NIVERSITY OF CA R VERS DE. LIBRARY UNIVERSIT 3 1210016569749 \ NAPOLEON -A.3ST3D * A TRAGEDY .IN > A PROLOGUE, AND FIVE ACTS, BY R. S. DEMENT. AUTHOR'S EDITION. CHICAGO: ItsTE-WS 1876. -* . ^Entgmli{i6^E,. S. IDIEiSyi: IE USTT. of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. ALL RIGHTS RESft^VED. Ny - AUTHOR'S PREFATORY NOTE. In the theory that Napoleon was simply inspired by the belief that he was the child of destiny, there is hardly enough, to my mind, to reconcile the strange events and many inconsistencies of his remarkable career. I have therefore assumed that he was possessed of no less an hallucination than that, as the peculiar child of destiny, his course was directed, or rather suggested, by an actual prqsiding deity whom he personified as Fate. To her he conceived that he bore something of the same rela- tion as Achilles to Thetis, though recognizing in Fate one possessed of no less power than Jove him- self. I prefer the word suggested, as it is hardly in keeping with the character of Napoleon that he would have submitted to more than this even fror^ the Immortals. The affection of Napoleon for Josephine is pro- verbial, and it is hardly necessary for me to do 4 Author's Prefatory Note. ^j- more than affirm that, perhaps, there is no recorded instance of a higher or tenderer love hetween man and wife, and yet, love the strongest passion of humanity, in which the soul reaches nearest to the Infinite was made to yield to what would cer- tainly have been a lower incentive, had he not be- lieved that all heaven and earth stood in waiting for his action. I have, it will be discovered, antedated and crowded events, and entirely ignored many of the most remarkable events and characters connected with Napoleon's career. To the Directors, Barras, Gohier and Moulins, I have attributed all the con,- spiracies that appear in the play. Eugene de Beauharnais, whose age is advanced, did not return with Junot and Joseph Bonaparte when the Stand- ards and Bulletins were sent to the Directory, as appears in the play. These, and other obvious deviations from historical accuracy will, it is trusted, not diminish the pleasure the author hopes the reader will find in this production. In the main it is true to history. The author claims that the tragic ending of Act V. is not far from the actual history of the death Author's Prefatory Note. 5 of The Empress Josephine, for the divorce was certainly the death-knell of her happiness, and the cloud that first dimmed and finally obscured the star of Napoleon. To secure as early publication as circumstances required, it was found necessary to omit the foot notes and appendix, in which due cre'dit is given where the author feels indebted. K. S. D. DRAMATIS PERSONS. NAPOLEON BONAPARTE (the General of France) ; afterwards EMPEROR NAPOLEON I. EUGENE DE BEAUHARNAIS. JOSEPH BONAPARTE. LUCIEN BONAPARTE. COMPTE DE BARRAS. CARNOT. GOHIER. MOULINS. LAREVILLIERE LEPEAUX. LETOURNEUR. REWBELL. RAGIDEAU. COUNT VON COBLENTZ. MARQUIS MANFREDINI. REYNARD (a Soldier); afterwards Valet to the Emperor. OFFICER OF THE GUARD. AUGEREAU. ORIANI. LE GROS. POPE Pius VII. 8 Dramatis Personce. JOSEPH MARIE ROSA DE TACHER DE LA PAGEEIE; afterwards VISCOUNTESS DE BEAUHARNAIS; afterwards EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. MARY (sister of Josephine). PRINCESS AUGUSTA. HORTENSE DE BEAUHARNAIS. * ' ' EUPHEMIA (a Sybil). IST, 2o AND SD MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL OF THE FIVE HUNDRED, IST AND 2o CITIZENS. IST, 2o AND SD SECRETARIES. CARBON.: ST. KE- JEANT. LlMCELIN. A LlTTLE GlRL. PREL- ATES. MEMBERS OF BONAPARTE FAMILY. LADY ATTEND ANTS. Cmz ENS. SOLDIERS. COURTIERS. PAGES. NEGROES. PROLOGUE. MARTINIQUE. A. bower looking out upon the sea. Inland the background, at first undulating, rises to mountains. Looking through the bower, the placid surface of the water is discovered sparkling in the sunlight, while at the entrance is suspended a silken ham- mock ornamented with flowers. Upon the opening of the scene, is discovered a party of negroes in conversation. Ent&r EUPHEMIA. EUPHEMIA. But yesterday a heavy sky ! The clouds hung dark and ominous o'erhead ; To-day how beautiful! And to-morrow Ah! ah! A NEGRO (approaching}. What have the stars to say for me ? 12 Prologue. EUPHEMIA. The stars are hid from mortal eyes to-day ; Too bright a, sun shuts out the great beyoud Xo less than heavy clouds. NEGRO. Cannot you see Beyond clouds or sun ? EUPHEMIA. Ah ! who can see The great futurity ? Then I will go. EUPHEMIA. Stay ! let me look into your hand A happy life awaits you, live in hope. Only a few dark days, and then NEGRO. What then ? EUPHEMIA. Wait patiently and you shall see, shall see. [_A young negress approaches. EUPHEMIA takes her hand, gazes into it. Then, without speaking, leads her to IST NE- GRO, and, putting her hand in his': Your fates are one. Prologue. 13 [Whereupon all the negr esses rush to have their fortunes told. Old EUPHEMIA throws up her hands, and, catching sight of the approaching JOSEPHINE, [Exeunt. Enter JOSEPHINE. .i JOSEPHINE. Fair sylvan bower ! O, can there be beside thee, So lovely a spot in all the realms of earth ? What magic pow'r could give such beauty birth ; Such forms and colors exquisite provide thee? Thou dreamy scene of happy childhood's vision ; Shrine of delights supreme ! sublime elysium ! Beneath my feet thy richest carpets spread, Of green and gold, with bright-hued flowers blend- ing ; And, as each petal yields its silvery tips Of morning dew, and opes its tiny lips To drink the sunlight, sweetest fragrance sending On every breath that rises from its bed ; Celestial, then, the bird-songs overhead, With ./Sol's softened cadences attending. The heaven-kissing mountains rise behind thee, O'er whose grand heights the sun first peeps to find thee, Then rushes down in warm embrace to bind thee, 1*4 Prologue. \ Divinely tinting ere he will resign thee. On either side the enchanted woodland lies Old-fabled labyrinthine mysteries, Home of bright fays and goblin histories. Above, what grotesque shapes of beauty race Through the ethereal azure depths of heaven ! And, as the orb of day sinks in the west, Kissing the silv'ry wavelet's sparkling crest, What crystal splendor to the sea is given ! What tints sublime, what matchless colors grace Those glory-pictures of mysterious space ; Bright ruby forms bathing in clouds of pearl, Resting so gracefully in golden world. How nature lavishly bestows her gifts But list ! Who comes to break upon my revery ? [Enter EUPHEMIA.] What is so wonderful, Grim prophetess ? EUPHEMIA. Oh, wonderful indeed ! Most wonderful ! JOSEPHINE. Bad fortune is't, or o-ood ? * tj Prologue. 1'5 EUPHEMIA. Ah who can tell what's good or bad for us ? Your hand bodes evil, but your face, your face As plainly speaks of happiness yes, great And lofty happiness ! JOSEPHINE. How cautious ! 'Tis best when one seeks not to be entrapped, Yet some great story, wonderful, would tell, Having but little semblance of the truth ; But proceed grave oracle ! EUPHEMIA. I dare not Speak to you more plainly ! Oh, pardon me ! Let me leave you ! JOSEPHINE. Stay! I "command you. Speak! You shall tell on if good or bad it be ! You go not from my presence till I hear This strange hallucination through and through. ' / EUPHEMIA. Well, since you order it, I must obey I must obey ! Your countenance does tell That destiny has sealed for you a fate T6 Prologue. Which, struggle though you may, cannot be changed ! Soon you will wed. And ah ! alas ! how soon Again husbaudless ! And then JOSEPHINE. Then ! What then ? EUPHEMIA. You shall be queen of France ! Yes, more than queen ! And then, glorious life ! happiest days Shall bless you ! A mighty emperor shall share With you his crown. But ah ! alas ! alas ! Misfortune then will come ! yet, fondly loved, A world shall mourn your fall. [Rushes away. JOSEPHINE, (laughing}. Good bye ! good bye ! poor old Euphemia ! Seek one who kneels at superstition's shrine, If thou wouldst win a name for prophecy. [Goes to hammock and reclines in it. " Fate queen of France yes, more than queen ! And then glorious life ! happiest days Shall bless you ! A mighty emperor shall share With you his crown. But ah ! alas ! alas ! Misfortune then " No ! I '11 not believe it. Prologue. 17 Why do I thus permit my silly tonguo To prattle o'er this idle prophecy ? Enter MAEY. ' I am too happy, seeing you, my love ! Take uiy guitar and sing to me. [MAKY sings. [Exit MAEY. JOSEPHINE (coming down from hammock}. Where, where am I? my hammock? Martin- ique ? This is not France ! Oh ! oh ! The dream ! the dream ! [Falls. Re-enter MARY. My sister ! Josephine ! Josephine ! [Goes to JOSEPHINE. JOSEPHINE. Oh, Mary, such high happiness ! And ah ! Such bitter, bitter grief did follow it ! MAEY. Tell me, dear sister ! tell me, Josephine ! JOSEPHINE. You know I have no thought apart from you ; 2 18 Prologue. That I have ever, ever shared with you My confidence, my dearest secret thought ! That in my soul I love you as I would Find love in heaven But do you forget That, from my youth, I never could recall The simplest action of the brain in sleep ? In dim outline my dreams sometimes return Like pictures, yet underneath a veil Of mystery. But, when I seek to lift The veil they vanish ! vanish ! and I see Onry th' incorporeal air. [Exeunt. \_A storm is heard approaching in the dis- tance. It grows nearer ; then clouds pass over the sea, as seen through the bower, followed by lightning and deep rolling thunder. \_Curtain falls. ACT I. Seventeen years are supposed to have elapsed. SCENE FIRST. PAEIS. HEADQUARTERS OF GENERAL-IN-CHIEF BONAPARTE. OFFICER OF THE GUARD and REYNARD (a Soldier) dis- covered. REYNARD. You 'ave live in La Corsica? You know ze General ? OFFICER. The fellow speaks English [aside. Yes, have known him from childhood was with him at Brienne. REYNARD. Ze school of ze militaire ? 20 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT i. OFFICEB. He remained there until he was sixteen years of age. He was always a mystery to us REYNARD. Ah, ha ! OFFICER. and kept himself apart from us, wearing a sombre visage KEYNAED. Zc look mysterieux ! OFFICER. and seemed ever wrapped in thought. I have known him to walk for hours with folded arms and head bent low, oblivious to all about him. REYNARD. He vas look in ze futuaire, ze great futuaire of La Belle France ! OFFICER. He lived almost wholly to himself, his books and his thoughts; but, with a quiet dignity, he ever bore courteous demeanor, and his friendship was sought by all. The champion of the cause of the SCENE I.] Napoleon and Josephine. 21 feeble and oppressed, he had no sympathy with petty tyranny, and ruled us all with a grave au- thority that we obeyed, not knowing why. REYNARD. Ah, ha ! Zat is ze qualite militaire ! He will be vun great General. OFFICER. To me he *was ever frank, and I became ac- quainted with many strange and mysterious theories through him ; one of which was a divination from numerical formula. KEYNAED. Ze look in ze futuaire ! OFFICER. From the mythology of the ancients he had con- ceived a strange theory of his own, and I think believed in an actual presiding deity who shaped his own particular destiny. REYNARD. Ah, ha ! He believe in ze gods of ze Greek and ze Roman ? OFFICER. Not altogether as the Greeks and the Romans 22 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT i. believed in them, but in the separate forces they represented. REYNAED. Sooblime conceptione ! OFFICEE. But upon these subjects he was very reticent. REYNAED. 'Ave not mooche to speak ze great man 'ave not mooche to speak he 'ave ze t'ought ze con- ceptione magnifique ! ze graand idea ! ze look in ze futuaire. OFFICER. I was with him at Toulon, and often near him, for he mixed with us where the fight was hottest, cheering and directing our movements. Once, when the shells flew thick above us, a cannon-ball took off the head of an artillery man, as he was in the act of applying the match. The General stooped, and taking the match from the dead man's hand, discharged the gun, and then, for several hours, kept his post with the rest of us. REYNAED. Proud empressmcnt! He 'ave ze graand cour- SCENE i.] Napoleon and Josephene. 23 age ! Ah, monsieur, he 'ave ze graand courage ! Ah, ha ! you 'ave remembaire ze Thirteenth Ven- demiaire ? Ah, mon Dieu ! ze scream of ze vim- men ! ze shout of ze soldiare ! ze moan of ze dying ! ze streets run vis ze blood ! ze cannon roar like ze deep tundiare ! Ze balls viz, phew ! round ze 'ead of ze General ! He valk in ze blood ! He 'ave no change in ze face ze look impassione ! But he 'ave ze fire in ze eye ! Ah, ha ! he 'ave ze fire in ze eye! OFFICER. 'T was this success that made him General. REYNARD. Vun graand jour for La Belle France to make him General ! OFFICER. I should have been glad to witness the scene when he rushed into the convention, and, by his eloquence, turned the tide of affairs. REYNARD. I vas on ze guard, I see and 'ear it all. Zat vas vun graand jour, long to be remembaire. Ze con- ventione 'ave no 'ead, no queue ; ze membaire all speak at vun time " Ze Sections 'ave ze vicioir ! 24 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT i. Ze Sections 'ave ze victoir ! " come ze vord all ze vile. Zen come ze armistice from General Menou ! Hell Sacrement ! ze confusione, ze uproar ! Ze President, Barras, lose all control. Ahjia! voila! Ze young man viz ze pale face ! He rush in ze conventione ! He stop to catch ze bress, and look vis ze fire eye zen he make vun graand speech ! Ah mon Dieu ! Ze passione, ze eloquence ! He say ze conventione in us not lose vun leetle moment. I no can remernbaire ze grand speech, but he make vun ver' graand speech ! Zen ze couventione give ze command to ze young man viz ze pale face ze command of ze soldaire. Ah, mon Dieu I Zat vas vun graand jour for La Belle France. OFFICER. But see, he comes ! Let us withdraw. [Exeunt. Enter BONAPARTE. BONAPARTE. "Pis said that when these eyes first saw the light, They gazed upon a piece of tapestry, Whereon were painted Iliad's tragic scenes. And that my father on the bed of death Recurring to this circumstance of birth, Made honorable mention of my name, SCENE i.] Napoleon and Josephine. 25 And said, " Napoleon's sword shall one clay rule And triumph o'er all Europe's haughty pride ! " How has this thought coursed ever through my brain ! Dear childhood ! glorious youth ! what memories Linger now with you ! What wondrous visions Hover over you, of future greatness And immortal fame! How, adown the years, The one great thought of power reigned supreme ! How do the boundless resources of soul, Armed with this thought, cry Onward ! ever on ! Why should I -doubt its inspiration's source, When in my dreams it rings out as a voice Forth from the lips of the great goddess Fate ? Odd years do intervene Between her visits on my natal hour, Yet each recurring year adds one more star Unto the crown she holds above my head. Seven and three, twice three, and seven, and three The divination of a unity ! I '11 doubt no more ! Jacta est Alea ! Thou supreme goddess Fate, my mother, hail ! Lo ! let the firm alliance now be sealed ! Lead on ! lead on ! About it now, good brain, Thou never-resting ! We are dauntless now ! 26 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT I. Conceive, and She shall help to execute, The Indomitable Will ! [^4 noise of quarreling and strife without. Enter SOLDIER OF THE GUARD. SOLDIEE. General, a youth in hot impatience Waits without, demanding quick admission. BONAPARTE. Demanding ? Well, his name ! SOLDIER. Eugene de Beauharnais. BONAPARTE. Admit him ! Stay ! Let him be attended ! [Exit SOLDIER. Enter EUGENE, (attended.} BONAPARTE. Your business must be urgent, Sir, indeed, Since you do knock so loudly for admission. EUGENE. Urgent indeed, thcu vicegerent of death ! SCENE i.] Napoleon and Josephine. 27 For at the hands of this base government We have received such wrongs as loudly call For honest reparation or revenge ! And at the bar of God will louder call, For, pay as best you can, you cannot pay The price that He puts on a single soul. My mother claims a husband at your hands ; She has a son and daughter who both claim A father, murdered by your damned decree ! Oh, hell, ope wide^your jaws and swallow up The hideous monsters who now prey on France ! BONAPARTE. Dare you say the Republic murdered your father ? EUGENE. Aye ! More I dare ! For what now can I lose ? Thousands of the noblest and best blood That e'er gave strength to France, were, by this same Republic which you serve, untimely sent To moulder in their graves ! The very earth Grew sick, being so forced to overfeed On human carcasses. But I came not To plead for France, or for my father who Now rests, thank God ! beyond your wicked pow'r ! I claim my father's sword which recently Your soldiers forced away. For it was mine, 28 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT I. And on it I have sworn to be like him Who nobly bore it in his country's cause. My mother bade me take that oath And I will keep it sacred while I live. BONAPARTE. You seem right noble ; what have you to plead Why the great mandates of your country should, In your case more than others, be ignored ? EUGENE. That which should be a nation's gratitude To one who ever valiantly did fight On many bloody, hard contested fields In her defense, and who at last was slain, To appease the wrath of her most deadly And inveterate enemies ! That just right of protection which belongs To those who are the widows, daughters, sons Of the defenders of their country's cause Why, sir, the spirit of true chivalry Robs not the dead nor strikes a fallen foe, But to his widow and his orphans gives As strong an arm as to his own dear rights. Why gave you up my father's property, And held it not as lawful confiscate ]f that he was a traitor, worthy death ? And now you take his sword ! SCENE I.] Napoleon and Josephine. 29 What greater right to it than to his lands ? What value is to you this sword ? On whom would you presume to buckle it ? Not in the confines of the Republic Could be found one who would be worthy of it. BONAPAKTE. But should I give it you, will you consent To take an oath that you will wear it Only in your country's cause? EUGENE. A double oath ? If one were virtueless, what greater power Would bind me in the second ? Said I not That on my father's sword, before high heaven, I promised to my mother I would be Like him ? And who will dare to say that he, My noble father, was a traitor ? Or think you that an oath would record find In heaven given to "you, and one before My mother be refused. BONAPARTE. Your mother is, No doubt, a virtuous, good old lady. 30 Napoleon and Josephine. ACT i. EUGENE. My mother is both virtuous and good Too good, too good and pure that from her eyes Heartless and wicked men should cause to flow Such very floods of tears. BONAPARTE. Have you no fear, That with such bold vehemence you upbraid The rulers of Great France ! EUGENE. I had just returned From St. Germain ; and when I saw A vacant place upon the wall where once Did hang my father's sword, and too was told How in base mockery and sacrilege It had thence been ta'en And when my mother's weeping eyes, blanched cheeks And trembling form confronted me, I rushed Out in the street and swore I'd have that sword Or die in fighting for it ! BONAPARTE. Come to my arms, thojjjioble, noble youth ! Happy mother, what else so e'er betide Whom gracious Heaven has blessed with such a son ! SCENE I.] Napoleon and Josephine. 31 Happy the land that claims thee for her own ! Now thou shalt have thy father's sword Bring forth Beauharuais' sword ! [Exit soldier, who returns with sword.~\ It shall be thine ! There, I will buckle it upon thy thigh. *Now go, and bless thy mother with the sight Of a most noble and most worthy son ! EUGENE \1cissing sword). Oh, General, 'tis well sometimes to lose, Else should we know how sweet it is to find. [.Exit, attended. Ah ! 'tis too true ! Too true the story of this noble youth ! France has passed through that unnatural fire Which well nigh has consumed her gold and left But miserable dross. She had drained the intoxicating cup Of liberty, and it had made her mad. But the royal blood of her own children, Of which she drank so freely, at last cooled Her burning mania. \Exit. Re-enter OFFICER and REYNARD. B.EYNARD. Bravo ! bravo for ze young man ! By gar, he is vim brave Frenchman. 32 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT i. ' OFFICER. He is a noble fellow ! I knew his father. REYNARD. He is vun brave young man ! He 'ave ze grand courage. By gar! I loafe ze young man. He viil make vun brave soldiaire. OFFICER. A mother may well be proud of such a son. Have you seen her ? REYNARD. La Viscountess de Beauharnais ? S'e 'ave ze beauty of Martinique, ze grace and polish of France. S'e 'ave ze divine perfectione I Ah, Mon Dieuj ze voice ! S'e 'ave ze voice of ze ^Eolian ! You 'ave 'ear no sweet music till you 'ave 'ear zat voice ! OFFICER. You grow eloquent in her praise. REYNARD. \ Yen you 'ave seen la Belle Dame de la Belle France. Ah ha ! you 'ave ze eloquence. . SCENE i.] Napoleon and Josephine. 33 OFFICER. She must have wedded young to be the mother of so old a son, and yet retain such wondrous beauty. REYNARD. You 'ave ze right, but ze young man is not so old as he look. OFFICER. Why do you speak English ? REYNARD. Ze General 'ave tell me I mus' mastaire ze lan- guage. I mus' obey my General. Re-enter BONAPARTE. BONAPARTE. To REYNARD.] This to the Directory. [Giving dispatch. [Exeunt OFFICER and REYNARD. Carnot is true as steel ! I like not Barras, Nor will I trust him. That man, whose greatest satisfaction. Is persecution and severity To enemies, can have no friend so dear But who, if not subservient to him In his basest ends, he '11 sacrifice. Though he your shoe may buckle day by day, 34 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT i. 'T is only that you wear it out for him. Barras befriends me, Since I did help him on to his renown, But let my service cease farewell Barras ! Carnot is noble, and to him I go For my commission into Italy. Give me sweet fame, sweet fame, O Italy ! And I will bury deep the memories Of the Thirteenth Vendemiaire. Enter a SOLDIER. SOLDIER. i The Viscountess de Beauharnais requests an au- dience. BONAPARTE. Admit her. [Enter JOSEPHINE.] At your service. Madame. JOSEPHINE. General Bonaparte : I come to pay that tribute which belongs To him who saw more touching eloquence In youthful words and face than soldiers saw In woman's tears. And in the name of him Who once so honorably bore the sword SCENE i.] Napoleon and Josephene. 35 Which you have generously returned to us, His widow and his children, I thank you ! And, if the vehemence and fire of youth Suggested bitter words in our Eugene, Accept our deep regret and pardon him I BONAPARTE. Viscountess de Beauharnais : Too well I know the justice of the cause For which he spoke to censure him. Rather Would I praise his noble heroism. Through wreck of empire and the clouds of war How few are left of all the pride of France ! JOSEPHINE. How few how few. Yet truth undisciplined To gentle words, urged on by outraged justice And impetuous youth, though it be truth, May give offense, stepping beyond the bounds Of that true courtesy which indeed belongs Even to passion. I can hardly hope But that Eugene spoke hastily, and owes A just apology, the which would I Now pay for him. BONAPARTE. Too proud am I for France, In that she should have left to her a son 36 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT i. Who dares plead eloquently for the right Against a fearful odds, not counting costs. Apologies from Eugene ! Kather say From France. JOSEPHINE. Accused he not you, General, Being in power ? BONAPAKTE. The military Is but the automaton of nations. The soldier only knows obedience, Though it should lead him to the cannon's mouth. <_~> * it ... ** ** ' Eugene did know this, and his charges laid With words well seasoned at the proper door, Fpr which most truly do I honor him ; And, by your gracious leave and his consent, Would help him to preferments whence he may Have opportunity to prove to France And all the world, a true nobility And lofty genius. JOSEPHINE. I thank you thank you ! Ah, Sir, I had despaired of France ! Poor France ! Oh, save our country, and in tribute we Your subjects will forever, ever bless you ! [Offers to go. SCENE I.] Napoleon and Josephine. 37 BONAPARTE. Stay! One moment, pardon me! Madam, give me but leave to be your guest, And though in France you find but little hope, You may an honorable frienship find In her General. JOSEPHINE. For such distinguished honor I should only be too grateful. [Offers to go. BONAPARTE. One moment more ! You are unattended My guard awaits your service. JOSEPHINE. I thank you! But, General, you forget my schooling. The woman who could pass through Robespierre's reign, Has little of that feeling now called fear, Still less with Bonaparte chief General. [Exit. 38 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT i. BONAPARTE. It cannot be a dream! Of such perfection, dream cQuld ne'er conceive! Nay, I am sensible to feeling, touch, Sight, sound it is, it is reality! I breathe my heart beats God! 'twill leap from me! Oh, insignificant and pallid orb, What lonely twilight's left since she has gone ! Now will I have thee, though it cost all France ! All France! Oh, beggar's gift! Crowns, scepter, power Will I add to it aye, till all the world Shall do thee homage! Lands, rivers and great oceans, vieing each Shall yield their choicest gems to deck thy crown, And fairest climes their flowers, whence gentle dews, Quick'd i' the roseate light shall rise for thee, In spray of rare perfume, divinely sweet ! On earth an universal happiness, For thou $halt be the Queen ! Oh insufficiency! Thou shouldst have heaven ! a coronet of stars ! SCENE I.] Napoleon and Josephine. 39 If, in the Directory Good Carnot should succeed I must have France, And Italy shall lead me to the throne. France mine, and I have won the stepping-stone To universal empire. Now, Glory Clasps hands with Love, and Fate, supreme o'er all, Points forward I [Exit. 40 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT i. SCENE SECOND. THE DIRECTORY. CARNOT, BAKRAS, LAREVILLIERE LEPEAUX, REWBELL and LETOURNEUR ; REWBELL presiding. REWBELL. Citizen Directors : Again have we assembled in the name And by the vested power of the Republic. Let only wisdom's counsels here prevail, That all the land may safety see in us ; That tenderly we nurse our infant state Through all the episodes of growing strength Happy childhood, ambitious youth, e'en to A full-grown noble manhood. We are but yet a bold experiment Which oft before has wrought a sad defeat ; Let not our children write upon our tombs : These were the fathers who but vainly sought To give to the Republic longer life. But, to forego a formal opening speech, Consuming time which is so precious now, 'T is well we fall to work. Citizen Director Carnot, Have you report to make touching the strength And disposition of our armies ? We are in waiting for it, if so be. SCENE ii.] Napoleon and Josephine. . 41 i CAKNOT. Citizen, President, and Directors : As last reported, all goes slowly on. Tis well, I think, that we do quickly make Some changes in our officers, and add New lives to our wasting armies. I need not trace the detailed history , Of that unfruitful, indecisive war Which for the last four years France has main- tained Against the Austrian and Sardinian arms Too well is known to all of you our loss, Too palpable our national disgrace. Year by year, we have barely met the foe, On narrow battle-fields, mid deep defiles Of towering Alps, and neath the craggy feet Of theLigUirian Appenines met, But not vanquished only exchanged our blows For blows which we received. Till now, An army weak, and miserably clad, Without provisions wholesome e'en for brutes, Relaxed in discipline, ambitionless, Cursing their country, and no less themselves For its neglect, their own torpidity ; Five-and-thirty thousand of such men as these, And an imbecile for General, Are all that now is left to us of what Was cmce a noble army of brave men. 42 Napoleon and Josephine. ACT i. Look around you! What have we to meet? England, Austria, Bavaria, Piedmont, Naples, and some minor States of Germany And Italy all joined to Austria's league. The key is Italy, Held by the army of Beaulieu, Full sixty thousand brave, well-marshaled men. What follows? Shall we retain as General, Scherer, Because there is no bold apparent crime On which to bring an accusation ? What greater crime can generals commit Than failure? No less we need, Directors, Than one who can at once inspire with life And a new courage give our broken troops, With genius to command and marshal them To victory ! E'en such an one have we In Toulon's conqueror, our once defender, Now our General, Napoleon Bonaparte. With all due courtesy to others' views, I do a step most firmly advocate Deposing General Scherer, and his place Give o'er to Bonaparte. LEPEATJX. Citizen Directors : Let us guard well, lest those may Ke deposed SCENE ii.] Napoleon and Josephine. 43 Wliom circumstances have combined against, And, though possessing ample skill at arms, Have made short progress. BARRAS. Citizen, President, and worthy colleagues : The very force and weight of argument Of worthy Citizen Carnot, must be To all apparent. France long has been disgraced By sad mismanagement in Italy. 'T is well we look to it. Now press on every hand the combined force Of Austria and her firm allies. To right, to left, without, within, around, And everywhere the foes of France are thick ! Sleeping or waking, we are beset with spies, Our councils filled with foul distempered knaves, Our people, by old feuds held separate, Sowing germs of discord quick'd i' the sun At every noon. Who knows but by to-morrow's dawn We shall find safety only in defense Or flight from some self-constituted power, Like that of the Thirteenth Vendemiaire ? We stand too long fearing lest we offend ! The times demand quick action let 's amend ! The key of Austria's strength is Italy ! The key of our success is Italy ! 44 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT i Then let us strike the foe in Italy ! First bring we home this Scherer, long worn out, A rank offense to France and to our arms ; Supplant him with our Bonaparte, and give " Achilles " a fair field for enterprise. ' Then shall proud Austria and her allies feel What 't is to meet the great Republic's steel ! LETOURNEUR. Citizen Directors : Do we forget our hero 's but a youth Compared to those whose fame is no less great, Who have grown gray in honorable service ? The Corsican, in truth, deserves great praise, But is not Italy too heavy weight For strength so tender ! Why look you, I pray, He is scarce twenty-five CARNOT. Aye ! almost as young, good Letourneur, As Alexander ! Scipio ! or Conde ! Why, worthy sir, our Bonaparte has lived A quarter of a century ! KEWBELL, Pres. Citizen Directors : Our subject is too weighty for great haste, I pray you now at once give o'er debate SCENE ii.] Napoleon and Josephene. 45 Until we next convene. Meanwhile reflect As well becomes the step we are to take. [Exeunt all but BARKAS. BARRAS. Yes, yes ! for young "Achilles " the best place Is Italy ! He grows too fast I'll nip him in good time Ere this green fruitage of his glory Shall ripen into power. Now, then, "Achilles," ho ! for Italy ! Oh, dear Beaulieu, Barras sends, greeting thee, .Petit "Achilles." [Exit. REYNARD. (Coming from concealment.} Ah ! ha ! Monsieur Barras ; Reynard, ze fox, vill make zis graand speech to ze General. By Gar, I vas like to pique you vis my rappier ! [Exit. 46 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT i. SCENE THIRD. Drawing-room of Viscountess de BEAUITARNAIS. JOSE- PHINE, AUGUSTA and BARRAS, with number of Ladies and .Gentlemen, in conversation BONAPARTE off to himself. [Exit all ljut BONAPARTE and JOSEFIIENE. BONAPARTE. Your pardon, Madam ! ' Twas not through want of due respect that I Was so oblivious Your chart of Italy is most correct, Though small, as I have learned of it ; When overwhelmed in thought it is my fault That I, oftirnes, neglect the courtesy That rightfully is due to JOSEPHINE. You certainly are quite excusable ! For, in these days, those who protect our land Have little time for social intercourse. BONAPAETE. Most true most true And yet the object of my visit here Is of a nature least 'akin to war I am in love. SCENE in,] Napoleon and Josephine. 47 JOSEPHINE. Not always least akin to war, Good General, but very often brings Its victims least of peace. Yet, may I know, Since you already volunteer so much, The name of her so honored with the love Of Toulons' conqueror, the General of France? BONAPARTE. With all my heart, as all my heart is yours ! I love you ! Be my wife ! JOSEPHINE. Is it a jest You would indulge ? BONAPARTE. Look I as one who jests ? My life has been As restless ever as a storm-tossed sea, / Seeking something it could not find, O D , v Seeking it knew not what, yet feeling As if it were no more than half itself. I said, ' It is ambition,' sought for fame, And easily obtained it ; yet a thirst Burning and torturing me was unquenched. Above the clang Of clashing steel, the din of frightful war, 48 Napoleon and Josephine. [[ACT i. Still came a soul-cry yet unsatisfied, When, like an angel spirit all unhid, Thou didst appear, dear empress of my soul ! In silence looks the Supreme Goddess down, Still beckoning me on to other fields. Lo ! in defiance of all power above, Beneath, I claim your hand, and at your feet Will prostrate all ! aye, even to a world I JOSEPHINE. Marriage Is fraught with consequence but less than death ! One for this life seals a fate, the other For that longer life which is to come. BONAPARTE. Though well assured of this, still do I urge My suit. JOSEPHINE. But have you well considered all, My age, my children and my former love ? BONAPARTE. All this and more, and more. JOSEPHINE. What more? SCENE in.] Napoleon and Josephine. 49 BONAPARTE. Myself. JOSEPHINE. I do not understand. BONAPARTE. My love is all That I can offer in exchange for these But oh, that love is life, soul, all ! my heaven ! Speak ! Is't or life or death ? JOSEPHINE. Oh do not think my life currents run cold ! Experience makes us considerate. BONAPARTE. The future, the fair future is before us : 7 Life will date anew from that bright moment AVe are one. Love is an eternal springtime ! JOSEPHINE. Nay, do not pause, speak on ! Your words do thrill With that strange ecstacy of which I've dreamed Though never felt till now Ah ! Ah ! that fate should stand between us ! 4 50 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT I. BONAPARTE. Fate! Can it be that Fate appears to her ? (aside.) JOSEPHINE. It seems stern fate forbids that I should be The wife of General Bonaparte. BONAPARTE. % Madam, do you seek to trifle with me ? JOSEPHINE. No ! No ! I am indeed most serious ! I cannot be your wife since I am destined To be Queen of France. BONAPARTE. Pray you, explain \ JOSEPHINE. In Martinique a prophetess foretold My fortune. So far, her words oracular Have been fulfilled ; conclude I, then, tho rest Will yet be realized. BONAPARTE. Give me her words ! SCENE in.] Napoleon and Josephine. 51 JOSEPHINE. " You shall be Queen of France. Yes, more than Queen ! And then, glorious life ! happiest days Shall bless you ! A mighty Emperor shall share With you his crown ! But ah ! alas ! misfortune then will come ! Yet, fondly loved, a world shall mourn your fall' BONAPARTE. To Fate I bid defiance ! Be my wife ! JOSEPHINE. v Your wife your wife BONAPAETE. Aye, my wife ! You muse right strangely. Gather the clouds SQL darkly in the morning sky ^of love ? JOSEPHINE. Nay ! It seems the rose-tint deepens As I gaze upon the rising beams of light ! And now it melts into the white ! And now A flood of glory bathes the world ! fOh is it now the morning of my life ? The night was long and dark, so dark ! 52 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT i. BONAPARTE. No night Less glorious than the day, with such a stay As thou to hallow it ! JOSEPHINE. Art thou the Sun That lifts the sable curtains of my night ? Oh world ! Thou art too small for this hour's ecstacy ! BONAPAETE. Oh come, and we will rise even beyond This hour ! Aye, even to companionship Of gods ! JOSEPHINE. Ah, let me lean upon thee first ; Yet am I weak, and tremble 'neath my load Of joy! When I am stronger I will learn To bear my rapture. BONAPAETE. Thou shalt be queen of France ! and reign, As now, most absolute o'er my fond soul ! Fair Empress, e'er your hand the scepter bear, Let it receive, in token of fealty, A kiss most sacred since it is my first. SCENE in.] Napoleon and Josephine. 53 Enter a PAGE. PAGE. Le Monsieur Ragideau. JOSEPHINE. To 2?onaparte.~] 'T is some affair of business, I think. BONAPARTE. Give him audience; I will retire. [Retires to recess in drawing-room. JOSEPHINE. Admit Monsieur Ragideau ! [Exit PAGE. Enter RAGIDEAU. RAGIDEAU. There* is a private matter, not indeed So much of business as interwoven With your prosperity and happiness! And, with deference to your prerogative, I should be found unworthy of your trust As honorable Advocate, should I Not warn you of so hazardous a step 54 Napoleon and Josephine. ACT i. As that you contemplate in second marriage. Your friends have looked with much alarm Upon this change, fraught with so great hazard. JOSEPHINE. Our affairs, it seems, are known by others Ere they come to us. (aside). But my dear Advocate Do you share with my friends in this alarm ? BAGIDEAU. Madam, you are rich and independent ; Five-and-twenty thousand francs is no mean sum To come in yearly too much to give away. You are young, beautiful ! yes, beautiful ! I am no flatterer, madam, that you know ; I am your Advocate, and I tell you, You can command who e'er you will. General Bonaparte may be noble, Good, generous, brave he is a soldier, And poor he must abide the fate of war ; He must be separate from you live so, For 'tis a soldier's lot Fame is not sure. There are few Caesars, Alexanders few, Yet millions have their graves untimely found, Seeking that which few do gain. Put each of you the same at stake, Madame, The case would then be very different ; SCENE in.] Napoleon and Josephine. 55 But in the scale, all else being equal, Your purse would quite outweigh his sword and hat. JOSEPHINE. gut he is honQrable^ Jbrave andJxue_L Worships me as his idol! Have I not A purse that 's strong enough for both ? RAGIDEATJ. Let me suppose a case : You marry ; Another revolution overthrows Our government ; General Bonaparte Is conspicuous in the Republic ; His property and yours are confiscate, And you are left to do the best you can Perhaps to suffer. I have not overdrawn ; History proves the instability Of new yes, all republics. Besides, Ever harraasad with fear, the soldier's wife Knows not whether she be wife or widow. JOSEPHINE (laughing). What think you, General ? what think you now Of my good Advocate's advice ? [BONAPARTE comes forward and takes RAGIDEAU by the hand. 56 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT i. BONAPARTE. Monsieur Ragideau has spoken honestly ! I can but honor him the more for it. I trust his fears may not be realized, And that he will to us give his consent, His office to continue. Such a man May well be trusted. \_Exeunt. {Enter from one side AUGUSTA and HOR- TENSE ; from the other, EUGENE. EUGENE. I am glad to meet you. HORTENSE. We to meet you. But brother, you surprise us ! EUGENE. It seems I am Required to-night at the headquarters Of General Bonaparte. HORTENSE. Do you know The cause for which he summons you ? SCENE in.] Napoleon and Jbsephene. 57 EUGENE. Well, no! And yet I do surmise it is to make A soldier of me. AUGUSTA and HOKTENSE. A soldier ? r AUGUSTA. No ! no ! EUGENE. From what he did convey as his intent To my mother and myself, I must think This is his purpose. HORTENSE. But you will not go ? [EUGENE crosses to AUGUSTA. There 's something deeper, then, than sister's love ? [Exit. EUGENE. Nay, sweetheart, sweetheart, do not be so sad ! AUGUSTA. And will you go even though it is his wish ? EUGENE. My will is yours, I have no other, Sweet, 58 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT i. Save when you will less for yourself than me. The General's wish is near akin to law Yet it may be that I am wrong in what I have inferred. And still, if I be right, Let it not rest so heavy on your heart ! We must remember, Love nay ne'er forget That sorrow, hardly less than that which now Does threaten us, did bring me to your side. AUGUSTA. Oh, would you leave me for the phantom Fame.? EUGENE. Leave you ? No ! No ! Nay, not for all the world, Though it should lie an off' ring at my feet. Ah, without you, how empty it would be I Augusta, I cannot conceive of heaven Without you. AUGUSTA. Eugene ! Eugene ! EUGENE. Augusta, Hear me ! oh for a voice to tell my love ! Impossible ! On such a theme all words Are impotent. Not long ago I stood Beside the sea ; a distant storm had lashed SCENE in.] Napoleon and Josephine. 59 The waves into a furious mutiny, Until they rolled high up upon the beach, A mountain range of spray, sun-kissed to pearls ! Oh, 't was sublimely beautiful ! and yet It had but little charm for me, dear love ! But yesterday I visited the scenes Of Fontainbleau its forests and chateau, Where man and nature join their highest art And as, from scene to scene, my eyes did pass Where other eyes do find such fair delight, A longing, then as now unutterable, Filled my breast for you, and all comfortless I turned away to drink the zephyrs Wafted from your home. I measure all, weigh all, count all by you ! The height of heaven is measured by your love ! The weight of worlds my love for you outweighs ! And every moment counts as nothing, Or with you ! AUGUSTA. Eugene, I know you love me ! And oh, do you remember that fair drearh When, sitting on the border of a stream, I watched the swans gliding o'er sunlit waves, The fragrant breath of water-lilies Lingering with song of birds upon the air ? The while I thought of you, and wished that you 60 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT T. Were by my side? And how a little boat Turned round the stream's quick curve ere I had wished ? You sprang from it to clasp me in your arms And press your loving lips to mine Until at last the hour sped, I waked^ In parting from you. Let me tell you now What followed this a few weeks afterward. Not far from where I dreamed there is a lake Within the borders of a lonely park ; And flowing into it there is a stream, Not unlike that my dream disclosed to me. And this I visited some two months since ; The swans were at my feet, and lilies sweet, And songs of birds, all just as I had seen Them in my dream, were now reality. I lifted up my eyes to look for you An empty, empty boat came round the bend ! The agony of that one moment was An hundred deaths ! Eugene, thou wilt not go ? V EUGENE. This was some two months past, yet have we seen Many sweet hours together since that time. If this strange circumstance have meaning, 'tis That, my short absence o'er, I will return To find with you new joys, as we have had Since then. Good cheer ! Good cheer ! I may not go, SCENE in.] Napoleon and Josephine. 61 Yet if I do 'twill be but to return And lay my honors at your feet. AUGUSTA. For your absence what honors could repay ? Think you I care for honors ? Oh my love ! I would not have you greater than you are Great as the world calls great; to me there is Nothing so high but that you are above, Beyond it ! Nay, I could not wish for aught I do not find in you. What could I add Unto your excellence ? Eugene ! Eugene ! EUGENE. Would you not see me honored among men, Commanding armies, wielding sword and pen Until my fame should reach throughout the world ? , AUGUSTA. ' Those whom men honor are of little worth. God honors who are nearest like Himself. For one who rises many sure must fall. I would not see your greatness builded On broken hearts and desolated homes, And though your fame should run throughout the world, I could not love you more than I do now. I am content with you just as you are, And would not have you one jot different. 62 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT I. EUGENE. My dear Augusta ! would that I could feel That I were worthy of such love as this ; Though 'twas with pride I heard the Gcueral speak, I only saw my future as for you. Achievement else were hollow mockery. But come ! you shall know all without delay. Good bye ! Good bye ! [Offers to go. AUGUSTA. Eugene, when on the field of battle, will you ask Yourself, ere you decide to take a step Wherein great danger lies, "What would Augusta have me do?" And I Will ever ask, even in lightest matters, " What would my Eugene counsel ? " Must you go ? I cannot, cannot give you up, Eugene ! There are a thousand things that I would say ! I cannot let you go ! Farewell. [Exit EUGENE. Eugene ! Eugene ! (falls.) [Scene Changes to a Tableau ; BONAPARTE, Mounted, Leading the Armies of France.'] [Curtain falls. END OF ACT I. Napoleon and Josephine. 63 ACT II. SCENE FIRST. PAELOES OF MADAME BONAPAETE. BARRAS discovered. Enter a PAGE. PAGE. Madame Bonaparte Regrets she cannot grant you audience At once, but begs you will remain. Meantime Permit me to serve you. \_Exit PAGE. Returns with wine. Exit. BARRAS. The musty adage of a "a prophet's fame " Does not apply, it seems, to one who drinks. ^ine_deadejis^ is dull-mettled, Takes hold upon the senses, rocks to sleep ; A sweet sleep, but it lasts too long by half! 'T_.is_ terrible to wake from it ! What have we here ? Ah ! Cognac, by Jove ! Oh, thou sparkling beauty ! queen of my soul ! Thou giv'st an hundred years in one ! [Drinks. 64 Napoleon and Josephine. ACT n. Married ! and off to Italy ! So soon to quit her ! Oh, most cruel speed ! 'T is foulest slander on both sexes, this, .That full-blown manhood could, for such a cause, Give o'er the very paragon of love ! The perfect pattern nay, the goddess Of pure symmetry ! Ye gods ! for fruit so rich I 'd bid the world good -night, and leave to fools The jflimsy glories jjf uncertain fame. Were 't mine, this citadel of pleasure, I'd dwell in it, nor e'er be seen without. Patriotism ! Bah ! The chameleon dish, well stew'd with fame, Seasoned all through and through with promises, Then served with golden spoon of patronage By those in power, to ambitious fools Whom they would use. Barras would prize a throne For what it added unto his desires ; 'Nor risk too much obtaining it, since now His cup's well filled. For in your graveyard glory He could never find a relish. Then live ye for the future those who will ! Barras, in this life, seeks to find his fill. By Jove! this Bonaparte Has left rich pasturage for some man's colt ! I'll look to 't ! Who has better right ? I helped him to his greatness, 'tis but just SCENE i.] Napoleon and Josephine. 65 * He should repay me. I'll prescribe the terms ; My choice of coin ! I'll not take the Republic's, But that of Royalty, less circulate ; Recently new stamped, but not impaired. Oh, Beaulieu! trip "petit Achilles," And leave to me the sighing widow! Now to the Directory ! If Bonaparte do meet success, why then 'Twas Barras raised him to his great command ! But if he fall as fall I pray he may, Since I do fear this growing Corsican Then on poor Carnot's shoulders rests the blame. And yet, before she comes, a health To "petit Achilles! " And yet again To that which he has left his friend! Enter JOSEPHINE. I do regret, Monsieur Barras, To have kept you so long waiting! BARRAS. Pardon The untimely call ! The affairs of State, In these most busy and eventful times, Demand us unawares. JOSEPHINE. Monsieur, have you Advice from Italy ! % 66 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT 11. BARRAS. For this I called The General, through his brother and Junot, Sends this to you ; they to no other hands Would trust it than my own, being themselves Detained. I came at once to you, and beg, If any further service I can give, [Hands a letter. You will be pleased the happiness to grant Of such employment. JOSEPHINE. ' I am most grateful To you, Monsieur, and if I find a need Of further favors from such a friendship I shall be free to acquaint you of it. [Exit BARRAS. Enter AUGUSTA and HORTENSE. HORTENSE. Oh mother! more letters? JOSEPHINE (reading). " My Darling best of Friends : My brother will hand you this letter. I cherish for him the most intimate friendship. I trust he will also gain your affection. He deserves it. Na- ture has gifted him with a tender and inexhaustibly good character ; he is full of rare qualities. I have received your letters of the 21st. You SCENE L] Napoleon and Josephine. 67 have indeed for many days forgotten to write to me. What, then, are you doing ? Yes, my friend, I am not exactly jealous, but I am sometimes un- easy. Hasten then, for I tell you beforehand if you delay I shall be sick. &o great exertion, com- bined with your absence, is too much. Your letters are the joys of my days, and niy happy days are not too many. Junot takes to Paris twenty-two standards. You will come back with him, will you not ? Misery without remedy, sorrow without comfort, unmiti- gated anguish will be my portion, if it is my misfortune to see him come back alone, my own adored wife! He will breathe at your shrine, and perhaps you will even grant him the special and unsurpassed privilege of kissing your cheek, and I will be far, far away ! You will come here, at my side, to my heart, in my arms ! Take wings, come ! come! Yet journey slowly the road is long, bad, fatiguing. If some calamity should happen if the exertion Set out at once, my beloved one, but travel slowly. BONAPARTE." 'Will I come to thee ? Ask the tender flower If it will turn its fair face to the sun For life and strength ! or God's sweet choristers If they will sing in praise to Him who gives The bright day for their happiness ! Even as the soul would swiftly take its flight Unto the source of its supremest ecstasy, I come! my love, I come! How keen the edge of sweet expectancy ! 68 * Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT n. And how it pricks us on to realize What hope holds up to view! Yet how often Do we in possession find less joy Than in the dreaming of it ere 'twas ours! "Xo, no, 'tis not true! this time 'twill not be true." "We say, and yet how seldom does it fail! AUGUSTA. Then if, indeed, most happiness exists In that expectancy which does precede Reality, let us employ it ere We cheat ourselves of both. Enter EUGENE (in uniform}. AUGUSTA. Eugene! (falling in his arms} i JOSEPHINE. / This is surprise most happy, Eugene! How long since you left Italy ? EUGENE. I came With Joseph Bonaparte, Junot, And an escort, that did the trophies bring Of our great victories. Your letter too. SCENE i.] Napoleon and Josephine. 69 AUGUSTA. Eugene ! JOSEPHINE. How fares the General ? EUGENE. Did lie not Inform you ? JOSEPHINE. Oh yes, but tell me, tell me, Is he indeed well ? For he ever puts i p On everything the best face possible. EUGENE. / He was in perfect health on my departure. Traces of care do seem to line his face, Yet these but lend a finer dignity, If such be possible. Aside from this, And that he has some stouter grown, he is As when he quitted France. He bade me add The fairest words I knew to what he wrote ; And then assure you all was but a tithe Of that rich tribute he would pay to you Were words more eloquent. 70 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT n. AUGUSTA. And spake he not Of me? EUGENE. After remembrance and his love, He left the rest to me, wherein he said You would find more delight. To sweet Hortense, He sent an hundred kisses and this ring; The one I give now, and the others will Before I go. JOSEPHINE. So he remembers all! How rich is he in every tender thought That lends to manhood the fair lustre Of love's constancy. Enter a PAGE. PAGE. Madame Therese de Talien. JOSEPHINE. Say that I attend her. Come, Hortense! [Exit JOSEPHINE and HORTEXSE. AUGUSTA. How slowly have the hours dragged, Eugene ! SCENE I.] Napoleon and Josephene. 71 Yet I am paid for all a thousand times In this sweet moment on your breast. EUGENE. Have you forgot How at your feet I used to sit, the while I told, in fondest words I knew, my love ? And held up fairest pictures of the life In store for us? What castles did we build! What happy visions rose before us then ! But none that equalled this reality. There was one look sweeter than all the rest, You gave to me at times. It was a look You could not give unto another, For your very soul was couched in it ! There ! there ! It beams up to me now ! O my darling! How that one look has nestled in my heart Through all the weary hours of absence ! How has it cheered me when all else was vain ! How, like a light from heaven let down to me, Illumed my path, and as a beacon Brought me back to you! Speak on, that I may hear the music Of your voice! It has been long, so long, Since I have listened to it, Love! Speak on! 72 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT n. I love your praise, not for the praise, but that It tells me of your love ! Speak on ! EUGENE. Your very beauty robs me of my words! What eloquence could rise to such a theme ! Yet, since it may delight you, I will tell Of a most lovely scene of which I dreamed On yesternight A? sunlit vale Where perfumed grasses were all interspersed With flowers rare and rich sweet mignonette, And heliotrope, innumerable Roses, and nameless flowers as redolent ; And there were little bowers of jessamine, Whose balmy breath is but less sweet than that Wherein your kisses nestle ; all these did freight Soft zephyrs, that floated through the glen And circled round my head in eddying swirl. There seemed a melody of song to rise From grass and flower, and the birds caught this And carried it into the higher measures Of their dulcet strains ! Then it did echo Through the glen until, following down The fringes of the stream that ran just through The center of the vale, it lost itself Upon the boundless sea. Here and there were quiet little nooks SCENE i.] Napoleon and Josephine. 73 And fair retreats 'neath denser foliage In every hue and matchless tint of green. And some old trees, staid warders of the vale, Were rich with clambering roses, Or clematis, that graced their massive trunks, Or other vines luxuriant, That sought the very topmost boughs to peep Out first in loveliest blossom and catch The morning glory of the sun. Fair clouds Were ever blushing in divinest tints, Casting the softest shadows on the vale Beneath. And but one charm was wanting AUGUSTA. And that ? EUGENE. Your presence, darling, thea 'twould nothing lack Of heaven for Eugene. \Re-enter JOSEPHINE.] JOSEPHINE. Some deep design Is working now against us, something new ; Barras is at the bottom of 't again. 74 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT n. EUGENE. What have you learned? Tis well that I am here. JOSEPHINE. Yes > for we'll have a trusty messenger. EUGENE. Whatis't? Impart! JOSEPHINE. A scheme is now on foot, Laid by the crafty Barras and Gohier ; By which our General is to be betrayed Into the hands of Beaulieu. Botot Is sent a secret messenger to-day To help dispatch this business. EUGENE. Of whom And by what means is all this known ? JOSEPHINE. Our friend, Therese de Talien. EUGENE. But how And by what fortune learned she this ? SCENE i.] Napoleon and Josephine. 75 JOSEPHINE. From him, Le Monsieur himself, o'er whom she has An absolute control. For know, he is At once a_pliable and simple fool In presence of a pretty woman. EUGENE. x ,Well, then he can be useful made to us, More than Barras and the conspirators, For we have the most witching loveliness In France. JOSEPHINE. A pretty compliment ! But we have little time for such to-day. EUGENE. Are others implicated in the plot? JOSEPHINE. Only by inference ; as he himself Is not committed in a way that we Could use as evidence. EUGENE. "We will mature Our plans and, by to-morrow, after him. 76 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT n. AUGUSTA. But why such haste away ? Where go you now ? EUGENE. It is the hour when the Directory Will be surprised with what we did bring back From Italy. They are in waiting for me. My duty done, I will return to you. [Exeunt. SCENE SECOND. LUXEMBOURG. THE DIRECTORY. CARXOT, BARRAS, LAREVILLIERE LEPEAUX, REWBELL, LETOURNEUR. SECRETARIES and SOLDIERS. CARNOT presiding. Enter a COURTIEK. COURTIER. General Joseph Bonaparte, Junot and Beauhar- nais, with tidings from the seat of war in Italy. CARNOT. Immediately admit them. [Exit COURTIER. [Enter JOSEPH BONAPARTE, JUNOT, EUGENE, followed by COURTIERS, bearing standards. SCENE I.] Napoleon and Josephine. 77 JOSEPH BONAPARTE. Citizen President and Directors : The General of France sends, greeting you, Trophies of victory from Italy, And would most humbly lay them at your feet As at the shrine of France. CAENOT. Sends he report ? We wait for it most eagerly ! JOSEPH BONAPARTE. [Taking banner on which was inscribed the bulletin. He has indeed great victories to tell, And on our flag inscribes this bulletin : (Reads on one side.} " To the army of Italy, the grateful country." (Reads on other .side.} 115,000 prisoners, 170 standards, 550 pieces of battering cannon, 600 pieces of field artillery, 5 bridge equipages, 9 sixty- four gun ships, 12 thirty-two gun frigates, 12 cor- vettes, 18 galleys. Armistice with the King of Sardinia, Convention with Genoa, Armistice with the Duke of Parrna, Armistice with the King of Naples, Armistice with the Pope, Preliminaries of Leoben, Convention of Montebello with the Re- 78 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT ir. public of Genoa, Treaty of Peace with the Empe- ror at Campo Formo, Liberty given to the People of Bologna, Ferrara, Modena, Massa Carrara, La Komagna, Lombardy, Bressera, Bornio, The Val- entiua, The Genoese, The Imperial Fiefs, the People of the Departments of Coreigra, of the ^Egean Sea, and of Ithaca. Sent to Paris all the masterpieces of Michael Angelo, of Genercino, of Titian, of Paul Veronese, of Corregio, of Albano of Carracu, of Raphael and of Leonardo da Vinci. During the reading of this report, CARNOT is greatly agitated. As the report progresses, all rise to their feet. CAR- NOT comes down from his chair. Tear- ing the clothes from his breast, he dis- plays a minature of NAPOLEON, which he had concealed there holding it up to JOSEPH BONAPARTE. CARNOT. Tell your brother That I do wear him next unto my heart. (turns to Directors?) Go fire your guns! King wildly every bell! Scream with the fife! Let the shrill bugle tell ; With clang of steel, and the unmuffled drum, And loud huzzas, that victory has come! SCENE i.] Napoleon and Josephine. 79 Fire, fire the guns ! Let deep-toned thunder roll Throughout great France, filling each patriot soul With victory's shouts uprising from the heart, Vive la Republic ! Vive le Bonaparte ! ALL (except B AREAS). Vive la Republic ! Vive le Bonaparte ! Shouting, cannons, bells and drums without. Scene changes to Paris, illuminated. \_Curtain falls. END OF ACT II. 80 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT in. ACT III. SCENE FIKST. MILAN. Drawing-room of the Palace of Serbelloni. BONA- PABTE and EUGENE discovered reading. BONAPARTE. Contemptible ! That this should be permitted is most strange ! It surely is within the power Of the Directory to punish this As for any other treasonable words ; For we are France, no less ! and these attacks, Against us personally, are no less Than against our France. EUGENE. Their silence proves The sympathy of the Directory With your worst enemies from jealousy Of you. BONAPAETE. And yet cannot I understand why they Should be so blinded to the interests SCENE i.] Napoleon and Josephine. 81 Of France, nay even their own interests, Most selfish, as to let this jealousy Creep in and so despoil them in a night Of all the vantage they might borrow From the lustre of my star. They cannot think That I will patiently endure this long ! Do they not realize that I have power To crush them, each and all, as Avith this hand I crush this evidence of spleen most foul ? [Takes up another journal. Here 's language bears the spirit of Barras, Unless I miss These are his words. Can it be possible That he should such a peevish bungler be As to permit peculiar trick of speech To thus betray him in the public print ? So so I '11 have a closer eye on you, Monsieur Barras !- I never trusted him, Eugene, you know I never trusted him. EUGENE. And in despising him, I now, As ever, find a keen delight ! BONAPARTE. That is unworthy of you, dear Eugene ; Great souls do not descend to it. Nor this Nor envy ever dwells within the hearts 82 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT in. Of the truly great. In youth 't is pardoned, But must lie outgrown. These wasps may sting us, And the sling may itch there's poison in it So it may fret the skin, but that is all. [Reads. "He keeps the plunder" Rare rhetoricians! To what do they refer ? " He does affect A heartless despotism, overrides All law " This is abominable! To " affect! " To " affect despotism! " What masterly envenomed slander this! I like the knave and will requite him for 't. I am humiliated when I know They have the power to annoy me thus. Eugene, itjsJjiso-&^/ -things that fret And so disturb us, more than all else In the vicissitudes of life. Henceforth Let us look above and far beyond them. Philosophy, This, this is the one source of strength, Eugene. Who lives the butt and sport of daily circumstance, Is no more than a moth in sunbeam basking, To drift, before tlie first vagrant zephyr, On to the little death that waits him. But he who can despise, or grief or joy, With will indomitable, pressing on Unto the goal of his ambition, Only wins. SCENE i.] Napoleon and Josephine. 83 Were 't not that he must eat and sleep, I 'd say A man might come to be great. [Exit. Enter JOSEPHINE. \ EUGENE. Mother, There 's none I may approach but you in this That weighs so heavy on my heart! Pardon And hear me : For years I have admired, Nay, loved nay more adored, Augusta ! She has the object been of every hope, Ambition, prayer ! Oh, I have worshiped her! My highest pleasure was alloyed with pain Unless she shared it with me. Greater joys Were quite impossible ; I could riot know A happiness without her, but with her Was continual ecstasy. And she, She loved me, it did seem, even as her life. "Think of me when you will," she one time wrote, " Of you I am ever thinking, darling, And loving you, oh very, very dearly! " Enough ! She loved me then. But now, no more ! JOSEPHINE. This confidence I do appreciate You have my fullest sympathy, Eugene, But may I know the cause of all this change ? 84 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT in. EUGENE. When I know. I have been too fond, I think ; I shrined her goddess in my heart, and she Would soar now far beyond me. I but pray That from her airy height she ne'er may fall. \ JOSEPHINE. Eugene ! Why this is madness, boy ! Come, tell me all And I may help you. EUGENE. All, all is lost! JOSEPHINE. Not all, Eugene. You have your mother left, And sweet Hortense. EUGENE. Ah, yes, I know, I know I love you very dearly, but my heart Did worship her! It knows no heaven beyond. For you and for Hortense, I'll leave a name! JOSEPHINE. Eugene Speaks like himself in this. And yet why leave SCENE I.] Napoleon and Josephene. 85 A name ? Why not share your honors with us ? You now are in the morning of your life, And glory seems already hovering close About your head. Youjwill be great, Eugene, And good, I trust EUGENE. Shall Love step out And Greatness enter ? Farewell to glory Were easier said than farewell love ! One_is of earth, the other infinite ! JOSEPHINE. But come, you have not yet conveyed to me The evidence that she is false to you. You may be rash. EUGENE. Rash ! Hear me and then judge. Though near what should have been our wedding- day, Berlin has held rare charms for her. Her absence Bore full heavily upon me, for I, It seemed, could only think or dream of her With her how different the sequel -shows. Though, when she said farewell, she wept Right bitterly she must have loved me then ! At first her letters in succession came 86 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT in. [As she had promised them. So eloquent, |In sweet simplicity of love, that I / Was lifted into rapture. Followed then ' Less frequent, shorter, Till, from my friends, I learned that she had been Attended close and constant by Botot. To-day she did return, a week before I did expect her, and with this Botot, Who was still near her but an hour ago With me she has not deigned to meet. * JOSEPHINE. Eugene, I think that I do understand it all Wait my return ! [.Exit JOSEPHINE. EUGENE. She almost bade me hope, when there is no hope! From such a fall as this we may not rise. A brilliant life will, haply, shorter be E'en as a falling star, whose light goes out When its effulgence most attracts our view : So shall my glory through vthiaJittle world Blaze like a meteor in the firmament And then go out forever ! O farewell ! Farewell, Augusta! Now am I resolved! SCENE i.] Napoleon and Josephine. 87 Re-enter JOSEPHINE. This did I find in waiting for you. [Gives letter. [Exit JOSEPHINE. EUGENE (reads). My Dear Eugene : I Lave just dismissed Monsieur Botot, as I hnd no further use for him ; having learned all that was necessary to assist Mme. Bonaparte in her plans to save the General from a plot that was to deliver him in person into the hands of the enemy. Inasmuch as I have dismissed Monsieur Botot rather unceremoniously, since his attentions had become annoying, he may undertake to avenge himself upon you, and I thought it best to acquaint you at once with the situation. This will somewhat explain the past few weeks, and my sudden return, till I can see you. Do not keep me long in wait- ing, for, after our separation, and t the labor and excitement consequent upon the undertaking that has happily terminated well, I am all impatience to meet you. AUGUSTA. EUGENE. Can you ever forgive me? [Exit. Enter OFFICER and REYNARD. REYNARD. Ah, Mon Dieu ! Zis vat you call loafe, make ze fool of all. 88 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT 'in. OFFICES. Yes, 'tis said the greater man the greater fool be- comes when Love_ ensnares him. REYNARD. You know Monsieur Botot? OFFICER. No! REYNARD. He 'ave ze blonde complexion, ze blue eye, and ze Jjig conceit of ze self he is ze tool of Barras. I 'ave glad to pique him vis my rappier ! OFFICER. Why is he permitted to go ? REYNARD. Zat ze place 'ave not vun of more dainjare. OFFICER. When do you go to Paris ? REYNARD. In ze morrow. SCENE i.] Napoleon arid Josephine. 89 OFFICER. You are a lucky fellow. REYNARD. I vill 'ave some dainjare Barras 'ave great pow- air, and I am ze spy, ze leetle fox to vatch liim. OFFICER. To whom do you report ? REYNARD. Ze General, la Madame Bonaparte, ou la Princess Augusta. Zejyun vere I 'ave not mooche troobal. OFFICER. You have already been of great service. REYNARD. Ze General vas pleased to recompense me. OFFICER. If you succeed you will receive high honors. REYNARD. If I tomb it vill be in ze service of my General and La Belle France. I 'ave not ze fear to die. Ze powaire zat support ze General vill protec' ze General's soldaire. I 'ave not ze fear to die. By Gar! I vas like iQ pique ze Barras vis my rappier! \_Exeunt. 90 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT IIT. SCENE SECOND. PALACE OF SEIiBELLOXI. This scene is a large salon, divided into three rooms hy marble columns. In room farthest lack, a party of ladies and gentlemen. In middle room, JOSEPHINE and party of ladies. In front room BONAPARTE, EUGENE, AUGEKEAU, and other gentlemen, in conversation. BOXAPARTE. The Duke of Parma is unfortunate, But le&, where now he is, will do no harm, And will no doubt serve well our purpose, Carrying our every order to its end. But, cut him off And give his Dukedom to another, And he will ever stir up strife and institute Fresh intrigues. Here he can be useful made, But elsewhere only hurtful. AUGEREAU. But he is a Bourbon, General, A Bourbon ! BONAPARTE. Well, then, lie is a Bourbon SCENE ii.] Napoleon and Josephine. 91 Has nature therefore made him less for it? Because three Bourbons have been killed in France, Follows it that we must hunt the others down ! Proscriptions falling thus upon a name, A family, an entire class, I never did and never will approve. Cans't punish France for the crimes Of the Sans Culottes f You say the Bourbons Are the enemies of freedom ; they were led To the guillotine under a right Which I do not acknowledge. Enter ORIANI, the astronomer, attended by Courtier. COUKTIEH. The Proffesseur Oriani. BONAPARTE. We are indeed most happy, Professor, That you do make one of our guests to-day. OEIANI. Ah, General, this magnificence With which you are surrounded, dazzles me. BONAPAKTE. Can it be such miserable splendors blind A man who every night does contemplate 92 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT in. The far more lofty and impressive glories Of the skies? [Conducts him to Id room and returns. Even Science bends before me. Aside.'] Enter MANFREDINI (attended by courtier). COURTIER. Le Marquis Manfredini, Ambassador of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. BONAPARTE. And can we serve your Grand Duke ? MANFREDINI. Humbly our Grand Duke bows before The greatest conqueror of Italy, The General, most excellent, of France! A fervent friendship sends he, greeting him, And in sincerity will ever pray He may find no less fame throughout the world Than he already has so nobly won In Italy. Unto his sweet lady ,He would his homage pay as at the shrino Of every heavenly virtue Only regretting that affairs of state Make his own presence here impossible. Yet, through ITis ambassador, he begs SCENE ii.] Napoleon and Josephine. 93 You will your pleasure now convey to him Regarding Tuscany. For, though great confidence he entertains In every good and noble quality Of General Bonaparte, yet before power There is always fear in breasts of those i Who stand so far beneath. He would assurance, therefore humbly crave, Of your good will. BONAPARTE. Signer Marquis : You remind me of a certain creditor Who once did importune, in modest phrase, Coupled with flattery and confidence, The Cardinal de Rohan, " when he would , Be kind enough to pay him ? " " My dear sir," Said the Cardinal, " I pray you do not be So very curious ! " [Escorts him to second room returns. Have given out that we transact no more Of business to-day! \_To Eugene. EUGENE. The Ambassadors of Venice wait without. BONAPARTE. Say that to Venice I will be an Atilla! \_Goes to second room. 94 'Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT in. Now favor us with a sweet native air ~\ Of Martinique! \_To Josephine. JOSEPHINE. First, pardon me, the great artist, LeGros, Has been in waiting long, for my command And your good pleasure, for a sitting Would you compel us to wait longer Mon Ami ? [All retire to second room but JOSEPHIXE and BONAPARTE. BONAPAETE. For so great folly I have not the time No, no! Another day. JOSEPHINE. But you will not Refuse a seat by my side ? BONAPARTE. Ah, no! Never! \He sits. JOSEPHINE beckons LEGROS. Enter LE GROS. [He commences the portrait. BONAPARTE. Excellent strategy ! But I will not Endure it long. SCENE ii. J Napoleon and Josephene. 95 JOSEPHINE. Monsieur, would you surrender Your position ? BONAPARTE. No, this artist's torment. JOSEPHINE. But if I should command ? BONAPARTE. I must obey. JOSEPHINE. A fair reply ! so I release you. BONAPARTE. I 'd rather face a cannon's mouth. [.Rises. JOSEPHINE. To-morrow, good Le Gros, another sitting. [Exit LE GROS. Enter a COURTIER. COURTIER. The Princess Augusta. BONAPARTE. Attend her! {Exit COURTIER. 96 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT in. Enter AUGUSTA (attended}. [COURTIER goes to EUGENE in 2d room. COURTIER. The Princess Augusta awaits you. [Returns with EUGENE. Exit COURTIER. i AUGUSTA. Was never treason yet more base Than that I now reveal to you ? BONAPARTE. Impart. AUGUSTA. The plot was better laid than did appear At first, and is in detail somewhat changed Since our intelligence in France; Botot Is superseded now by one who is More crafty, dangerous, by far. BONAPARTE. Indeed ! How far have they progressed ? AUGUSTA. Not yet so far, Thanks once again to Monsieur Botot. SCENE ii.] Napoleon and Josephine. 97 Or rather to his weakness, but- they may Be easy taken in it. JOSEPHINE. Nay, we should say Thanks to the Princess Augusta. AUGUSTA. But most Is due to Madame Bonaparte. BONAPAKTE. We are Indebted to you both beyond all words. JOSEPHINE. No, not indebted, for there is no debt When what we do is but for those we love ! Love only proves itself when it has reached The last extremity for whom it loves, And but receives its own when all is done That may be possible. We did succeed in sending the despatch. \_To Augusta. AUGUSTA. Your messenger was apprehended, ta'en. No time must now be lost. 98 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT in. BONAPARTE. They have not power No, not were all the world in league with them To harm us. FATE sits supreme o'er all! She will protect her son. [ To Eugene. Please call a Courtier. . [Exit EUGENE. Re-enter EUGENE, with COURTIER. \ [To Courtier .] My secretaries! [Exit COURTIER. Re-enter COURTIER, with three Secretaries. [Exit COURTIER. [To 1st SecJ] Citizen Directors : I owe you an open confession ; my heart is de- pressed and filled with horror through the constant attacks of the Parisian journals. [To 2d Sec.~] General Moreau : Arrest at once Monsieur Botot and send to these headquarters. [To \st /SecJ] Sold to the enemies of the repub- lic ; they rush upon me, who am boldly defending the republic. [To 3d /SecJ] General Joubert : Your presence is needed at these headquarters. SCENE IT.] Napoleon and Josephine. 99 [ To 1st See.~\ I am " keeping the plunder " whilst I ain defeating them ; I " affect despotism," whilst I speak only as General-in-chief ; I " assume supreme power," and yet I submit to law! Every thing I do is turned to crime against me; the poison streams over me. \_To 2d Sec.~\ Let him be attended closely but let no violence or insult be offered him. [To 1st Sec.~\ Were any one in Italy to dare give utterance to the one-thousandth part of these calumnies, I would impose upon him an awful silence. [ To 3d Sec.'] Set out at once, and travel with all possible haste. \_To 1st /SecJ] In Paris, this is allowed to go on unpunished, and your tolerance is an encourage- ment. The Directory is thus producing the im- pression that it is opposed to me. If the Directors suspect me, let them say so, and I will justify my- self. If they are convinced of my uprightness let them defend me. \_To 2dSec.~\ Treat him indeed right civilly. BONAPARTE. [To 1st Sec. ,] In this circle of argument, I in- clude the Directory with me, and cannot go beyond 100 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT in. it. My desire is to be useful to my country. Must I for reward drink the cup of poison ? \_To 3d Sec.~] BONAPARTE. \_To 2d Sec.'] General Moreau : Arrest at once and hold in close confinement the friend of Botot, who re- cently arrived with him from France, wearing a colonel's uniform. [To Augusta.'] Of infantry ? AUGUSTA. Of infantry. BONAPARTE. [To 2d Sec.'] Of infantry. [To \st Sec^] I can no longer be satisfied with empty, evasive arguments ; and if justice is not done to me, then I must take it myself. \_To 3d Sec.~] General Marmont: Arrest at once the Abbe Sergi, and send to these headquarters. BONAPARTE. [To 2d Sec.] BONAPARTE. [To 3d Sec.~] General Moreau : Let no movement of General Pichegru be unknown to you. He is plot- ting with the Bourbons. BONAPARTE. SCENE ii.] Napoleon and Josephine. 101 [To 1st Sec.'] Therefore I am yours. Salutation and brotherly love. BONAPARTE. [To Eugene^\ See that these despatches are sent at once! This artifice That instigates employment of assassins Let them do their worst! Yet we defv them! V Enter a COURTIER. COURTIER. The Count von Coblentz. BONAPARTE. Admit him! Enter the COUNT VON COBLENTZ. How now, another embassy ? I am tired of this vacillation, Heartily! In fourteen days will I dash The Austrian monarchy to pieces As I now break this. (Dashes cup to floor. [To Eugene^\ Say to the Archduke Charles, In the name of General Bonaparte All peace is at an end ! 102 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT in. COBLENTZ. (Falling to his knees. Mercy! Mercy! BONAPARTE. Ah ! Is Austria at my feet ? There may she rest in peace ! \_Curtain falls. OF ACT ni. Napoleon and Josephine. 103 ACT IV. SCENE FIRST. PAEIS. Drawing-room of Compt de BARRAS BARRAS discov- ered sitting at table, rings. Several female pages answer. BARRAS. Perdition catch my soul, But you are beautiful ! And yet have I Xo time for you to-day, my merry birds ! (Exeunt Pages. Stay, Stay, Marie ! I had forgot my wine. (Marie brings wine. Exit. Bonaparte is yet far in advance, In spite of me and mine. He marches on As though the world were his. With cunning spies, Sent to his very camp, I have beset him, And yet no clue with which to humble him. I strike him through the journals, strike him hard ! And Gohier helps me to trump up what lies We think will be believed, but no avail. 104 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT iv. And as his victories come heralded I intercept reports to temper them ; And yet, by some means, truth will leak, and through The streets no sound is heard but that same damned Inexorable worn out yell " Vive le Bonaparte !" By Jove ! 'fore this " Achilles" we have proved But puny Trojans. Enter GOHIEK and MOULINS. ( Cries without of " Vive le Bonaparte ! " etc.} What means this, Gohier! Are the people mad? GOHIEK. The streets e'en now throng with the multitude, Splitting their lungs with " Vive le Bonaparte ! " And yet 't is scarce an hour since his coming. MOULINS. He will be troublesome ; His Montebello Has not left an impress easily removed. Dam-me, but they made a king of him, And to his wife more princely homage gave Than she should have as Empress of the French. GOHIEK. And Venice wrought herself to such ado As he had been an emperor. SCENE I.] Napoleon and Josephine. 105 BARRAS. \_0ffering filled glasses. How comes it that he does so soon arrive ? GOHIEK. '* You know he ever unexpected comes- 'T is thus he wins his victories. i MOULINS. He '11 have a victory here to win, or we. BARRAS. Well said, Monsieur Moulins ! Nor can we long delay. This blazing brand Of glory he has snatched fires all hearts, And will illume the world unless put out. Saw you his letter citing us our duty Respecting the late journals that some truths Do tell of him ? I think he 'd dictate terms To Heaven for his own reception. GOHIEK. And undertake a battle with the hosts Of Michael an' they did not cry " vive ! vive !" I heard of this great document, and think It is damned impudent, to put it mildly. I understand his next great field of fame Is Egypt. 106 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT iv. BARE AS and MOULIXS. Egypt? GOHTER. Longs to carve his name On the great pyramids ! BARRAS. We'll let him carve ! MOULINS. Yes, we will let him carve. BARRAS. Monsieur Gohier, 'tis the right place for him. Art sure he has this new ambition ? GOHIER. That he has so expressed it, I am sure. BARRAS. What say you? We will take him at his word, Before to repent the thought is left him. And if he meet successes in the East As he has done in Italy, I'll say He can have France. Egypt! Ha! ha ! ha ! Egypt SCENE I.] Napoleon and Josephene. 107 A health to the campaign in Egypt ! ALL (drinking.) E-g-y-p-t! BARRAS. But we must make some demonstration To receive him now, or the good people Will suspect us. GOHIER. Yes, he must be received By the Directory, and publicly. BARRAS. Was 't not enough That all the most high potentates, Whereunto he did come, should do him homage? Nay, seek him where he graciously permitted ? Gods! they did squander gold in heaps Upon the palace Serbelloni! It was a rival for the Tuileries ! All Italy And the nobility of Lombardy Vied with each other who should humblest be Even the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Brother of the Emperor. Then followed Montebello in the train, Seeking to overtop all rivalry ! 108 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT iv And Venice, to appease him, made his wife A veritable queen! Jove, what magnificence! I wonder they made not a bonfire Of their town, for her! Now, he to Paris comes, Borne as world's conqueror amidst a sea Of crazy-witted fools, whose rotten breaths Join in acclaim that rolls in mighty waves Before him! And we his way with roses Needs must strew, else lose our place perchance Our heads. MOULINS. If we lose not our heads, at best BARRAS. What ! Fear you ? We will trip him yet Look you! we will now give him such applause As circumstances may demand, and / Will receive him embrace him if need be, That they may see how we do love him, And then in Egypt offer him a field Where he shall carve unto his soul's content. But if he do return as now he comes He other wits must thank than Barras' for 't. GOHIER. Well said, good Barras. Now, by my soul ! This smacks of glorious enterprise ! SCENE i.] Napoleon and Josephine. 109 A health to Egypt and the Pyramids! Where we'll provide for this "Prince Bonaparte" An Eastern Empire six feet by two ! \_They drink. BARRAS. There's little interest for us without ; Tarry, and we will test the strength of this More thoroughly. Enter A PAGE. PAGE. General Bonaparte and Eugene de Beauharnias. Enter BONAPARTE and EUGENE. [Exit Page. BONAPARTE. How now? Have we surprised you, gentlemen ? BARRAS. An honor that we do appreciate. GOHIER and MOULINS. Yes BARRAS. Your absence wore right heavily 110 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT iv. MOULINS. Yes GOHIER. We did regret your quick departure MOULINS. Yes BONAPARTE. Peace ! Have done this shallow-pated stuff ! BARRAS. "\Ye wait The pleasure of our guests! BONAPARTE. Nay, upon that I am not sensitive. Necessity Is law, and courtesy demands no more Than this ; or, if it does, will e'er be found A weak competitor. Touching the matter For our consideration for to-night, Can Monsieur Barras, or his friend Gohier, Or yet Moulins, inform us as to what The business was of Monsieur Botot In Italy, by whom sent, paid by whom ? SCENE I.] Napoleon and Josephine. Ill BARRAS. You are beyond me, General. BONAPARTE. No doubt! GOHIER. And me. MOULINS. And me. BONAPARTE. Beyond you all, no doubt ! But come, to the purpose ! BARRAS. To what purpose ? BONAPARTE. To no purpose, it would appear, unless You are more direct. Come now, the question! BARRAS. What question ? BONAPARTE. Touching Monsieur Botot. 112 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT iv. BARRAS. Ah, since you have reminded me, I think, The Government did send Monsieur Botot Upon some secret service. MOULINS. Yes, you're right. BONAPARTE. The Government ? What department of it ? BARRAS. What else than the Directory ? BONAPARTE. Indeed ! What members of it? Come, impart! BARRAS. We do not catch your meaning. / V % BONAPARTE. Nor catch you me ! Your memory is torpid, 'twould appear! Now this is something quite remarkable! Perhaps, then, one of you may be prepared To explain why your Monsieur Barras, SCENE i.] Napoleon and Josephine. 113 But two short (lavs as;o, had business / d? * In secret council with a Chouan chief, Whom he did entertain right royally, As more befits a prince. Or if your ignorance in this should prove As in the matter of Monsieur Botot Since ignorance becomes proverbial Sometimes, and follows in unbroken chain, As doth the matter called in evidence You may refresh your minds with this and this, And tell me what you think would be the fate Should be the fate of those intriguers base Who offered to betray their General The General of France and give him o'er To Beaulieu ? BARRAS. Would you hold us for these reports Made by our enemies and yours ? Of this Of which you speak we are most innocent. i BONAPARTE. Speak you for all ? So, I understand you. The secret service of Monsieur Botot, And other secret service of 'like nature, Are known as well to me as the base hearts Who did employ in it. The potent means By which I have been thoroughly informed, 114 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT iv. Tell me of secret conclaves, dark designs, And weak schemes numberless, to overthrow My power, yet all have fallen harmless, As all must fall who are opposed to me. BAERAS. What we could do we have done to expose These villainies. GOHIER, Yes, we have done our best To circumvent them, here and everywhere. MOULINS. Indeed we have, you are quite right, we have. Can it be possible? Why Beauharnais, Look you upon these men ! Duplicity Ne'er vhad a name till now! oh precious knaves ! But, see ! their faces like as ours do bear The stamp of immortality ! How calm! Was ever innocence protected By more placid mien ? Yet are these the same, The self same traitors, .who sat in council, Less than an hour asro to ruin me. V_J This is that same Barras who would embrace And fawn upon me when I did return ! And these, his creatures, weak and pliable. SCENE I.] Napoleon and Josephine. 115 BARRAS. Beware ! The voice of the Directory The great Directory of France does rest In those you have accused Look well to it! BONAPARTE. What ! Threat you me before my very face ? Why, here is now assurance worth a cause ! " Beware ! " Ye gods ! What impudence ! " Beware !" Why, Beauharnais, this is a feast Beyond comparison ! When 'neath the shadow of the Pyramids We'll have this to refresh us, this " Beware !" BARRAS. We've had enough of this ! EUGENE. That's easy proved [draws. [BARRAS draws. BONAPARTE. \_To Eugene. What! When did you fall so low that you would put Yourself against such rotten carrion? Austria would refuse to cross your sword AVearing such blood upon it ! Hear we now (to Directors), 116 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT iv. Ye miserable hangers-on of time! Ye would-be arch conspirators, But that ye lack conception for it. The affairs of State, or \Yar's swift enterprise, Wherein fair genius and the strongest wins, I leave you as before. Malign as you will ; Join all the arts of Mephistopheles Unto your own, lo ! I defy you ! 'Tis not within the power of man to harm me ! But hark ye now ! There is one point where I am vulnerable; This has been touched by your vile, slanderous tongues ! For other cause, with this surprise, ye never Had been honored. I use few words, you know me! If I do trace to you another word, a look, Or v aught that shall in any way reflect Upon the fair name of my family, Now hear ! By the great God, I swear, I'll visit you With vengeance swift as my wrath ! So farewell ! (Exit EUGENE and BONAPAKTE. BARRAS. Can Carbon and St. Rejeant Be ready within the hour ? SCENE ii.] Napoleon and Josephene. 117 GOHIEK. Let us confer With them. BAKRAS. By every god I swear I will not sleep Till he is done for. [Exeunt. SCENE SECOND. A STREET IN PARIS. BARRAS and GOHIER discovered. BARRAS. Is all ready ? GOHIER. Waiting but his coming. BARRAS. Then shall we see If that his goddess will protect him now. Carbon and St. Rejeant, are they paid ? GOHIER. Not till the work is done. 118 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT iv. BAEEAS. That is well thought ! Who will apply the fuse ? GOHIEE, St. Rejeant's self. BAERAS. The place? GOHIEE. The Eue St. Nicaise. BAEEAS. Can they fail ? GOHIEE. I hardly think it possible, as they Carbon and Limoelan will watch The progress of the Consul's carriage As it shall leave the Tuileries, until The time to give the signal to St. Kejeant. BAEEAS. Let us be gone ! The hour approaches! We must not be seen. [Exeunt. [As they go off a rumbling noise is heard SCENE ii.] Napoleon and Josephine. 119 followed by the appearance of the guard and carriage of BONAPARTE. The scene then changes to the Rue St. Ni- caise, where a cart is discovered with the infernal machine in it; a little girl holding tjie horse, and ST. RE- JEANT off at one side. The carriage passes after which an explosion. Scene changes back ; carriage passing safely away. GOHIER. He did escape us. BARRAS. But all the powers of hell shall not save him! God! how his words do rankle yet in me! Now to our wits and the new enterprise We '11 find no time for napping from this out. Monsieur Gohier, art certain of your chief ? These Chouans are as unreliable As desperate. GOHIER. Fear not! I know my man. Besides our gold, he's wedded to our cause By an old grudge against the General. Such men forget offences only when 120 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT iv. They are revenged. Seemed he not ready When you spoke to him? BAEEAS. Too much so, I thought. The fellow had his plans all quite matured ; He was too zealous. Plans so well defined Suggested to my mind a counter plot, Having its origin in subtler brains. GOHIEE. Oh, never fear, I know him well! You must in this my better judgment trust. He will requite us all. BAEEAS. Why, he did know The very day on which our Georges came ! And Biville cliff was as well known to him As my chateau to me. GOHIEE. Most certain 'tis, And every dangerous path Between Dieppe and Treport he knows as well. BAEEAS. He saw the very cable from the cliff, SCENE ii.] Napoleon and Josephine. 121 Descending through the cleft unto the sea; Saw Georges seize it, and then, by its aid Climb up the precipice. Then, in their turn, Each of his followers. GOHIER. Why should he not ? Since he of that same passage has, for years, Been a most constant warder. BARRAS. Can it be ? Why did you not impart all this before ? GOHIER. Matters of graver moment took its place. What says the General Pichegru Touching Moreau ? BARRAS. He finds him more ready Than pliable. GOHIER. I do not understand. BARRAS. Moreau shuffles, cuts and deals for Moreau. 122 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT iv. GOHIER. What, stands lie not with us ? BARRAS. Only so far As we do stand with him. In his own glass, Fondly presuming that it is the world, He gazes steadily, seeing himself, Himself alone, and cannot understand Why this great central figure stands not out. In bold relief to others as himself. Another meeting is appointed now With Georges, at his safe retreat, Chaillot. 'Tis hoped an understanding to secure. But poor Riviere is driven to despair, And talks but of the apathy of France. GOHIER. He lacks in courage and tenacity. Were't not for Madame Bonaparte, I'd chance A fortune on our quick success. But she Has half the eyes of Paris after us, And, for herself, I think she never sleeps. But see! The dawn already is upon us! We must be gone. [Exeunt. Enter, from either side, CITIZENS. SCENE ii.] Napoleon and Josephine. 123 IST CITIZEN. Vive la Consulate ! Vive le Bonaparte ! 2r> CITIZEN. What now, good friend, what news ? b IST CITIZEN. Bonaparte is made first Consul! And for life! Vive la Consulate! ALL. Vive la Consulate! Vive le Bonaparte! 2D CITIZEN. Bat this sudden change, tell us how came it ? IST CITIZEN. Ever as he wins, by strategy. He has over- thrown his enemies in the Directory and Consulate. 2D CITIZEN. And our enemies! the enemies of France. IST CITIZEN. (Singing.} He will give us peace and plenty peace and plenty. Vivele Bonaparte! ALL. (Singing). 1 24 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT iv. He will make smile the land of France. Vive le Bonaparte! Vive le Bonaparte! \_Exeunt, singing. SCENE THIRD. The Council of the Five Hundred. LUCIEN BONA- PARTE presiding. ( Confusion.} GOHIER. Citizen President : We must a new election hold at once! There hangs no less upon it than the fate Of the Eepublic. IST MEMBER. No ! Such haste but shows Base cowardice! 2o MEMBER. Shame! Shame! Shame! [Cheers on the right. SD MEMBER. Such language Is an insult to the Council! \_Cheers on the left. SCENE in.] Napoleon and Josephine. 125 THE PRESIDENT. x This must cease Or we will end in anarchy. GOHIER. I rise to ask the member if his charge Of cowardice means to apply to men Or measures ? IST MEMBER. To both. GOHIER. Then I do hurl it back And challenge to a test! ( Great confusion) BARRAS. This is madness ! Are we devoid of reason ? Hear, oh hear! Who is to profit by this senseless strife ? The Great Republic? No! Nor you, nor I, Nor either of our factions! Such a course Can in destruction only end Of all ! Who seeks the good of this, our France ! IST MEMBER. Not Barras! 126 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT iv. SD MEMBER. Shame! Shame! IST MEMBER, Conspirator ! Behold the arch conspirator! VOICES. Conspirator ! Conspirator I IST MEMBER. Tell us of Georges, and the Chouans Whom you employed to murder Bonaparte ! BARRAS. I ask again, Who seeks the good of this, our France? Let him Propose a sacrifice that he will make, And I will clasp his hand and go with him To his extremest measure even death! What then are we through passion, to lose all ? In this extremity we are but ripe For anarchy. Ho, Patriots ! Would you feel The Despot's iron yoke upon your necks! The usurper comes by stealthy strides, And even now is at our gates ! 4 SCEJSTE i.] Napoleon and Josephine. 127 Enter BONAPARTE and EUGENE. in See! See! Even at the word he comes I Away with him ! SD MEMBER. Down with him ! ANOTHER MEMBER. "He is a traitor ! ANOTHER MEMBER. Cromwell ! SEVERAL VOICES. Down with the usurper! BONAPARTE. Citizens, hear me! VOICES. Down with him! Traitor! Traitor! Usurper! BONAPARTE. Will you not hear me ? VOICES. No! No! Down with him! 128 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT iv. [They rush towards him. EUGENE has sig- naled the Grenadiers at the door, who now surround him. A VOICE. Down with the usurper! He brings soldiers To overawe us! \ BONAPARTE. "Who loves me, let him follow me ! [Marches out guarded by the Grenadiers. /Shouts without Vive le BONAPARTE! BONAPARTE (at the door). Protect the President of the Five Hundred! [Exit. [EUGENE and Grenadiers march in and escort the President out. END OF ACT IV. Napoleon and Josephine. 129 ACT V. SCENE FIRST. NOTRE DAME THE CORONATION. PANTOMIME. Upon the opening of this scene is discovered the interior of Notre Dame, decorated with unequaled magnificence. The throne of the Emperor and Empress repre- sents a monument within a monument, between two columns, supporting a pediment, upon which is a representation of the crown of Charlemange. On the left is seen the throne designed for the Pope, over which is a pediment supporting a dia- mond cross. Directly in front of either throne, in the centre of the stage, is the ^Itar on which are seen the Scepter, the Sword and the Imperial crowns. Prelates are discovered on either side of the throne designed for the Pope. The Bonaparte 1 30 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT v. family on either side of the throne of the Emperor and Empress. At the right of the stage, dignitaries of State. Enter POPE Pius VII. He approaches the altar, kneels, then ascends his throne! The Prelates approach and salute him. Enter NAPOLEON and JOSEPHINE. They approach the altar and kneel Pope de- scends from his throne, comes to altar, holds his hands over them in blessing. Napoleon raises his head and is annointed by Pope on forehead, arms and hands. Pope then takes sword Napoleon rises Pope holds sword as if in blessing, then girds it on Napoleon. Pope offers to take crown, but Napoleon quickly reaches it himself and deliberately places it upon his own head. He then takes the crown of the Empress, and, as she is still kneeling beside him, places it gently on her head ; then taking her by the hand, she arises. Pope then blesses scepter and gives to Napoleon. The Emperor and Empress ascend their throne. Pope advances to the foot of the throns and raises his hands in benediction. SCENE ii.] Napoleon and Josephine. 131 SCENE SECOND. PALACE IMPERIAL. THE EMPEROR'S CABINET, dimly illuminated. NAPOLEON discovered. NAPOLEON. Thus far has Fate the firm alliance kept, Thus far through scenes of fratricidal strife, And bloody, devastating, frightful war, From conquering to conquer led her son! Till now great France and all her power, lands, Rivers, seas, immensity of wealth, And teeming millions of brave chivalry, Are but the subjects of his scepter's sway! But oh, great Goddess! at what price is this! Unto that last dark, dismal sleep, thou'st sent Unnumbered hecatombs of human forms, From which to raise this sad renown! The sighs, the tears, the anguish of despair, The body's torture and the soul's defeat, The wailing millions of a world attest! Oh Goddess ! Who can measure that great cup, Wherein has been contained the sorrow's depth Which thou hast forced the world to drink for him? Eternity alone ! And soon there will come, even for thy son 132 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT v. The end that is decreed for all. To sleep That long last sleep, which goes forever on Without a dream ! Goddess, where then thy son ? On whom shall the Imperial mantle fall ? Childless, thou leavest him to reign alone ! Across the dark abyss of death, no tie ! I did defy all power for Josephine, And is the penalty her barren womb? If not in my offspring, how shall my blood And hers commingle on the throne of France? Yet 'tis decreed ; reveal the mystery ! Xay, then, do gods combine gainst Thee and me, To overthrow my power ? O'er Thee may none prevail! Bear then, swift as His lightnings, E'en to the great throne of the Thunderer, Defiance ! So let our bond become inseparable; Subdue the Immortals Thou, the Earth Leave unto me! Xow will I bridge the chasm over death! My scepter's power shall rule throughout the world, And my own blood shall reign upon the throne, In spite of gods ! aye, though it cost me Josephine ! Enter JOSEPHINE. [He rushes to and embraces her. Josephine! my peerless, peerless one! SCENE IL] Napoleon and Josephene. 133 JOSEPHINE. Didst thou call me? Wherefore with voice so wild and sorrowful? NAPOLEON. A hell of ugly dreams environed me Thou wilt not leave me ? JOSEPHINE. No ! Never ! Never ! My noble one, knowest thou not my love ? NAPOLEON. Yes ! yes ! Lead me away I would have rest. [Exeunt. Enter EUGENE and AUGUSTA. EUGENE. And this -and this is greatnessj AUGUSTA. Ah, yes! But are you the happier, my husband ? EUGENE. No! let me confess it, no, Augusta! 134 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT v. In the attaining, not in the thing attained, Our happiness does come. The soul's unrest Cannot be satisfied. AUGUSTA. May it not pause To dwell with rapture on a great success ? EUGENE. Not the truly great soul, no! It cannot! To pause were death, and, being immortal, It cannot die, therefore it may not pause. r . / AUGUSTA. But we have reached a careful height, So, let us bask us in our glory's sun ; Nor let Ambition's tempting voice betray Us into paths which, though they lead to fame, Power, place, but leave us the sure mark For base intrigue and treachery. EUGENE. Ah ! Ah ! What wondrous potency is in that voice ! AUGUSTA. If so, why should you sigh and knit your brow ? SCENE ii.] Napokon and Josephine. 135 EUGENE. My sigh was for the Empress, not her son; And when I heard your voice I thought if she Possessed such power with the Emperor, He could not AUGUSTA. Has he declared his policy ? EUGENE. No, not in words. AUGUSTA. Ey act, then ? Tell me all ! EUGENE. Not by act. Heaven save us from that hour ! I left my mother a short hour ago ; She had sent for me, and, when I met her, Fell upon my neck and, weeping bitterly, Told me she could no longer hope; bade me Try, with her, to be resigned in feeling That our great loss was the great gain of France. AUGUSTA. Has he then signified as much to her ? EUGENE. She but divines it from his manner. 136 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT v. AUGUSTA. Is he unkind? EUGENE. No, no! demonstrative In kindness pets and caresses her As though 'twere but a little day preceding A long absence ; and in an hundred other ways Betrays himself. AUGUSTA. Alas, poor Empress! EUGENE. This interview and my unhappy dream Have left me almost fitted for despair. AUGUSTA. A dream ? EUGENE. Last night I dreamed our Paris was besieged ; I, second in command, had been to inspect Our outposts. The night wore on towards morning, When a sound as of the distant roaring t Of artillery, drew my attention To the south and east. The heavens, all cloudless, Were glorious with stars ! Louder, deeper, SCENE ii.] Napoleon and Josephine. 137 The terrible reverberations rolled, Nearer, until the very dome of heaven Seemed to tremble! Then, through the vaulted azure Rushed chariots of war, drawn by fierce steeds, Whose dilate nostrils sent forth the lightnings ! Until the sun, from out a sea of blood, Leaped forth, a wild world of fire! The Emperor, with folded arms, the while Strode to and fro upon the parapet, Regarding silently. But, as the sun Came forth, he stumbled, fell, and upon me, Who stood beneath, without the battlements. AUGUSTA. Nay ! Nay ! Be not cast down ! 'T was but a dream! EUGENE. Ah, yes ! 't was but a dream ! It is the hour When Reynard should arrive. AUGUSTA. Whence comes he ? EUGENE, Berlin. 138 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT v. AUGUSTA. His English is^musing, and, besides, His repartee is excellent, and will Divert your mind, I trust, for you must not So constantly brood o'er this matter. Enter REYNARD. Welcome, Reynard! REYNARD. Reynard is proud of such velcome ! EUGENE. Of one so faithful we may well be proud. REYNARD. I am glad to report zat I make ze success in Berlin. AUGUSTA. Bravo, good Reynard! you shall have reward. REYNARD. Ze ladie smile is my good recompense! EUGENE. You, it seems, are always happy, Reynard. REYNARD. I 'ave not vat you call ze greatness, zen I am vis- SCENE ii.] Napoleon and Josephine. 139 out ze care I 'ave ze content vis ze world ; I no can make it ovaire. / AUGUSTA. Were you ever in love, Reynard ? REYNARD. In loafe? Oui, oui, many times! Ha! ha ! many times ! AUGUSTA. Not very deep ? REYNARD. I no 'ave ze vat you call ze loafe sick. AUGUSTA. Indeed ! How, then, have you escaped ? REYNARD. La Belle France 'ave ze pl.aintie, Madamoselle ! Ver plaintie! AUGUSTA. You are a philosopher. But did you never love one beyond all others? REYNARD. Sometimes, for ze little vile. 140 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT v. AUGUSTA. You are indeed mankind in miniature. REYNARD. Zis loafe make ze conscience pliable. I loafe all ze Madamoselle. AUGUSTA. You are generous ! REYNARD. I must not offend. AUGUSTA. Oh, no no offense! But you are a strange fellow. REYNARD. Yen I may serve you, I vill 'ave ze great pleasure AUGUSTA. This needs no further proof, good Reynard. EUGENE. Have you orders from the Emperor following this from Berlin ? REYNARD. Zis is all. SCENE ii.] Napoleon and Josephine. 141 EUGENE. Have you reported ? REYNARD. I 'ave send ze report by ze Secretaire. Zen ze Emperor send for me, zat he vould like to see me. But ven I vas come in ze presence he 'ave ze ver sad look. He vas speak ver plaisant, but I 'ave ze fear zat he vas not please vis me he 'ave ze cloud in ze face. EUGENE. Do not let this trouble you. The Emperor is in trouble touching an affair of State diplomacy. He entertains for you only the kindest regards, I assure you. REYNARD. Zen I am happie ! EUGENE. Would I could say as much ! [Exit EUGENE and AUGUSTA. REYNARD. Zere is somezing ze mattaire. Ah ! ze great man 'ave alvays ze troubal. By Gar ! I would not give ze content of Reynard for ze crown of ze Emperor. [Exit. 142 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT v. SCENE THIRD. EMPEROR'S PEIYATE PARLORS. discovered asleep JOSEPHINE sitting ly his side. JOSEPHINE. In thy soft arms, Oh, hold him tenderly! sweet, gentle sleep! Hover above him, spirits of the blest, On waves ^Eolian, and touch his soul With your divinest symphonies! O'er him Let Lethe's spray in dewy showers fall ; The while may rays of Hope shine through, and show A bow of promise on the heavy clouds That now shut out my heaven! Oh, noble brow! Realm of fair Genius! throne of a lofty soul! Ah, could I lift thy sorrow, as I lift These locks so silken, soft! Oh, splendid orbs! Where rests your glory now ? It cannot sleep ! Ah, pale, pale cheek ! Thou art quite colorless ! Oh, precious lips ! on ye, my soul shall melt In this one kiss! This hand, I press to my poor heart, would wield The scepter of the world! But at what cost! Ah, can it put away its Josephine! Oh God! I can but weep! [Exit. SCENE in.] Napoleon and Josephine. 143 (Napoleon starts out of his dream.} NAPOLEON. Aye! Aye! In spite of gods! Had every god the power of mighty Jove, All leagued against my cause, yet will I sway The scepter of the world ! I will ! I will ! I will ! 'Tis I NAPOLEON ! (Thunder.} Turn loose Your thunderbolts of wrath ! Bellow and roar! Upheave the tarth! Unlock the vaults of hell! Reveal the seething cauldrons of the damned ! The Indomitable Will defies you ! .... What dreams torment my soul! Ah ! will they drive me mad ? Once more I wake The sombre shadows sleep No wave of sound My brain reels ! Is this death ? .... Ah wondrous, incomparable pageantry! What grand procession this of stately forms The marshalled glory of the Universe! All-wise! All-mighty! All-foreseeing Jove! Thou, who in thunder tones command'st the host August, of the Immortals, hail! all hail! What boldest thou in keeping for the great ? Silence ! Thou of the silver bow, Far-seeing Phoebus Apollo, shall we be gods ? 144 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT v. Pallas, Minerva, answer me, and tell What life awaits beyond the tomb. Oh, Fate, my mother, thou dost sit supreme O'er all! Speak! Oh, speak! All, all is silence! 'Tis gone! What marvelous perfection passes now! A crown of thorns, and in His hands and side Are wounds ; I know Him not! But see! who follows, Worshipping ? Josephine ! Alone ! Alone ! On earth and in Eternity! [Exit. Enter REYNARD. REYNARD. Ah ha! Mon Dieu! Somezing is ze mattaire ze vorld 'ave turn ze wrong vay ! Ough ! Le Dia- ble! Reynard vas scare at ze self somezing is ze mattaire Reynard vill be no longaire ze valet he mus' go avay vis ze self. Ough ! hell sacrament ! By gar! I vill go avay soom plaise! Ah! Mon Dieu! Reynard mus' not lose ze mind he mus' 'ave ze sang froid he mus' be ze leetle fox ! Ah ha! By gar! Reynard, ze fox, he know somezing! Vat he know ? He know vat Reynard ze valet know ! Reynard ze valet tell Reynard ze fox ! Vat he tell ? Vat he see vis ze eye an ze ear! Ah ha! Ze Emperor talk vis 'ze gods in ze tun- SCENE in.] Napoleon and Josephine. 145 daire! Sooblime conceptione ! Magnifique! He is vun brave General ! He no 'ave ze fear ! He is ze graand Napoleon! Reynard mus' be ze leetle fox! Enter EUGENE. EUGENE. Why, Reynard, what is the matter ? REYNARD. Ze mattaire ? Ah ha ! Ze leetle fox mus' not tell vat he know. EUGENE. But to me, your friend ! REYNARD. Reynard mus' be true to ze friend ? EUGENE. Always ! REYNARD. Zen he mus' be true to ze Emperor ! EUGENE. I do not ask you to betray confidence. 10 146 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT v. REYNARD. Ven I see and 'ear somezing, zat is ze confidence. By Gar, I must be true to my General ! EUGENE. But is it not best we should know ? REYNARD. Ah, Mon Dieu ! I mus' 'ave ze time to t'ink. Ze Emperor 'ave ze great troubal! he vas talk vis ze gods in ze tundair. He is vun graand Emperor. EUGENE. Alas ! My mother ! The Empress comes, let us withdraw. Exit REYNARD and EUGENE. '. V Re-enter JOSEPHINE. JOSEPHINE. Oh, Siren Hope! No more ! No more ! Else tune your lyre to a dirge ! Nay, lure me on to death ! but let me die Mid mournful strains ! Sweet music is for those Who live, or here or on the other side, But for the dying, sing a requiem ! Ah, your soft voice has touched my trusting heart SCENE in.] Napoleon and Josephene. 147 So oft, that now the touch does wound, where once It had the power to heal ! Peace! Away! Now, now am I alone ! E'en Hope is goner! Oh last, oh dearest, sweetest, only comfort When the heart is crushed to be alone ! Come now, my soul, and we will sit us down And nurse our loneliness. (She sits on the floor.) Oh, Grief: thou art the only heir that I could bear! I hold thee to my breast ! Now feed and take The life that gave thee life! Oh baby, mine, Thou was't brought forth in pain, thou givest paiii In nursing, yet I hug thee close, for thou Was't born of him ! My only treasure thou ! And thou wil't not depart ! Arid none will take Thee from me; there is no one covets thee. Thou art unwelcome everywhere but here Here on thy mother's breast. Oh visit not Thy father ! Let him forget thee, forget That thou was't born of him ! Thy lips are cold, They chill me to the heart ! Cold/ cold thy form ! Cold as dead love! Cold as thy father's love! No! No! His love is not cold! Thy father's love is not cold, baby, no! He loves me, oh, he loves me as his soul! But oh, he does not know how thou has't grown, Feeding upon the currents of rny life, Feeding upon the currents of my life, 148 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT v. Until thou art so heavy, hard to bear! He does not know! Ah! Ah! He shall not know! For thou art not so heavy as his world His world ! But mine f He was my world He is! [Rising. ~\ I cannot, cannot give him up! No! No! Give him to another ! God ! Oh God ! \_going] Thou cling'st so close, my baby ! Nay, feed on ! Where shall we go, my baby ? Feed on ! Feed on ! [Exit. Re-enter NAPOLEON. He sits at table paper and writing ma- terial before him. He takes up pen to write. The pen drops from his hand. NAPOLEON. [Looking upon his hand. Thou wouldst not tremble so ^ To sign thy death-warrant! Thou hast been firm, Unfaltering, mid battles' din and roar, And frightful cries of souls crushed out of men ! When, to write one word, the voice of armies Spoke the doom of states! Yea, when that one word SCENE in.] Napoleon and Josephine. 149 Would send brave thousands, human lives, to death! But one word, a name, 't is easy writ NAPOLEON ! [Re-takes pen. Eternity resolved into a drop! Ah, little world, thou tremblest on the point! Black, black as death ! No light illumes thee now, But it will come! Now, little world, thou 'It be the word, a name That shall be crown and halo to the earth ! So 't is decreed ! God ! It has fallen ! My world is shattered ! Light has gone out forever! .... Why, this is madness! Am' I, then, so weak? Is this Napoleon ? The arm of Fate, The hand that holds the destiny of France, Should bear a steadier nerve ! Ah, thou hast shown thy loyalty To Josephine! Now what thou ow'st to France! [ Writes. 'T is done! [Exit. 150 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT v. SCENE FOURTH. EMPEROR'S CABINET. JOSEPHINE is discovered attended by AUGUSTA and HOBTENSE. Enter NAPOLEON, Attended by EUGENE, the KING and QUEEN OF NAPLES, the KING and QUEEN OF WESTPHALIA, the PKINCESS BOBGHESE, the CHANCELLOR CAM- BACEEES and COUNT REGNAUD DE SAINT JEAN D'ANGEL. The two latter as OFFIOIEES DE L'ETAT CIVIL for the Imperial family. NAPOLEON advances to JOSEPHINE speaks to her. She comes down the stage, supported by AUG- USTA and HOETENSE. NAPOLEON. (Reads.) " MY COUSIN, PRINCE ARCH-CHANCELLOR : I sent you a closed letter of this day's date, ordering you to present yourself in ray cabinet, that I might make known to. you the resolution which I arid the Empress, my own dear spouse, have come to. I was very glad that the kings, queens and princesses, my brothers and sisters, my brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, my step-daughter and step-son, be- come my adopted son, should be present at what I had to make known to you. The policy of my monarchy, the interest and necessity of my peoples, which have constantly SCENE iv.] Napoleon and Josephine. 151 guided all my actions, require that I should leave after me to children, inheritors of my love for my people, this throne on which Providence has placed me. For many years, however, I have lost the hope of having children by my marriage with my well beloved spouse, the Empress Josephine ; this it is that induces me to sacrifice the dearest affec- tions of my heart, to hearken only to the good of the State, and desire the dissolution of our marriage. Arrived at the age of forty, I conceive the hope of living long enough to bring up after my own mind and my own views, the children* it shall please Providence to give me. God knows how much such a resolution has cost my heart ; but there is no sacrifice too great for my courage, when it is demonstrated to me that it is for the good of France. I cannot conclude without saying, that far from having ever had reason to complain, I have, on the contrary, only encomiums to bestow on the attachment and tenderness of my well-be- loved spouse. She has embellished fifteen years of my life ; the memory of this will always remain engraved on the memory of my heart. -She has been crowned by my hand ; it is my desire that she retain the rank and title of Empress, but above all, that she never doubt my sentiments, and that she always hold me for her best and dearest friend. JOSEPHINE. Breads.'] " With the permission [Hands MS. to M. Regnaud.'] REGNAUD [readsJ] " With the permission of my august and dear 152 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT v. spouse, I must declare, that retaining no hope bf having children who may satisfy the requirements of his policy and the interests of France, I have pleasure in giving him the greatest proof of attach- ment and devotedness that was ever given on earth. I owe all to his bounty; it was his hand that crowned me, and on his throne I have received only manifestations of affection and love from the French people. I think, to evince my gratitude for all these sentiments, in consenting to the dissolution of a marriage which is now an obstacle to the good of France, which deprives it of the happiness of being one day governed by the descendants of a great man, so evidently raised up by Providence, to efface the evils of a terrible revolution, and to re-estab- the altar, the throne and social order. But the dis- solution of my marriage will make no change in the sentiments of my heart in me the Emperor will always have his best friend! I know how much this act, commanded by policy, and by such great interests, has rent his heart, but we both of us glory in the sacrifice which we make to the good of the country." (JOSEPHINE falls.) JOSEPHINE. (NAPOLEON, with folded arms, regarding her.) At last! At last! The end has come. And now I pass beyond Those scenes where, with our happiness, Ever must we feel grief's bitter stings. SCENE iv.] Napoleon and Josephine. If):} Now, now those wondrous visions of my youth No longer are concealed. Time's hand hath traced In living letters all. Swiftly they speed Before me, one by one and now return In life-like form, ,to tell me of the past. Yes, more than queen wast thou, O Josephine! Ah! ah! My hammock! Mary's voice! The sea! The sea! Was 't even so ? How true to history ! Speed! Speed! My eyes do weaken Oh I would See all ere I depart! 'T is gone! 't is gone! Again they come but different forms The future ah, the future! Oh, tell on ! Confusion war once more a throne! (Apparition of Louis NAPOLEON.) ' Hortense I Hortense, behold your son ! * ...... Part, part your elements, etherial dome ! Bright angels, it is finished! Bear me home ! Farewell, oh earth ! Farewell Napoleon ! [Dies. * See page 154. 154 Napoleon and Josephine. [ACT v. All withdraw except EUGENE, AUGUSTA and HORTENSE, who fall on their knees by the side of JOSEPHINE NAPOLEON, as before, silently regarding her. As JOSEPHINE'S last words are concluded, the Island of St. Helena is disclosed, against which the waves are dashing, enveloped in clouds. The clouds are lifted, when the grave of , NAPOLEON is discovered the spirit of the departed JOSEPHINE hovering over it. \_Curtain falls. * The following lines may be added here, should occasion require them : Apparition of NAPOLEON IV. And his! And his! ; the Fourth Napoleon! Great France! at last your happiness has Come! JLj FFB 24 1983 DATE DUE 1933 j r i \, 9 * P L ,> l y d ^ < ^ \ \ ^ ^ $ 1 +H ~n $**' \X' T51 /\ W ^ \ * I^H . \. S ^, ^^ -c^ ^ ^ r \X ; /\ ^ ' ^l\. .& ^x PS 1534 D19N3 1876 Dement, .R. S. Napoleon and Josephine ' UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY