
King  that  the  experiment  had  failed.  "Nonsense,"  was  the 
reply ;  "  you  evidently  don^t  understand  pelicans.  Nigra  says 
they  will  bring  their  master  their  catch,  and  he  ought  to  know. 
Let  another  man  try." 

Another  man  did,  and  marched  round  the  water  like  his 
predecessor,  ever  carrying  a  pelican  on  his  arm,  with  precisely 
the  same  result.  Briefly,  each  keeper  exerted  himself  in  vain, 
merely  gaining  a  severe  arm-ache  by  his  endeavours — a  pelican 
being  quite  six  times  as  heavy  as  a  cormorant — and  living  in 
the  constant  fear  that  his  failure  would  entail  dismissal.  Fortu- 
nately, Chevalier  Nigra  arrived  in  Italy  on  leave,  and  on  Victor 
Emmanuel  speaking  to  him  about  the  recalcitrant  pelicans,  the 
mystery  was  cleared  up.  "  Never  speak  to  me  on  any  hunting, 
shooting,  or  fishing  subject  again,"  said  Victor  Emmanuel  to 
Prince  Napoleon,  after  discovering  how  he  had  been  fooled ; 
"  you  know  nothing  about  such  matters."  In  point  of  fact,  the 
Prince  was  certainly  a  very  indifferent  sportsman.  His  hunting 
at  Meudon  was  mere  exercise ;  while  in  shooting,  whether  at 
Compiegne  or  on  his  own  ground  at  Villefermoy,  he  never 
bagged  more  than  one  out  of  every  three  head  of  game  at  which 
he  fired. 

M.  Magne,  long  Minister  of  Finances,  was  such  a  bad  shot 
that  the  keepers  attending  him  at  Compiegne  took  rabbits 
with  them,  knocked  one  of  them  on  the  head  directly  he  fired, 
and  then  produced  it  with  the  assurance  that  it  had  been 
killed  by  "  Monsieur  le  Ministre."  That  reminds  us  that  the 
keepers  of  Charles  X.,  who  was  also  inclined  to  be  a  poor  shot, 
resorted  to  similar  tactics,  carrying,  however,  quails  instead 
of  rabbits.  With  respect  to  the  nominal  "  Great  Huntsman  " 
of  the  Second  Empire,  Marshal  Magnan,  he  could  not  tell  a 
buck  from  a  roe  ;  while  Rouher,  the  Vice-Emperor,  peppered 
keepers  in  the  legs,  and  on  one  occasion  shot  Baron  James  de 
Rothschild's  pointer  dead.  As  for  M.  Rouland,  sometime 
Minister  of  Justice,  he  one  day  mistook  a  badger  for  a  wild 
boar,  shouting  wildly  to  the  keepers,  directly  he  perceived  the 


368  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

beast :  "  Quick  !  quick  !  a  boar  !  a  boar  ! "  Luckily,  he  was 
too  much  alarmed  to  fire,  for  it  so  happened  that  the  badger 
was  a  tame  one,  which  rejoiced  in  the  name  of  Pablo,  came  to 
you  when  it  was  called,  and  took  food  from  your  hand.  The 
next  day  some  boar''s-head  was  served  at  lunch  at  the  chateau 
of  Compiegne,  and  the  Empress  Eugenie  inquired  of  Rouland 
with  a  smile  if  he  would  accept  a  slice  of  Jiure  de  sanglier  a  la 
Pahlo. 

Now  and  again  the  Empress  joined  a  shooting  party,  and, 
like  Mme.  de  Metternich,  she  was  fairly  expert  with  her  gun. 
She  very  properly  put  down  rabbit'Coursing  on  the  lawn  of  the 
private  grounds  at  Compiegne,  where,  by  the  way,  the  forest 
was  thickly  populated  with  rabbits.  The  Emperor  ended  by 
commanding  a  general  massacre  of  them,  in  order  to  meet  the 
complaints  of  the  surrounding  agriculturists,  who  were  not 
satisfied  with  the  amounts  paid  to  them  for  damage.  The  dis- 
bursements in  that  respect  were,  on  the  whole,  considerable. 
Around  Fontainebleau  £\b()0  was  paid  annually  for  the  depre- 
dations, not  of  small  ground  game,  but  of  beasts  of  the  chase. 
According  to  M.  de  la  Rue,  an  Inspector  of  Forests  under  the 
Empire,  from  55,000  to  60,000  shots  were  fired  each  year  at  the 
Emperor's  sixteen  shooting  parties — there  being  about  nine  guns 
at  each — and  the  total  "bag"  was  25,000  head  of  game, 
including  16,000  rabbits,  8000  pheasants,  and  320  deer. 

The  Court's  arrival  at  Compiegne  early  in  November  was 
immediately  followed  by  that  of  the  first  series  of  guests  invited 
to  the  chateau.  There  were  usually  four  successive  series,  each 
being  composed  of  about  seventy  persons,  who  were  invited  for 
a  week ;  but  some  people,  like  the  Metternichs,  for  instance, 
stayed  a  fortnight  or  even  longer.  Apart  from  an  army  of 
servants,  the  suite  of  the  sovereigns  included  twenty-four  officers 
and  ladies,  in  such  wise  that  the  company  was  altogether  a 
hundred  strong.  Each  series  of  guests  travelled  to  and  fro  by 
special  trains  which  cost  the  Emperor  about  <£'40  ;  while  the 
wood  firing  in  the  hundreds  of  rooms  of  the  chateau  represented 
about  the  same  amount  every  day.*  Each  guest  had  a  dressing- 
room  as  well  as  a   bedchamber,  and  to  the   more  important 

*  It  was  largely  the  Emperor's  extreme  susceptibility  to  cold  -which  led  to 
the  enormous  consumption  of  fuel  at  the  Tuileries,  Compiegne,  and  elsewhere. 


THE   VILLEGIATURA   OF   THE   COURT       369 

invites  a  private  sitting-room  was  also  assigned.  The  hangings 
and  upholstery  were  mostly  grey,  the  furniture  was  good  old 
mahogany,  the  toilet  sets  were  of  white  Sevres  with  the  imperial 
monogram  in  gold.  Writing-tables  and  writing  materials  were 
provided  on  a  lavish  scale.  There  was  due  accommodation  for 
valets  and  ladies'  maids,  and  at  least  one  of  the  imperial  servants 
was  at  your  beck  and  call. 

Almost  as  soon  as  you  reached  the  chateau  on  a  Monday 
afternoon,  a  lacquey  appeared  bringing  a  large  tray  with  tea 
and  sandwiches,  as  well  as  wine  and  liqueurs  for  your  private 
consumption  during  your  stay.  In  the  morning,  whatever  you 
might  desire  for  your  first  dejeuner  was  served  in  your  own 
apartment ;  tea,  coffee,  or  chocolate  being  supplied  according  to 
taste.  The  guest's  morning  virtually  belonged  to  him,  unless 
he  were  one  of  the  exalted  set  privileged  to  go  shooting  with 
the  Emperor.  As  at  Fontainebleau,  frockcoats  and  silk  hats 
were  the  ordinary  wear  in  the  daytime.  The  second  dejeuner 
or  lunch  was  served  at  noon,  the  guests  assembling  on  either 
side  of  the  Galerie  des  Cartes — so  called  from  its  large  maps  or 
plans  of  the  forest  of  Compiegne — where  they  awaited  the 
coming  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress.  In  the  afternoon,  if 
there  was  no  hunting  (there  was  usually  a  meet  once  a  week), 
there  were  excursions  to  Pierrefonds  or  other  places,  drives 
through  the  forest,  pigeon-shooting,  or  various  games  of  dexterity 
in  the  grounds  of  the  chateau.  Between  four  and  five  o'clock 
you  returned  to  your  room,  >vhere  tea  was  served  to  you,  unless, 
as  occasionally  happened,  you  received  an  invitation  to  partake 
of  it  in  the  Empress's  private  apartments.  The  The  de 
rimperatrice  was  generally  a  very  pleasant  moment  of  the  day, 
when  the  literary  men,  artists,  and  other  "  intellectuals  "  of  the 
company  appeared  at  their  best. 

Dinner  was  served  at  about  half-past  seven,  the  whole 
company  again  assembling  in  the  Galerie  des  Cartes  and  goino- 
processionally  through  the  guard-chamber  to  the  great  dining- 
room,  which,  with  its  blaze  of  lights,  presented  a  striking  scene, 
the  table  being  adorned  by  a  superb  silver  surtout  of  finely 
chiselled  hunting  subjects  and  a  profusion  of  other  plate,  as  well 
as  porcelain  and  crystal.  There  were  usually  a  hundred  covers. 
The  band  of  the  Imperial  Guard  played  in  an  adjoining  room. 

2  B 


370  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Dinner  over,  coffee  was  taken  in  the  Galerie  des  Cartes,  smokers 
turned  into  the  apartment  reserved  to  them,  and  the  other 
guests  betook  themselves  to  the  drawing-rooms.  A  variety  of 
evening  amusements  was  provided — bilKards,  table-quoits  (to 
which  Napoleon  was  partial),  private  theatricals  on  the  little 
drawing-room  stage,  or  performances  by  one  or  another  of  the 
Paris  professional  companies  in  the  playhouse  of  the  chateau.. 
Again,  there  were  simple  parlour  games — "consequences," 
"  forfeits,"  "  spelling  bees,"  and  once  or  twice,  en  petit  comite, 
half  an  hour's  merriment  at  blind-man's  buff.  Further,  there 
was  dancing,  on  some  occasions  a  mere  improvised  sauterie,  on 
others  something  more  elaborate,  ending  in  the  customary 
cotillon ;  and  now  and  again  Leverrier,  the  astronomer,  would 
lecture  on  his  particular  science  and  the  plurality  of  worlds,  or 
Wurtz  would  discourse  on  chemistry,  Longuet  on  the  circulation 
of  the  blood,  and  Pasteur  on  the  diseases  of  wines  or  physiology 
or  medicine.     That  reminds  us  of  a  story. 

On  one  occasion,  after  Pasteur  had  made  various  experiments 
with  frogs  before  the  company,  he  took  back  to  his  own  room 
the  box  in  which  some  of  the  animals  were  left,  and  forgot  to 
remove  it  when  he  quitted  the  chateau.  The  apartment  was  then 
assigned  to  a  lady  guest,  who,  on  the  very  first  night  of  her 
stay,  was  aroused  by  strange  sounds  proceeding  from  under  the 
bed.  In  her  alarm  she  summoned  her  maid,  and  bade  her 
ascertain  what  was  concealed  there.  The  maid,  as  terrified  as 
her  mistress,  fearing,  indeed,  lest  she  would  find  the  proverbial 
man  under  the  bed,  at  first  hesitated  to  obey  the  order,  but 
when  she  had  done  so  she  drew  breath,  exclaiming,  "There's 
nothing,  madame,  nothing  at  all  excepting  a  little  box.  Here 
it  is."  So  speaking,  she  took  up  the  box  to  let  her  mistress  see 
it,  and  at  the  same  moment  raised  the  lid,  whereupon  a  dozen 
frogs  from  the  Compiegne  ponds  jumped  on  to  the  bed  amidst 
the  horrified  shrieks  of  both  women.  There  was  a  great  to-do, 
many  people  were  aroused  from  their  sleep,  and  though  the 
hour  was  late,  another  room  had  to  be  immediately  found  for 
the  lady,  who  vowed  that  she  would  not  remain  in  that  chamber 
of  horrors  a  moment  longer  ! 

Among  the  literary  names  which  we  recall  as  having  figured 
in  the  lists  of  invites  to  Compiegne  were  those  of  Merimee, 


THE   VILLEGIATURA   OF  THE   COURT        371 

Feuillet,  Sandeau,  Nisard,  About,  Gautier,  St.  Amand,  Doucet, 
and  Sylvestre  de  Sacy.  The  representatives  of  art  included 
Theodore  Rousseau,  Moreau,  Gustave  Boulanger,  Eugene  Lami, 
Paul  Baudry,  Robert  Fleury,  and  Viollet-le-Due,  who  staged 
the  private  theatricals.  To  the  same  set  belonged  Couture, 
who,  when  the  Empress  inquired  if  he  were  comfortable  in  the 
room  assigned  to  him,  sweetly  replied  :  "  Oh  yes ;  it  reminds 
me  of  the  garret  in  which  I  began  my  career  ;  "  and  Carpeaux, 
who,  in  1864,  modelled  at  Compiegne  his  statue  of  the  young 
Imperial  Prince  leaning  on  the  Emperor's  favourite  dog,  a  brown 
setter  named  Nero,*  which  piece  of  statuary  was  saved  from 
the  conflagration  of  the  Tuileries  and  is  now  at  Farnborough. 
Carpeaux  was  also  to  have  executed  a  bust  of  the  Empress,  but 
she  could  not  give  him  the  sittino-s  he  desired. 

Among  the  notable  musicians  who  went  to  Compiegne 
were  Auber,  Ambroise  Thomas  and  Liszt ;  while  among  the 
men  of  science,  in  addition  to  those  previously  mentioned,  was 
the  Empress's  eminent  relative,  Ferdinand  de  Lesseps,  who 
visited  the  Court  when  from  time  to  time  he  came  to  France 
to  rest  from  his  labours  at  Suez.  The  Emperor  was  keenly 
interested  in  that  great  enterprise  the  Suez  canal,  and  often 
remarked  to  Lesseps :  "  When  you  have  severed  Asia  from 
Africa,  you  must  sever  North  from  South  America  in  the  same 
way.""  Many  years  previously  Napoleon  himself,  after  perusing 
some  lectures  delivered  by  Professor  Ritter  before  the  Berlin 
Geographical  Society,  had  become  keenly  interested  in  the 
question  of  a  Panama  or,  rather,  a  Nicaraguan  canal.  While 
he  was  imprisoned  at  Ham  he  devoted  considerable  time  to 
studying  the  question,  and  proposed  to  go  to  Central  America 
immediately  after  his  release  from  confinement.  There  were 
even  negotiations  between  him  and  various  Central  American 
authorities,  and  in  support  of  the  scheme  he  produced  a 
pamphlet   in   the  English  language,  entitled   "The  Can^l  of 

*  Napoleon  was  inclined  to  be  a  "  doggy "  man.  He  was  extremely 
attached  to  Nero,  who  generally  accompanied  him  on  his  walks,  and  remained 
with  him  in  his  private  room.  If  ever  the  Emperor  vacated  his  armchair, 
Nero  immediately  installed  himself  in  it,  and  Napoleon  indulgently  allowed 
him  to  remain  there.  The  Emperor  also  became  attached  to  a  little  dog 
named  Tita,  belonging  to  his  secretary,  M.  P.  Pietri.  Tita  often  jumped  on 
his  knees  to  be  fondled,  and  lick  him  in  return. 


ST2  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Nicaragua;  or,  a  Project  to  connect  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
Oceans  by  means  of  a  Canal "  [London  :  Mills  &  Son,  1846].* 
But  the  negotiations  failed,  and  he  then  took  up  his  residence 
in  King''s  Street,  St.  James''s. 

The  sovereigns  whom  we  recall  as  visitors  to  Compiegne 
were  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  and  the  Kings  of  Holland,  Italy, 
Portugal,  and  Prussia.  The  last  named  went  there  twice,  first 
in  November,  1861,  when  his  retinue  included  Bismarck, 
Hatzfeld,  Manteuffel,  and  the  Prince  of  Reuss.  The  greatest 
harmony  prevailed  on  that  occasion ;  Napoleon  went  about  arm- 
in-arm  with  his  good  brother  William,  to  whom  he  was  to 
surrender  his  sword  in  after-years  at  Sedan  ;  and  William,  when 
reviewing  the  young  pupils  of  the  Grenadiers  of  the  Guard, 
among  whom  marched  the  little  Imperial  Prince,  smiled  at 
the  sight  of  the  child's  soldierly  bearing,  and,  turning  to 
the  Empress,  gallantly  kissed  her  hand  —  a  pretty  way  of 
complimenting  her  on  her  son. 

Of  course  most  of  the  Court  folk  were  invited  to  Fontaine- 
bleau  and  Compiegne  at  one  or  another  time.  The  horse-racing 
element  appeared  there  with  Count  Lagrange,  Charles  Laffitte, 
and  the  young  Talons.  Great  Britain  was  represented  by  her 
ambassadors,  the  Prince  of  Wales,  the  Hamiltons,  the  Earl  of 
Clarendon,  Mr.  Blount,  the  Duke  of  Atholl,  the  Marquis  of 
Tullibardine,  and  the  Earl  of  Dunmore,  who  astonished  both 
the  Court  and  the  natives  by  appearing  in  the  Highlander 
uniform.  We  also  remember  seeing  there  the  present  Marquis 
of  Lansdowne,  who,  as  the  grandson  of  Count  de  Flahault,  was 
naturally  persona  grata  at  the  Imperial  Court.  The  ladies  of 
Compiegne  and  Fontainebleau  were  those  of  the  Tuileries  to 
whom  we  have  so  often  referred.  A  few  additional  names  may 
perhaps  be  mentioned.  The  Empress's  mother,  Mme.  de 
Montijo,  who  seemed  to  keep  very  much  in  the  background 
when  the  Court  Avas  in  Paris,  came  quite  to  the  front  at 
Compiegne — or  perhaps  it  would  be  best  to  say  that  she  was 
more  observed  there,  the  company  being  less  numerous  than  at 
the  Tuileries.  She  often  played  chess  with  Merimee.  Then, 
too,  "  Marcello "  the  sculptor,  otherwise  the  widowed  Adele 

*  See  on  that  subject  M.  G.  de  Molinari's  "  Napoleon  III.  publiciste  " 
(Brussels,  1861). 


THE   VILLEGIATURA   OF  THE   COURT        373 

d'Affrey,  Duchess  Colonna  di  Castiglione,  was  more  than  once  a 
guest  at  Compiegne,  though  she  was  seldom  seen  at  the  Tuileries. 
Further,  the  ladies  of  the  house  of  Caraman-Chimay  followed 
wherever  the  Court  went.  Foremost  among  them  were  the 
beautiful  golden-haired  Countess  Louise  de  Mercy-Argenteau 
and  her  sister  Princess  Constantine  Czartorj'ska,  in  the  veins  of 
both  of  whom  coursed  the  blood  of  Madame  Tallien,  The 
Countess,  who  resembled  Marie-Antoinette,  was  a  great  pianist, 
and  often  held  the  musical  folk  of  the  Court  entranced  by  her 
fine  performances.  She  was  one  of  those  who,  having  been  a 
friend  of  the  fair  days,  remained  one  when  the  evil  days  arrived. 
After  Sedan,  she  and  her  husband  visited  Napoleon  at 
Wilhelmshohe.  There  was  also  Mile.  Valentine  de  Caraman- 
Chimay,  a  sister  or  cousin  of  the  ladies  we  have  mentioned.  She 
was  not  pretty,  but  she  had  a  very  taking  way,  and  the  Empress 
Eugenie  was  much  interested  in  her.  She  made,  however, 
a  most  unfortunate  marriage  with  the  Prince  de  BeaufFremont, 
and  before  many  years  had  elapsed  all  Europe  rang  with  the 
story  of  her  troubles,  which  ended  by  her  flight  from  France 
with  her  daughters,  her  change  of  nationality  and  religion,  and 
her  marriage  to  Prince  George  Bibesco. 

We  have  mentioned  that  there  were  two  kinds  of  theatrical 
performances  at  Compiegne.  At  times  the  company  of  the 
Comedie  Fran9aise  came  to  play  some  work  of  Ponsard's,  or 
one  of  Augier's,  such  as  "  Le  Gendre  de  M,  Poirier,"  or  else 
a  piece  of  the  repertoire,  such  as  "  Les  Plaideurs "  or  "  Le 
Misanthrope.""  At  another  time  one  heard  the  artistes  of  the 
Opera  Comique  in  "  Le  Bre  aux  Clercs ""  or  "  Le  Domino  Noir," 
and  on  other  occasions  came  the  turn  of  the  Gymnase  with 
"  Montjoye,""  or  of  the  Vaudeville  troupe  with  Sardou's 
"Famille  Benoiton."  The  actors  were  always  well  paid, 
travelled  to  and  fro  in  special  trains,  and  were  entertained 
at  champagne  suppers  after  their  performance.  But  it  was 
certainly  the  amateur  theatricals  which  constituted  the  chief 
feature  of  evening  amusement  at  Compiegne.  Ponsard's  clever 
charade   in   verse  called  "  Harmonic,"  *   Morny's   "  Succession 

*  Armes-au  nid.  In  the  first  section,  Nieuwerkerke  figured  as  a  knight 
receiving  his  arms;  in  the  second,  Countess  Fleury  presented  the  little 
Imperial  Prince  in  a  nest  of  flo^Yers. 


374  THE   COURT  OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Bonnet,"  M.  de  Massa's  "  Cascades  de  Mouchy,""  and  particu- 
larly his  "  Commentaires  de  Cesar,"  played  in  1865,  were 
among  the  great  successes.  We  have  previously  referred  to 
the  last-named  production  in  connection  with  the  prominent 
share  which  Princess  Pauline  Metternich  took  in  it.*  Count 
Solms,  the  Prussian  Charge  d'affaires,  who  played  the  part 
of  an  itinerant  marchand  de  coco ;  Baron  Lambert,  who  got 
himself  up  as  the  legendary  Monsieur  Prudhomme,  the  butt 
of  French  satirists ;  and  Mr.  Ashton  Blount,  who  figured  as 
a  music-hall  "  star  "  of  the  fair  sex  (that  is,  as  Theresa  of  "  La 
Femme  a  Barbe "  and  "  Rien  n'est  sacre  pour  un  Sapeur "), 
were  among  the  cleverest  of  the  masculine  performers,  though 
General  Mellinet,  as  a  venerable  invalide,  and  M.  de  Galliff'et, 
as  a  young  infantryman,  also  scored  successes  behind  the  scenes 
as  well  as  before  the  footlights.  It  happened,  indeed,  that 
during  an  entr''acte  the  Emperor  strolled  to  the  rear  of  the 
stage,  and  on  seeing  two  men  in  uniform  who  saluted  him  and 
whom  he  did  not  recognize,  he  imagined  that  they  belonged 
to  the  garrison,  and  had  been  recruited  for  some  special  duty. 
He  therefore  engaged  them  in  conversation  according  to  his 
practice  on  such  occasions,  and  he  was  ah'eady  feeling  in  his 
pockets  to  ascertain  if  he  had  any  money  about  him,  when, 
noticing  the  decrepit  appearance  imparted  to  Mellinet  by  his 
"  make  up,"  he  exclaimed  :  "  Mais,  mon  brave,  they  ought  not  to 
have  brought  you  here  at  this  time  of  night.  They  ought  to 
have  engaged  a  younger  man.  You  do  not  look  at  all  strong." 
At  this  Mellinet  lost  his  self-control,  giving  vent  to  words  of 
protest  in  his  natural  voice,  which  immediately  revealed  his 
identity  to  Napoleon,  who  remained  for  some  minutes  shaking 
with  laughter  at  the  strange  appearance  of  his  poor  old 
general. 

Some  of  the  songs  figuring  in  M.  de  Massa's  piece  were 
very  lively,  and  great  was  the  success  of  Princess  Metternich, 
when,  wearing  her  smart  uniform  a  la  "  Fille  du  Regiment," 
with  her  fist  on  the  little  keg  at  her  side,  she  sang  in  spirited 

fashion : 

"  Je  suis  une  guerri^re 
Au  coeur,  au  coeur  joyeux  1 
La  vi — la  vivandi^re 
Des  Turcos  bleus  I  " 

*  See  ante,  p.  285. 


THE   VILLEGIATURA   OF  THE   COURT        375 

In  the  part  assigned  to  Mme.  Bartholoni,  that  of  England, 
there  were  frequent  references  to  the  entente  cordiale  then  pre- 
vaiHng  between  the  two  countries,  and  when  this  lady  was 
joined  by  Mme.  de  Pourtales,  who  appeared  as  France,  vows  of 
eternal  friendship  were  exchanged,  and  the  following  dialogue 
ensued : — 

France :  Free  trade ! 

England :  Yes,  and  no  more  passports !     Let  us  have  a  bridge 

over  the  Channel ! 
France  :  All  right !     We  will  prolong  the  Boulevard  Haussmann 

to  Piccadilly. 
Monsie^(,r  Prudhomme  (aside) :  Good  !    I  must  buy  land.    It  will 

go  up  in  value. 

But  all  that  was  a  dream.  No  bridge  was  ever  thrown  across 
the  silver  streak,  nor  does  it  seem  likely  that  there  will  ever  be 
a  tunnel  beneath  it. 

However  imperfect  may  be  our  sketch  of  Court  life  at  Com- 
piegne,  it  will,  we  trust,  convey  to  the  reader  some  idea  of  its 
character,  and  induce  him  to  banish  from  his  mind  all  thoughts 
of  those  foolish  legends  of  "  orgies,"  which  at  one  time  circulated 
on  every  side.  A  whole  volume  would  be  required  to  do  justice 
to  the  subject.  The  life  was  gay  in  its  way,  but  even  if,  as  we 
mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter,  some  ladies  of  the  Court  did 
sometimes  appear  as  dames  du  ballet,  the  line  was  drawn  there. 
Of  course,  no  indecorum  was  ever  witnessed  either  then  or 
at  the  general  dancing.  For  the  rest,  there  were  the  picturesque 
meets  in  the  forest  on  hunting  days,  all  the  exhilarating  rides 
and  drives  hither  and  thither,  whence  many  a  guest,  whether 
jaded  politician  or  pleasure-seeker,  derived  undoubted  benefit, 
returning  to  Paris  with  a  new  fund  of  energy  for  the  work  or 
the  amusements  of  the  coming  season. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  IMPERIAL  PRINCE LAST  DAYS  OF   THE    EMPIRE 

WAR   AND    REVOLUTION — FATE    OF    THE    TUILERIES 

The  Imperial  Prince — His  Governesses,  Nurse,  and  Tutors — A  Plucky  Boy — ■ 
His  Military  Education — His  Governor,  General  Frossard — His  Aides-de- 
camp— His  Equerry,  Stables,  and  Horses — Playmates  of  his  Boyhood — 
Political  Prospects — The  Emperor  and  Parliamentary  Eule — The  Necessity 
of  Revenge  on  Prussia — The  Coalition  between  France,  Austria,  and  Italy 
— The  Mission  of  General  Lebrun — The  first  HohenzoUern  Candidature — 
The  New  Liberal  Empire— The  Career  of  Emile  OUivier — He  becomes 
Prime  Minister — Squibs  on  Rouher — OUivier's  Difficulties — Madame 
Ollivier — The  New  Constitution  and  the  Plebiscitum — The  Medical 
Consultation  respecting  Napoleon's  Health — The  Illness  still  kept  Secret 
— The  Second  HohenzoUern  Candidature  and  the  Outbreak  of  War — 
The  Emperor  and  his  Illness  again — The  French  Defeats  and  OUivier's 
Fall — The  Last  Reception  at  the  Tuileries — Bazaine  under  Metz — General 
Trochu  and  the  Empress — The  Emperor's  proposed  Return  to  Paris — The 
Empress's  Last  Days  at  the  Tuileries — The  News  of  Sedan  in  Paris — 
The  Revolution — Scenes  at  the  Tuileries — Departure  of  the  Empress — 
The  Palace  during  the  Siege  of  Paris  and  the  Commune — Its  Destruction 
by  Fire. 

In  chronicling  the  birth  of  the  Imperial  Prince  we  mentioned 
that  Mme.  Bruat,  widow  of  the  distinguished  admiral  of  that 
name  who  commanded  the  French  fleet  during  the  Crimean 
War,  was  appointed  Governess  of  the  Children  of  France, 
with  Mme.  Bizot,  widow  of  General  Bizot,  and  Mme.  de 
Branpion,  widow  of  a  colonel  of  the  Line,  as  under-governesses. 
The  duties  attaching  to  those  posts  were  neither  many  nor 
onerous,  the  child*'s  bringing-up  being  so  largely  directed  by  his 
mother  the  Empress.  Mme.  Bruat's  salary  was  c£*1200,  that 
of  Mmes.  de  Branfion  and  Bizot  .^^400  a  year.  Mme.  Bruat 
did  not  reside  at  the  Tuileries,  but  called  there  every  day  in  a 
Court  carriage  placed  at  her  disposal.  One  or  other  of  the 
under-governesses  was,  however,  always  at  the  palace,  and 
accompanied  the  little  Prince  whenever  he  was  taken  for  a 


THE  IMPERIAL  PRINCE  3T7 

drive.      The  under-governesses  were  lodged  and  boarded,  and 
dined  every  Sunday  at  the  imperial  table. 

The   person   who   actually   brought   up   the  little  Prince, 
particularly  after  he  was  weaned,  was  his  English  governess 
or    nurse,   Miss    Shaw,   a   well-bred,  intelligent,  and   devoted 
woman,  to  whom  the  child  became  extremely  attached.     She 
was  constantly  with  him,  sleeping  from  the  time  of  his  birth 
onward  in  an  alcove  of  the  room  he  occupied.     In  March,  1863, 
when    the   Prince,   having   completed   his    seventh    year,   was 
officially  regarded  as  being  no  longer  in  the  custody  of  women 
(though  de  facto  this  was  scarcely  the  case),  M.  Francis  Monnier 
was  appointed  to  be  his  tutor.     The  boy  was   at   that   time 
inclined  to  be  turbulent  and  self-willed,  and  Monnier,  a  literary 
man,  often  absent-minded  and  careless,  like  some  of  his  class, 
did  not  give  full  satisfaction.     His  place  was  taken,  then,  by 
M.  Augustin  Filon,  who  remained  attached  to  the    Prince's 
person  in  one  or  another  capacity  until  he  quitted  the  Royal 
Military  Academy  at  Woolwich.     In   addition  to  a  resident 
tutor,   the   boy  had   several   masters.     He   was   instructed   in 
matters  of  religion  and  prepared   for  his  first  communion  by 
Abbe  Deguerry  of  the  Madeleine,  who  came  to  the  Tuileries 
twice   a  week.      After   the    Prince   had   made   his    first  com- 
munion in  1869,  the  Abbe  still  gave  him  certain  instruction 
once  a  fortnight.      The    Prince's   handwriting-master    was    a 
M.    Simonard,    who   gave   him    two    lessons   a    week.     A  Mr. 
Maynard    gave    him    lessons    in    English,    and    a    M.     Levy 
lessons  in  German.     Further,  still  twice  a  week,  he  was  in- 
structed in  history  by  a  then  young  but  now  distinguished 
man,  M.  Ernest  Lavisse,  of  the  French  Academy.     That  was 
an  age  of  Latin,  and  thus  there   was  five  Latin  lessons  each 
week,  the  masters  being  successively  M.  Edeline,  M.   Poyart, 
and  M.  Cuvillier.     There  was   no  interruption  of  the  lessons, 
whether  the   Prince   were  at  the  Tuileries,  or  St.  Cloud,  or 
Fontainebleau,  or  Compiegne.     In  the  two  former  instances  the 
masters  were  fetched  and  driven  home  in  Court  carriages  ;  in 
the  latter  they  travelled  by  rail  as  members  of  the  Imperial 
Household,  and  carriages  were  again  at  their  disposal.     With 
respect  to  the  Court's  sojourn  at  Biarritz,  that  coincided  with 
the  l*rince's  vacation. 


378  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

There  is  no  doubt  that  he  was  an  intelligent  boy  and  made 
good  progress  with  his  studies.  He  had  artistic  inclinations 
and  could  draw  very  fairly  indeed.  He  was  also  very  plucky, 
the  result,  in  some  measure,  no  doubt,  of  his  training  even  in 
infancy,  when  he  was  allowed  to  tumble  about  and  pick  himself 
up  as  best  he  could.  It  is  related  that  on  one  occasion  in  his 
early  years,  when  Dr.  Nelaton  performed  some  operation  on 
him,  he  suddenly  winced.  "  Did  I  hurt  you  ?  "  Nelaton  inquired. 
"  No,  monsieur  le  docteur,"  the  boy  answered,  "  but  you  startled 
me."  It  may  be  added  that  at  an  early  date  those  about  the 
Prince  impressed  on  him  that  the  name  of  Napoleon  was  a 
synonym  of  bravery,  and  that,  his  own  name  being  Napoleon, 
it  was  his  duty  to  be  brave.  There  are  many  anecdotes  of  his 
childhood,  which  show  that  he  never  forgot  that  lesson.* 

His  training  for  the  profession  of  arms  began  at  a  very  early 
date.  As  an  infant  he  was  taught  the  military  salute,  and  in 
1860,  when  he  was  but  four  years  old,  he  was  incorporated,  at 
least  nominally,  among  the  enfants  de  troupe  of  the  Grenadiers 
of  the  Guard,  and  began  to  attend  reviews  with  his  father. 
A  little  later  real  drilling  commenced  ;  he  learnt  the  goose 
step,  bayonet  exercise,  fencing,  and  so  forth.  The  illustrated 
newspapers  of  those  days  were  full  of  engravings  showing  him 
participating  with  his  young  comrades  in  the  drill-lessons 
given  them.  At  last,  in  186T,  when  the  Prince  was  only  in 
his  eleventh  year,  a  Military  Governor  was  assigned  to  him, 
this  being  General  Frossard,  who  had  served  the  Emperor  as 
aide-de-camp,  and  who,  as  we  had  occasion  to  point  out  in  one 
of  our  early  chapters,!  was  an  officer  of  considerable  merit,  in 
spite  of  his  defeat  at  Forbach  (Speichern)  at  the  outset  of  the 
Franco-German  War.  In  that  connection  it  may  be  mentioned 
that  already  in  1867  Frossard  prepared  for  the  Emperor  an 
elaborate  plan  for  the  defence  of  France  in  the  event  of  a 
Prussian  attack.  When  invasion  came  in  1870,  some  part  of 
Frossard's  plan  was  put  into  execution.  It  was,  notably,  in 
accordance  with  his  ideas  that  the  battle  of  Worth,  schemed 
out  by  him  in  1867,  was  fought.  Frossard,  however,  had 
planned  it  with  a  view  to  victory,  not  defeat,  though  in  the 

*  By  his  father  and  mother,  however,  he  was  invariably  called  Louis. 

t  See  ante,  p.  47. 


THE   IxMPERIAL   PRINCE  379 

latter  case  it  was  to  have  been  followed  by  a  strenuous  defence 
in  the  forest  of  Haguenau.  Unfortunately,  Frossard  did  not 
correctly  forecast  the  relative  strength  of  the  combatants ;  the 
success  of  his  plan  depended  also  on  the  presence  of  a  more  able 
general  than  MacMahon,  and  he  never  imagined  that  Worth 
would,  even  in  the  Avorst  case,  become  such  a  rout  and  panic  as 
to  prevent  all  possibility  of  resorting  to  the  Haguenau-forest 
defence.  At  the  same  time,  Frossard's  scheme  (which  provided 
for  four  armies  totalling  440,000  men)  shows  genuine  ability, 
and  under  other  circumstances,  had  the  effective  and  general 
disposition  of  the  French  forces  been  different,  it  might  have 
achieved,  perhaps,  a  measure  of  success.* 

The  General  was  a  tall,  slim,  and  somewhat  reserved  man, 
whom  the  Emperor  knew  to  be  an  excellent  father,  for  which 
reason  he  entrusted  the  young  Prince  to  his  care.  They  got  on 
very  well  together,  and  the  Prince  until  his  last  years  always 
spoke  favourably  of  his  military  governor.  Frossard''s  emolu- 
ments were  ^£^1200  a  year,  with  the  use  of  horses  and  carriages 
of  the  imperial  stables.  Under  him  were  the  Prince's  aides-de- 
camp (salary  i?400  per  annum),  who  were  selected  from  among 
the  Emperor's  former  orderly  officers.  They  included  Count 
Viel-d'Espeuilles,  a  lieut.-colonel  of  cavalry ;  Count  de  Ligniville, 
a  major  of  light-infantry  (Chasseurs-a-pied) ;  Major  Lamey,  an 
engineer  officer ;  and  Captain  Duperre,  of  the  imperial  navy. 
MM.  Lamey  and  Duperre  were  with  the  Prince  during  the  cam- 
paign of  1870,  the  last-named  accompanying  him  to  Belgium 
and  thence  to  England.  Both  were  devoted  to  the  imperial 
family.  A  doctor,  M.  Barthez,  was  also  attached  to  the 
Prince's  person. 

The  latter's  stable  was  quite  distinct  from  the  Emperor's 
establishment,  except  with  regard  to  its  expenses,  and  the 
general  control  of  the  Great  and  First  Equerries.  The  Prince's 
riding-master  was  M.  Bachon,  a  Gascon  by  birth,  who  had  once 
belonged  to  the  cavalry  school  of  Saumur,  but  who,  having 
participated  in  Napoleon's  attempt  at  Boulogne,  had  lost  his 

*  Frossard's  plan  will  be  found  in  Part  I.  of  the  French  official  History  of 
the  War:  "La  Guerre  de  1870-71,"  Paris,  Chapelot,  1902.  Frossard's  best 
achievement  was  probably  the  direction  of  the  siege  works  of  Sebastopol  under 
Pelissier. 


380  THE   COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

position  by  it.  Bachon  was  already  an  elderly  man  when  he 
began  to  teach  the  Prince  to  ride,  but  he  had  remained  young 
in  his  ways,  with  a  good  deal  of  joviality,  due  perhaps  to  his 
Gascon  origin.  He  received,  after  a  time,  the  title  of  Equerry 
to  the  Prince.  Before  the  latter  could  ride,  however,  he  had 
his  carriage  service ;  first,  of  course,  the  inevitable  goat-cart, 
then  a  little  carriage  drawn  by  two  cream-coloured  ponies,  and 
next  for  driving  about  Paris  a  large  landau  and  a  D'Aumont 
equipage,  while  a  posting  landau  was  provided  for  excursions  of 
any  distance,  and  a  parasol-sociable  for  country  drives.  When 
the  Prince  was  in  Paris  he  was  driven  virtually  every  day  to 
Lord  Hertford's  charming  place,  Bagatelle,  in  the  Bois  de 
Boulogne.  The  Emperor  wished  to  purchase  it,  but  Lord 
Hertford  declined  the  proposal,  at  the  same  time  begging 
Napoleon  to  send  his  son  to  Bagatelle  as  often  as  he  pleased. 
Thus,  nearly  every  afternoon,  the  little  fellow  repaired  thither 
with  his  governess,  nurse,  equerry,  and  an  escort  of  Guides,  and 
it  was  chiefly  in  those  beautiful,  secluded,  private  grounds 
that  he  learnt  to  ride.  The  first  mount  he  ever  had  was  a 
diminutive  Shetland  pony,  Balmoral,  which  Queen  Victoria  sent 
him.  This  he  rode  with  a  safety-saddle,  but  he  was  promoted 
to  an  ordinary  one  on  receiving  a  pony  called  Arlequino  from 
King  Victor  Emmanuel,  who  subsequently  sent  him  his  first 
charger,  Bouton  d'Or.  Next  came  a  pair  of  Pyrenean  mares, 
Effy  and  Fleurette,  then  an  Arab  called  Kaled,  which  had  been 
given  to  the  Emperor  in  Algeria  in  1865.  Kaled,  one  of  the 
Prince's  favourite  horses,  was  his  mount  in  1870,  when  he  viewed 
the  engagement  of  Saarbriicken,  and  received  his  baptism  of  fire. 
He  also  had  three  other  Arabs,  the  gifts  of  Sultan  Abdul  Aziz, 
a  Russian  horse.  The  Czar,  sent  to  him  by  Alexander  II.,  and 
a  young  Spanish  barb,  Solferino,  which  was  a  present  from 
Queen  Isabella.  He  ended  by  riding  extremely  well.  At  an 
early  age  he  took  lessons  in  vaulting,  and  was  soon  able  to 
spring  into  the  saddle  without  setting  foot  in  the  stirrup.  It  is 
probable  that  this  was  what  he  tried  to  do  on  the  1st  of  June, 
1879,  when  he  found  himself  faced  by  the  Zulus.  Unfortunately 
for  him,  according  to  the  statements  of  Mr.  Archibald  Forbes 
and  others,  his  mount  was  over-tall  for  a  young  man  of  his 
stature,  with  the  result  that  he  failed  in  his  leap,  and  was  slain. 


THE   IMPERIAL  PllINCE  381 

A  good  many  friends  of  the  Prince's  boyhood  still  survive. 
First  and  foremost  among  them  was  his  particular  chum,  Louis 
Conneau,  the  son  of  the  doctor,  the  Emperor''s  devoted  adherent. 
The  others  were  also  sons  of  his  father's  or  mother's  friends, 
Corvisart,  Fleury,  Bourgoing,  Espinasse,  La  Bedoyere,  and  La 
Poeze.  The  lads  played  together  at  the  Tuileries  or  in  the 
reserved  garden  of  the  palace,  or  in  the  grounds  at  Bagatelle ; 
and  the  young  Prince  showed  himself  extremely  companionable, 
never  evincing  any  disposition  to  lord  it  over  the  others.  What 
kind  of  man  he  might  have  eventually  become  it  is  difficult  to 
surmise ;  still  less  is  it  possible  to  estimate  what  might  have 
been  his  chances  against  the  Republic  which  has  hitherto 
emerged  victorious  from  every  attempt  against  her.  The 
Emperor  dragged  the  weight  of  the  Coup  d'Etat  after  him 
throughout  his  reign ;  the  Prince,  though  not  personally  re- 
sponsible, would  also  have  had  to  bear  the  weight  both  of 
Sedan  and  the  lost  provinces — for  was  he  not  a  Bonaparte  ?  We 
think,  then,  that  even  had  he  lived,  he  would  never  have  reigned 
over  France. 

The  thought  of  the  young  fellow's  chances  of  peaceful 
accession,  the  thought  of  the  undisputed  continuance  of  the 
dynasty,  was  evidently  one  which  often  came  to  Napoleon  III. 
as  time  went  by.  He,  the  Emperor,  was  suffering  from  an 
ailment  which  became  more  and  more  serious — much  more 
serious  indeed  than  even  the  doctors,  who  examined  him  in 
July,  1870,  imagined,  for  organic  changes,  which  were  not  then 
suspected  and  which  "  even  if  suspected  could  not  (according  to 
Sir  Henry  Thompson)  have  been  ascertained,"  were,  it  seems, 
in  progress  at  that  period,  their  development  being  revealed  at 
the  examination  after  death.  In  any  case,  whether  the  Emperor 
imagined  himself  to  be  in  actual  danger  or  not,  he  must  have 
been  well  aware  that  he  was  no  longer  the  man  he  had  been, 
and  that  it  was  needful  he  should  look  to  the  future,  and 
provide  for  it. 

How  was  he  to  do  so  ?  He  could  not  leave  such  a  legacy 
as  personal  rule  to  his  widow  and  his  young  son.  He  well  knew 
what  personal  rule  meant,  its  difficulties,  its  dangers,  the- 
unremitting  toil  which  it  entailed.  He  himself  was  more  or 
less  tired  of  the  burden  to  which  his  failing  strength  was  no 


38^  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

longer  equal.  On  the  other  hand  there  was  the  growth  of  the 
demagogic  spirit  in  Paris  and  some  other  large  cities  to  be 
contended  with;  and  how  could  that  be  done  successfully  if 
autocratic  sway  were  abandoned  ?  Perhaps  liberal  measures 
would  tend  to  disarm  the  demagogy,  and  at  the  same  time 
gather  more  closely  round  the  throne  the  more  sober-minded  of 
the  nation,  the  folk  who  desired  the  maintenance  of  order  so 
that  they  might  pursue  their  avocations  in  peace.  It  was 
desirable  that  it  should  be  to  the  interest  of  all  those  people  to 
uphold  the  regime,  and  that  might  be  best  achieved  by  associat- 
ing them  in  a  greater  degree  with  the  government  of  the  country. 
Thus,  in  the  Emperor"'s  opinion,  the  time  was  at  hand  for  real 
parliamentary  rule.  He  would,  moreover,  take  the  country"'s 
opinion  on  the  subject  by  a  Plebiscitum,  of  the  result  of  which 
he  had  little  or  no  doubt,  holding,  too,  that,  while  sanctioning 
his  reforms,  it  would  also  consolidate  the  dynasty. 

But  there  was  yet  another  point.  The  foreign  policy  of 
the  Empire  had  been  discredited  by  repeated  failures.  The 
regime's  prestige  in  that  respect  could  only  be  revived  by 
some  great  success.  None  was  to  be  hoped  for  in  the  field  of 
diplomacy,  but  in  spite  of  lost  opportunities  it  might  yet  be 
gained  on  the  field  of  battle.  New  lustre  would  then  be 
imparted  to  the  Empire,  the  position  of  the  dynasty  would 
be  yet  again  strengthened,  the  demagogues  would  be  silenced 
by  the  acclamations  of  a  victorious  nation,  proud  of  its  increase 
of  territory — the  extension  of  the  French  frontier  to  the  Rhine; 
and  then  he,  the  Emperor,  might  depart  whenever  he  were 
called,  confident  that  his  son  would  reign.  Moreover,  the 
activity  of  Prussia  in  various  directions  was  disquieting,  and 
required  to  be  checked.  South  Germany  still  enjoyed,  no 
doubt,  a  measure  of  independence,  but  how  long  would  that 
last  "i  If  the  whole  Fatherland  became  absolutely  united, 
France  would  have  a  perpetual,  intolerable  menace  on  her 
eastern  frontier.  For  a  time,  according  to  the  assertions  of 
certain  French  diplomatists,  notably  M.  de  St.  Vallier,  it  seemed 
probable  that  South  Germany,  in  its  dread  of  Prussia,  would 
eagerly  rise  against  her,  should  opportunity  occur.  But  leaving 
that  as  doubtful,  there  was  the  possibility  of  obtaining  the 
co-operation   of   Austria,  which  was  still   smarting   from  the 


LAST  DAYS  OF    THE  EMPIRE  383 

reverses  of  1866  and  regretting  its  loss  of  control  over  German 
affairs.  Further,  Napoleon  considered  that  he  had  claims  on 
Italy,  for  he  had  rendered  her  important  services,  even  if  he  had 
kept  her  out  of  Rome.  Thus  a  great  scheme  arose  in  the 
imperial  mind. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  war  had  been  threatening  ever  since 
1866  when  France  had  failed  to  obtain  the  "  compensations  " 
for  which  she  had  negotiated  ;  but  although  army  reorganiza- 
tion was  then  planned,  and  afterwards  carried  out  in  some 
degree — though  without  sufficient  vigour — by  Niel  (who,  how- 
ever good  he  may  have  been  at  planning,  was,  by  reason  of  his 
illness,  less  competent  to  execute)  the  actual  steps  for  forming  a 
coalition  against  Prussia  were  not  taken  until  1869,  when 
communications  on  the  subject  passed  between  Napoleon  and 
the  Austrian  Emperor.  Negotiations  with  Victor  Emmanuel 
appear  to  have  ensued,  and  early  in  1870  Archduke  Albert  of 
Austria  came  to  Paris  to  discuss  the  question.  In  May  the 
Emperor  Napoleon's  aide-de-camp,  General  Lebrun,*  received 
instructions  to  proceed  to  Vienna  to  prepare  plans  there,  and 
on  the  28th  he  quitted  Paris,  travelling  in  the  first  instance  to 
Berlin,  in  the  hope  of  thereby  throwing  the  Prussian  govern- 
ment off  the  scent,  though  in  reality  he  failed  to  do  so. 
Reaching  Vienna,  however,  Lebrun  there  had  numerous  confer- 
ences with  Archduke  Albert,  and  it  was  agreed  that  Germany 
should  be  invaded  by  the  entire  forces  of  France  and  Austria 
with  the  support  of  100,000  Italians  or  more — for  according  to 
the  statements  of  both  the  French  Emperor  and  the  Austrian 
Archduke  to  Lebrun,  Victor  Emmanuel  had  promised  his 
assistance.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  King  of  Italy  had  already 
promised  neutrality  to  Prussia,  pursuing  a  kind  of  Machia- 
vellian policy,  prepared  as  he  was,  perhaps,  to  serve  the  interests 
of  the  side  which  might  prove  the  stronger,  but  guided 
principally  in  the  course  he  took  by  the  hope  that  the  chances 
of  the  conflict  would  ensure  him  the  possession  of  Rome — so 
long  the  object  of  Italian  ambition.  In  any  case,  Italy''s 
promises  to  Prussia  were  not  known  to  General  Lebrun  and 
Archduke  Albert  when  they  met.  According  to  their  plan,  then, 
while  one  French  army  was  threatening  the  Palatinate,  three 
*  See  ante,  p.  47. 


S84  THE  COURT  OF  THE  Tan.ERlES 

others,   Italian,  French,   and   Austrian,  each  100,000  strong, 
were  to  invade  Germany  from  the  south,  south-west,  and  south- 
east, and  detach  the  southern  kingdoms  and  states  from   any 
alliance  with  the  north,  against  which  the  remaining  forces  of 
France  and  Austria  would  co-operate.      Moreover,  Archduke 
Albert  appeared  to  believe  that   Italy  would  place  not  only 
100,000  men  but  her  entire  army,  at  the  service  of  the  coalition. 
General   Lebrun   estimated   that  France  would  be  able  to 
throw  400,000  men  across  the  German  frontier  in  a  fortnight, 
but  he  learnt  that  the  mobilization  of  Austria  would  require  a 
period  of  forty-two  days,  and  Austria,  moreover,  was  unwilling 
to  begin  mobilizing  until  France  had  declared  war.      At  an 
audience  granted  to  Lebrun  by  Francis  Joseph,  he  was  told  by 
the  latter  that  the  war  must  be  brought  about  in  such  a  way 
that  it  might  appear  to  be  forced  upon  Austria,  and  that  there 
must  be  every  certainty  of  success.      In   addition,  Archduke 
Albert  insisted  that  there  should  be  no  hostilities  till  the  spring 
of  1871 ;  before  that  year  he  would  be  unable  to  co-operate, 
and  a  later  season  than  spring  would,  in  his  opinion,  jeopardise 
the    chances   of   success.      It   follows,   then,   that   already   in 
1869  Napoleon  III.  was  planning  a  coalition  against  Prussia, 
and  that  in  May,  1 870,  it  was  agreed  that  Germany  should  be 
invaded  in  April  or  May,  1871.* 

On  the  other  side,  Bismarck  and  Moltke  had  regarded  war 
as  inevitable  ever  since  1866,  from  which  time  forward  the 
latter  had  been  busy  preparing  for  it,  while  Bismarck  on  his  side 
had  virtually  assured  himself  of  the  co-operation  of  the  South 
German  States  by  divulging  to  them  the  secret  "  compensation  " 
projects,  so  foolishly  left  with  him,  in  1866,  by  the  French 
representative  Benedetti.  In  France,  until  the  very  outbreak 
of  the  war  in  1870,  it  was  popularly  believed  that,  whatever 
ZoUverein  arrangements  and  other  bonds  might  link  North 
and  South  Germany  together,  the  latter  would  surely  rise  against 
the  former;  but  it  seems  evident  that  this  illusion  was  no 
longer  entertained  by  Napoleon  in  the  spring  of  1870,  as  the 
agreement  with  Austria  provided  for  the  occupation   of  the 

*  We  have  naturally  based  our  account  of  the  negotiations  on  General 
Lebrun's  work,  "  Souvenirs  Militaires :  Ma  Mission  a  Vienne,"  Paris,  1895. 
Of  the  general  accuracy  of  that  work  there  can  be  no  doubt  whatever. 


LAST  DAYS   OF  THE   EMPIRE  385 

South  German  States.  In  that  matter,  much  as  the  illusion 
may  still  have  been  shared  by  some  French  diplomatists,  the 
Emperor  may  have  been  enlightened  by  Prince  Metternich  or 
Archduke  Albert. 

We  have  said  that  the  war  was  virtually  inevitable  after 
1866.  It  nearly  broke  out  in  the  following  year  over  the 
Luxemburg  question,  and  there  was  again  a  perilous  moment 
in  1869,  when  for  the  first  time  the  candidature  of  a  Prince  of 
Hohenzollern  to  the  Spanish  throne  was  mooted.*  The  idea 
seems  to  have  been  then  an  exclusively  Prussian  one,  no  offer  of 
the  crown  coming  from  Spain,  but  Prince  Bismarck  opening 
negotiations  with  certain  Spanish  agents  in  order  to  bring 
about  such  an  offer.  Benedetti,  the  French  ambassador  at 
Berlin,  sent  word  of  what  was  being  done  to  Paris,  and 
Napoleon  promptly  put  his  foot  down,  Prussia  being  given  to 
understand  that  France  would  regard  such  a  candidature  as  a 
casus  belli.  It  was  thereupon  withdrawn,  and,  outwardly  at  all 
events,  no  very  unpleasant  consequences  seemed  likely  to  ensue 
from  the  incident ;  but  it  is  certain  that  Napoleon  was  again 
alarmed  by  the  activity  of  Prussia,  and  that  from  the  moment 
of  this  first  Hohenzollern  candidature  the  idea  of  invading 
Germany,  with  the  assistance  of  Austria,  took  definite  shape, 
resulting,  as  we  have  said,  in  the  Archduke  Albert's  visit  to 
Paris  and  the  mission  of  General  Lebrun. 

While  all  those  momentous  diplomatic  and  military  matters 
were  receiving  attention,  important  changes  were  taking  place 
in  France.  Though  the  so-called  "  Liberal  Empire  "  had  come 
into  being  in  1860,  real  constitutional  government,  as  under- 
stood in  England,  was  still  inexistent.     It  has  been  pointed  out 

*  Isabella  II.  had  been  overthrown  the  previous  year,  and  compelled  to 
flee  to  France,  where  she  was  received  with  great  kindness  by  the  Emperor 
and  Empress.  Purchasing  the  Hotel  Basilewski,  in  the  Avenue  du  Eoi  de 
Eome,  of  a  Russian  nobleman  who  had  virtually  ruined  himself  in  building 
it,  she  re-christened  it  the  Palais  de  Castille,  and  lived  there  in  great  state, 
while  Don  Francisco  de  Asis,  her  husband  (a  "  friendly  "  separation  super- 
vening between  them)  betook  himself  to  a  modest  ground-floor  in  the  Rue 
des  Ecuries  d'Artois.  Other  sovereigns  in  exile  to  be  found  in  Paris  about 
that  time  were  the  blind  King  of  Hanover,  Francis  II.  of  Naples  and  his  wife, 
and  that  old  resident,  the  pink  and  white  Duke  of  Brunswick,  with  the  flaxen 
wig,  the  chocolate-coloured  mansion,  the  yellow  and  strawberry  coach,  and 
the  safe  full  of  diamonds— recovered  after  the  daring  theft  perpetrated  by 
his  English  valet,  Shaw. 

2  c 


386  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

that  solicitude  for  his  dynasty,  illness,  and  force  of  circum- 
stances, gradually  inclined  Napoleon  to  make  a  trial  of  such  a 
form  of  sovereignty  by  giving  the  nation  an  increase  of  liberty, 
enlarging  still  further  the  sphere  of  parliamentary  action,  which 
had  already  been  extended  in  1860  and  1867,  and  reviving  that 
ministerial  responsibility  to  the  Legislature  which  had  existed 
in  the  time  of  Louis  Philippe  and  of  the  Second  Republic.  In 
1869  the  semi-parliamentary  regime,  over  which  Rouher  had 
virtually  presided  since  its  inauguration  in  '67,  was  in  a  parlous 
state.  There  had  been  a  succession  of  very  indifferent  Ministers 
of  the  Interior,  the  anti-dynastic  party  had  grown  larger  and 
bolder,  and  no  little  rioting  occurred  in  connection  with  the 
general  elections,  when,  despite  great  Government  pressure,  the 
Republican  Opposition  increased  its  numbers,  while  a  Third 
Party  of  some  thirty  deputies,  tinged  with  Orleanism,  came 
into  being.  The  political  situation  was  even  affected  by  a 
crime  at  common  law — a  great  and  horrible  one,  it  is  true — the 
murder  of  the  Kinck  family  by  a  young  fellow  named  Tropp- 
mann — the  wildest  legends  springing  up  concerning  him  and 
his  abominable  deed.  Briefly,  there  was  considerable  unrest  of 
one  and  another  kind,  arising  from  a  variety  of  causes. 

Rouher,  Persigny,  and  others  advised  the  Emperor  to  revert 
to  autocratic  sway ;  but  he,  on  the  contrary,  became  more  and 
more  resolved  to  try  parliamentary  rule.  The  Prime  Minister 
he  finally  chose  was  Emile  Ollivier,  to  whom  we  previously 
referred.*'  Born  at  Marseilles  in  July,  1825,  and  the  son  of  a 
merchant  of  that  city,  who  sat  in  the  chambers  of  the  Second 
Republic  and  opposed  the  restoration  of  the  Empire,  Ollivier, 
after  being  called  to  the  Bar,  was  appointed  Commissary  of 
the  Republic  in  his  native  city,  where  he  suppressed  some 
socialist  risings  in  June,  1848.  Cavaignac  then  made  him 
Prefect,  but  early  in  1849  he  returned  to  the  Bar,  and  pleaded 
ably  in  several  important  political  and  other  cases.  At  the 
general  election  of  1857  he  was  elected  as  a  deputy  for  Paris, 
being  one  of  the  famous  Five  who  then  formed  the  sum  total 
of  the  parliamentary  Opposition  to  the  Empire.  At  that  time 
Ollivier  pompously  claimed  to  appear  in  its  midst  as  "  the 
Spectre  of  the  Second  of  December'" — that  is,  of  the  Coup 
*  See  ante,  pp.  177,  232.' 


LAST  DAYS   OF  THE   EMPIRE  S8T 

d'Etat ;  yet  in  another  four  years  he  was  making  advances  to 
the  regime  which  he  had  denounced.  Already,  in  1861,  his 
apostasy  was  foreseen  by  the  Republicans  who  had  been  his 
friends.  On  his  re-election  in  1863  he  accepted  from  the 
Emperor  a  mission  to  report  on  certain  differences  which  had 
arisen  between  the  Suez  Canal  Company  and  the  Viceroy  of 
Egypt,  those  differences  having  been  submitted  to  the  Emperor's 
arbitration.  Further,  in  1864,  the  Duke  de  Morny  became 
very  gracious  with  Ollivier,  made  a  show  of  seeking  his  advice, 
and  caused  him  to  be  selected  to  report  to  the  Chamber  on  an 
important  working-class  societies'  bill.  In  the  following  year 
Ollivier  s  evolution  towards  the  Empire  went  further,  and  he 
was  rewarded  by  an  appointment  as  "  Commissaire  de  Surveil- 
lance "  in  connection  with  the  Suez  Canal  Company,  a  sinecure 
to  which  was  attached  a  salary  of  £\.9.QQ  a  year.  The  accept- 
ance of  such  a  post  was  contrary  to  all  the  traditions  of  the 
Paris  Bar,  of  which  Ollivier  was  a  member.  The  Council  of 
the  Order  of  Advocates  therefore  called  on  him  to  choose 
between  it  and  his  position  as  a  barrister.  He  chose  the 
salaried  post,  and  his  name  was  struck  off  the  roll. 

Having  become  one  of  the  Empire's  creatures,  he  drew  yet 
nearer  and  nearer  to  it.  During  the  Empress's  regency  in 
1865,  he  was  presented  to  her,  dining  en  petit  comite  at  the 
Tuileries ;  and  at  the  close  of  the  following  year  Count 
Walewski  placed  him  in  direct  communication  with  the 
Emperor,  who  was  then  meditating  the  reforms  specified  in 
his  letter  of  January  19,  1867.  Thus  the  author  of  the 
Coup  d'Etat  and  the  man  who,  when  first  presenting  himself 
before  the  Paris  electorate,  had  claimed  to  be  its  ghost,  and 
had  promised  to  do  his  duty  "  in  the  name  of  France  and  the 
Republican  cause,"  at  last  came  face  to  face.  Their  first 
interview  took  place  at  the  Tuileries,  about  five  o'clock  on 
January  10,  1867.  Walewski  had  offered  Ollivier  the  offices 
of  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  and  general  Government 
orator  in  the  Legislative  Body;  but  Ollivier  declared  to  the 
Emperor  that  the  more  independent  he  might  remain,  the 
more  efficacious  would  be  his  help.  Napoleon  therefore  gave 
him  no  post,  but  some  correspondence  passed  between  them, 
and  a  second  meeting  took  place,  which  Rouher  was  to  have 


388  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

attended.  But  he  did  not  come,  and,  after  the  audience, 
OUivier,  imagining  that  he  had  thoroughly  converted  the 
Emperor  to  all  his  views,  quitted  the  Tuileries  in  a  state  of 
rapture,  which  impelled  him  (according  to  a  factum  he  wrote 
somewhat  later)  to  wander  for  some  hours,  star-gazing,  along 
the  quays  of  the  Seine.  He  already  pictured  himself  to  be 
the  Restorer  of  French  Liberty.  The  Man  of  that  Second  of 
December,  of  which  Ollivier  was  the  ghost,  had  appeared  to 
him  charming — absolument  I 

The  best  proof  that  Ollivier  did  not  inspire  the  reforms 
of  January  19  is,  that  when  the  Emperor's  letter  announcing 
them  appeared,  he  was  not  satisfied  with  it.  Meantime  Rouher 
proceeded  on  his  way ;  and  between  him  and  Ollivier  (who  was 
now  altogether  shunned  by  his  former  Republican  associates) 
there  ensued  many  a  bout  of  eloquence  during  the  parliamentary 
sessions  of  the  next  few  years.  Ollivier's  hour  came  at  last. 
Disapproving  of  the  Emperor''s  evolution  towards  Liberalism, 
Rouher  had  to  retire  from  active  authority  in  the  autumn  of 
1869,  and  was  appointed  President  of  the  Senate  in  the  place 
of  Troplong,  a  jurisconsult  of  some  learning  and  sagacity,  who 
had  held  the  post  for  many  years.  Then  came  Forcade  de  la 
Roquette's  brief  administration,  and  in  the  last  days  of  1869, 
while  the  Court  was  at  Compiegne,  the  Emperor  finally  decided 
on  a  real  parliamentary  regime^  and  offered  Ollivier  the  chief 
ministry. 

The  first  impression  of  the  public  after  the  appointment  of 
Ollivier  and  his  colleagues  on  January  2,  1870,  was  certainly 
favourable.  The  funds  rose.  Many  people  had  feared  a  return 
of  Rouher's  rule.  That  "  Vice-Emperor  "  had  made  himself  the 
most  unpopular  man  in  Paris.  Several  amusing  songs  and  paro- 
dies, in  which  he  figured,  had  been  circulated  about  the  time  of 
his  downfall.    There  was  a  parody  of  Victor  Hugo,  beginning — 

"  Or  voici  la  grande  revue 

Que  passe,  lugubre  et  sans  bruit, 
Pleurant  sa  d^faite  imprevue, 
Eouher  a  I'heure  de  minuit." 

Another — a  very  clever  parody  of  Chateaubriand — dating  from 
the  same  period,  or  a  little  earlier,  when  the  once  all-powerful 
minister's  fate  was  trembling  in  the  balance,  ran  as  follows : — 


LAST   DAYS   OF   THE   EMPIRE  389 

Combien  j'ai  douce  souvenance 
Des  premiers  jours  de  ma  puissance ; 
On  faisait  a  tous  mes  discours 

Silence. 
Ma  place  sera  mes  amours 

Toujours  1 

Alors  je  n'avais  qu'a  paraitre 
A  la  tribune  pour  soumettre 
La  Chambre,  qui,  foUe  de  moi, 

Son  maitre, 
Votait,  sans  demander  pourquoi, 

Ma  loi. 

Aujourd'hui  la  Chambre  indocile, 
A  ma  voix  n'est  plus  si  facile  ; 
Son  devouement,  par  contre-coup, 

Vacille. 
Je  n'en  viens  presque  plus  du  tout 

A  bout. 

Qui  ramenera  I'inhumaine 
Sous  ma  volont(§  souveraine  ? 
Son  abandon  fait  tous  les  jours 

Ma  peine — 
Ma  place  sera  mes  amours 

Toujours  1 

In  the  new  Government  Ollivier  was  Minister  of  Justice 
and  Religion.  His  colleagues  included  Chevandier  de  Val- 
drome  (Interior),  Marshal  Leboeuf  (War),  Admiral  Rigault  de 
Genouilly  (Marine),  Count  Napoleon  Daru,  a  godson  of  the  first 
Emperor  (Foreign  Affairs),  Buffet  (Finance),  and  the  Marquis  de 
Talhouet  (Public  Works).  The  other  appointments  need  not  be 
specified,  but  it  may  be  mentioned  that  Daru  *  had  opposed 
the  Coup  d'Etat  and  that  Buffet  and  Talhouet  had  protested 
against  it.  They  were,  in  point  of  fact,  Orleanists,  and  after 
the  Plebiscitum  they  resigned,  being  replaced  by  the  Duke 
de  Gramont  and  MM.  Mege  and  Plichon.  At  first,  the 
Orleanist  deputies  of  the  Chamber,  that  Third  Party  of  which 
we  have  spoken,  rallied  round  the  new  Ministry,  their  adherents 
joined  them,  and  with  this  support  Ollivier  basked  in  a  semblance 
of  popularity.  But  all  that  these  new  partisans  desired  was  to 
participate  in  a  new  Cwee,  a  great  distribution  of  favours  and 
appointments;   while  on  the  other  hand,  the  Prime  Ministei* 

*  See  also  ;post,  p.  405, 


390  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

and  his  colleagues  were  cordially  detested  by  all  the  real 
Imperialists  and  the  Republicans,  The  new  appointments 
were  comparatively  few,  certain  functionaries,  like  Baron  Hauss- 
mann,  were  dismissed  and  replaced,  but  the  new  regime  was  at 
a  loss  how  to  fill  many  offices.  The  Empire  had  spent  eighteen 
years  in  training  its  prefects  and  sub-prefects,  and  Ollivier, 
having  few  men  at  his  disposal  on  whom  he  could  rely,  was 
forced  to  leave  the  great  majority  of  the  old  functionaries  in 
office.  •  Again,  the  Senate  presided  over  by  Rouher  frowned  on 
him,  all  sorts  of  coteries,  too,  suddenly  sprang  up  in  the 
Chamber,  while  the  Court  looked  on  with  a  feeling  of  dis- 
appointment. It  is  true  that  Madame  Ollivier  was  a  great 
success.  The  daughter  of  a  M.  Gravier,  a  Marseilles  merchant, 
she  was  the  Prime  Minister's  second  wife,*  their  marriage 
dating  from  the  previous  year.  And  she  came  to  the  Tuileries 
quite  fresh  and  young,  with  bourgeois  manners,  refusing  to 
wear  a  low-necked  gown,  yet  looking  quite  charming  in  her 
white  frock,  which  was  set  off  neither  by  lace  nor  jewels,  the 
lady's  only  coquetterie  being  a  sprig  of  heather  in  her  smooth 
fair  hair.  All  that  was  quite  novel  to  many  Tuileries  folk.  It 
seemed  as  if  St.  Muslin,  so  often  invoked  during  the  perform- 
ances of  Sardou's  "  Famille  Benoiton,""  had  at  last  heard  the 
appeal  and  come  to  the  rescue.  In  any  case  a  reign  of  "  Sweet 
Simplicity  "  set  in.  Trains  were  almost  abandoned,  hair  was 
more  simply  dressed,  the  "  false  "  variety  being  discarded,  and 
diamonds  were  left  in  their  cases. 

Meantime,  however,  serious  trouble  had  assailed  the  new 
ministry.  Only  eight  days  after  its  assumption  of  office,  Victor 
Noir,  the  journalist,  expired  in  a  chemist's  shop  at  Auteuil, 
killed  by  Prince  Pierre  Bonaparte.f  Then  came  the  demonstra- 
tion at  his  funeral,  followed  by  an  infinity  of  riotous  incidents, 
wild  provocative  articles  in  the  advanced  Press,  the  arrest  of 
Rochefort,  exciting  scenes  at  public  meetings,  turmoil  that 
never  ceased.  Amidst  all  those  disquieting  symptoms,  how- 
ever, the  new  Constitution  was  drafted.  It  established  parlia- 
mentary rule,  made  the  ministers  responsible  to  the  Chambers, 

*  M.  Ollivier's  first  wife  was  Mile.  Blandine  Liszt,  a  daughter  of  the 
famous  pianist.     She  died  in  1862. 
t  See  ante,  p.  242. 


LAST   DAYS   OF   THE   EMPIRE  391 

gave  members  of  the  latter  the  right  to  introduce  bills,  provided 
that  commercial  treaties  should  be  submitted  to  them,  and 
limited  to  twenty  the  number  of  senators  whom  the  Emperor 
might  appoint  in  any  one  year.  Further,  it  named  Prince 
Napoleon  as  heir  to  the  throne  in  the  event  of  the  death  of 
the  Imperial  Prince.*  There  were  two  ways  of  securing  the 
country's  ratification  of  the  reforms,  one  was  by  means  of  a 
Plebiscitum,  the  other  by  a  dissolution  and  general  elections. 
The  Orleanists  in  the  ministry  were  really  opposed  to  the 
Plebiscitum,  for  they  feared  it  would  consolidate  the  Empire, 
and  they  had  only  accepted  office  in  order  to  undermine  it. 
However,  a  Plebiscitum  was  taken — such  being  the  Emperor's 
personal  desire — and  the  solemn  presentation  of  the  result  to 
the  Sovereign  in  the  Salle  des  Etats  at  the  Louvre  was  the  last 
great  Court  ceremony  of  the  reign. 

Napoleon,  judging  by  the  result  of  the  Paris  elections  of 
1869,  had  estimated  that  6,000,000  votes  would  be  cast  in 
his  favour,  but  the  Ayes  were,  in  round  numbers,  7,350,000, 
against  1,530,000  Noes,  the  latter  including  nearly  50,000 
army  votes,  at  least  half  of  which,  however,  emanated  from 
men  angry  at  having  been  kept  with  the  colours  (owing  to 
certain  fears)  six  months  beyond  their  time.  That  is  no 
fiction.  Nearly  all  the  men  at  the  Prince  Eugene  barracks 
in  Paris  voted  "  No,"  and  the  Emperor  was  greatly  disturbed 
on  hearing  it.  A  little  later,  therefore,  he  visited  the  barracks, 
and  was  immediately  acclaimed  by  the  men.  Their  vote  had 
been  dictated  solely  by  their  personal  grievance,  and  had  no 
political  signification.  The  Emperor,  well  pleased  on  finding 
that  such  was  the  case,  ordered  a  distribution  of  gratuities 
among  the  men — which  was  not,  perhaps,  the  best  course  to 
pursue.  Still  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  army  vote,  generally, 
was  much  less  unfavourable  than  it  seemed.  At  the  same 
time,  great  as  might  be  the  Imperial  majority  at  the  Plebis- 
citum, it  was  noteworthy  that  the  minority  had  now  become 
six  times  larger  than  it  had  been  when  the  country  was  called 
upon  to  sanction  the  establishment  of  the  Empire.  In  Paris 
and  its  immediate  vicinity  the  adversaries  of  the  o'egime  were 

*  Previously  Prince  Napoleon  had  only  been  designated  by  decree.     See 
ante,  p.  61. 


392  THE   COURT  OF  THE   TUILERIES 

24^0,000,  another  100,000  being  in  the  departments  of  which 
Lyons  and  Marseilles  are  the  chief  cities.  In  fact,  the  "  Noes '' 
were  very  numerous  throughout  southern  France  ;  and,  briefly, 
if  the  Emperor  was  pleased  with  his  majority,  the  anti-dynastic 
party  was,  on  the  whole,  not  dissatisfied  at  finding  itself  so 
strong,  even  though  some  wild  Republicans  had  at  one  moment 
imagined  that  they  would  sweep  the  country. 

The  Plebiscitum  was  taken  about  a  week  before  the  de- 
parture of  General  Lebrun  on  his  mission  to  Vienna — a 
circumstance  not  without  its  significance.  Yet  the  vote  was 
certainly  no  vote  for  war.  Going  from  Paris  to  Touraine,  and 
thence  to  Brittany  about  that  time,  the  impression  we  received 
was  that  the  great  majority  of  people  desired  to  enjoy  tran- 
quillity and  to  see  order  re-established  in  Paris,  whence  the 
newspapers  brought  all  sorts  of  exaggerated  reports.  Many 
who  voted  "  Yes "  scarcely  approved  of  the  new  Constitution, 
and  it  was  more  as  an  expression  of  confidence  in  the  Emperor 
personally  that  their  votes  were  given.  Again,  there  was 
occasionally  an  old  Imperialist  who  stubbornly  refused  to  vote 
at  all,  not  wishing  to  do  so  against  the  Emperor,  yet  unwilling 
to  give  any  support  to  Emile  Ollivier.  Apart,  too,  from  per- 
sonal observation  in  central  and  western  France,  documentary 
evidence  shows  that  the  Premier  was  nowhere  more  unpopular 
than  in  the  south,  his  native  part ;  and  this,  in  despite  of  the 
fact  that,  having  been  rejected  by  the  Parisian  electors  as  an 
apostate,  he  now  sat  for  the  department  of  the  Var.  That  had 
been  brought  about  in  some  degree  by  Government  influence. 
Pressure  was  also  brought  to  bear  on  the  electors  in  connection 
with  the  Plebiscitum,  but  the  facts  have  often  been  exaggerated 
by  Republican  writers,  who  have  been  careful  to  say  little  or 
nothing  of  the  stupendous  effbrts  of  their  own  party,  which, 
counting  several  men  of  great  personal  wealth  in  its  ranks, 
disposed  of  a  large  amount  of  money. 

In  a  way,  it  was  possible  for  Ollivier  to  deceive  himself 
respecting  his  real  hold  on  public  opinion.  The  Orleanists, 
hoping  to  make  him  their  tool,  coquetted  with  him  vigorously  ; 
and  the  French  Academy,  then  one  of  their  strongholds,  became 
so  gracious,  that  in  this,  the  last  year  of  the  reign,  one  saw  for  the 
first  time  a  Minister  of  the  Empire  elected  as  a  member  of  that 


LAST   DAYS   OF  THE   EMPIRE  893 

company  of  Immortals.  Moreover,  all  who  sought  appoint- 
ments, and  all  who  feared  lest  they  might  lose  those  they  held, 
fawned  upon  the  Prime  Minister,  who  thus  had  an  entourage 
by  which  he  might  be  deceived  respecting  his  popularity.  At 
last  the  Orleanists,  who,  wishing  to  turn  the  agitation  of  the 
Republicans  to  their  own  advantage,  had  roused  themselves 
so  suddenly  from  their  prolonged  somnolence — and  were  to 
make  their  influence  felt  immediately  after  the  approaching 
war — unmasked  their  batteries.  The  Count  de  Paris  and  his 
relatives,  the  Prince  de  Joinville,  the  Dukes  d'Aumale,  de 
Nemours,  and  de  Chartres,  petitioned  the  Chamber  for  per- 
mission to  return  to  France  as  "mere  citizens."  It  was  impossible 
for  the  Empire  to  accede  to  such  a  petition,  and  Ollivier  was 
forced  to  oppose  it.  Scarcely  had  it  been  dismissed  (July  2, 
1870)  when  France  was  startled  by  a  thunderclap. 

At  that  time  the  Court  was  en  residence  at  St.  Cloud. 
Nevertheless,  on  July  1,  a  very  important  consultation  on 
the  subject  of  the  Emperor"'s  illness  took  place  in  great  secrecy 
in  Paris  between  Drs.  Nelaton,  Ricord,  Fauvel,  Germain  See, 
and  Corvisart.  Two  days  later  it  became  known  that  Prince 
Leopold  of  Hohenzollern  was  a  candidate  for  the  Spanish 
throne.  From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  the  consultation  of 
the  Emperor's  doctors  preceded  the  incidents  which  actually 
led  up  to  the  Franco-German  war,  and  was  therefore  dictated 
by  none  of  them.  At  the  same  time,  it  may  not  have  been 
brought  about  solely  by  the  Emperor's  anxiety  respecting 
his  health,  as  the  arrangements  for  it  followed  the  return 
of  General  Lebrun  from  his  mission  to  Vienna,  and  we  are 
inclined  to  think  that  if  the  Emperor  at  last  decided  to 
place  himself  unreservedly  in  the  hands  of  his  doctors  for 
treatment,  it  was,  in  at  least  some  degree,  with  a  view  to 
his  participation  in  the  campaign  planned  for  the  spring  of 
1871.  There  was  no  exploratory  surgical  examination  of  the 
Emperor,  but  the  report  of  the  consultation  drawn  up  by  Dr. 
Germain  See  advised  such  an  examination,  adding,  "and  we 
think  that  this  is  an  opportune  moment,  particularly  as  just 
now  there  are  no  acute  symptoms." 

On  July  3,  See  drafted  his  report,  and  on  the  same  day 
he  gave  it  to  Dr.  Conneau  (by  whom  the  consultation  had 


394  THE   COURT  OF  THE   TUILERIES 

been  arranged),  asking  him  to  get  it  signed  by  the  other 
medical  men,  and  to  show  it  afterwards  to  the  Empress.  But 
Conneau  did  not  procure  the  other  signatures,  and  it  is  at 
least  very  doubtful  whether  it  was  shown  to  the  Empress 
at  all.  According  to  Dr.  See  it  was  not.  However,  M. 
Darimon,  a  friend  of  Emile  Ollivier,  asserts  in  his  work,  "  La 
Maladie  de  TEmpereur,""  that  subsequent  to  the  latter's  death, 
on  Prince  Napoleon  reproaching  Conneau  for  having  kept  Dr. 
See''s  report  secret,  the  latter  declared  that  he  had  shown  it  to 
the  rightful  person  (a  qui  de  droit),  and  that  the  reply  it 
elicited  was :  Le  vin  est  tire,  il  faut  le  boire,  which  may  be 
Englished  perhaps  as,  "  The  die  is  cast,  we  must  abide  by  the 
result*" — the  communication  being  made  of  course  after  the 
Hohenzollern  candidature  difficulty  had  arisen  with  Prussia. 
M.  Darimon  attributes  the  reply  in  question  to  the  Empress, 
but  we  are  confident  he  is  in  error — "  the  rightful  person "" 
referred  to  by  Conneau,  being  none  other  than  Napoleon  him- 
self, to  whom  Conneau  submitted  See's  report  directly  it  was 
received,  in  order  that  he,  the  Emperor,  might  know  how 
serious  the  doctors  considered  his  case  to  be.  Conneau  doubt- 
less intended  to  procure  the  other  doctors'  signatures,  and  he 
also  meant  to  show  the  document  to  the  Empress,  but  Napoleon 
kept  it,  answering  in  the  manner  stated.  We  also  think  it 
probable  that  he  enjoined  secrecy,  even  as  he  had  done  in 
Larrey's  case  in  1865.  At  all  events  he  did  not  intend  to  act 
on  the  report  at  once;  his  hands  Avere  now  too  full,  that 
Hohenzollern  affair,  which  had  sprung  up  since  the  considtation, 
must  be  settled  before  he  could  submit  to  medical  treatment ; 
and  thus  it  came  to  pass  that  the  report  was  suppressed,  hidden 
away,  and  only  became  known  when  the  original  was  found 
among  Napoleon's  papers,  and  Dr.  See  sent  his  original  draft 
to  U  Union  Medicale  for  publication. 

For  the  consequences  which  followed  the  suppression  of 
the  report.  Napoleon  himself  must  primarily  be  blamed;  but 
Conneau,  in  obeying  the  master  to  whom  he  was  so  devoted, 
was  guilty  of  a  grievous  error  of  judgment.  It  may  be  that 
when  he  submitted  the  report  to  the  Emperor,  the  latter  told 
him  that  he  would  show  it  to  the  Empress  himself;  neverthe- 
less, during  the  fateful  fortnight  which  ensued,  the  doctor,  who 


WAR   AND   REVOLUTION  395 

knew  the  truth,  ought  to  have  intervened.  He  could  not  have 
prevented  the  war,  for  Prussia  was  resolved  on  it — she  was  not 
going  to  allow  Napoleon  time  to  mature  his  coalition  plans — 
but  he  might  have  prevented  the  Emperor  from  assuming 
command.  Further,  Avhy  did  not  See  himself  and  Ricord, 
Fauvel,  Corvisart,  and  Nelaton  speak  out  directly  they  saw  the 
Emperor  assuming  command  ?  They  must  have  known  that 
he  was  unfit  for  such  work,  yet  they  made  no  protest.  The 
doctrine  of  "professional  secrecy"  seems  to  have  overridden 
every  other  consideration,  the  interests  of  the  Emperor  person- 
ally, those  of  the  Empire,  and  particularly  those  of  France. 
Baron  Corvisart,  for  his  part,  was  not  satisfied  with  keeping 
his  mouth  shut,  he  even  participated  in  the  folly  of  the  course 
taken  by  Napoleon,  for  he  accompanied  him  on  the  campaign, 
and  was  with  him  still  at  Sedan.  Both  Emile  Ollivier  and  his 
colleague  Maurice  Richard,  Minister  of  Fine  Arts,  afterwards 
told  Darimon  that  had  the  truth  about  the  Emperor's  illness 
been  known  to  them,  he  would  not  have  been  allowed  to  join 
the  army  of  the  Rhine,  but  would  have  been  kept  in  Paris; 
apart  from  which  particular  point,  the  report  of  the  doctors 
would  have  exercised  the  greatest  influence  on  every  Govern- 
ment decision  respecting  the  war. 

As  we  have  said,  Prussia  was  bent  on  hostilities.  The 
revival  of  a  Hohenzollern  candidature  to  the  throne  of  Spain 
was,  so  to  say,  the  answer  to  Lebrun's  mission  to  Vienna, 
respecting  which  Bismarck  had  received  full  information  from 
the  Hungarian  Ministers  of  the  time,  who,  being  opposed  to 
the  projected  coalition,  betrayed  both  Austria  and  France 
to  the  Prussian  Chancellor.  He  then  deliberately  prepared 
that  second  Hohenzollern  candidature,  and  hurled  it  at  amazed 
France — amazed  because  it  imagined  that  the  project  had  been 
definitely  shelved  the  previous  year. 

We  have  not  space  to  enter  in  any  detail  into  the  story 
of  what  ensued.  To  put  the  case  briefly,  if  rather  crudely, 
France  objected  to  the  presence  of  a  Prussian  Prince  on  the 
Spanish  throne,  and  demanded  the  withdrawal  of  the  candi- 
dature, as  she  had  done  already  the  previous  year.  Thereupon 
the  candidature  was  again  withdrawn.  Then,  as  this  was  the 
second  attempt  of  the  kind,  France  requested  of  the  King  of 


396  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Prussia,  as  head  of  his  House,  a  pledge  that  there  should  be 
no  further  renewal  of  such  a  candidature.  That  pledge  King 
William  refused  to  give,  and  war  followed.  With  respect  to 
some  other  points,  we  doubt  whether  the  Empress  Eugenie, 
to  whom  some  have  assigned  so  much  responsibility,  unduly 
hurried  on  what  had  become  inevitable.  We  do  not  believe 
that  she  ever  called  it  ma  guerre  a  moi.  We  think  also,  as 
Trochu  generously  remarks  in  his  "  Memoirs,"  that  Marshal 
Leboeuf,  the  War  Minister,  honestly  believed  that  France  was 
in  a  position  to  take  the  field.  Further,  whatever  may  be 
in  some  respects  our  opinion  of  M.  Emile  OUivier,  however 
inexcusable  may  have  been  his  remark  about  embarking  on  the 
war  with  a  light  heart,  we  readily  acknowledge  that  the  war 
was  not  brought  about  by  him.  He  wished  to  preserve  peace, 
he  was  at  one  moment  even  hopeful  of  doing  so,  and  he  was 
not  even  present  at  that  fateful  night-meeting  at  St.  Cloud 
when  the  decisive  step  of  ordering  the  mobilization  of  the 
army  was  taken.  He  only  heard  of  that  decision  the  next 
morning. 

On  the  actual  diplomatic  methods  of  the  Duke  de  Gramont, 
the  Foreign  Minister,  and  his  subordinate  Benedetti,  the  French 
ambassador  at  Berlin,  during  the  incidents  which  immediately 
preceded  hostilities,  some  rather  severe  strictures  might  be  passed. 
As  for  the  Duke's  public  statement  respecting  the  co-operation 
of  Austria,  that,  we  think,  was  made  in  good  faith.  It  is  true 
that  according  to  existing  arrangements  Austria  was  not  to 
co-operate  until  1871,  and  that  as  M.  de  Gramont  subsequently 
admitted,  "  she  was  painfully  surprised  by  the  haste  of  France 
in  declaring  war ; "  nevertheless,  there  were  serious  reasons  for 
believing  that  she  would  co-operate  despite  the  fact  that  events 
had  been  precipitated.  We  have  also  M.  de  Chaudordy's  state- 
ments about  the  negotiations  which  took  place  between  Paris, 
Vienna  and  Florence  between  July  20  and  August  4,  in  accord- 
ance with  which  Austria  and  Italy  would  have  intervened  on  or 
about  September  15,  provided  that  a  French  army  should  by 
that  time  have  crossed  the  Rhine,  invaded  southern  Germany 
and  reached  Munich,  there  to  join  hands  with  the  Austrian 
and  Italian  forces.*     Those  assertions  may  have  been  denied — 

*  Enquete  sur  le  Governement  du  4  Septembre :  Deposition  de  M.  de 
Chaudordy. 


WAR   AND   REVOLUTION  S9T 

by  Beust  and  others,  denials  sometimes  being  necessary — but 
M.  de  Chaudordy  did  not  speak  without  authority. 

The  French,  however,  failed  to  cross  the  Rhine.  The  lack 
of  method  and  the  great  delay  in  their  mobilization,  with 
the  low  strength  of  their  effectives,  presaged  no  good  result. 
Three  years  previously  Frossard  had  planned  a  campaign  for 
450,000  men,  three  months  previously  Lebrun  had  promised 
Archduke  Albert  400,000;  but  only  243,000  was  the  actual 
strength  of  the  forces  gathered  in  Alsace-Lorraine  in  August, 
1870,  and  the  mobilization  had  occupied  thrice  the  time  it 
should  have  done.  Moreover,  repeated  defeats  fell  on  the 
Emperor's  armies  and  shattered  all  hope  of  a  coalition.  Italy 
seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  break  away,  and  Austria, 
confronted  by  a  situation  so  different  from  what  had  been 
anticipated,  relinquished  any  idea  of  intervention. 

On  July  27,  Napoleon,  leaving  the  Empress  behind  him  as 
Regent,  quitted  the  chateau  of  St.  Cloud  with  his  young  son. 
A  special  train  was  in  readiness  at  a  siding  in  the  park.  The 
great  dignitaries  of  the  Empire,  the  senators  and  others,  were 
present  to  take  leave  of  the  sovereign.  The  Emperor  appeared 
quite  calm;  the  young  Prince  showed  some  excitement;  the 
Empress  was  plainly  affected,  her  eyes  were  moist.  Among  the 
escort  accompanying  Napoleon  to  the  headquarters  of  the  army 
of  the  Rhine  at  Metz  was  Dr.  Baron  Corvisart,  who,  knowing 
the  truth  about  the  Emperor's  condition,  had  with  him  a  case 
of  instruments  for  use  if  any  operation  should  become  urgent. 
On  Auo;ust  2  came  the  eno;ao;ement  of  Saarbriicken,  at  which 
the  young  Prince  received  the  baptism  of  fire.  When  the 
affair  was  over,  General  Lebrun,  noticing  that  the  Emperor  had 
great  difficulty  in  alighting  from  his  horse,  proffered  assistance. 
Napoleon  took  his  arm,  and  as  they  walked  towards  a  carriage 
some  fifty  paces  away,  Lebrun  remarked :  "  Your  Majesty 
seems  to  be  unwell."  "  My  dear  general,"  replied  the  Emperor, 
stifling  a  moan,  "  I  am  suffering  horribly."  Thus  it  was  that 
aide-de-camp  Lebrun  first  heard  of  Napoleon's  malady.  In  a 
similar  way  its  extreme  seriousness  only  came  about  this  time 
to  the  knowledge  of  M.  Pietri,  Napoleon's  private  secretary, 
who,  on  August  7,  after  a  conversation  with  the  Emperor  on 
the   subject,  telegraphed   to   the   Empress   advising  that   the 


398  THE   COURT  OF  THE   TUILERIES 

Emperor  should  return  to  Paris  and  leave  Bazaine  in  chief 
command.  But  at  that  moment  the  defeats  of  Weissenburg, 
Speichern,  and  Worth  had  followed  each  other  in  swift  succes- 
sion, and  the  Empress  replied  that  the  consequences  of  the 
Emperor"'s  return  after  such  reverses  ought  to  be  considered, 
and  that  should  he  decide  to  go  back  to  Paris,  the  country  must 
be  given  to  understand  that  he  only  did  so  provisionally,  in 
order  to  organize  a  second  army,  and  had  left  Bazaine  merely 
as  temporary  commander  of  the  army  of  the  Rhine. 

The  position  in  Paris,  where  only  a  few  weeks  previously 
the  war  had  been  so  frantically  acclaimed  by  thoughtless  folk, 
was  certainly  becoming  difficult.  Already,  on  the  evening  of 
August  6,  at  the  first  news  of  MacMahon's  overwhelming 
defeat  at  Worth,  the  Empress  had  hurried  from  St.  Cloud  to 
the  Tuileries,  where  a  long  night-council  was  held.  On  the 
morrow,  while  issuing  a  proclamation  exhorting  the  Parisians 
to  be  firm  and  preserve  order,  she  declared  a  state  of  siege  in 
the  capital.  Then,  on  the  9th,  the  Ollivier  Ministry  was  over- 
thrown by  the  Chamber,  and  replaced  by  an  administration 
under  General  Cousin-Montauban,  Count  de  Palikao,  who,  as 
commander  in  China  several  years  previously,  had  looted  the 
Summer  Palace  of  Pekin.  His  colleagues  were  all  Bonapartists, 
chiefly  of  the  younger  school.  On  the  morrow  (August  10) 
came  the  news  that  Strasburg  was  invested  ;  on  the  12th  we 
heard  that  Nancy  was  occupied.  Now  it  was  that,  in  com- 
pliance with  the  clamour  of  the  anti-dynastic  party,  the 
unhappy,  ailing  Emperor  was  deposed  from  the  chief  command 
and  replaced  by  Bazaine,  respecting  whose  military  abilities 
there  was  such  extraordinary  infatuation.  Fate  was  on  the 
march.  Paris  was  becoming  more  and  more  excited,  more  and 
more  uncontrollable. 

On  August  14,  a  few  hours  after  there  had  been  some  rioting 
at  La  Villette,  the  last  reception  of  the  reign  was  held  at  the 
Tuileries.  The  Empress  appeared  at  it  garbed  in  black  net 
with  a  jet  diadem,  and  every  lady  present  was  in  the  deepest 
mourning  for  the  reverses  of  France.  Even  the  Court  footmen 
and  other  officials  wore  black,  only  the  military  men  retaining 
their  uniforms.  The  affair  at  La  Villette  was,  perhaps,  the  chief 
subject  of  conversation  at  that  gathering,  but  there  was  some 


WAR  AND   REVOLUTION  399 

hopefulness  with  respect  to  the  war  now  that  Bazaine  had  the 
supreme  control,  and  that  the  withdrawal  of  his  army  from  Metz 
had  been  decided  on.  Matters  would  soon  improve  when  the 
Marshal  and  his  men  were  in  the  open — such  was  the  prevailing 
impression.  But,  as  we  know,  the  situation  went  from  bad  to 
worse.  On  August  14  Napoleon  quitted  Metz;  on  the  16th 
Vionville-Mars-la-Tour  was  fought,  and  Bazaine's  retreat 
stopped;  and  on  the  18th,  after  fighting  for  nine  hours  at 
St.  Privat-Gravelotte,  he  was  driven  back  under  the  great 
stronghold  of  Lorraine. 

In  Paris,  that  same  day,  General  Trochu  stepped  upon  the 
scene.  There  had  been  a  demand  that  he  should  be  made  Minister 
of  War,  but  the  post  assigned  to  him  was  that  of  Governor  of 
the  capital.  As  Minister  at  that  stage  it  is  improbable  that  he 
could  have  retrieved  the  situation  ;  but  had  he  held  the  post  at 
the  very  outset  his  services  might  have  proved  most  valuable, 
for  he  was  a  born  organizer.  At  the  time  of  the  Crimean  War 
the  French  forces  might  well  have  found  themselves  in  the  same 
plight  as  the  English  if  Trochu,  after  assembling  certain 
colleagues  at  the  War  Ministry,  had  not  exerted  himself  in 
selecting  the  units  of  the  expedition,  planning  staff  arrange- 
ments, attending  to  the  proper  equipment  of  the  men,  and 
providing  them  with  all  necessaries — accomplishing,  in  fact, 
quite  a  totir  deforce,  for  France  was  at  that  time  no  more  pre- 
pared for  war  than  she  was  in  1870.  Trochu  again  proved  his 
talent  as  an  organizer  during  the  siege  of  Paris,  when  he 
improvised  so  much,  when  he  so  often  turned  nothing  into 
something,  and  made,  if  not  a  successful,  at  least  an  extremely 
honourable  defence. 

Unfortunately,  after  St.  Arnaud's  death,  Trochu  was  dis- 
trusted by  the  Empire.  A  Breton,  born  in  1815,  he  had  been 
a  great  favourite  with  Louis  Philippe's  Marshal,  Bugeaud,  and 
having  refused  a  Court  appointment  from  Napoleon  III.,  he  was 
suspected  of  Orleanism.  Moreover,  his  repeated  criticisms  of 
French  army  methods  long  gave  offence  in  high  places.  He 
had  his  limitations,  and  he  knew  them  ;  he  had  never  exercised 
more  than  a  divisional  command  in  the  field  (Italy,  1859),  and 
it  was  because  he  felt  unequal  to  field  duties  that  he  never  com- 
manded in  person  at  the  sorties  during  the  Paris  siege.     But  in 


400  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

an  office  or  a  camp  he  was  admirable,  an  adept  in  laying  down 
sound  rules,  in  preparing,  providing  for  requirements.  Again, 
he  was  not  the  man  to  cope  with  a  popular  rising,  and  in  that 
respect  he  was  not  fit  for  the  post  of  Military  Governor  of 
Paris.  If  he  did  not  save  the  Empire  on  the  4th  of  September, 
neither  did  he  save  himself  and  his  National  Defence  colleagues 
on  the  31st  of  October,  during  the  siege  days,  when  he  and  they 
were  shut  up  at  the  H6tel-de-Ville,  at  the  mercy  of  a  Communist 
insurrection.  The  rescue  which  was  effected  was  the  work  of 
a  civilian,  Jules  Ferry. 

At  the  same  time,  if  the  Empress-Regent  had  placed  more 
confidence  in  Trochu  instead  of  steadily  alienating  him,  he 
might  at  least  have  attempted  to  save  the  Empire  at  the 
Revolution,  though  we  doubt  if  any  one,  any  St.  Arnaud  or 
Magnan  or  Canrobert,  could  really  have  saved  the  regime 
that  day,  even  if  the  Empress  had  been  willing,  which  she 
was  not,  to  have  the  people  cannonaded  as  at  the  Coup  d'Etat. 
However,  as  Trochu  bitterly  complains  in  his  Memoirs,  he  was 
treated  by  the  Empress  with  suspicion  and  distrust  from  the 
moment  of  his  appointment.  He  was  to  have  been  followed  to 
Paris  by  the  Emperor,  and  MacMahon's  army  was  to  have 
retreated  on  the  capital  to  recruit  its  strength  and  cover  the 
city.  But  when  Trochu  informed  the  Empress  of  those  plans — 
agreed  upon  at  a  conference  held  at  Chalons  between  the 
Emperor,  Rouher,  Prince  Napoleon,  MacMahon,  Schmitz,  and 
Trochu  himself — she  opposed  them  violently,  saying,  "  Those 
who  advised  the  Emperor  to  adopt  those  plans  are  enemies. 
The  Emperor  shall  not  return ;  he  would  not  return  alive.  As 
for  the  army  of  Chalons  [MacMahon's]  it  must  effect  its 
junction  with  the  army  of  Metz."* 

That  policy  prevailed.  The  unlucky  army  of  Chalons 
started  on  its  march  to  relieve  Metz,  where  Bazaine  was  now 
shut  up,  just  as  the  bombardment  of  Strasburg  was  beginning. 
MacMahon  led  his  forces  from  Chalons  to  Rethel,  thence  in  the 
direction  of  Montmedy.  But  the  Germans  followed  them, 
came  up  with  them,  routed  the  corps  under  General  de  Failly 
at  Beaumont,  and  forced  MacMahon  and  the  others  on  Sedan, 
where  the  supreme  catastrophe  fell  upon  them.  The  unhappy 
*  TroclLU,  "Le  Si^ge  de  Paris,"  etc.,  Mame,  Tours. 


WAR   AND   REVOLUTION  401 

Emperor,  who,  forbidden  to  return  to  Paris,  had  accompanied 
his  troops  on  that  anxious,  difficult,  terrible  march,  sought 
death  on  the  field,  and  when  death  refused  to  take  him,  made 
a  last  supreme  assertion  of  his  authority,  ordered  the  white  flag 
to  be  hoisted,  and  tendered  his  sword  to  the  Prussian  King. 

The  Empress  Eugenie  has  been  violently  attacked  by  scores 
of  writers  for  preventing  the  return  of  the  Emperor  and 
MacMahon  to  Paris.  It  has  even  been  said  repeatedly  that 
she  deliberately  sacrificed  her  husband  to  the  chance  of  saving 
the  Empire  for  her  son.  This  narrative  has  shown  that 
Napoleon  was  no  faithful  husband,  and  that  his  consort  had 
real  grievances  against  him.  But  we  do  not  believe  that  she 
sacrificed  him  in  the  way  and  for  the  purpose  alleged.  We 
hold  that  she  was  quite  sincere  when  she  said  to  Trochu  that 
the  Emperor  would  not  return  to  Paris  alive — meaning,  of 
course,  that  he  would  be  killed  if  he  returned.  We  were  in 
Paris  at  the  time,  and  the  unpopularity  into  which  the  Emperor 
had  fallen  by  reason  of  all  the  reverses  inflicted  on  the  French 
arms,  was  of  such  a  nature  that,  even  if  he  had  come  back  at 
the  same  moment  as  Trochu  (by  whose  sudden  popularity  he 
was  to  have  been  covered)  we  doubt  if  Trochu  could  have  saved 
him.  Trochu,  as  already  stated,  was  not  the  man  to  contend 
with  mobs.  And  the  Emperor's  return,  and  the  knowledge 
that  MacMahon's  forces  were  returning  also — abandoning 
Bazaine  to  his  fate — would  have  been  like  a  match  applied 
to  tinder;  and  in  the  sudden  blaze,  the  sudden  outburst  of 
popular  indignation  and  wrath.  Emperor,  Empress,  and  Empire 
would  have  been  immediately  swept  away.  Briefly,  the  Fourth 
of  September  would  now  be  known  as  the  Eighteenth  of  August. 
By  the  course  which  the  Empress  took,  then,  she  did  not 
sacrifice  her  husband,  she  hoped  to  save  the  Empire.  As  it 
happened,  she  was  only  able  to  prolong  the  agony  for  fourteen 
days. 

On  the  other  hand,  from  the  military  standpoint,  the  retreat 
of  MacMahon  on  Paris  would  certainly  have  been  the  best 
course.  But  the  Empress,  haunted,  not  without  reason,  by 
the  thought  of  Revolution,  held,  no  doubt,  that  even  such  a 
retreat  would  have  sufficed  to  stir  it  up — so  acute,  so  urgent 
was  the  anxiety  for  Bazaine  and  Metz,  so  foul  and  so  odious 

2d 


402  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

would  it  have  seemed  to  Paris,  at  that  moment,  if  the  Marshal 
and  the  fortress  had  been  abandoned.  Besides,  if  only 
MacMahon  and  his  men  had  returned  to  the  capital,  what 
could  have  been  done  with  the  Emperor  ?  The  situation  was 
perplexing,  full  of  serious  difficulties,  and  it  is  because  we  know 
that  such  was  the  case,  that,  unlike  some  others,  we  bring  no 
charges  against  the  Empress  with  respect  to  the  course  she 
followed.  It  is  always  easy  to  fling  accusations,  it  is  often 
difficult  to  substantiate  them. 

Many  accounts  testify  that  the  Empress,  from  the  time  of 
her  sudden  return  from  St.  Cloud  to  the  Tuileries,  was  haunted, 
as  we  have  mentioned,  by  the  thought  of  Revolution.  If,  before 
all  else,  she  had  to  discharge  her  duty  to  the  country,  she  also 
had  to  perform  her  duty  to  the  dynasty,  whose  interests  she, 
as  Regent,  held  in  trust.  The  vigilance  of  the  Prefect  of  Police 
was  not  relaxed  until  the  last  hour.  The  expiring  Empire  was 
not  uninformed  of  the  planning  and  scheming  of  the  anti- 
dynastic  party,  which  was  so  watchfully  awaiting  its  oppor- 
tunity to  seize  the  reins  of  government.  "  Let  us  destroy  the 
Empire  first,  we  will  see  about  the  country  afterwards,"  was  the 
motto  of  too  many  of  the  men  who  subsequently  paraded  as 
zealous  patriots.  All  that  was  known  at  the  Tuileries,  and 
apprehension  was  natural.  The  Empress,  so  it  has  been  said, 
particularly  feared  that  revolution  might  break  out  during  the 
night,  and  always  felt  disturbed  when  evening  fell.  In  addition 
to  the  military  guard,  many  detectives  were  on  duty  around 
the  palace,  never  losing  sight  of  the  Republican  spies  by  whom 
it  was  watched.  There  was  no  actual  conflict,  we  think,  each 
side  was  content  to  remain  e7i  observation. 

With  or  without  the  Empress''s  knowledge  and  assent 
various  schemes  for  assuring  her  safety  in  the  event  of  an  out- 
break were  devised.  One  plan  provided  for  a  temporary  retreat 
at  a  Paris  convent,  whose  lady-superior  was  most  willing  to  be 
of  service.  There  were  moments,  however,  when  the  Regent 
shook  off*  her  apprehensions,  and  when  the  question  of  pursuing 
a  vigorous  policy  towards  the  Parisian  malcontents  was  mooted 
at  the  Tuileries.  More  than  once  it  was  proposed  to  have 
certain  leaders  arrested,  but  hesitation  invariably  supervened, 
and  the  question  was  postponed. 


WAR  AND   HEVOLUTION  403 

The  decisive  moment  came  with  the  catastrophe  of  Sedan. 
Though  the  Empress  did  not  receive  direct  tidings  from 
Napoleon  until  four  o*'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  September  3, 
the  truth  was  known  to  the  Government  on  the  afternoon  of 
the  previous  day,  and  both  Thiers  and  Jules  Favre  became 
acquainted  with  it  the  same  evening.  Thiers  was  vainly 
implored  by  Prince  Metternich,  in  conjunction  with  Merimee, 
to  take  office  and  save  both  France  and  the  Empire;  but  he 
refused  his  services,  even  as  on  the  morrow,  September  3,  he 
refused  to  place  himself  at  the  head  of  the  Republicans  as 
he  was  begged  to  do  by  Favre,  Simon,  Ferry,  Picard,  and 
others  of  the  Opposition.  It  was  then  and  then  only  that  the 
anti-dynastic  leaders  really  turned  to  Trochu. 

In  the  Legislative  Body,  on  the  afternoon  of  September  3, 
Count  de  Palikao,  the  Prime  Minister,  would  only  admit  that 
MacMahon  had  been  compelled  to  retreat  to  Sedan,  and  that 
a  small  body  of  his  troops  had  sought  refuge  in  Belgium ;  but 
at  a  night  sitting  which  was  held  some  hours  later,  there  could 
be  no  further  concealment  of  the  truth  which  Thiers  and  Favre 
had  already  conveyed  to  many  colleagues.  Besides,  it  had  also 
begun  to  circulate  through  Paris,  and  during  the  evening 
people  flocked  to  the  Palais  Bourbon,  many  of  them  already 
crying  :  "  Dethronement !  dethronement !  "  On  the  Boulevards 
the  excitement  was  general,  and  a  foolhardy  attack  was  even 
made  on  a  police-station  there,  whereupon  the  police  charged 
the  crowd  with  their  swords  quite  as  energetically  as  they  had 
ever  done  in  the  days  of  the  Empire's  power.  Many  people 
then  hurried  to  Trochu's  quarters  at  the  Louvre  to  protest 
against  the  brutality  of  the  police,  while  others  assembled 
on  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  to  discuss  the  position  and  insist 
on  the  Emperor's  abdication.  When,  about  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning  (September  4),  the  night-sitting  of  the  Chamber  ended, 
and  the  many  vehicles  containing  ministers,  deputies,  and 
journalists  came  rolling  across  the  square,  a  strong  force  of 
cavalry  suddenly  swept  out  of  the  Palais  de  I'lndustrie  in  the 
Champs  Elysees,  where  it  had  been  quartered  since  the  after- 
noon, and  cantering  hither  and  thither,  threw  the  procession  of 
conveyances  into  confusion  and  scattered  the  spectators.  In  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  everybody  had  been  driven  from  the  spot, 


404  THE   COURT  OF  THE   TUILERIES 

and  the  energy  of  the  troops,  following  that  of  the  police, 
seemed  to  indicate  that  any  attempt  at  Revolution  after  day- 
break would  be  speedily  put  down.  At  that  moment,  then, 
quietude  prevailed  in  Paris  ;  but  the  Republicans  had  not  lost 
their  time  during  the  evening,  nor  did  they  lose  the  remaining 
hours  of  the  night.  The  word  went  round  that  everybody 
must  turn  up  early  in  the  afternoon,  as  soon  as  the  Chamber 
should  assemble,  and  the  Palais  Bourbon  was  the  appointed 
rendezvous.  Briefly,  although  the  events  which  followed  were 
not  exactly  organized,  the  movement  was  not  so  spontaneous  as 
some  have  imagined. 

Bright  and  clear  was  that  Sunday,  September  4.  There  is 
just  a  possibility  that  if  rain  had  poured  in  torrents  there  might 
have  been  no  Revolution.  It  could  not  have  been  prevented 
by  bloodshed,  we  think,  and  the  Empress  was  right  in  refusing 
to  sanction  extreme  measures.  She  had  presided  over  a  Minis- 
terial Council  at  the  Tuileries  shortly  before  the  night-sitting 
of  the  Legislative  Body,  and  a  proclamation  had  then  been 
agreed  upon,  as  well  as  a  proposal  for  a  Committee  of  Defence, 
which  proposal  was  met  in  the  Chamber  by  more  or  less  revo- 
lutionary ones  emanating  from  the  Republicans  and  Orleanists. 
After  the  council  many  of  the  great  dignitaries  arrived  at  the 
palace,  and  only  at  a  late  hour  was  the  Empress  left  with  her 
immediate  entourage.  She  took  very  little  rest.  At  six 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  4th  she  was  up  and  about, 
visiting  the  ambulance  which  she  had  installed  in  the  palace 
playhouse.  Afterwards,  repairing  to  her  little  oratory,  she 
heard  mass,  subsequently  conversing  with  the  chaplain,  and 
supplying  him,  in  her  usual  way,  with  money  for  necessitous 
cases.  By  that  time  General  de  Palikao  and  the  other  ministers 
had  arrived,  as  well  as  several  members  of  the  Privy  Council, 
including  Rouher ;  and  the  course  to  be  pursued  at  the  after- 
noon sittings  of  the  Chamber  and  Senate  was  then  discussed  at 
length,  Rouher  taking  a  leading  part  in  the  deliberations. 
Lunch  was  served  about  half-past  eleven,  some  twenty-eight 
persons  sitting  down  to  table  with  the  Empress,  as  the  service 
d'honneur  whose  week  ended  that  day  was  present  as  well  as 
the  service  which  was  to  replace  it.  The  only  guest,  however, 
was  Ferdinand  de  Lesseps.     There  was  no  departure  from  any 


WAR  AND   REVOLUTION  405 

of  the  ordinary  etiquette,  though  the  anxiety  of  everybody  was 
keen.  Despatches  arrived  at  every  moment,  now  from  the 
Prefecture  of  Police,  now  from  the  Ministry  of  War,  now  from 
that  of  the  Interior.  Most  of  them  referred  to  the  gravity  of 
the  situation  in  Paris,  and  proposed  or  suggested  measures  for 
subduing  any  popular  rising.  In  that  respect  the  Empress's 
authorization  was  requested  ;  but  she  would  give  none.  "  Any- 
thing rather  than  civil  war,"  was  her  invariable  answer. 

From  time  to   time    various  visitors,  people  more  or  less 
attached  to  the  Court,  arrived,  one  and  all  of  them  bringing 
increasingly  serious  tidings  respecting  the  disposition    of  the 
Parisians.     It  became  known  that  bands  of  people  were  march- 
ing about,  already  shouting,  "  Dethronement !  Dethronement !  " 
and  "  Long  live  the  Republic  !  "     At  last  some  troops  suddenly 
appeared  on  the  Place  du  Carrousel,  and  others  in  the  reserved 
garden   of  the  palace.     They   were   all  men  of  the    Imperial 
Guard,  led  by  devoted  officers.   Next,  however,  National  Guards 
were  seen  streaming  along  the  quays  and  the  Rue  de  Rivoli 
towards  the  Palais  Bourbon  and  the  Place  de  la  Concorde.     On 
they  huri'ied,  like  the  advanced  guard  of  Revolution.     But  a 
diversion  came,  for  all  at  once  the  Third  Party,  the  Orleanist 
deputies  of  the   Legislative  Body,  appeared  upon   the   scene, 
seeking  audience  of  the  Empress.     They  were  headed  by  Count 
Daru,  who,  although  a  godson  of  the  great  Napoleon,  wished 
to  pick  the  crown  of  France  out  of  the  blood  and  mire  of  Sedan 
to  present  it  to  the  Count  de  Paris.     A  scholarly  but  despic- 
able  man,   this   Daru  subsequently  penned   for   the  National 
Assembly  of  Versailles  some  of  the   most  mendacious  reports 
ever  presented  to  any  parliament.    And  in  that  hour  of  France's 
grievous  misfortune  the  chief  object,  the  great  craving,  of  Daru 
and  his  friends  was  the  crown  for  their  Prince,  the  crown  at  all 
costs,  at  all  hazards.     Entering  the  room  where  the  deputies 
were  assembled,  the  Empress  greeted  them  with  a  sad  smile, 
and  they  talked  to  her  of — abdication.     She  answered  them, 
proudly  enough,  that  the  Ministers  were  in  office   to  propose 
whatever  measures  might  be  necessary  in  the  interest  of  France, 
and    that  if  they  deemed  abdication   necessary,  it  would  be 
signed.     They  were  her  constitutional  advisers,  and  she  was  in 
their  hands. 


406  THE   COURT   OF  THE   TUILERIES 

In  our  earlier  chapters  we  have  not  hesitated  to  express 
an  unfavourable  opinion  of  much  of  the  Empress"'s  influence  in 
politics,  with  regard  notably  to  Italy  and  Rome.  Let  us  now 
say  that  on  the  day  of  Revolution  she  displayed  a  dignity  and 
fortitude  entitling  her  to  all  respect.  Her  interview  with  the 
Orleanist  deputies  was  brought  to  an  end  by  the  arrival  of  a 
Prefect  of  the  Palace,  who  had  witnessed  the  preliminaries  of 
the  invasion  of  the  Palais  Bourbon,  and  of  a  Chamberlain  who 
had  observed  the  aggressive  tendencies  of  the  huge  crowd 
assembled  on  the  Place  de  la  Concorde.  Moreover,  on  a  window 
being  opened,  the  distant  roar  of  "  Vive  la  Republique  ! "  could 
be  distinctly  heard.  Perhaps  the  Third  Party  was  alarmed  by 
those  tidings  and  those  cries  ;  at  all  events,  it  withdrew,  looking 
worried  and  perplexed.  The  whole  affair  was  extremely  charac- 
teristic of  Orleanism.  Louis  Philippe's  sons  and  grandsons  were 
mostly  gallant  men,  and  it  is  a  curious  phenomenon  that  the 
political  supporters  of  the  house  should  have  been,  with  few 
exceptions,  so  different. 

The  Empress  evinced  some  sadness  after  the  departure  of 
the  deputation,  then  became  rather  excited  on  learning  that  the 
imperial  eagles  were  already  being  struck  off"  some  of  the  public 
buildings  of  Paris.  All  the  Ladies  of  the  Palace  who  happened 
to  be  in  the  city  were  now  with  her.  Marshal  Pelissier's 
widow  and  Marshal  Canrobert's  wife  had  arrived  together  at 
an  early  hour.  No  officer  of  the  Household  was  absent.  Several 
usually  attached  to  the  Emperor"'s  person  presented  themselves, 
eager  to  render  service,  some  of  the  younger  ones  being  pro- 
vided with  revolvers  for  use  if  the  palace  should  be  invaded 
and  an  affray  occur.  Princess  Clotilde  also  came  over  from 
the  Palais  Royal,  and  there  was  a  brief,  touching  scene  between 
her  and  the  Empress.  Next  a  few  foreign  diplomatists  arrived, 
including  Prince  Metternich,  who  looked  extremely  affected, 
and  Chevalier  Nigra,  who  was  as  calm,  as  debonair,  as  usual. 
They,  like  every  other  new  arrival,  hastened  to  kiss  the  hand 
of  the  Empress,  whose  emotion  became  more  and  more  apparent. 
Finally,  a  little  before  two  o''clock,  a  few  Ministers,  notably 
Chevreau  and  Jerome  David,  and  various  deputies,  hurried  in 
with  news  of  the  invasion  of  the  Palais  Bourbon  by  the  crowd, 
and  the  proclamation  of  the  Republic  on  its  steps.    The  leaders 


WAR  AND  REVOLUTION  407 

of  the  Revolution  were  now  hastening  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville  to 
act  likewise  there.  Thus  all  was  virtually  over.  The  Empress 
conferred  for  a  moment  with  General  Mellinet,  who  commanded 
the  troops  guarding  the  palace,  repeating  to  him  her  orders 
that  there  was  to  be  no  bloodshed,  and  adding  that  she  was 
about  to  depart.  She  then  gave  her  hand  to  those  officials 
to  whom  she  had  not  previously  bidden  farewell,  and  turning 
to  her  ladies,  exclaimed,  "Do  not  stay  any  longer;  there  is 
little  time  left."  Tears  started  from  many  eyes,  and  all  her 
ladies  clustered  round  her,  kissing  and  pressing  her  hands. 
"  Go,  go,  I  beg  you  !  "  the  Empress  repeated  with  emotion ; 
and  now,  for  the  first  time,  it  seemed  as  if  she  would  break 
down.  But  finally  the  ladies,  reluctantly  enough,  many  of 
them  sobbing,  withdrew — that  is,  all  did  so  excepting  Mme.  de 
La  Poeze,  who,  like  Count  Artus  de  Cosse-Brissac,  the  Chamber- 
lain, was  one  of  the  last  to  leave  the  palace. 

But  the  Empress  herself  had  retired  to  the  further  end  of 
the  salon,  and  after  pausing  there  and  bracing  herself  for  a 
moment,  she  bowed  to  the  whole  gathering  with  the  stately, 
solemn  bow  of  impressive  occasions.  Then,  turning  hurriedly 
to  hide  her  twitching  face,  she  withdrew  to  her  private  apart- 
ments, accompanied  by  Prince  Metternich,  Chevalier  Nigra,  and 
Mme.  Lebreton,  who  had  succeeded  Mme.  Carette  as  her  reader. 
M.  de  Cosse-Brissac  next  faced  the  assembled  officers,  and  said 
to  them  :  "Messieurs,  her  Majesty  thanks  you,  and  invites  you 
to  withdraw."  There  was  some  little  hesitation,  and  before 
the  order  was  obeyed  the  Chamberlain  had  to  assure  his  col- 
leagues and  friends  that  their  further  presence  could  serve  no 
useful  purpose.  As  he  himself  at  last  went  out,  an  usher 
showed  him  the  audience  book,  in  which  were  inscribed  the 
names  of  all  who  had  called  at  the  palace  that  day.  The 
man  wished  to  know  what  was  to  be  done  with  it.  "  Give 
it  to  me,"  replied  M.  de  Cosse-Brissac ;  and  taking  the  book, 
he  tore  from  it  all  the  pages  on  which  names  were  inscribed, 
and  put  them  in  his  pocket,  remarking,  "They  would  only 
serve  as  food  for  abuse  and  slander  if  they  were  left  here." 

The  incidents  of  the  Empress"'s  departure  have  been  so  often 
and  so  minutely  described,  that  we  need  merely  mention  that 
she  quitted  the  palace  virtually  unobserved,  accompanied  by 


408  THE  COURT  OF  THE  TUILERIES 

Mme.  Lebreton,  and  escorted  by  the  Ambassadors  of  Austria 
and  Italy,  who  were  desirous  of  protecting  her  from  insult.  A 
vehicle  was  procured,  and  she  safely  reached  the  residence  of 
her  dentist.  Dr.  Evans,  whose  Memoirs  contain  a  full  account 
of  the  affair.  Next  the  Empress  made  her  way  to  Trouville, 
and  crossed  over  to  England  on  Sir  John  Burgoyne's  little 
yacht.  The  Gazelle. 

The  Court  of  the  Tuileries  had  ceased  to  exist,  and  the 
palace  itself  was  to  last  but  a  few  months  longer.  As  in  our 
first  chapter  we  gave  some  account  of  its  origin,  we  here  append 
a  brief  narrative  of  its  fate. 

****** 

During  the  siege  of  Paris,  after  the  fall  of  the  Empire,  the 
Tuileries  garden  served  as  an  artillery  bivouac,  and  the  palace 
was  chiefly  employed  for  ambulance  purposes — the  ambulance 
which  the  Empress  had  previously  installed  in  the  playhouse 
being  enlarged.  A  committee,  which  the  Government  of 
National  Defence  appointed  to  examine  such  of  the  imperial 
papers  as  had  not  been  removed  or  destroyed  prior  to  the 
Revolution,  also  met  at  the  Tuileries,  in  the  Emperor's  private 
rooms.  One  of  the  principal  members  of  that  committee  was 
M.  Jules  Claretie,  whose  distinguished  career,  marked  by  high 
integrity  as  well  as  ability,  supplies  sufficient  answer  to  the 
charge  that  documents  were  tampered  with  for  purposes  of 
publication — a  charge  occasionally  preferred  by  one  or  another 
interested  party  during  recent  years.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
at  all  that  the  publications  of  the  Government  of  National 
Defence  were  quite  genuine,  though  undoubtedly  they  were 
incomplete.  Circumstances  interrupted  both  scrutiny  and 
publication  ;  and  ultimately  the  bulk  of  the  papers  perished 
in  the  conflagration  of  the  palace.  Few  further  documentary 
revelations  respecting  what  one  may  call  the  secret  side  of  the 
Second  Empire  can  therefore  be  expected,  until,  if  ever,  the 
collections  of  the  Empress  Eugenie  are  given  to  the  world. 

Immediately  after  the  rising  of  the  Commune  of  Paris  on 
March  18,  1871,  an  ex-soldier  of  Chasseurs  d'Afrique,  named 
Dardelle,  was  appointed  military  governor  of  the  Tuileries.  He 
quartered  himself  in  the  fine  rooms  formerly  occupied  by  the 
Duke  de  Bassano,  the  Imperial  Great  Chamberlain,  collected  a 


FATE   OF  THE  PALACE  409 

number  of  people  around  him,  and  frequently  entertained  them 
at  dinners  and  dances.  Being  musically  inclined,  he  also  often 
charmed  his  leisure  moments  by  executing  fantasias  on  the 
chapel  organ.  At  this  time,  for  the  small  admission  fee  of  half 
a  franc,  anybody  might  visit  the  state  apartments  of  the  palace 
between  10  a.m.  and  6  p.m.  ;  and  early  in  May  it  occurred  to 
Dr.  Rousselle,  a  prominent  partisan  of  the  Commune,  who 
modestly  entitled  himself  "  Chief  Surgeon  of  the  Universal 
Republic,"  that  concerts  for  the  benefit  of  wounded  National 
Guards  might  well  be  held  at  the  Tuileries.  That  idea  was 
adopted,  and  every  Thursday  and  Sunday  concerts  took  place, 
simultaneously,  in  the  Salle  des  Marechaux,  the  palace  playhouse, 
and  the  Galerie  de  Diane.  The  number  of  performers  in  the 
various  orchestras  varied  according  to  the  dimensions  of  the 
apartments,  in  one  or  another  of  which  the  artistes  sang  or 
recited  alternately.  The  charge  for  admission  ranged  from  half 
a  franc  to  five  francs,  the  latter  being  the  tariff  in  the  Salle  des 
Marechaux,  where  a  large  stage  was  erected,  adorned  with 
crimson  velvet  draperies,  fringed  with  bullion,  and  spangled 
"with  the  gold  bees  of  the  Bonapartes — these  hangings  having 
been  taken  from  the  imperial  throne-room  and  other  apart- 
ments. The  rooms  blazed  with  wax  candles  derived  from  the 
palace  stores;  the  audiences  were  numerous  and  enthusiastic; 
refreshments,  chiefly  red  wine  and  eau-de-vie,  were  procurable 
at  moderate  charges ;  and  there  was  any  amount  of  smoking, 
— clay  pipes,  however,  being  far  more  numerous  than  cigars. 
Each  performance,  which  naturally  began  and  ended  with  the 
"  Marseillaise,""  included  recitations  of  revolutionary  passages 
in  the  poems  of  Victor  Hugo  and  Auguste  Barbier,  with  a 
medley  of  patriotic  and  socialistic  songs.  Mile.  Agar,  sometime 
of  the  Comedie  Franpaise,  was  the  chief  reciter,  the  leading 
vocalist  being  the  Citoyenne  Bordas,  previously  of  the  Grand 
Concert  Parisien,  who  invariably  raised  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
audiences  to  the  highest  pitch  by  the  manner  in  which  she 
thundered  forth  the  refrain  of  her  famous  song — 

"  C'est  la  canaille  !    Eh  bien,  j'en  suis !  " 

Besides  those  concerts,  there  were  occasional /c^g.?  de  nuit  in 
the  reserved  garden  of  the  palace,  when  countless  red  and  white 


410  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

lamps  glowed  amid  the  shrubberies  and  orange-trees,  while 
round  the  orchestra  swaggered  the  military  dignitaries  of  the 
Commune,  the  ex-hatters,  ex-chemists,  ex-compositors,  and 
others,  all  displaying  plenty  of  gold  braid  on  the  sleeves  of 
their  tunics.  They  were  often  accompanied  by  their  ladies, 
wives  or  demi-wives,  as  the  case  might  be. 

The  last  of  the  concerts  took  place  on  the  evening  of  Sunday^ 
May  21,  while  the  columns  of  the  army  of  Versailles  under 
Marshal  MacMahon  were  stealthily  advancing  into  Paris. 
That  same  day  or  night  (there  is  some  doubt  on  the  point) 
"  General "  Bergeret,  one  of  the  chief  commanders  under  the 
Commune,  quitted  his  quarters  at  the  Palais  Bourbon,  and 
came  to  the  Tuileries,  with  all  his  staff.  The  eventual  entry 
of  the  regular  troops  had  been  foreseen,  and  the  approaches 
to  the  palace  were  defended  by  powerful  batteries  and  huge 
barricades.  Of  the  latter  the  most  formidable  and  elaborate 
arose  at  the  corner  of  the  Rue  de  Rivoli  and  the  Rue  St. 
Florentin.  It  was  quite  five  and  twenty  feet  high,  constructed 
largely  of  masonry,  and  defended  by  two  or  three  guns.  There 
was  another  barricade  on  the  Quai  de  la  Conference,  and 
another  near  the  moat  separating  the  reserved  garden  of  the 
palace  from  the  public  one ;  while  on  the  terrace  overlooking 
the  Place  de  la  Concorde  a  powerful  battery  was  planted.  On 
May  22,  MacMahon''s  troops  having  reached  the  Arc  de 
Triomphe  atop  of  the  Champs  Elysees,  a  detachment  of  his 
artillery  took  up  position  there,  and  the  Avenue  des  Champs 
Elysees  was  soon  swept  by  the  joint  fire  of  the  Versaillese  guns 
and  the  Tuileries  batteries. 

While  this  duel  was  in  progress  eleven  vans  belonging  to 
the  Crown  Furniture  service  arrived  at  the  Tuileries  by  way 
of  the  Place  du  Carrousel.  They  contained  furniture,  papers, 
and  works  of  art  previously  removed  from  M.  Thiers"'s  house  in 
the  Place  St.  Georges,  which  had  been  demolished  by  order  of 
the  Commune.  The  vans,  whose  contents  were  piled  up  in 
various  ground-floor  grooms,  may  merely  have  arrived  at  the 
Tuileries  that  day  by  a  coincidence,  but  if  so  it  was  a  strange 
one.  Meantime,  as  we  have  said,  the  artillery  fire  was  con- 
tinuing on  both  sides.  Great  caution  was  invariably  observed 
by  the  Versaillese  throughout  the  street-fighting  of  that  Bloody 


FATE   OF  THE   PALACE  411 

Week  which  had  now  begun.  Not  a  single  barricade  in  Paris 
was  taken  by  any  infantry  frontal  attack  ;  all  the  Communist 
positions  were  seized  by  flanking  movements.  Thus  about  five 
o'clock  on  Tuesday,  May  S3,  some  of  the  batteries  defending 
the  Tuileries  having  been  silenced,  and  the  troops  having  con- 
trived to  seize  the  Palais  de  ITndustrie  and  the  Elysee,  a 
detachment,  passing  by  way  of  the  Madeleine,  was  able  to  turn 
the  great  barricade  at  the  corner  of  the  Rue  de  Rivoli,  which 
they  found  abandoned.  During  the  artillery  duel  some  damage 
had  been  done  on  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  and  among  the 
statuary  in  the  Tuileries  gardens  ;  and  the  partisans  of  the 
Commune  have  asserted  more  than  once  that  the  palace  itself 
was  set  on  fire  by  Versaillese  shells. 

There  is,  however,  abundant  evidence  to  the  contrary.  In 
the  course  of  May  23  several  vehicles  carrying  barrels  of  gun- 
powder arrived  at  the  Tuileries  by  way  of  the  court  of  the 
Louvre  and  the  Carrousel.  In  the  afternoon  General  Bero-eret 
repaired  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  where  the  Committee  of  Public 
Safety  was  sitting.  On  his  return  to  the  palace  he  assembled 
his  principal  officers,  who  included  notably  a  certain  Victor 
Benot,  an  ex-private  in  the  10th  of  the  Line,  who  had  become 
a  lieutenant  in  the  National  Guard  during  the  German  siege, 
and  had  risen  to  a  colonelcy  under  the  Commune.  Another 
was  a  "Captain''  Etienne  Boudin,  a  bibulous  individual, 
formerly  a  hatter,  we  believe,  who  had  seized  900  bottles  of 
wine  in  the  Tuileries  cellars  and  shared  them  with  his  comrades. 
Other  men,  named  Madeuf  and  Servat,  whose  exact  rank  is  not 
certain,  a  Pole,  "Colonel"  Kaweski,  and  Dardelle,  whom  we 
have  previously  mentioned,  also  attended  Bergerefs  council, 
in  addition  to  the  latter's  immediate  staff-officers.  It  seems 
certain  that  Bergeret  had  received  positive  orders  from  the 
Committee  of  Public  Safety  to  set  the  Tuileries  on  fire — there 
is  only  a  faint  possibility  that  he  may  have  acted  on  his  own 
initiative.  In  either  case,  he  informed  the  others  that  the  palace 
must  be  destroyed.  To  Dardelle  he  assigned  the  duty  of 
removing  all  the  materiel  de  guerre  which  the  Commune  might 
still  require,  while  Benot  and  Boudin  willingly,  if  not  eagerly, 
accepted  the  task  of  firing  the  palace.  Not  only  had  gun- 
powder been  brought  to  the  Tuileries  during  the  day,  there 


412  THE  COURT   OF  THE  TUH^ERIES 

were  also  some  barrels  of  liquid  tar  there,  and  these,  as  well 
as  a  quantity  of  turpentine,  were  used  by  Boudin  in  preparing 
the  Pavilion  Marsan  for  the  conflagration.  He,  like  Benot,  was 
assisted  by  several  acolytes,  and  with  the  help  of  the  many  pails 
and  brooms  in  the  palace,  the  hangings,  floorings,  woodwork, 
and  furniture  of  numerous  apartments  were  coated  with  tar  or 
drenched  with  petroleum.  In  the  chief  vestibule  Benot  placed 
three  barrels  of  gunpowder,  while  two  or  three  others  were 
hoisted  up  the  well  of  the  grand  staircase  and  then  rolled  into 
the  Salle  des  Marechaux,  where  several  cases  of  cartridges,  some 
shells,  and  other  ammunition  were  disposed.  Other  barrels  of 
powder  were  broken  open,  and  the  contents  scattered  about 
the  ground-floor  rooms.  Trains  also  were  laid,  notably  one 
extending  to  the  courtyard,  and  this  was  fired  by  Benot  when 
everybody  had  quitted  the  palace. 

It  was  about  ten  o'clock  when  all  was  ready.  The  Versaillese 
seldom,  if  ever,  stirred  after  dusk  during  that  terrible  week. 
They  remained  on  the  positions  they  had  gained  during  the 
day.  Had  they  been  quicker  in  their  movements,  the  week 
might  have  been  reduced  to  three  days,  and  many  of  the 
buildings  of  Paris  might  have  been  saved.  On  the  other  hand, 
no  doubt,  the  casualties  would  have  been  much  more  numerous. 
On  the  evening  of  May  23  the  National  Guards  still  occupied 
the  garden  of  the  Tuileries,  the  barricade  near  the  ditch,  and 
the  quay  alongside  the  Seine.  They  were  spread  there  en 
tirailleurs,  ready  to  oppose  the  advance  of  the  Versaillese,  should 
the  latter  attempt  to  push  forward  beyond  the  corner  of  the 
Hue  St.  Florentin.  Others,  too,  were  strongly  entrenched  in  the 
Ministry  of  Finances  in  the  Rue  de  Rivoli,  and  defended  it 
throughout  the  night,  every  effort  being  made  to  check  the 
advance  of  the  troops  until  the  conflagration  of  the  Tuileries 
should  be  beyond  remedy.  As  for  Bergeret  and  his  staff',  they 
retired  to  the  Louvre  barracks,  and  it  was  there,  about  ten 
o"'clock  or  a  little  later,  that  Benot  joined  them,  announcing 
that  the  Tuileries  was  alight. 

The  whole  company  sat  down  to  supper,  ate  well  and 
drank  heavily.  Towards  midnight,  after  coffee  had  been  served, 
Benot  invited  the  others  to  admire  his  work.  They  went  out 
on  to  the  terrace  of  the  Louvre  and  saw  the  Tuileries  blazing. 


FATE   OF  THE   PALACE  413 

Flames  were  already  darting  from  the  windows  of  the  great 
fapade— over  twelve  hundred  feet  in  length;  and  if  at  times  there 
came  a  pause  in  the  violence  of  the  fire,  the  ruddy  glow  which 
every  opening  of  the  building  revealed,  was  a  sufficient  sign  that 
the  conflagration  had  by  no  means  subsided.  At  last  a  score 
of  tongues  of  flame  leapt  suddenly  through  the  collapsing  roof, 
reddening  the  great  canopy  of  smoke  which  hovered  above 
the  pile.  The  flames  seemed  to  travel  from  either  end  of  the 
palace  towards  the  central  cupola-crowned  pavilion,  where 
Benot,  an  artist  in  his  way,  had  designedly  placed  most  of  his 
combustibles  and  explosives ;  and  at  about  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning  Bergeret's  officers  were  startled,  almost  alarmed,  by  a 
terrific  explosion  which  shook  all  the  surrounding  district. 
Many  rushed  to  ascertain  what  had  happened,  and  on  facing 
the  Tuileries,  they  saw  that  the  flames  were  now  rising  in  a 
great  sheaf  from  the  central  pavilion,  whose  cupola  had  been 
thrown  into  the  air,  whence  it  fell  in  blazing  fragments,  while 
millions  of  sparks  rose,  rained,  or  rushed  hither  and  thither, 
imparting  to  the  awful  spectacle  much  the  aspect  of  a  bouquet 
of  fireworks,  such  as  usually  terminates  a  great  pyrotechnical 
display. 

"  It  is  nothing,"  said  Bergeret  to  those  of  his  men  whom 
the  explosion  had  alarmed.  "  It  is  only  the  palace  blowing 
up."  And  taking  a  pencil,  he  wrote  :  "  The  last  vestiges  of 
Royalty  have  just  disappeared.  I  wish  that  the  same  may 
befall  all  the  public  buildings  of  Paris."  That  note  he  handed 
to  a  young  man  named  Victor  Thomas,  who  was  a  nephew  of 
the  General  Clement  Thomas  shot  by  the  Communards  on  the 
18th  of  March,  but  who,  curiously  enough,  was  serving  the 
insurrection,  in  spite  of  his  uncle's  fate.  Thomas,  who  personally 
witnessed  what  we  have  described,  carried  the  note  to  the 
Committee  of  Public  Safety  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  When  he 
returned  to  the  Louvre,  Bergeret  had  disappeared. 

Victor  Benot,  being  subsequently  taken  prisoner,  was  tried 
by  a  Council  of  War  and  convicted  not  only  of  his  deeds  at  the 
Tuileries,  but  also  of  having  helped  to  set  fire  to  the  library  of 
the  Louvre — the  old  library  of  the  sovereigns  of  France,  which 
contained  40,000  volumes,  valuable  not  only  by  reason  of  their 
contents  but  also  of  their  bindings,  which  comprised  many  of 


414  THE   COURT   OF  THE  TUILERIES 

the  finest  examples  of  the  bookbinder's  art  in  France.  Benot 
was  condemned  to  death,  but  on  the  ground  that  he  had  acted 
under  Bergeret's  orders,  his  sentence  was  commuted  to  one  of 
transportation  to  New  Caledonia  for  life. 

What  Benot  did  not  do  was  done  by  others.  At  ten  o'clock 
on  the  morning  of  May  24,  columns  of  smoke  arose  from, 
various  parts  of  Paris,  coiling,  meeting,  and  expanding  until 
they  almost  hid  the  sun  from  view.  The  Ministry  of  Finances, 
the  Palais  Royal,  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  the  Prefecture  de  Police, 
the  Palais  de  Justice,  the  Palais  de  la  Legion  d'Honneur,  the 
Cour  des  Comptes,  the  Theatre  Lyrique,  the  Caisse  des  Depots 
et  Consignations — all  these  were  burning  as  well  as  many  houses 
in  one  and  another  part  of  Paris,  as  for  instance  in  the  Rue  de 
Lille  and  the  Rue  du  Bac,  at  the  cross  way  of  the  Croix  Rouge, 
in  the  Rue  Royale,  the  Faubourg  St.  Honore,  the  Rue  Boissy 
d'Anglas,  the  Rue  de  Rivoli,  the  Avenue  Victoria,  the  Boulevard 
Sebastopol,  the  Rue  St.  Martin,  the  Place  du  Chateau  d'Eau 
and  the  Rue  St.  Antoine.  Never  will  that  awful  spectacle 
depart  from  our  memory. 

Surrounded  by  all  those  other  conflagrations,  that  of  the 
Tuileries  continued  for  three  days.  It  was  fortunately  cir- 
cumscribed by  the  massive  masonry  and  ironwork  of  the  newer 
portions  adjoining  the  quay  and  the  Rue  de  Rivoli,  and  for  a 
similar  reason  the  conflagration  of  the  Louvre  library  did  not 
spread  to  the  art  galleries.  For  some  years  the  outer  walls  of 
the  palace  remained  standing — lamentable  mementoes  of  the 
madness  of  Paris  in  those  terrible  days  of  1871 ;  and  an  im- 
pressive water-colour  drawing  of  them  was  made  by  Meissonier, 
who  exhibited  it  in  1883.  On  various  occasions  there  were 
plans  for  rebuilding  the  residence  of  the  Kings  and  Emperors  of 
France,  but  those  schemes  were  ultimately  abandoned,  and  now 
only  the  memory  of  the  Tuileries  remains.  Perhaps  that  is 
best,  for  despite  all  the  magnificence,  all  the  festivities,  it 
witnessed,  it  was  ever  a  fatal  edifice — a  Palace  of  Doom  for 
both  Monarchy  and  Empire. 


INDEX 


Abbatucci,  minister,  57 
Abdul-Aziz,  Abdul  Hamid.    See  Tur- 
key. 
About,  E.,  171,  222,  223,  224,  371 
Absinthe,  hour  of,  322 
Abyssinian  page.  Empress's,  252 
Academy,  French,  392 
Actors,  actresses,  and  vocalists  of  the 

reign,  322,  325 
Adjutant-General  of  the  Tuileries,  41 
Agar,  Mile.,  409 

Aguado,  Viscount  One'sime,  71,  361  ; 

Viscountess,    Marchioness    de    Las 

Marismas,  71,  253,  259,  361 

Aides-de-camp  to  the  Emperor,  45  et 

seq.,  305 ;  to  the  Imperial  Prince,  379 

Aigle,  Marquis  de  1',  358,  361,  364 

Ajaccio,  Prince  Napoleon's  speech  at, 

230,  231 
Aladenize,  Lieut.,  149 
Albe,  Duke  d',  63 ;  Duchess  d',  61,  62, 
63,  64,  173,  174 ;  Miles,  d',  170,  323, 
357 
Albert,  Archduke,  of  Austria,  383,  384, 

385 
Albufe'ra,  Duke  and  Duchess  d',  352 
Alexander  II.,  Czar.    See  Kussia, 
Algeria,  the  Emperor  in,  337  ;  Gover- 
nors of,  346  et  seq. ;  King  of,  pro- 
posed title,  91 
Allsop  in  Orsini  plot,  117 
Allou,  Maltre,  216 
Almonry,  imperial,  52 
Alphand,  M.,  132 
Alton-Shee,  25 

Ambassadors  to  France,  some,  298,  299 
American  beauties  at  Court,  71,  262 
Andre  scandal,  186  et  seq. 
Angouleme,  Duke  of,  190,  300 
Antonelli,  Card.,  171 
Aosta,  Amadeo,  Duke  d',  King  of  Spain, 
226,  272 ;  Marie  Laetitia  Bonaparte, 
Duchess  d',  226 
Arago,  Em.,  204 
Archbishops  of  Paris,  52,  68,  108 


Archer.     See  Gordon. 

Arese,  Count,  136 

Army,  the,  and  the  Emperor,  340  et 

seq.,  391 ;  reorganisation  of,  270, 274, 

345  352 
Atholi,  Duke  of,  372 
Auber,  52,  66,  371 
Aubin  des  Fougcrais,  Dr.,  359 
Audiences  at  Court,  134,  135,  136,  245 
Aumale,  Duke  d',  231,  303,  393 
Aurelle  de  Paladines,  Gen.  d',  145 
Austria,  Anne  of,  3,  227,  331 ;  Francis 

Joseph  of,  273,  274,  331,  333,  366, 

372,  383,  384;  to  invade  Germany, 

383  et  seq.     See  also  Wars. 
Aventi,  Countess,  213 
Ayguesvives,  Count  d',  43 


Bachon,  equerry,  879 

Baciocchi,  Princess,  58,  209,  212,  218 ; 
Count  Marius,  42,  43,  112,  113,  136, 
185,  187, 189 

Baden,  Ste'phanie,  n^e  Beauharnais, 
Grand  Duchess  of,  57,  93,  97 

Bagatelle,  estate  of,  380 

Ballets  at  Court,  260,  285 

Balls,  Empress's  Monday,  257,  258; 
fancy  and  masked,  198,  258  et  seq. ; 
Hotel  de  Ville,  273 ;  Jockey  Club's, 
264;  Legislative  Body's,  77,  78; 
Princess  Metternich's,  262;  Prus- 
sian Embassy's,  263;  public  and 
private,  254  ;  Tuileries  state,  254  et 
seq. ;  refreshments  at,  257 ;  Ver- 
sailles, 86,  87 

Banquets  at  Tuileries.    See  Dinners. 

Banville,  T.  de,  235 

Baptism  of  Imperial  Prince,  94,  97  et 

Baraguey  d'Hilliers,  Ml.,  83,  846,  351 
Baroche,  minister,  147,  176,  296 
Barrot, F.,  186 ;  Odilon,  186et seq.,220 
Bartholoni,    Marchioness,    213,    217  ; 
Mme.  253,  261,375 


416 


INDEX 


Bartolotti,  regicide,  109  et  scq. 

Barucci,  Giulia,  323 

Bassauo,  Duke  de,  42,  70,  81,  361,  408  ; 

Duchess  de,  42,  67,  70,  355 
Baudry,  Paul,  371 
Bauer,  Mgr.,  53,  357 
Bavaria,  Maximilian  of,  331 
Bayle,  Miles.,  76,  164 
Bazaine,  Ml.,  147,  350  et  seq.,  398  et 

seq. ;  his  wife,  351 
Eaze,  qusestor,  11,  141 
Beauffremont,  Princess  de,  373 
Beaufort,  Duke  of,  183 
Beauharnais,  Claude  de,  57.    See  also 

Hortense,  Josephine,  and  Baden 
Beaulaincourt.     See  Contades. 
Beaumont,  Count  and  Countess  de,  286 
Beauregard,  chateau  of,  190  ;  Countess. 

See  Howard. 
Beaury  plot,  120 
Beauties,  dinner  of  the,  253 
Bechevet,  Count  de,  183,  190,  193 
Beckwith,  Miss,  262 
Bedoj^ere.     See  La  Bedoyere. 
Bees,  ballet  of  the,  260 ;  of  the  Bona- 

partes,  95,  260 
Be'hague,  Countess  de,  281 
Belgians,  kings  of  the :    Leopold  I., 

331,  333  ;  Leopold  XL,  at  first  Duke 

of  Brabant,  88,  271,  335 
Bellanger,  Marguerite,  202  et  seg.,338 
Belle  Helene  in  a  crinoline,  314 
Bellemare,  lunatic  regicide,  107,  108 
Belmont,  Marq.  de,  43 
Benedetti,  Count,  294,  295,  384,  385, 

396 
Benoit,  Tuileries  head-cook,  137,  250 
Benot,  incendiary,  411  et  seq. 
Berckheim,  Gen.  de,  48 
Berezowski,  regicide,  272 
Bergeret,  Gen.  of  the  Commune,  410 

Bernard,  Dr.,  117,  119 
Bernhardt,  Sarah,  325 
Berri,  Duke  de,  102,   190;  Duchess 

de,  31,  92 
Berryer,  175,  215 
Berthier,  Ml.,  281.    See  Wagram. 
Berwick.    See  Albe. 
Beville,  Baron  de,  47,  189 
Beyens,  Baron,  299 
Biarritz,  273,  354  et  seq. 
Bibesco,  Prince,  373 
Bidos,  M.,  41 

Biguet,  Empress's  usher,  158 
Billault,  minister,  176,  293  et  seq. 
Billing,  Baron  de,  225,  266,  271 
Bineau,  minister,  57 
Birth  of  Imperial  Prince,  91  et  seq. 


Bismarck,   Count,  later  Prince,   147, 
256,  272,  273,  294,  295,  372,  384, 
385,  395 ;  colour,  so-called,  315 
Bizot,  Mme.,  gov.  to  Impl.  Prince,  90, 

376 
Black  Cabinet,  108,  147 
Blanc,  Charles,  on  feminine  dress,  314 ; 

Fran9ois,  of  Monte  Carlo,  243 
Blount,  Ashton,  372,  374 
Blucher,  Ml.,  331 
Boar-hunting,  358,  364 
Bonaparte,  Prince  Antoine  Lucien, 
211,  213  ;  Charles  Lucien,  Prince  of 
Canino,  211 ;  Christiane  Egypta, 
239;  Elisa  (sister  of  Napoleon  I.), 
58,  209 ;  Elizabeth,  Mrs.,  n^e  Pater- 
son,  215  et  seq.;  Princess  Jeanne, 
see  Villeneuve  ;  Jerome,  Mr.,  son  of 
Elizabeth  Paterson,  213,  215  et  seq. ; 
Jerome  fils,  grandson  of  E.  Paterson, 
216,  218, 219  ;  Prince  Joseph  Lucien, 
211,  213  ;  Laetitia,  "  Madame  Mere," 
215,  330 ;  Princess  Laetitia  Julie, 
209,  211 ;  Prince  Louis  Lucien,  92, 
211,  213 ;  Cardinal  Lucien  Louis, 
211 ;  Princess  Mariana,  213  ;  Prince 
Napoleon  Charles  Lucien,  92,  211, 
213 ;  Princess  Napoleon  Charles 
Lucien,  n^eEuspoli,  211, 212 ;  Prince 
Napoleon  Louis,  brother  of  Napofeon 
III.,  7,  116;  General  Prince  Napo- 
leon Louis  Jerome,  226, 233  ;  Prince 
Napoleon  Victor  Jerome,  226,  233 ; 
Prince  Pierre  Napoleon  Lucien,  148, 
150,  15],  211,  213,  240  et  seq.,  364, 
390 ;  Princess  Pierre  Napoleon,  242, 
243 ;  Prince  Kolaud,  243,  244.  See 
also  Aosta,  Canino,  Jerome,  Joseph, 
Louis,  Mathilde,  Napoleon,  and 
Napoleon  (Jerome). 

Bonaparte-Centamori,  Mme.,  214 

Wyse,  212,  213 

Bonapartes,  the,  allowances  and  grants 
to,  38,  148,  212  et  seq.;  at  the 
establishment  of  the  Second  Em- 
pire, 209;  table  of,  in  1868.. .213; 
their  connection  with  the  British 
Koyal  House,  219 

Bonnets  and  hats,  317, 318 

Booker,  Mrs.  A.,  213 

Boots,  ladies',  318 

Bordas,  Mme.,  409 

Bordeaux,  Duke  de,  2,  92 

Bosquet,  ML,  97,  253,  345 

Boudin,  incendiary,  411,  412 

Boulevards,  Paris,  321,  322;  at  the 
Eevolution,  403 

Boulogne,  Bois  de,  322, 323,  380 

Boulogne-?ur-Mei',  camp  at,    SO,  84, 


INDEX 


417 


341;  Louia  Napoleon's  attempt  at, 

32,  33,  183 
Bourbaki,  Gen.,  47,  346 
Bourbon,  Palais,  11,  77,  290,403,  404 
Bourgoing,  Baron  de,  51 ;  Baroness  de, 

253, 260 
Bouvet.    See  Carette. 
Bovary,  Mme.,  296 
Brabant.     See  Belgians. 
Bran^ion,  Mme.  de,  90,  376 
Brault.     See  Gordon. 
Breakages   and    losses  at    Tuileries, 

248 
Bressant,  234 
Bressonet,  Major,  350 
Bridge  over  English  Channel,  146,  375 
Bridges,  Mr.  (Imperial  stables),  304 
Brincard,  Mme.,  260 
Brohan„  Augustine,  320  ;    Madeleine, 

234 
Bruat,  Mme.,  Governess  of  the  Children 

of  France,  90,  93,  97,  98,  376 
Brunswick,  Charles  II.,  Duke  of,  284, 

385 
Budberg,  Baron,  299 
Buffet,  minister,  389 
Bugea^d,  Ml.,  31,  399 
Bure,  Crown  treasurer,  148,  184,  251 
Burgh,  Mr.  de,  51 
Burgoyne,  Sir  J,,  408 
Bussieres  family,  280 
Buttons  of  the  Hunt,  360,  361 


Oabanel,  portrait   of  Napoleon  III. 

by,  161 
Cabinet  noir  of  the  post-oflSce,  108,  147 
,  private,  of  the  Emperor,  129  et 

seq. 
Cadore,  Duchess  de,  160,  253 
Caesar,  Napoleon's  life  of,  47,  48, 138, 

146,  154 
Cafe's  of  Paris,  321 
Calzado,  323^  324 
Cambaceres,   Duke  de,    44,    65,   246, 

361 ;  Duchess  de,  45,  246 
Cambridge,  Duke  of,  341,  344 
Cambriels,  Gen.,  48 
Camerata,  Count,  58 
Camp.    See  Boulogne  and  Chalons, 
Campana,  Marchioness,  150, 151 
Campella,  Countess,  213 
Canino,  Lucien,  Prince  of,  brother  of 

Napoleon  I.,  11,  209,  211,  239 
Canizy,  Mme.  de,  253 
Canrobert,  Certain  de,  Ml.,  46,  47,  97, 

253,  349,  351,  352 
,  Mme.  de,  n^e  Macdonald,  46, 253, 

260,  279,  353,  406 


Caraman-Chimay  family,  310,  373 
Carbonari,  Napoleon  III.  and  the,  7 

104 
Carbonnel,  Gen.,  25 
Cardigan,  Lord,  82 
Carette,  Mme.,  nee  Bouvet,  72, 73, 167, 

256,  332,  333,  336,  357 
Carpeaux,  322,  371 
Carriages,  State,  65,  67,  87,  89,  302, 

303;   the  Emperor's  service,  303  et 

seq. ;   the  Empress's,  308 ;   the  Im- 
perial Prince's,  380 
Carrousel,  Place  du,  3,  18 
Cassagnac,  Paul  de,  218,  219,  286 
Castelbajac,  Count  de,  51 
Castellane,  Ml.  de,  17,  30,  32,  59,  198, 

346 
Castelnau,  Gen.,  46 
Castelvecchio,  Count  de,  207 
Castiglione,    Count    Verasis    di,   110, 

200,  202 ;    Countess  Virginia,   110, 

111,  197  et  seq.,  259,  263.    See  also 

Colonna. 
Castries,  Duke  de,  280 
Caulaincourt.     See  Vicence. 
Caumont-Laforce,  Duke  de,  361 
Caux,  Marquis  de,  51,  258 
Cavour,  Count,  88,  110,  111,  147,  225, 

339 
Cellarius,  320 
Cent-Gardes,  39,   41,  49,  50,   121   et 

seq.;  130,254,255 
Ceremonies,  Grt.  Master  of  the,  and 

others,  44, 45 
C^sar  d^classg,  223 

Ch§,lons,  camp  of,  341  et  seq.;    Em- 
peror ill  at,  336;  conference  at,  in 

1870.. .400 
Chamber  of  Deputies.    See  Legislative 

Body. 
Chamberlains,   Emperor's,  42  et  seq., 

130,  135,  305  ;  Empress's,  74, 75 
Chambre  bleue,  la,  by  M^rimee,  169 
Changarnier,  Gen.,  141 
Channel,  bridge    over  English,    146, 

375 
Chaplin,  Charles,  159 
Charades  at  Court,  285,  373 
Chargers.    See  Horses. 
Charities,  Empress's,  69,  167,  308 
Charles  X.  of  France,  10,  20,  36,  329, 

330,  358 
Charlotte,  Empress.    See  Mexico. 
Charras,  Col.,  141 
Chasseloup-Laubat,    Marq.   de,    270 ; 

March,  de,  253 
Chassepot  rifle,  46,  47,  342 
Chassiron,  Baroness  de,  n^e  Murat,  212, 

213 

2e 


418 


INDEX 


Cliaudordy,  Count  rle,  396  • 

Chaumont,  Marquis  de,  43 

Chemist,  Court,  54 

Cherbourg,  119,  313 

Chevandier  de  Valdrome,  295,  389 

Chevrcau,  minister,  295,  406 

Chignons,  317,  318 

Chimay.     See  Caraman. 

Choiseul,  Count  de,  259 

Civil  Family  of  the  Emperor,  210  et 

seq. 
Civil  List  and  its  payments,  36,  37, 

39,  148,  150,  151,  212,  213,  214 
Civita    Nuova,    Emperor's    estate    of, 

183  191 
Chxrendon,  Earl  of,  372 
Claretie,  Jules,  324,  408 
Ckuide,  chief  of  Detective  Police,  115 
Clotilde  of  Savoy,  Princess,  ■wife  of 

Napoleon  (Jerome),   215,  225,  226, 

228,  229,  245,  246,  256,  259,  406 
Clubs  of  Paris,  321 
Coalition  projected  against  Germany, 

383  et  seq.,  396,  397 
Colonels,   French,  threaten  England, 

119 
Colonna  di  Castiglione,  Duchess,  373 
Colours  of  the  reign,  fashionable,  314, 

315,  317 
Comedie  frau§aise,  112,  373 
Commentaires  de  C^sar,  Massa's,  285, 

374,  375 
Commune  of  Paris  and  the  Tuileries, 

408  et  seq. 
Compiegne,  the  Court  at,  285,  853,  357 

et  seq.,  368  et  seq. ;  marshals  at,  351. 

See  also  Hunt. 
Conception,  immaculate,  dogma,  108 
Conegliano,  Duke  de,  40,  43,  306 
Conilagrations  of  the  Commune,  414 
Conneau,  Dr.,  53,  54,  134,  136,   144, 

393,  395;  Mme.,  234;  their  son,  381 
Conspiracies  against  Napoleon  III.,  100 

et  seq. 
Constantine,  Grand  Duke,  18,  19 
Constitution  of  the  Empire  and   its 

changes,  16,  60,  61,  84,  89,  173,  175, 

176,  269,  270,  385,  386,  390,  391,  892 
Consultation  on  the  Emperor's  health, 

393  et  seq. 
Contades,  March,  de,  60,  199,  361 
Conti,  Chef-de-cabinet,  139,  143 
Cooks  and  assistants  at  Tuileries,  250, 

251 
Corbeille  de  manage.  Empress's,   69, 

811 
Cornemuse,  Gen.,  155  et  seq. 
Cornu,  Mme.,  14,  17,  153,  154 
Corps  Le'gislatif.  See  Legislative  Body. 


Corvisart,  Dr.  Baron,  53,  54,  357,  393, 

395,  397 
Cosse-Briesac,  Count  Artus  de,  75,  407 
Costumiers,  Parisian,  310  et  seq. 
Council,  imperial  family,  216 
,  ministerial,  Empress  at  the,  171, 

176,  177 ;  her  last,  404 
Coup  d'Etat  of  Dec,  1851. ,.6,  7,  10 

et  seq.,  27,  28,  48,  881 ;  men  of  the, 

23  et  seq. ;  Mocquard  at  the,  140, 141 ; 

Napoleon's  horse  at  the,  307;  victims 

of  the,  69,  70,  96 
Courcelles,  Kue  de,  Princess  Mathilde 

in  the,  234,  285 
Cousin-Montauban.    See  Palikao. 
Couture,  painter,  371 
Cowley,  1st  Earl,  16,  27,  299,  361,  366 
Cradles  of  the  Impl.  Prince,  90 
Credit  foncier  loans  to  Emperor,  150, 

151 ;  to  city  of  Paris,  297 
Cre'mieux,  A.,  204 
Crimea.     See  Wars. 
Crinolme,  the,  164,  165,  813,  314,  355 
Crown.    See  Dotation,  Jewels. 
Crouy-Chanel,  Prince  de,  145 
Cur^e  after  hunting,  863,  364 ;  of  the 

Liberal  Empire,  248,  389 
Cybfele  carriage,  302,  303 
Czartoryska,  Princess  Constantine,  285, 

378 
Czernowitz,  Count,  307 

Dalmas,  M.  de,  143 

Damas,  M.  de,  217 

Dancing  with  peasant  girls.  Emperor,, 

14,  840.     See  Balls. 
Darboy,  Archbp.  of  Paris,  52,  53 
Dardelle,  of  the  Commune,  408,  409, 

411 
Darimon,  deputy,  394,  395 
Daru,  Count,  389,  405 
Davenport  brothers,  265 
David,  Baron  Jerome,  149,  214,  406 

Baroness,  214 
Davillier,  Count,  51,  54 
Deauville,  29 

Deguerry,  Abbe',  53,  163,  258,  377 
Dejeuners,    Emperor    and    Empress's, 

135;    oflScers',  136;    at  Compiegne, 

369 
Delangle,  minister,  296 
Delessert,  Mme.,  59 ;  her  son,  361 
Delorme,  Philibert.     See  Tuileries. 
Demidoff,  Prince  Anatole,  235,  236 
Bemi-monde,  the,  264,  328.     See  also 

Pearl,  Cora. 
Demorny,  Auguste,  24.     See  Morny. 
Denmark,    King    of,    272.     See    also 

Wars:  Schleswig. 


INDEX 


419 


Denuelle  de  la  Plaigne.    See  Luxburg. 
Devienne,  President,  203  et  seq.,  338 
Devonshire,  Duchess  of,  previously  of 

Manchester,  198 
Dinners  at  Tuileries,   136,  137,  229, 

245  et  seq.,  251  et  seq. ;  at  Compiegne, 

369 ;  at  Palais  Eoyal,  229 
Dix,  General,  299;  Miss,  262 
Dogs,  the  Emperor's,  365,  371 
Dotation  of  the  Crovpn,  36,  89 
Douay,  Gen.  Abel,  350 ;  Gen.  Fe'Iix,  47 
Doucet,  Camille,  verses  by,  95,  371 
Dmcjees,Ixnpl.  Prince's,  125 ;  ordered  by 

Emperor,  196,  197 
Drives,  Emperor's,  305,  306 
Drouyn   de  Lhuys,  M.,  57,  295,  298, 

338 ;  Mme.,  261 
Dubois,  Dr.  Baron,  54,  93 
Dubufe's  paintings  at  Tuileries,  159 
Dufour,  Gen.,  9,  137 
Dumas,  Alex.,  the  elder,  322 
Dunmore,  7th  Earl  of,  372 
Duperre,  Capt.,  later  Adml.,  879 
Dupuis  or   Dupuy,   comptroller,   249, 

251 ;  his  wife,  164 
Dusautoy,  Emperor's  tailor,   15,   149, 

153 
Duthe,  La,  317 

Edinbxjegh,  Duke  of,  272 

Edward  VII.    See  "Wales. 

Egypt,  Ismail,  Viceroy  of,  272.  See 
Suez. 

Ely,  Marchioness  of,  89 

Elyse'e  Palace,  5,  6,  36,  59,  65,  66, 128, 
140,  185,  273,  361,  411 

Empire.    See  Second. 

Empress,  the.  See  Eugenie,  House- 
hold. 

England,  Emperor  and  Empress  visit, 
81,  82.    See  Great  Britain. 

Ennery,  Adolphe  d',  141 

Entente  cordiaJe,  origin  of  the  term, 
79,119 

Equerries,  Emperor's,  50,  51,  255,  300, 
301,309;  Empress's,  308;  Imperial 
Prince's,  380 

Espinasse,  General,  11,  47,  118 

Essling,  Princess  d',  67,  70,  81,  91 

Estafettes,  imperial,  305 

Eugenie,  Empress  of  the  French,  and 
a  statue  of  Peace,  19 ;  refuses  a 
jointure,  38 ;  gives  General  Schmitz 
a  kiss,  48;  her  parentage  and 
marriage,  56  et  seq.,  189 ;  her  personal 
appearance,  64,  68,  255 ;  her  house- 
hold, 67,  70  et  seq. ;  her  jewellery, 
67,  69,  144,  166,  167,  255;  her 
corheille  de  manage,  69,  311;    re- 


proves her  reader,  73 ;  visits  London 
and  "Windsor,  81,  82 ;  receives  Queen 
Victoria  at  St.  Cloud,  85;  attends 
the  Versailles  ball,  87;  is  friendly 
with  Nigra  but  champions  Papal 
interests,  88,  171  et  seq.,  Ill,  206, 
207;  birth  of  her  son,  89  et  seq.- 
present  at  the  State  baptism,  97 
et  seq. ;  presented  with  the  Golden 
Kose,  99,  163;  befriends  Griscelli, 
104 ;  in  connection  with  the  Pianori 
and  Bellemare  affairs,  105,  107 ;  at 
the  theatre,  112 ;  at  the  Orsini  affair, 
114,  115 ;  her  fears  for  her  son,  120; 
portraits  of  her,  130 ;  lunches  with 
the  Emperor,  135 ;  her  preference 
in  cookery,  137 ;  at  dinner,  137,  246, 
249,  252,  253;  meets  Mme.  Cornu, 
154 ;  her  rooms  at  the  Tuileries, 
158  et  seq. ;  portrayed  as  the  god- 
dess Flora,  159 ;  her  private  sanc- 
tum, 161 ;  her  collections  of  docu- 
ments, 162 ;  her  wardrobe,  163-166, 
311 ;  her  head  maid,  164 ;  patronizes 
the  crinoline,  165 ;  her  expenditure 
on  dress,  165,  166 ;  her  charities,  69, 
167,  308 ;  the  rearing  of  her  son, 
168 ;  her  reading,  169 ;  her  evening 
chats,  170;  her  travels,  170;  her 
regencies,  170  et  seq.,  397  et  seq. ; 
admires  Marie-Antoinette,  170,  177, 
201 ;  her  share  in  politics,  171  et  seq., 
176,  177,  206,  207 ;  loses  her  sister, 
172 ;  visits  Scotland,  174,  175,  199 ; 
is  opposed  by  Persigny,  176 ;  attends 
ministerial  councils,  176,  177;  her 
relations  with  Kouher,  Magne,  and 
OUivier,  177;  in  relation  to  Miss 
Howard,  189,  192,  193,  207 ;  expels 
a  scandalmonger  from  the  Tuileries, 
195;  is  no  Catherine  of  Braganza, 
196;  expels  Mme.  de  Castiglione, 
201 ;  incensed  by  the  Marguerite 
Bellanger  affair,  205 ;  threatens  to 
leave  the  Emperor,  205  ;  is  estranged 
from  him,  206,  207 ;  her  Abyssinian 
page,  252;  gives  a  beauty  dinner, 
253 ;  at  State  balls,  255  et  seq. ;  her 
Monday  balls,  257  et  seq. ;  at  fancy- 
dress  balls,  259,  260,  261 ;  patronizes 
Home  the  medium,  266 ;  at  St. 
Cloud  fair,  268 ;  affected  by  wounded 
soldiers'  sufferings,  278 ;  visits  Morny 
before  his  death,  290 ;  gives  a 
carriage  to  the  Duke  d'Aumale,  302, 
303 ;  her  carriages  and  horses,  308, 
309;  her  costumiers,  311 ;  drives  in 
the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  323  ;  dislikes 
St.  Cloud,  328,  330 ;  with  Charlotte 


420 


INDEX 


of  Mexico,  332,  333;  at  Biarritz, 
354  et  seq.;  her  adventure  off  St. 
Jean  de  Luz,  357 ;  her  hunting-habit, 
360;  is  alarmed  by  her  husband's 
daring,  362 ;  shoots  in  the  preserves, 
368 ;  her  joke  with  Eouland,  368 ; 
p-jts  down  rabbit-coursing,  368 ;  her 
tea-parties  at  Compiegne,  369;  is 
complimented  on  her  son  by  William 
of  Prussia,  372;  receives  Emile 
OUivier  at  dinner,  387;  does  not 
see  the  report  on  her  husband's 
health,  394  ;  unlikely  that  she  pre- 
cipitated the  Franco-German  War, 
397 ;  becomes  Eegent  for  the  last 
time,  397 ;  is  hostile  to  Napoleon's 
return  to  Paris,  398,  400,  401 ;  goes 
precipitately  to  Paris  after  Worth, 
398 ;  her  last  official  reception,  398, 
399;  her  distrust  of  Trochu,  399, 
400;  the  charge  of  sacrificing  her 
husband  discussed,  401 ;  has  fears  of 
a  revolution,  401,  402;  schemes  to 
ensure  her  safety,  402 ;  receives 
news  of  Sedan,  403  ;  holds  her  last 
councils,  404 ;  receives  the  Orleanist 
deputies,  405,  406;  takes  an  im- 
pressive farewell  of  her  household, 
406,  407;  quits  the  Tuileries  and 
France,  408 

Eugenie,  villa.    See  Biarritz. 

Evans,  Dr.,  408 

Escelmans,  Gen.,  later  Marshal,  48, 
346 

Exhibition,  Paris,  of  1855,  80  et  seq^. ; 
of  1867,  271  et  seq. 

Failly,  Gen.  de,  47, 196,  400 

Family.    See  Civil  and  Council. 

Farnese  frescoes,  22 

Famesina  gardens,  148 

Fashions,  feminine,  164, 165,  277,  284, 

310  et  seq.,  390;   men's,  320,  321, 

353 
Fat  Ox  Procession,  267,  268 
Fauvel,  Dr.,  393,  395 
Fave,  Gen.,  47, 175 
Favre,  Jules,  118,  403 
Fechter,  147 
Felix,     Empress's     hairdresser,     81 ; 

actress,  see  Rachel 
Feray,  Countess,  72 
Fei-rifere,  Visct.  de  la,  43 
Ferry,  Jules,  400,  403 
Fetes  and  fairs  in  Paris  and  environs, 

267,  268,  269 
Feuillet,  Octave,  235,  285,  371 
Feuillet  de  Conches,  Baron,  45,  170 
Fialin.     See  Persigny. 


Fieschi,  102 

Filon,  Aug.,  377 

Financial  scandals,  324 

Flahault  de  la  Billarderie,  Gen.  Count 

de,  9,  23  et  seq.,  290 ;  his  wife,  24 
Flanders,  Count  and  Countess  of,  272, 

273 
Flandrin's  portrait  of  Prince  Napoleon, 

222  223 
Fleurv,  Emile,  Gen.    Count,  11,  17, 

34,  35,  44,  50,  51,  56,  57,  58,  60,  65, 

68,  81,  85,  146,  182,  183,   185,  300 

et  seq.,  309  ;  his  wife,  35,  260 
Floquet,  Ch.,  272 
Florence,  Louis  Napoleon's  love  affair 

at,  181 
Fontainebleau,  Court  at,  16,  353,  354, 

362,  363,  365,  368 
Fonvielle,  XJlrich  de,  241,  242 
Footmen,  palace,  44,  53 
Forcade  de  la  Eoquette,  minister,  30, 

295,  296,  388 
Foreign  affairs,  Ministers  of,  297 
Forey,  ML,  349,  350,  351 
Fould,  Achille,  35  et  seq.,  39,  58,  60 

66,  270,  283,  361,  363 
Fourtoul,  minister,  57 
Francis  Joseph.    See  Austria. 
Fraser,  Carolina.     See  Murat,  Princess 

Lucien. 
Frogs,  Pasteur's,  370 
Frossard,  Gen.,  47,  352,  378,  379,  397 
Fustel  de  Coulanges,  169 

Gaboeiau,  E.,  on  Cornemuse  and  Miss 

Howard,  157,  192 
Gabrielli,  Prince,  213,  245;  Princess, 

n^e  Bonaparte   (Lucien),  210,  211, 

213,  245 
Galerie  de  Diane,  etc.    See  Tuileries. 
Galliffet,  family,  276  ;  Gen.  Marq.  de, 

48,  49,  196,  260,  275   et  seq.,  285, 

286,  374;  Mme.  de,  49,  253,  261, 

275,  277  et  seq. 
Gamble,  Mr.,  of  the  imperial  stables, 

307 
Garcia  the  gambler,  323,  324 
Gardoni,  234 
Garter,  order  of  the,  given  to  Emperor, 

82 
Garters,  fashions  in,  318,  319 
Gautier,  Theophile,  verses  on  the  Im- 
perial Prince,  94,  194,  371 
Germany,  coalition  to  invade,  383,  384, 

396,  397.    See  also  Prussia. 
Gipsy  quadrille  at  Tuileries,  260 
Gipsy's  prediction  to  Napoleon  III.,  17 
Girardin,  Emile  de,   224;   Mme.   dq 

262 


INDEX 


421 


Golden  Rose,  the,  99, 163 

Goltz,  Baron,  298,  356 

Gomez,  Orsini's  servant,  115 

Gordon,  Col.  Archer,  181 ;  Mme.,  n^e 
Brault,  181.  182 

Gouache,  confectioner,  196 

Goyon,  Gen.  Count  de,  46 

Graces  of  the  Empire,  275  et  seg, 

Gramont  Duke  de,  389,  396 

Grant,  A.  S.,  192 

Great  Britain,  her  relations  with 
France,  79,  119 ;  royal  house  of,  and 
the  Bonapartes,  219;iVictoria,  Queen 
of,  sounded  on  the  Emperor's  matri- 
moniall  schemes,  56 ;  visited  by  the 
Emperor  and  Empress,  81,  175,  313 ; 
visits  Paris,  83  et  seq. ;  in  relation 
to  the  Imperial  Prince,  89,  93,  380 

Great  Chamberlain,  Great  Equerry, 
Great  Huntsman,  etc.  See  Cham- 
berlains, Equerries,  Huntsman,  etc. 

Greco's  plot,  120 

Greece.     See  Hellenes. 

Grenadiers  of  the  Guard,  344,  372, 
378 

Gricourt,  Marq.  de,  43 

Griscelli,  detective,  104,  109 

Grocer,  profession  of,  152 

Grousset,  P.,  241,  242 

Guard,  Imperial,  50,  88,  130,  346; 
Mobile,  46,  274,  340 

Gue'roult,  Adolphe,  223 

Guides,  regiment  of,  50,  67,  239 


Ham,  Napoleon  III.  at,  52,  54,  59,  76, 

140, 144,  183,  184,  336,  337,  371 
Hamiltons,  57,  97,  372 
Hanover,  last  King  of,  385 
Hargett.    See  Howard. 
Harispe,  Ml.  Count,  346 
Haussmann,  Baron,  132,  273,  296, 297 ; 

Mile.,  297 
Havre,  Le,  Miss  Howard  kept  at,  189 
Havrincourt,  Marquis  d',  43,  75 
Hawking  revived,  364 
Heindereich,  headsman,  203 
Hellenes,  George  I.,  King  of  the,  271 
Hertford,  Marq.  of,  185,  281,  322,  380 
Hippodrome  plot,  102 
Hitchcock,  Miss,  263 
Hohenlohe,  Princess  Adelaide  of,  56 
HohenzoUem  candidatures  to  Spanish 

throne,  385,  393,  395 
Holland,   William  III.,  King  of  the 

Netherlands,  154,372;  Sophia,Queen, 

154, 155 
Home,  D.D.,  medium,  265  et  seq. 
Honorati-Komagnoli,  Blme.,  213 


Horsemanship,  the  Emperor's,  10,  83, 
84,  307,  343 ;  the  Impl.  Prince's,  380 

Horse-racing  and  the  Emperor,  309 

Horses,  the  Emperor's  carriage,  306 ; 
his  saddle,  307,  308 ;  the  Empress's, 
308,  309  ;  of  the  hunt,  360 

Hortense,  n^e  Beauharnais,  Queen  of 
Holland,  mother  of  Napoleon  III., 
7,  8,  9,  23,  24,  25,  57,  139 

Hounds  of  the  imperial  hunt,  358,  359, 
360,  363,  364 

Household,  the  imperial,  its  organiza- 
tion and  expenses,  35  et  seq. ;  officers 
of,  39  et  seq.,  135;  the  Emperor's 
military,  45  et  seq. ;  at  the  Revolu- 
tion, 406,  407 ;  the  Empress's,  67, 
70  et  seq.,  74  et  seq. ;  the  Impl. 
Prince's,  90, 376  et  seq.  See  Chamber- 
lains, Equerries,  etc. 

Howard,  Elizabeth  Anne  Haryett  (or 
Hargett),  Countess  de  Beauregard, 
37,  60,  64,  182-193,  330 

Hiibner,  Baron,  226,  283 

Hugo,  Victor,  14,  78,  96,  103, 141,  409 

Humbert.     See  Italy. 

Hunt,  the  imperial,  52,  300,  301,  358 
et  seq. 

Huntsman,  the  great,  32,  52,  300,  301, 
353 

Hyrvoix,  chief  of  palace  police,  120, 
123,  125 

Illness,  the  Emperor's,  139,  335-339 
343,  345,  381,  393-395,  397 

Immaculate  Conception  dogma,  108 

Imperial  Guard,  imperial  household, 
etc.     See  Guard,  Household,  etc. 

Imperial  Prince,  the.  Napoleon  Louis, 
Eugene  Jean  Joseph;  his  birth,  89 
et  seq. ;  his  appearance,  93,  94  ;  his 
private  baptism,  94  ;  verses  in  his 
honour,  94  et  seq. ;  his  state  baptism, 
97  et  seq.,  148 ;  fears  for  his  safety 
120 ;  his  prank  with  a  Cent-Garde, 
125  ;  his  meals,  135 ;  a  hairdresser's 
petition  to  him,  145  ;  his  fables,  154 ; 
his  early  rearing,  168,  377,  378 ; 
attends  fancy  balls,  259,  261  ;  his 
rooms  at  St.  Cloud,  330 ;  at  Chalons 
camp,  342;  his  adventure  at  St. 
Jean  de  Luz,  357 ;  his  first  hunt, 
362;  a  pupil  of  the  Grenadiers  ot 
the  Guard,  372,  378 ;  in  a  charade, 
373  ;  his  household,  376  et  seq. ;  his 
masters  and  lessons,  377  ;  his  pluck, 
378 ;  his  military  governor  and 
aides-de-camp,  378,  379 ;  his  horses 
and  horsemanship,  379,  380 ;  his 
young  friends,  381 ;    his  chance  oi 


422 


INDEX 


succession,  381,  382 ;  in  the  Franco- 
German  War,  50,  397 

Industrie,  Palais  de  1',  80,  81,  273, 279, 
403,  411 

Invalides,  the,  17,  85,  91,  92,  93 

Invasion  of  Grermany,  projected,  341, 
383,  384,  396,  397 

Isabella.     See  Spain. 

Isly,  Duchess  d',  260 

Italian  Opera-house,  Paris,  107,  323 

Italy,  Victor  Emmanuel  II.,  King  of, 
previously  of  Sardinia,  88, 110,  225, 
331,  366,  367,  372,  380,  383 ;  Hum- 
bert, Crown  Prince,  later  King  of, 
201,  202,  272,  331;  to  invade 
Germany,  383  et  seq.    See  also  Wars. 

Jablonowski,     Prince,      150,      151 ; 

Princess,  261 
Jacob,  Zouave,  326 
Jadin,  235,  360 
Jargon  of  fashions,  317 
Jerningham,  Sir  H.,  258 
Jerome,  ex-King  of  Westphalia,  brother 

of  Napoleon  I.,  17,  58,  60,  61,  68,  85, 

155,   200,   209,   210,   214-217,    227, 

245,  346,  349.     See  Wurtemberg. 
Jewellery,  eccentric,  319 
Jewels,  crown,  of  France,  67,  144,  166, 

167 
Joseph,    sometime    King    of    Spain, 

brother  of  Napoleon   I.,   209,   211, 

237,  240,  352 
Josephine,  Empress,  59,  330 
Journalists,  Parisian,  324 
Judith,  Mile.,  226 
Jurien  de  la  Graviere,  Adml.,  48,  357 

Keith  and  Nairne,  Baroness,  24 

Kelch's  plot,  103,  109 

King  of  Rome.    See  Rome. 

Kiosks,  Paris,  192 

Kirkpatricks,  the,  63 

Kisseleff,  Count  and  Countess,   265, 

286,  287 
Kitchen  service  at  Tuileries,  250,  251 1 

La  BeddyJibe,  Count  de,  43 ;  Countess 

de,  72,  85,  98,  355 
Labenne,  Count  de,  184 
Ladies  of  Honour  to  the  Empress,  70 
of  the  Palace,  70  et  seg. ;  at  the 

Revolution,  406,  407 

" of  the  Lake,"  264,  284,  323 

Laffitte,  Charles,  202,  275,  372 

L&ge,  Baron  de,  52,  365 

La  Grange,  Marquis   de,   equerry  to 

Empress,  85,  174 
Lagrange,  Count  F.,  310,  372 


Laisne,  Abbe,  Emperor's  confessor,  52, 

53 
Lambert,  Col.  Baron,  52,  358, 360,  363, 

374 
Land  reclaimed  by  the  Emperor,  148, 

150,  151,  184,  185,  292,  342 
Lansdowne,  Marquess  of,  24,  372 
La  Poeze,  Countess  de,  72,  355,  407 
Larrey,  Dr.  Baron,  54,  336 
Las  Marismas.    See  Aguado, 
Latomr-Maubourg,    Marquis    de,    52; 

March-de.  72,  98,  195 
Lavisse,  Eraest,  377 
Lawoestine,  Count  de,  41 
Layette  of  the  Impl.  Prince,  88,  89,  90 
Lebas,  P.,  9 
Lebceuf,  Justine.     See  Bellanger. 

,  ML,  46,  339,  349,  352,  353,  389, 

396 
Lebreton,  Mme.,  n€e  Bourbaki,  73,  74, 

407,  408 
Lebrun,   Gen.,  47,  146,  339,  383-385, 

392,  393,  395,  397 
Leconte  de  Lisle,  150,  151,  325 
Ledru-Rollin,  109,  111,  143 
Leemans,  chief  huntsman,  359,  360 
Lefuel,  his  Tuileries  work,  159 
Legislative  body,  the,  16,  77,  93, 175, 

176,  269,  270,  386,  390,  403-406 
Lehon,  Count  Charles,  288,  289 ;  Count 
Leopold,   289;    Countess    Zoe,    26, 
286,  288,  289  ;  her  children,  289 
Lejeune,  Baron,  51 
Leon,   Count  Charles,  son  of  Napo- 
leon I.,  179  et  seq. 
Leopold.     See  Belgians. 
Lepic,  Gen.  Count,  42,  49 
Lespes,  E.,  hairdresser,  145 

Leo,  journalist,  146,  322 

Lesseps,  Ferdinand  de,  63,  371,  404 ; 

Mathieu  de,  63 
Leverrier,  16,  370 
Lezay-Marnesia,  Count  de,  75 ;  Countess 

de,  72 
Librarian,  the  Empress's,  76 
Lincoln,  Lord,  2 
Liszt,  Abbe',  283,  371,  390 
Literary  men  of  the  reign,  some,  324, 

325 
Liveries.    See  Uniforms. 
Locock,  Sir  C,  89 
Longuet,  Prof.,  370 
Lord  Mayor  in  Paris,  first,  82,  83 
Losses  and  breakages  at  Tuileries,  248 
Louis  XIII.  and  the  Palais  Royal,  227  ; 

XIV.  and  the  Tuileries,  3   et  se.q., 
18  et  seq.;  and  St.  Cloud,  329,  331  ; 

XV.  and    the   Tuileries,    4  ;    and 
Napoleon  III.,  207,  208;  XVI.  and 


INDEX 


423 


the  Tuileries,  4,  21  ;   his  civil  list, 

36 ;  and  St.  Cloud,  330  ;  XVIII.  and 
.    the  Tuileries,  5,  6,  20 ;  his  civil  list, 

36 
Louis  Philippe  and  the  Tuileries,  6, 18, 

102;   and   the  Palais  Royal,   227; 

and  St.  Cloud,  330;  and  Fontaine- 

bleau,  354 
sometime  King  of  Holland,  father 

of  Napoleon  III.,  7,  8,  9 
Lourmel,  Countess  de,  73 
Louvre  Library,  413,  414 
Lucien,  brother  of  Napoleon  I.     See 

Canino. 
Luxburg,  Count,   179 ;   Countess,  179 

et  seq. 
Luxembourg  Palace,  5 
Luxemburg,  Grand  Duchy  of,  269, 272, 

385 
Lyons,  Lord,  299 

Macdonald.      See     Canrobert     and 

Farente. 
MacMahon,  Ml.,  Duke  de  Magenta,  49, 
120, 348,  349,  351,  361,  398,  400,  401, 
403,  410 ;  Mme.  de.  279,  349,  353 
Magnan,  Ml,  Grt,  Huntsman,  17,  28, 
32,    52,    301,    346,    353,    367;    his 
daughters,  287 ;  Mme.  Leopold,  n^e 
Haritoff,  253,  260,  287 
Magne,  minister,  177,  296,  367 
Maillard,  chef  de  Vargenterie,  247  et  seq, 
Maitres  d'hotel  at  Tuileries  249,  250 
Malakoff.    See  Pelissier. 
Malaret,  Baroness  de,  72,  81 
Malmesbury,  3rd  Earl  of,  70, 183,  196 
Manchester,  Duchess  of,  198 
Mangin,  Col.,  150,  151 
"  Marcello,"  372 
Marie  Amelie,  Queen,  302 

Antoinette,     Queen,     and      the 

Tuileries,  4;  and  St.  Cloud,  328, 
330 ;  her  hair,  317 ;  and  the  Empress 
Eugenie,  170,  177,  201 

Laetitia,  Princess.     See  Aosta. 

Louise,  Empress,  54,  67,  329,  330 

Marksman,  Napoleon  III.  as  a,  366 
Marriage,  the  imperial,  56  et  seq.,  189 
Marshal  of  the  Household,  great,  39, 

41 
Marshals  of  France,  345  et  neq. ;  dinner 
of  the,  251,  253.    See  also  their  re- 
spective names. 
Marthe,  Mile.,  58 
Martigues  principality,  276 
Martyn,  Major  Mountjoy,  182, 190 
Mass,  military,  at  ChS,lons,  344 
Massa,  Marq.  Philippe  de,  282,  285, 
374 


Massol,  baritone,  112 

Master  of  the  Empress's  Household, 

great,  74,  75 
Mathilde,  Princess.  60,  65,  87,  194,  202, 
210,  212,  213,    215,  217,  218,  233 
et  seq.,  245,  246,  256,  259,  261,  361, 
363 
Maupas,  M.  de,  28 
Maussion,  Baron  de,  41 
Maximilian.     See  Mexico. 
Mazurka,  the,  325 
Mazzini,  108,  109,  111,  117 
Medical  service,  imperial,  53,  54 
Medici,  Catherine  de,  1,  2,  5;  Marie 

de,  5 
Meissonier,  414 
Mellinet,  Gen,,  374,  407 
Men  of  the  reign,  some,  322,  324,  325 
Menjaud,  Bp.  of  Nancy,  52,  68,  94 
Menneval,  Baron  de,  41 
Merante,  260 

Mercy- Ajgenteau,  Countess  de,  373 
Merime'e,  P.,  76,  169,  371,  372,  403 
Merle,  Count,  41 
Mery,  66 

Metairie,  Abbe,  53 

Metternich,  Prince  Eichard,  283,  285, 
286,  322,  361, 366,  385, 403,  406,  407, 
408  ;  Princess  Pauline,  253,  259, 261 , 
262,  263,  368,  282  et  seq,  368,  374 
Metz  and  Bazaine,  351,  397-401 
Meudon  chateau,  215,  229 
Mexico,  Maximilian,  Emperor  of,  206, 
273,  331,  332  et  seq.,  335 ;  Charlotte, 
Empress  of,   273,  331   et  seq.,  338. 
See  also  Wars. 
Mingrelia,    Salome  Dadiani  of.     See 

Murat,  Princess  Achille. 
Ministers  of  Napoleon  III.,  some,  57, 
58,  118,  134,  175,  176,  177,  270,  293 
et  seq.,  345,  346,  386,  388,  389,  398 
Miolan-Carvalho,  Mme.,  234 
Mobile.    See  Guard. 
Mocquard,  Chef-de-cabinet,   121,  139 

et  seq.,  185,  189,  191,  225 
Molitor,  Baroness,  260 
Mollard,  Gen.,  46 
Moltke,  Ml.,  von,  272,  273,  384 
Moncalieri  title,  232 
Monnier,  F.,  154,  377 
Montalembert,  78 
Montauban.    See  Palikao. 
Montaut,  Mme.  Henri  de,  261 
Montbrun,  Baron  de,  41 
Montebello,  Gen.  Count  Lannes  de,  46, 
71,  81,  85 ;  Countess,  71,  81,  98,  174, 
253 
Montijo,  Count  de,  62,  63;   Cjuntesa 
de,  59,  62,  63,  67,  76,  91,  148,  372  ; 


424 


INDEX 


Joaquin  de,  61.  See  Albo  and 
Eugenie. 

Montmorency,  Carmen,  Duchess  de, 
71,  253 

Montpensier,  Mile,  de,  3 

Moon,  Sir  F.  G.,  Ld.  Mayor,  82,  83 

Morio  de  I'Isle,  Baron,  41 

Morlot,  Card.,  52 

Morny,  Charles  Auguste,  Duke  de,  23- 
29,  58,  132,  147,  176,  256,  261,  287 
et  seq.,  292, 361, 387 ;  Sophie,  Duchess 
de,  later  de  Sesto,  29,  160,  253,  262, 
288,  289,  291 ;  their  children,  291 

Moskowa,  Edgar  Ney,  Prince  de  la,  17, 
52,  72,  81,  104,  185,  262,  300,  301, 
358,  363 ;  Princess  (dowager)  de  la, 
34.     See  also  Persigny,  Duchess. 

Mosti,  Countess,  213 

Mouchy,  Antoine  de  Noailles,  Duke 
de,  211,  238,  245.  See  also  Murat, 
Princess  Anna. 

Moustache,  Napoleon  III.'s,  133,  161 

Miiller's  portrait  of  Napoleon  III.,  258 

Murat,  Napoleon  Lucien,  Prince,  92, 
211,  213,  237  et  seq.,  245,  361; 
Princess,  nee  Fraser,  211,  212,  213, 
237,  238,  239,  245 ;  Prince  Joachim, 
211, 238, 239,  245 ;  Princess  Joachim, 
211,212,213, 239,245;PrinceAchille, 
148,  211,  213,  238;  Princess  Achille, 
n^e  Dadiani,  211,  212,  238 ;  Princess 
Anna,  Duchess  de  Mouchy,  148, 160, 
211,  212,  213,  238,  245, 253, 336.  See 
also  Chassiron  and  Easponi. 

Murats,  allowances  to  the,  212,  213 

Music  in  Paris,  325 

Muslin,  St.,  316,  390 


Nancy,  Bishop  of,  52,  68,  94 

Naples,  Francis  II.,  King  of,  172, 173, 
385 

Napoleon  I.,  Emperor,  and  the  Tuil- 
eries,  5,  19,  20,  21,  67 ;  at  the  Elyse'e, 
5,  6 ;  his  will,  79 ;  his  tomb,  85 ;  plot 
against,  101 ;  annuls  the  Paterson 
marriage,  215  et  seq. ;  illegitimate 
children  of,  178  et  seq. ;  and  the 
Palais  Eoyal,  227;  portrait  of,  257; 
at  St.  Cloud,  330;  his  abdication, 
354 

Napoleon  III.,  Emperor,  some  events 
of  his  reign  and  time,  xi. ;  occupies 
the  Tuileries,  6,  15,  16,  17 ;  his  ap- 
pearance, character,  and  early  career 
sketclied,  7-15 ;  his  relations  with 
women,  9,  14,  181  et  seq.,  207,  208 
[see  Bellanger,  Castiglione,  Florence, 
Gordon ,  Howard,  andYergeot];  re- 


establishes the  Empire,  13,  15,  16 ; 
forms  his  Court,  23  et  seq. ;  portraits 
of,  18,  161,  258  ;  in  connection  with 
Morny,  26,  27,  290,  291 ;  with  Mag- 
nan,  32,  33 ;  with  Persigny,  34,  36 ; 
with  Fleury,  34,  35;  with  Fould, 
35;  his  debts,  37,  183,  185;  helps 
his  relatives,  38, 212, 213, 214 ;  assists 
inventors,  39,  146;  in  relation  to 
Vaillant,  40,  41 ;  at  Sedan,  54,  308, 
401 ;  his  matrimonial  negotiations, 
56  et  seq.,  235 ;  appoints  Jerome  and 
Napoleon  Jerome  his  successors,  61 ; 
marries  Mile,  de  Montijo,  65  et  seq. ; 
his  relations  with  Great  Britain,  79, 
80 ;  visits  England,  81,  82 ;  visited 
by  Queen  Victoria,  83  et  seq. ;  birth 
of  his  son,  89  et  seq. ;  is  godfather  to 
3000  children,  96 ;  attends  his  son's 
baptism,  97, 98  ;  conspiracies  against 
him,  100  et  seq.  [see  Beaury,  Belle- 
mare,  Greco,  Hippodrome,  Kelch, 
Opera  Comique,  Orsini,  Pianori,  and 
Tibaldi] ;  never  a  Carbonaro,  104 ; 
to  be  poisoned,  128;  his  private 
cabinet,  129  et  seq. ;  his  sanctum, 
131 ;  his  share  in  the  Paris  improve- 
ments, 138,  297;  his  valets,  133; 
his  moustache,  133, 161 ;  his  morning 
work,  134 ;  his  lunch,  135 ;  his  after- 
noons, 136;  his  work-day  dinners, 
136  et  seq. ;  his  evenings,  138,  170  ; 
his  varied  life,  139;  his  relations 
with  Mocquard  and  others,  139  et 
seq. ;  his  truncheon,  145  ;  reads 
secret  reports  and  intercepted  letters, 
147;  his  land  reclaiming  schemes, 
148,  150, 151, 184, 185,  292, 342;  his 
projected  novels,  152 ;  finances  news- 
papers, 153 ;  is  reconciled  with  Mme. 
Cornu,  154 ;  is  chidden  by  the  Queen 
of  Holland,  154 ;  an  alleged  theft  in 
his  room,  155  et  seq. ;  prefers  Ste.- 
Beuve  to  Merime'e,  ]  69 ;  in  relation 
to  Italy,  171,  172 ;  his  first  consti- 
tutional reforms,  173,  175,  176  [see 
also  Constitution] ;  his  wife's  journey 
to  Scotland,  174;  his  illegitimate 
children,  181,  184,  190 ;  his  estate 
of  Civita  Nuova,  183  ;  services 
rendered  him  by  Miss  Howard,  183, 
185;  his  letter  to  Odilon  Barrot 
respecting  her,  186  et  seq. ;  his  gifts  to 
her,  190  et  seq. ;  scandal  about  him, 
193,  195;  on  bad  terms  with  the 
Empress,  205  et  seq. ;  parallel  be- 
tween him  and  Louis  XV.,  207 ;  his 
relations  with  Prince  Napoleon,  220, 
221,  225,  231 ;  at  family  and  state- 


INDEX 


425 


dinners,  229,  245,  249,  253 ;  inclines 
to  liberalism,  231,  232  ;  his  relations 
with  the  Murats,  238 ;  with  the 
Dudley  Stuarts,  240;  with  Pierre 
Bonaparte,  240,  241,  242;  at  state 
receptions,  254,  269;  at  balls,  257, 
259,  260,  261 ;  plays  parlour  games, 
265,  370 ;  asks  riddles,  265 ;  patron- 
izes Home  the  medium,  265,  266 ; 
receives  tlie  Fat  Ox  and  Washer- 
women's processions,  267,  268;  at 
the  St.  Cloud  fair,  268 ;  his  foreign 
policy  defeated,  269 ;  his  constitu- 
tional changes  in  1867.. 269,  270; 
studies  the  housing  of  the  working 
•classes,  270 ;  receives  many  foreign 
royalties,  271-273;  his  intercourse 
with  Bismarck,  273 ;  hears  of  Maxi- 
milian's death,  273;  his  reception 
of  Galliffet,  278 ;  visits  the  dying 
Morny,  290;  will  not  pay  for  Bil- 
lault's  sins,  294 ;  deprecates  Prussian 
extortions,  298 ;  his  stables  and  hunt, 
301  et  seq. ;  his  daily  drives,  305, 
306 ;  his  horses  and  horsemanship, 
307,  308,  343 ;  his  interest  in  horses 
and  racing,  309, 310 ;  gives  his  bride 
fifty-two  gowns,  311 ;  his  journeys 
and  sojourns  in  the  provinces  and 
abroad,  327,  328 ;  at  St.  Cloud,  328 
et  seq. ;  receives  Charlotte  of  Mexico, 
331  et  seq. ;  his  illness,  335-339,  343, 
345,  381,  393-395,  397;  his  life  at 
Vichy  and  Plombieres,  339,  340; 
dances  with  a  peasant  girl,  340 ;  his 
relations  with  his  soldiers,  340  et  seq. ; 
his  visits  to  the  camp  of  Chalons,  341 
etseq. ;  at  Biarritz,  354-356;  alarmed 
for  his  wife  and  son,  357  ;  hunts  the 
stag,  362  ;  views  the  curves,  363 ;  at 
shooting  parties,  365,  366  ;  a  doggy 
man,  371 ;  his  interest  in  a  Nicara- 
guan  canal,  371 ;  is  amused  by 
Mellinet  as  an  invalide,  374 ;  his 
plans  for  the  continuance  of  his 
dynasty,  381-383  ;  schemes  a  coali- 
tion against  Prussia,  383-385,  396, 
397;  resents  the  first  HohenzoUern 
candidature  to  the  Spanish  throne, 
385 ;  inaugurates  parliamentary  rule, 
385,  386 ;  his  relations  with  Ollivier, 
386-388;  his  last  plebiscitum,  391, 
392 ;  consultation  respecting  his 
health,  393  tt  seq. ;  outbreak  of  war, 
396;  leaves  for  Metz,  397;  ill  at 
Saarbriicken  and  Metz,  397,  398; 
advised  not  to  return  to  Paris,  398, 
400,  401 ;  deposed  from  command, 
398 ;  quits  Metz,  399 ;  holds  a  con- 


ference at  Chalons,  400 ;  surrenders 
at  Sedan,  401 

Napoleon  (Jerome),  Prince,  27,  60,  61, 
65,  66,  68,  87,  116,  210,  212,  213, 
215-217,  220-234,236,  246,  245,  256, 
293,  339,  366,  367,  391,  394,  400 

Narvaez,  Ml.,  37 

Nefftzer,  journalist,  223 

Ne'laton,  Dr.,  54,  345,  378,  893,  395 

Nelidoff,  Mile  de,  260 

Nero,  Emperor's  dog,  371 

Neufchatel  principality,  280,  281 

Newspapers  financed  by  the  Emperor, 
153  ;  by  Prince  Napoleon,  223 

Ney,  Duke  d'  Elchingen,  48 

Ney,  Edgar,  ^'ee  Moskowa ;  Egle', 
see  Persigny. 

Nicaraguan  canal  and  the  Emperor 
361,  371 

Nicholas,  Czar,     See  Russia. 

Niel,  ML,  46,  270,  274,  345,  351,  352, 
383 ;  his  widow,  352 

Nieuwerkerke,  Count  de,  39,  201,  236, 
361,  373 

Nilsson,  Christine,  234 

Nigra,  Chevalier,  afterwards  Count,  88, 
225.  366,  367,  406,  407,  408 

Nobility,  families  of  the  old,  149  ;  pro- 
posed new,  149 

Noir,  Victor,  241,  242,  390 

Novels,  Emperor's  projected,  152 


Odilon-Baukot.    See  Barrot. 

Ollivier,  Emile,  27,  184,  '232,  386  et 
seq.,  392,  393,  395,  396,  398 ;  Mme., 
390 ;  ministry  formed  by,  388,  389, 
398 

Opera,  Paris,  39,  101, 112  et  seq. 

Ope'ra  Comique,  Paris,  103,  105 

Oppenheim,  Major,  42 

Orange,  Prince  of,  271 

Orderly  officers  to  Emperor,  48  et  seq. 

Orleanist  deputies  in  the  Legislative 
Body,  386,  389,  405,  406 

Orleans,  Gaston,  Duke  of,  328 ; 
"  Egalite,"  Duke  of,  227 ;  Ferdinand, 
Duke  of,  25,  26,  61 ;  Helfene,  his 
wife,  32 ;  family  property,  28,  36 ; 
princes'  petition  in  1870,  392 

Ornano,  Gen.  Count  d',  27,  346 ;  Count 
Rodolphe  d',  43,  45 

Orphanage,  Eugene  Napoleon,  69 

Orsay,  Count  d',  183 

Orsi,  Count  d',  104,  150,  151,  183 

Orsini  and  his  plot.  111  et  seq. 

Orx,  Count  d',  184 

Osborne,  imperial  visit  to,  313 

Oudinot,  Gen.,  25 


426 


LNDEX 


Padoue,  Duke  de,  297 
Pageant  of  all  the  lands,  261 
Pagerie.    See  Tascher. 
Pajol,  Gen.  Count,  46,  54 
Palace  Police,  120  et  seq.,  127 
Palais  Eoyal,  200,  215,  227  et  seg_. 
Palikao,     Cousin  -  Montauban,     Gen. 

Count  de,  48,  352,  398,  403,  404 
Palmerston  and  the  crinoline,  313 
Paris,  Archbishop    of,   52,    68,    108 

Count  de,  2,  32,  94,  393,  405 
,  improvements  in,  132,  296,  297 

life  in,  267  et  sect.,  271,  310,  321 

et  seq. ;  Queen  Victoria  in,  84  et  seg 

revolution  in,  398,  403  et  seq. ;  siege 

of,  280,  399,  408 
Parisani,  March.,  213 
Parliamentary  rule,  385,  386 
Partridges,  Algerian,  365 
Pasteur,  370 

Paterson,  Elizabeth,  215  et  seq. 
Patrizzi,  Card.,  97  et  seq. 
Patti,  Adelina,  51,  258,  323 
Pearl,  Cora,  227,  230,  323 
Peasantry  and  Emperor,  340 
Peel,  Sir  Eobert,  25 
Pelicans  as  fishers,  366 
Pelissier,  ML,  Duke  de  Malakoff,  31, 

346  et  seq. ;  Mme.,  106,  352,  406 
Pepoli-Murats,  212,  213 
Performances     at     Compiegne,     373 

et  seq. 
Persigny,  Fialin,  Duke  de,  11,  33,  34, 

36,  57,  148,  150,  151,  176,  182,  294, 

361,  386 ;  Duchess  de,  n^e  Ney  de  la 

Moskowa,  34, 160,  253,  259 
Peyrat,  M.,  223 
Pianori's    attempt    on    Emperor,  104 

et  seq. 
Piennes,  Marq.  de,  74,  75 
Pierrebourg,  Baroness  de,  253 
Pierres,  Baron  de,  67,  71,  304,  308; 

Baroness  de,  n^e  Thorne,  71, 309, 361 
Pierri  on  Orsini  affair,  115 
Pie'tri,  Prefects  of  Police,  28,  104,  147, 

402;    Franceschini,   130,   139,   143, 

251,  397,  398 
Pinard,  E.,  minister,  295,  296 
Pius  IX.,  Pope,  91,  93,  94,  97,  99,  133, 

171,  206,  334 
Phaetons,  Emperor's,  168,  305 
Pleasantries,  365 
Physicians  to  the  Crown,  54 
Plate  at  the  Tuileries,  246  et  seq. 
Plombieres,  203,  225,  337,  339,  340 
Plebiscitum  of  1852,. .16;    of  1870..% 

391,  392 
Plon,  Henri,  37 
Plots  against  Emperor,  100  et  seq. 


Poilly,  Baron  H.  de,  318,  361,  364; 

Baroness  de,  318 
Police  of  the  Palace,  120  et  seq.,  127 
PoUet,  Mme.,  Empress's    head-maid, 

164,  166,  251 
Pompeian  house.  Prince  Napoleon's 

230 
Poniatowski,  Princes,  144,  289 
Pons  de  Wagner,  Mme.  de,  73 
Poole,  tailor,  15 
Pope.     See  Pius. 
Popelin,  Claudius,  236,  237 
Porcelain  and  glass  at  Tuileries,  247 
Portugal,  Dom  Luis  I.,  King  of,  273 ; 

Maria  Pia,  Queen  of,  272 
Posse,  Prince  Arved,  239 
Posting  service,  imperial,  304 
Pourtales,    account    of    family,    280 : 
Count  Edmond  de,  280-282 ;  Coun- 
tess Melanie  de,  280  et  seq.,  375; 
fine  art  collection,  281 
Prefects  of  Police.    See  Pietri. 

of  the  Palace,  41,  137,  138,  252 

Pre'vost,  v.,  Cent-Garde,  124  et  seq. 
Primoli,  Countess,  n^e  Bonaparte,  210, 

211,  213,  245 
Prince  Consort  of  Grt.  Britain,  80,  83, 

84,87 
Prince  Imperial.     See  Imperial. 
Princess  Koyal  of  Grt.  Britain,  83 
Privy  Purse,  expenses  of  the,  134,  148, 

149,  150,  151,  153,  212,  302 
Protocole,  chief  of  the,  45 
Prussia,   William  I.,   King    of,  later 
German  Emperor,  272,  273, 366, 372, 
396 ;  Frederick,  Crown  Prince,  later 
Emperor,  272.     See  also  Wars. 

Quadrille  d'honneur  at  Court,  256 
Quartermasters  of  the  Household,  41, 

42 
Queen's  hair,  317 
Queretaro,  execution  at,  273,  334 

Kachel,  the  tragedienne,  179,  226 
Eaimbeaux,  equerry,  51,  272 
Eandon,  Ml.  Count,  261, 270,  297,  346, 

351 
Easponi,   Countess,  n^e  Murat,    212, 

213 
Eattazzi,  Mme.,  n^e  Bonaparte- Wyse, 

213,  214,  292 
Eavignan,  Father  de,  53 
Eayneval,  Countess  de,  98,  167 
Eeaders,  Empress's,  73,  74 
Eeceptions  at  Tuileries,  253,  320,  398, 

399 
Becreations  at  Court,  265,  373 
Eedorte,  Countess  de  la,  352 


INDEX 


427 


Eeffye,  Gen.  de,  48 

Eegencies,   Empress's,   84,   170,   171, 

337  397 
Kegent  diamond,  67,  97, 166,  255 
Eeille,  Gen.  Count,  47 
Eegnault  de  St.  Jean  d'Angely,  Ml., 

346,  351,  352 
Eepublic  proclaimed,  406,  407 
Eeverdy,  chief  huntsman,  358,  359 
Eevolution  of  1870,  400  et  seq. 
Ehine  frontier  of  France,  341,  382 
Eichard,  Maurice,  395 
Eicord,  Dr.,  54,  290,  339,  393,  395 
Eiencourt,  Count  de,  43 
Eigault  de  Genouilly,  Adml.,  270,  389 
Eimmel,  E.,  147 
Eimsky-Korsakoff,  Mme.,  261 
Eistori,  Mme.,  107,  113 
Eoccagiovine,  March.,  n^e  Bonaparte, 

210,  211,  213,  245 
Eochefort,   Henri,   Marq.   de    Lu9ay, 

218,  219,  241,  339 
Eoche-Lambert,  Marq.  de  la,  72,  355 
Eoguet,  Gen.  Count,  45,  114 
Eolin,  Gen.,  41,  127,  251 
Eome,   King  of,   2,   54,   92,  93;  and 
France,  35,  88,  106,  171  et  seq.,  206, 
207,  269,  383 
Eoquette.    See  Forcade. 
Eose.    See  Golden. 

Eothschild,  Baron  James  de,  281,  322, 
367;    Baron    Alphonse     de,     280; 
Baroness  Alphonse  de,  253,  259 
Eouher,  Eugene,  28,  34,  147,  176,  270, 
294,  295,  367,   386-390,  400,   404; 
his  wife,  295 
Eouland,  minister,  367 
Eousselle,  Dr.,  of  the  Commune,  409 
Eoyalties  in  Paris  in  1867... 271  et  seq. 
Eudio,  with  Orsini,  115 
Eue,  M.  de  la,  52,  363,  368 
Euspoli,  Prince,  211 ;  Countess,  213 
Eussia,  Emperors  of,  Alexander  II., 
29,  272,  273,  288;  Nicholas,  236, 
288 
Eute.    See  Eattazzi. 

Saoaley,  M.,  143,  150 

Sandeau,  Jules,  371 

Saint  Arnaud,  Leroy  de,  Ml,  17,  18, 

28,  29  et  seq.,  32,  50,  58,  65,  147, 155 

et  seq.,  345 
Cloud,  16,  85,  188,  201,  268,  328 

Gratien,  234, 236 

Hubert's  Day,  361 

Jean  d'Angely.    See  Eegnault. 

, de  Luz,  Empress's  adven- 
ture off,  357 


Saint  Napoleon's  day,  53,  267-269 

Vallier,  M.  de,  382 

Sainte-Beuve,  169 

Salle  des  Mare'chaux,  Salon  d'ApoUon, 

etc.     See  TuUeries. 
Salzburg,  273,  328 
Sancy  de  Parabere,  Countess  de,  72, 

295 
Sandon  scandal,  293 
Sandor,  Count,  283 
Saulcy,  M.  de,  73 ;  Mme.  de,  73,  85, 

98,  174 
Savoy,  annexation  of,  46,  172 
Saxe-Cobourg,  Duke  of,  113 
Saxony,  Kings  of,  57,  272 
Scandalmonger  expelled  from  Court, 

195 
Scandals,    financial,    324;     Sandon's, 

293 
Schleswig-Holstein.    See  Wars. 
Schmitz,  Gen.,  48,  400 
Schneider  Eugene,  President  of  Legis- 
lative Body,  214, 292,  293 

Hortense,  73,  272,  314 

Schwalbach,  Empress  at,  339 
Scientists  of  the  period,  326 
Scotland,  Empress  visits,  174,  175 
Second  Empire  founded,  13,  16  et  seq. ; 

overthrown,  403  et  seq. 
Secretary,  Empress's,  76 
Secret  Societies,  102 
Sedan,  54,  80,  279,  308,  400,  401,  403 
See,  Dr.,  54,  393-395 
Seillieres,  Baron,  281 
Se'iour.  Victor,  142 
Senate,  the,  16,  60,  61,  93,  388,  390, 

391 
Servants,  watch  on  palace,  121,  127 
Sesto.    See  Morny. 
Sevres.     See  Porcelain. 
Shaw,  Miss,  nurse,  91,  377 
Shooting  grounds  and  parties,  365  et 

seq. 
Sibour,  Archbp.,  68, 108 
Simonel,  director  of  Cabinet  noir,  147, 

148 
Slidell,  Miss,  262 

Solms,  Count,  299 ;  Mme.  de.   See  Eat- 
tazzi. 
Spain,   Queen   Christina  of,  62;    Isa- 
bella  II.   of,   99,   385;    Francis    of 
Assisi,   King-consort  of,   331,   385 ; 
HohenzoUern    candidatures   to   the 
throne  of,  385,  393, 395 
Squibs  on  Eouher,  388,  389 
Stables,  the  imperial,  300  et  seq. 
Stackelberg,  Count,  299 
Stage,  the,  of  the  period,  325 
Stephanoni,  March.,  213 


428 


INDEX 


stockings,  fashions  in,  318 

Stoffel,  Col.,  48 

Strasburg  affair,  the,  33,  181 

Stuart,  Lord  Dudley  Coutts,  239 ;  his 

son,  239,  240 
Succession  to  the  throne,  the,  61,  210, 

391 
Suchet,  Ml.,  352 
Suez  Canal,  170,  230,  371,  387 
Suisses  at  the  Tuileries,  44,  255,  305 
Surgeons  to  the  Crown,  54 
Surtout  de  table,  the  great,  246 
Sweden,  Kings  of,  57,  97,  273 ;  Queen 

of,  93,  94 
Sweetmeats,  Emperor's,  196, 197 
Switzerland,  Emperor  ill  in,  336 

Table  service  at  the  Tuileries,  249, 

et  seq. 
Tannhauser  in  Paris,  283 
Tarente,  Macdonald,  Duke  de,  43, 150, 

151 
Tascher  de  la  Pagerie,  Count,  57,  67, 

74,  75;    Count   Charles   [Duke   de 

Waldburg],    67,    74,    75,    81,   260; 

Countess   Stephanie,  75,  259,   260, 

281 
Tattini,  Countess,  213 
Texier,  E.,  223 
Thayer,  Mme.,  363 
Theatre  fran9ai8.    See  Comedie. 
Theft  in  the  Emperor's  room,  alleged, 

155 
Thelin  C,  keeper  of  Privy  Purse,  134, 

139  144  153 
Thiers,  A.,'  140,  147,  403,  410 
Thomas,  Ambroise,  371 
Clement,   147,  413;    Victor,  his 

nephew,  413 
Thorne,  Mr.,  American,  71 
Thouvenel,  minister,  288,  297 
Tibaldi  plot,  108,  et  seq. 
Tirmache,  Mgr.,  52,  108 
Titles,  queer  Spanish,  149 
Toilettes,  Empress's,  67,  97, 163  et  seq. 

311,360;  seven  a  day.  317 
Tournelles  palace,  1,  2 
Toulongeon,   Marq.   de,   52,   81,   185, 

358,  365 
Trains,  court,  320 
Trelawny,  C,  192 
Tre'zel,  Gen.,  25 
Trimm,  Timothee,  146,  322 
Trochu,  Gen.,  31,  48,  352,  399,  400, 

401,  403 
Tropmann,  326,  386 
Troplong,  M.,  57,  388 
Troubetskoi,  Princess  Lise,  260,  261 ; 

Princess  Sophie.    See  Morny. 


Trousseau,  Dr.,  290 

Truncheon,  Emperor's,  145 

Tuileries  Palace,  the,  its  early  history 
and  architects,  1  et  seq. ;  an  unlucky 
palace,  2 ;  occupied  by  Napoleon  III., 
6,  7,  15  et  seq. ;  Second  Empire  pro- 
claimed there,  17, 18 ;  is  redecorated, 
18  et  seq. ;  visited  by  Queen  Victoria, 
87 ;  Imperial  Prince  born  there,  91 
et  seq. ;  Miss  Howard  there,  188 ;  at 
the  time  of  the  Eevolution  of  1870, 
402,  404  et  seq. ;  its  fate,  408  et  seq. ; 
See  Balls,  Dinners,  Keceptions,  etc. 

,    rooms    in  :    Emperor's    apart- 
ments, 129  et  seq. ;  Empress's  apart- 
ments, 135,  158  et  seq. ;  Galerie  de 
Diane,  21,  138,  257,  409;   Galerie 
de  la  Paix,  18,  256,  257 ;  Salle  des 
Mare'chaux,  5,  19,  66,  116,  255,  256 
257,  409,412 ;  Salle  des  Travees,  18 
135,  267 ;  Salle  du  Trone,  20,  255 
Salon  d'Apollon,  19,  136,  255,  257 
Salon  Blanc,  19 ;  Salon  Bleu,  159 
Salons  Louis  XIV.,  etc.,  3,  20-22 
138,  255 ;  Salons  Marie  Therese,  21 ; 
Salon  de  Mars,  21 ;  Salon  du  Pre- 
mier Consul,  255,  257 ;  Salon  Eose, 
159  ;  Salon  des  Tapisseries,  21, 136 ; 
Salon  Vert,  159 

Tullibardine,  Marq.  of,  372 

Turkey,  Sultans  of,  272,  273 

Turr,  Mme.,  213 

Unipokms,  insignia,  and  liveries  of  the 
Imperial  Household,  42,  44,  74,  75, 
121, 122, 158,  255,  257,  305,  309, 360, 
361 

Ushers  of  the  palace,  43,  44, 135,  158, 
249,  255 

Vaillant,  Count,  Great  Marshal,  39 
et  seq.,  53,  73,  81,  85,  346,  352 

Valabregue,  M.  de,  51, 104 

Valdegamas,  Marq.  de,  68 

Valentini,  Mme.,  213 

Valets,  the  Emperor's,  133, 134 

Varaigne-Dubourg,  Baron,  41 

Veillard,  M.,  9 

Velocipede,  the,  326 

Vergeot,  Alexandrine,  184 

Verger,  Abbe',  68,  108 

Verly,  Col.  Baron,  49,  124,  246 

Versailles,  Bp.  of,  68 ;  Queen  Victoria 
at,  86 

Vicence,  Caulaincourt,  Duke  de,  300, 
361 

Vichy,  203,  278,  337-340 

Victoria,  Queen.    See  Great  Britain. 

Vidocq,  144 


INDEX 


429 


Viel  Castel,  Count  H.  de,  170, 193, 194 

Vignon,  Claude,  150, 151 

Villa  Eugenie.    See  Biarritz. 

Villefermoy,  230 

Villegiatura,  the  Court's,  326  et  seq. 

Villeneuve,  Marq.  de,  244  ;  March,  de, 

nee  Bonapa;rte,  244 
Villeneuve-l'Etang,  chateau,  36,  69 
Viollet-le-Duc,  132,  371 
Viry  de  Cohendier,  Baroness  de,  73 


Wagbam,  Berthiee,  Prince  de,  300, 
301 

Waldburg,  Duke  de,  260 ;  Duchess  de, 
281 

Waldor,  Melanie,  150, 151 

Waldteufel,  256 

Wales,  Prince  of  [Edward  VII.],  83, 
272,  363,  372 

Walewska,  Marie  Lonczynska,  Coun- 
tess, 27,  45;  Alexandrine  Eicci, 
Countess,  70,  154, 160,  179,  197,  253, 
292 

Walewski,  Alexandre  Florian,  Count, 
27,  56,  57,  179,  185,  214,  225,  256, 
261,  26  283  ,  292,  297,  349,  387 ; 
Antoine  Jean,  179  ;  Captain  Andre, 
179 

Wallace,  Sir  E.,  280,  281 

Walsh,  Visct.,  43 

Wardrobe,  Empress's,  163,  165,  166, 
311 


War  ministers  of  the  Empire,  345,  346 
Wars  of  the  period,  referred  to :  China, 
48;    Crimean,  32,  46,   78,   79,  96; 
Italian  (1859),  35,  46,  48,  143,  171 ; 
Two  Sicilies,  172;    Schleswig-Hol- 
stein,  269;  Mexican,  29,  146,  148, 
206,  269,  277-279,  331,  332  et  seq., 
349,  350;    Austro-Prussian  (1866), 
35,  269,  294,  295,  298,  338 ;  Franco- 
German  (1870-71),  279,    299,  351, 
378,    379,    382-385,    393,    395-408. 
See  also  Sedan;   and  Chronological 
List,  ante,  pp.  xi.  and  xii. 
Wasa,  Princess  Carola,  57 
Washburne,  Mr.,  299 
Washerwomen's  Fete,  267,  268 
Waterloo,  memory  of,  79,  80,  85,  86 
Wedding,  the  imperial,  65  et  seq. 
Werle',  Count  A.,  364 ;  M.  (senior),  137 
Werther,  Baron,  299 
Werwoort,  first  usher,  135 
Wines  consumed  at  Tuileries,  137 
Winterhalter's  portrait  of  Empress,  130 
Workmen's  dwellings,  270 
Worth,  battle  of,  378,  379,  398 
Worth,  Mr.,  costumier,  268,  284,  311- 

313 
Wurtemberg,    Catherine   of,  wife   of 

Jerome  Bonaparte,  217,  219,  220 
Wurtz,  Prof.,  370 
Wyse,  Sir  T.,  212;  Lady,  212,  213 

Zouaves,  the,  344 


THE   END 


PUINTED  BT  WILLIAM  CLOWES  AND  BONS,   LIMITED,  LONDON  AND  BECCLES. 


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