for tie ftinnrfiif if a. Cellent In thit Cclcif

•Y^LI^«¥IMWEIISSinrY«

DEPOSITED BY THE

LINONIA AND BROTHERS LIBRARY

THE

LIFE OF NAPOLEON
THE THIRD

BY
ARCHIBALD FORBES

WTTH ILLUSTRATIONS

#

NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
MDCCCXCVII

Copyright, 1897,
Dodd, Mead and Company.

©nftc rs.tg Press :
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGB
I. Parentage — Birth — Childhood  i
II. Exile — Boyhood — Adolescence — Insurrectionist
— Conspirator  20
III. Travelling in Disguise — France — England — Re
turn to Arenenberg  39
IV. The Attempt on Strasburg  59
V. The Fiasco of Boulogne  83
VI. From Prisoner to President  107
VII. The Coup d>£tat  127
VIII. Emperor of the French  149
IX. The Crimean War  170
X. The Italian Campaign of 1859  192
XI. The Mexican Tragedy  214
XII. Constitutional Reforms — Sadowa and Luxemburg 238
XIII. The Outbreak of the Franco-German War . . 261
XIV. From Saarbrucken to Sedan  288
XV. The Catastrophe of Sedan  310
XVI. The Ending of the Career  334

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

the emperor napoleon in. about 1870  Frontispiece
NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE, FIRST CONSUL OF FRANCE . .
1S00  To face p. 6
From the engraving by C. Turner, after tie fainting by tfas-
querur.
LOUIS BONAPARTE, 1778-1846, KING OF HOLLAND AND
FATHER OF NAPOLEON III  " 8
From an engraving.
NAPOLEON LOUIS CHARLES, FIRST SON OF QUEEN HOR
TENSE, BORN OCTOBER IO, l8o2 ; DIED MAY 5, 1807 . " 10
From a miniature.
CARDINAL FESCH  " n
From the fainting by Meynier at Versailles.
ADMIRAL VERHUEL  " 12
From a lithografh.
LOUIS, KING OF HOLLAND, AND NAPOLEON LOUIS, BROTHER
OF NAPOLEON III. AND SECOND SON OF QUEEN HOR
TENSE  " 13
From the fainting at Versailles.
EUGENIE HORTENSE, QUEEN OF HOLLAND, WITH HER
THIRD SON LOUIS NAPOLEON, AFTERWARDS NAPO
LEON III  " 14
From the marble group by Emile Chatrousse at Versailles.
NAPOLEON III. ABOUT 1813  " 20
From the fainting by H. Viger.
LOUIS NAPOLEON, AFTERWARDS NAPOLEON III  "52
From a drawing made by Goubaud in London, 1831.
FIALIN, DUC DE PERSIGNY  " 62
PRINCE LOUIS PRESENTING THE EAGLE TO THE 4TH REGI
MENT OF ARTILLERY AT STRASBURG, OCTOBER 30,
1836  " 68
Front a Contemporary engraving.
H.I.H. PRINCESS MATHILDE, DAUGHTER OF JEROME BONA
PARTE  " 77
From an engraving.

viii- LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
PRINCE LOUIS, AFTERWARDS NAPOLEON III., IN 1840 . . To face p. 86
From a lithografh after Chariot.
PIERRE ANTOINE BERRYER  I03
From a lithografh.
DR. CONNEAU  «' 119
NO. 10, KING STREET, ST. JAMES'S, PRINCE LOUIS NAPO
LEON'S RESIDENCE IN LONDON  I21
From a photograph by Elliott &>> Fry.
GENERAL CHANGARNIER, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE
NATIONAL GUARDS AND DEPUTY FOR THE DEPART
MENT OF THE SEINE  " x34
m. de maupas, prefect of police  " i36
general de lamoriciere, minister of war and
deputy for sarthe  " i38
general cavaignac, president of the council and
chief of the executive  " 139
m. thiers, deputy for the department of seine
inf£rieure. 1851  " 140
the empress eugenie  " 167
From the portrait by Winterhalter at Versailles.
MARSHAL DE ST. ARNAUD, GENERAL-IN-CHIEF OF THE
FRENCH ARMY  " 179
COUNT WALEWSKI, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND
PRESIDENT OF THE CONGRESS OF PARIS  " 1 83
NAPOLEON III. IN 1855  "185
THE EMPEROR AND EMPRESS IN WALKING DRESS ... "212
From a photograph taken about i860.
THE PRINCE IMPERIAL WHEN ABOUT SIX YEARS OLD . . " 2l8
From a miniature.
NAPOLEON III. IN 1865  « 226
THE EMPEROR, EMPRESS, AND PRINCE IMPERIAL .... " 228
From a photograph taken about 1866.
THE DUC DE MORNY, HALF-BROTHER TO NAPOLEON III. . " 242
From a lithograph.
THE EMPRESS EUGENIE ABOUT 1870  '< 267
THE PRINCE IMPERIAL ABOUT 1870  " 283
THE PRINCE IMPERIAL AS A CADET  " 286
SEDAN AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD  « 307
THE LETTER OF SURRENDER  "321
THE MAUSOLEUM AT CHISLEHURST  « *aX

LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
CHAPTER I
PARENTAGE  BIRTH — CHILDHOOD
Among the countless victims of the guillotine during
the Reign of Terror was Alexandre, Vicomte de Beau-
harnais, one of the most distinguished generals of the
Revolutionary period. Executed in 1794, he left a
widow and two children, all of whom were destined
to attain to high estate. The forlorn widow of Beau-
harnais became the first wife of Napoleon the Great.
Her son Eugene, who in the evil days had been a
carpenter 's apprentice, became Napoleon 's stepson,
shared in most of the campaigns of the Great Captain,
and attained the dignity of Viceroy of Italy. Her
daughter Hortense, one of the most beautiful and in
teresting women of her time, rose to the throne of
Holland, and was the mother of a son whose strange
and diversified life is the subject of this memoir.
There was an element of romance, as well as of
chance, in the circumstance which is said to have led
up to the marriage of Napoleon and Josephine. Soon
after the victory of the Paris sections over the Conven
tion in the 13th Vendemiaire (Oct. 5th, 1795) — a day
on which he had cleared the streets with grape-shot,

2 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
pursued the rioters into their hiding-places, disbanded
the National Guard, disarmed the populace, and virtu
ally ended the Revolution — Napoleon received a timid
visitor in young Eugene Beauharnais, who came to
beg for the restoration of his father 's sword, of which
he had been informed the General had become pos
sessed. The bright countenance and frank manner
of the young Eugene pleased Napoleon. When the
sword was once again in the lad 's hands he kissed it
with tears ; and this touching manifestation of affection
for his dead father's memory stirred the interest of
Napoleon in his young visitor. The sequel, if we are
to believe the story, was that Madame Beauharnais
considered it her duty to call on the General and thank
him for his kindness to her son. Napoleon, it seems,
had greatly admired Josephine at first sight ; he re
turned her visit, they became intimate, and on March
9, 1796, they were married. Napoleon 's age was then
twenty-seven; Josephine was considerably older. Na
poleon, by no means addicted either to doing or saying
pretty things, practised a graceful little artifice, having
for its motive the diminution of the difference between
their ages. In the certificate of their marriage he rep
resented Josephine as six years younger than she really
was, while he added more than a twelvemonth to his
own age. Napoleon was not born on Feb. 5, 1 768, as
stated in the marriage certificate, but on Aug. 15,
1769; and Josephine's birthday was not on July 23,
1769, but on June 23, 1763.
This is Napoleon 's own version in the ' Voice from
St. Helena ' of the circumstances connected with his
marriage with Josephine. Bourrienne's account is

PARENTAGE — BIRTH — CHILDHOOD 3
pleasant reading enough. 'One day,' he tells in his
memoirs, ' he (Napoleon) called my attention to a lady
who sat opposite at dinner, and the way in which I
answered his questions appeared to give him much
pleasure. He then talked a great deal to me about her,
her family, and her amiable qualities; he told me that
he should probably marry her, as he was convinced that
the union would make him happy. I also gathered
from my conversation that his marriage with the widow
Beauharnais would probably assist him in gaining
the objects of his ambition. His constantly increasing
influence with her had already,' he said, ' brought him
into contact with the most influential persons of the
day.' It remains to be said in a sentence that Barras,
in an exceptionally abominable passage of his coarse
and self-complacent memoirs, frankly avers that Jose
phine had been his mistress, and that when tired of her
he had, not without some reluctance on her part,
cynically arranged the marriage between her and
Napoleon. Eleven days after his wedding Napoleon left Paris
to conduct the most brilliant series of campaigns the
world had ever seen. Two years later he was voyag
ing to Egypt, and the conquest of that country followed;
but the stubborn defence of St. Jean d'Acre baulked
his most resolute efforts, and in the autumn of 1799 he
gave up the command to Kleber and after a hazardous
voyage suddenly appeared in Paris. Mr. Jerrold, in his
interesting life of Napoleon III., tells that 'in the au
tumn of 1798, Josephine, left alone with her daughter
Hortense, while Napoleon was carrying war through
Egypt with her son, young Eugene de Beauharnais,

4 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
at his side, busied herself with the pleasant duty of
finding a retreat for the hero when he should return.
. . . Josephine fixed on Malmaison, near Rueil, and
she paid for the modest chateau and domain chiefly
with her dowry.' Josephine's ' dowry ' was rather of
the character of a negligible quantity, nor did Napoleon
bring back from Egypt great store of wealth. Bour-
rienne asserts, however, that Napoleon returned from
his Italian campaigns in possession of more than three
'million francs; and that money it probably was with
which Josephine made of Malmaison a rare and de
lightful retreat, of which Napoleon ' never tired until the
purple drew him to the statelier splendours of St.
Cloud and Fontainebleau.' Mr. Jerrold continues in a
charming strain : ' Malmaison was the nursery of the
Empire, its cradle and its grave. Within its peaceful
bounds the scattered elements of polite society were
first drawn together after the storms and excesses of
the Revolution. At Malmaison the first great salon
was thrown open ; and here, amid the laughing school
girls of Madame Campan and her " vieux generaux
de vingt ans"' were formed the manners that pre
vailed during the Empire.'
But before the pleasant life of Malmaison began,
scenes had occurred which had taught the ingenuous
Hortense that life was not a long frivolity — a knowl
edge which was to come home to her with a deeper
bitterness in no long time. There can be no question
personal that Josephine had behaved, to use a mild term,
with great indiscretion during the absence of her hus
band in Egypt ; and that when Napoleon's arrival in
France was announced she was, in the words of Madame

PARENTAGE— BIRTH — CHILDHOOD 5
Junot, 'a prey to great and well-founded uneasiness.'
The recollections of the past, the ill-natured reports of
his brothers, the hints of Junot in Egypt and the ex
aggeration of facts, had irritated Napoleon to a very
high pitch, and he received Josephine with studied dis
pleasure. On Josephine 's return to Paris after having
missed her husband, Napoleon refused to see her, and
actually did not do so for three days. Eugene and
Hortense strove long in vain to overcome his resistance.
' Napoleon,' says Madame Junot, • could not with any de
gree of propriety explain to Eugene or Hortense the par
ticulars of their mother 's conduct. He was therefore
constrained to silence, and had no arguments where
with to combat the tears of two innocent creatures at
his feet exclaiming, " Do not abandon our mother,
she will break her heart ! " . . . The scene, as Napo
leon confessed, was long and painful ; and the two,
brother and sister, at length introduced their mother
and placed her in his arms. The unhappy woman had
awaited his decision at the door of a small back stair
case, extended almost at full length upon the stairs, and
suffering the acutest pangs of mental torture. . . .
Whatever might have been his wife 's errors Napoleon
appeared entirely to forget them, and the reconciliation
was complete.' Madame Junot adds : ' It was to the
earnest entreaties of her children that she owed the re
covery, not of her husband 's love, — for that had long
ceased, — but of the tenderness acquired by habit, and
that intimate intercourse in virtue of which she still
retained the rank of consort to the greatest man of his
age.' In a public sense the arrival in Paris of Napoleon

6 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
from Egypt on Oct. 16, 1799, was for him singularly
opportune. The Government of the Directory was
promptly overthrown without a word of regret ; a new
Constitution was sanctioned by an overwhelming
majority of votes ; and Napoleon became First Consul,
appointed for ten years, with the whole administration
in his hands. From this time thenceforth he was the
unquestioned ruler of France. The Tuileries were his
official residence, and there Josephine presided over
the Court.
But the picturesque Chateau of Malmaison a few
miles west of Paris in a charming country, the modest
home which Josephine and Hortense had made for
husband and step-father while Napoleon and Eugene
were abroad, was a delightful alterative to the Tuileries,
of which Napoleon said in a scornful mood that they
were triste comme la grandeur. Thither Josephine
brought the graces and the politeness of the social
world to which she had belonged and which she was
now gradually restoring. The old and the new order
of things, to Napoleon's great satisfaction, mino-led in
his wife's salons ; under the shady trees and in the bos
quets of Malmaison the young heroes of the Republic
made love to the girl graduates of Madame Campan's
famous seminary whom that wise and accomplished
lady sent forth into the world. And on the close-shaven
lawn there were games of active play in which middle-
aged generals and young subalterns of family engaged
with vivacity. A participator in the Malmaison romps
has described for us ' Napoleon throwing himself heart
and soul into the fun, and rolling on the ground in
a fit of laughter before surrendering himself to the

By permission of S. S. McClure Cn
NAPOLF.ONF. RlrON'APARTF, FIRST <'o\S(rI, OF FRAWE, l8o0
{From the engraving by C Turner, after the /tainting by Masquerier)

PARENTAGE — BIRTH — CHILDHOOD 7
enemy, while Hortense, full of audacity and cunning
in feints, continued to baffle her pursuers.'
But there were shadows of deep gloom behind this
fascinating scene of mirth and sun-glow ; and there
were jealousies and plotting among the seemingly
light-hearted company. Josephine had ever before her
the painful presentiment of an unhappy future ; for she
knew herself hopeless of progeny and the object of dis
like and jealousy on the part of her husband's family.
( But there was an exception in Louis, the fourth of the
Bonaparte brothers, and him she desired to make her
son-in-law by his marriage with her daughter Hortense,
with the hoped-for result that he might support her
against the adverse spirit on the part of the other mem
bers of the Bonaparte family./ Josephine's policy so
far succeeded that she brought about the marriage on
which she had set her heart, but the further results
which she hoped for were not very apparent.
It is not easy to diagnose the (character of this Louis
Bonaparte whom Josephine desired for husband to her
daughter. He was nine years younger than Napoleon,
who had taken Louis under his especial care, treating
him as a son rather than a brother. Between teacher
and pupil were natural antagonisms which the friction
of opposite characters constantly exacerbated. Napo
leon esteemed Louis a good but unambitious soldier.
' In the attack on Saorgio,' wrote Napoleon from St.
Helena, ' I stationed him for the first time under can
non-fire. He persisted in placing himself in front of
me to protect me from hostile bullets. His courage,'
continued the Emperor, ' was brilliant, but by fits; and
he remained indifferent to the praises which his valour

8 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
stimulated. At the passage of the Po he placed him
self at the head of the attacking columns ; at Pizzighit-
tone he was the first in the breach ; at the assault of
Pavia he was on horseback at the head of the sappers
charged to destroy the gate. The destruction of the
famous university of this city made a deep impression
on him, and he became still more taciturn.'!, Louis
preferred to converse with savants rather than with sol-
diers ; and Jerrold suggests that he probably regretted
the events which had drawn his family from their
birthplace. Queen Hortense, it is said, always held
that he had a ''dislike' for . women ; but he retaliated
that it was not women, but, their love qf^show that .dis
pleased him. Madame Remusat, on the other hand,
gives Louis no quarter. Writing of him as she noted
his character in 1806, she says that he made his wife's
life miserable. ' Her husband's tyranny was exercised
in every particular ; his character, quite as despotic as
his brother's, made itself felt by his whole household.
Until now his wife had courageously hidden the excess
to which he carried his tyranny ' ; but it had become
the more intolerable because since his return from
Egypt he had suffered from a malady which so affected
his limbs that he walked with difficulty and was stiff in
every joint. The ailment was described as infectious,
but further details cannot be given.
Louis was well aware of Josephine's desire to have
him for a son-in-law ; and all authorities appear to agree
in fixing the responsibility of his unhappy marriage on
Napoleon's wife. Hortense certainly had no tendresse
for the morose and taciturn Louis. Constant in his
Memoirs writes: ' Previous to her marriage with Louis

By permission of S. b M_Llur,_ Co.
LOUIS I.O.NAPAKIh, I 7 78-1X46, KINO OF HOLLAND
ANI) FAIHKK OF NAI'OI.KON III.
(From ,111 ,u£r,ivir.x)

PARENTAGE — BIRTH — CHILDHOOD 9
Hortense cherished an attachment for Duroc, who was
at that time (1802) a handsome man of about thirty
and a great favourite of Napoleon. But the indiffer
ence with which Duroc regarded the marriage of Louis
Bonaparte sufficiently proves that the regard with
which he had inspired Hortense was not very ardently
returned. It is certain that Duroc might have become
the husband of Mdlle. de Beauharnais had he been
willing to accede to the conditions on which Napoleon
offered him his step-daughter's hand. But Duroc
looked for something better ; he declined the proposed
marriage ; and the union of Hortense and Louis which
Madame Bonaparte, to conciliate the favour of her
brothers-in-law had endeavoured to bring about, was
immediately determined on.'
Josephine had her way, sacrificing her daughter for the
furtherance of her own purposes. The dutiful daugh
ter submitted ; and on Jan. 4, 1802, Louis and Hortense
were married. Louis endured to have forced uppn him
as a wife a woman who had always ''_ayqided' him as
much as possible. She nevertheless seems to have
honestly^ fried her utmost to_ Hke the man whomjier
mother and Napoleon presented to her as a husband.
The union was bitterly unfortunate, yet Napoleon has
stated that when Louis and Hortense first came to
gether they loved each other. But Hortense had been
disappointed in regard to Duroc, while L^|^wrote_qf
his marriage day, ' Never was therejjj^ejmony so sad ;
never did two espoused persons feel more vividly a
pfeselTfimenT of all the horrors of a forced and ill-
assor\cecTliiarriage.' Jerrold remarks that ' the aversion,
withTaTllts bitterness, came afterwards.' That view is

10 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
destroyed by Louis' shuddering testimony. The pair
took up their residence in the beautiful Chateau of St.
Leu. The crypt of the handsome church of the village
of that name built by Napoleon III. is the burial-place
of the Bonapartes. In its vault there lie Napoleon
Louis Charles, the eldest son of Louis and Hortense ;
Napoleon Louis, their second son ; ex- King Louis him
self ; and old Charles Marie Napoleon of Corsica, the
father of all the stock.
Although her nuptials had been sombre Hortense
made the best of the situation in her married life. She
essayed to make of the old chateau another Malmaison.
The parterres blazed with the flowers she loved, and
quaint surprises of light and shade met courtiers and
senators in their stroll through the umbrage.^ > She
gave birth to her_first_child, Napoleon Louis Charles.
on Oct. 10, 1802. Upon this child, the adopted son
and heir-presumptive of Napoleon, rested for a time the
hopes of the Emperor, who had often been seen playing
with the beautiful and interesting boy on the terrace
of St. Cloud. But the hopes were dispelled when, on
May 5, 1807, the child died of croup at The Hague.
Hortense was broken-hearted; when the sad tidings
reached the Emperor he wept; and the unfortunate
Josephine exclaimed in her agony, ' I am lost ! My
fate is decided — he will forsake me ! '
LA second child, Napoleon Louis, had been born to
Louis and Hortense in 1804, who was to live/until
1831/ It was on the afternoon_ of ^ April 20, i8o8Tin
Wer hotel in the Rue Cerutti, now "the "banking^se
of the Rothschilds in the Rue Lafitte, that^Queen
Hortense___ Save birth t? -her_. third, sun, the^luTure

NAPOLEON LOUIS CHARLES, FIRS I SON OF OUKEN I IOKI F.NSK,
BORN OCTOBER 10, 1 802 ; DIEU MAY 5, 1807
{/'', out a utittialttre)

CARDINAL FESCH
(From the painting by Meynier at Versailles)

PARENTAGE — BIRTH — CHILDHOOD n
NagoJepnllL The Empress was then at Bordeaux
and the Emperor at Bayonne. Talleyrand, with other
high officers, had been commanded by Napoleon to
be present at the impending accouchement of Queen
Hortense. She thus notes regarding him : ' The visit
of M. de Talleyrand aggravated my nervous state.
He constantly wore powder, the scent of which was so
strong that when he approached me I was nearly suf
focated.' Talleyrand looked down solemnly on the
new-born infant ; some thirty years later, in Lady Tan-
kerville 's drawing-room in London, he did not choose
to recognise the son of Hortense by whose birth he had
stood. The heir of the Empire was then an exile, and
Talleyrand was serving a new master. The high au
thorities of the Empire stood around the bed of Hor
tense while the certificate of birth was being prepared
by the Archchancellor Cambaceres ; and there were
also present Madame Mere, Cardinal Fesch, and Ad
miral Verhuel, the ambassador from Holland. It was
not until June 2 that in accordance with the Emperor's
instructions the infant received the Christian names of
Charles Louis Napoleon. f'He was baptised in 18 10 at_
Fontainebleau by Cardinal Fesch, his gran d-uncle ; his
god-father, the Emperor Napoleon, and his god-mother,
the Empress Maria Louisa. ? His birth was celebrated
with great rejoicings throughput France as that of a
presumptive heir to the Imperial throne; for by the
law of succession (dated 28th Floreal, year 12, and 5th
Frimaire, year 13) the__Crown. in default of direct de
scendants of the Emperor himself — and he at that
time had none — could be inherited only by t_he_cJiil-
dren of two of his brothers, Joseph and Louis. But

12 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
Joseph had no male offspring, and the sons of Louis
in consequence became for the time heirs-presumptive,
until the birth of the King of Rome.
The Emperor himself stood sponsor at little Louis '
baptism. When the child was still in his cradle, the
prospects of his elder brother and himself were imper
illed by the Emperor's marriage with Maria Louisa,
and were apparently blighted when in 1811 a son was
born to Napoleon himself. ^ Louis, however, was in
great measure brought up in the Tuileries, and was a
great favourite with the Emperor. A curious story was
extant of the last words which passed between those
two. It was at the moment when Napoleon was set
ting out on the campaign which proved to be his last.
The little boy, on hearing that his uncle was to leave
within an hour, became strangely agitated. He sought
out the Emperor in his cabinet, and taking hold of
his arm burst into tears. The Emperor asked what
ailed him. ' You will not go ! ' cried the child. ' The
enemy will get you. I shall never see you any more.'
Napoleon was deeply agitated, took the child to his
mother, and said, ' Look well to him. Perhaps, after
all, this little fellow is the hope of my race.' Those
were the last words that his little nephew heard him
utter. Louis never saw the Emperor again. But the
words sank deeply into his mind, to awaken afterwards
as the voice of destiny.
The King of Holland was present neither at the
birth nor at the ceremony of June 2 ; nor do the docu
ments show that he was represented. It is possible,
it is true, to accept the hypothesis that he was repre
sented by Admiral^ Verhuel, to whom has been attri-

ADMIRAL VERHUEL
(From a lithograph)

LOUIS, KING OF HOLLAND, AND NAPOLEON LOUIS, BROTHER OF
NAPOLEON III. AND SECOND SON OF QUEEN HORTENSE
(From the painting at Versailles)

PARENTAGE— BIRTH — CHILDHOOD 13
buted the paternity of the Prince. Did the repeated
absences of King Louis infer his disavowal of the
paternity ? Some colour is no doubt given from the
circumstance that their Majesties were notoriously es
tranged, and that about nine months before the Prince's
birth the Queen and Admiral Verhuel were together in
the Pyrenees. But, as it happened, King Louis was
there also ; and it may be said that if he was with his
wife neither before, during, nor after her confinement,
it was because he was excessively annoyed, it seemed,
because she refused to lie in at The Hague. There need
be no reticence in regard to the errors of Hortense. It is
unquestioned that in October, 181 1, she gave birth to a
son the father of whom was the Comte de Flahault —
a son who was consequently a half-brother of Napoleon
III. and who was the well-known Due de Morny of
the second Empire. But the evidence seems fairly
conclusive that Louis Napoleon was the veritable off
spring of the unfortunate King of Holland ; although
it is true that neither in features, in physique, nor in
mental characteristics did he bear any resemblance to
any member of the Bonaparte family. It is certain that
during the summer and early autumn of 1807 Hortense
and her husband were living at Cauterets ; and that
when they parted, the husband to return to Holland,
the wife to proceed to St. Cloud, Louis was aware
that Hortense was enceinte. In the early spring of
1808 he wrote to her expressing the hope that ' you will
reach your time without accident,' and desiring her
to choose a doctor in view of the impending event.
Louis' letter was cold but not unfriendly, and in it he
mentioned that he had formally communicated to his

14 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
Ministers at The Hague the news of the Queen's con
dition. As soon as he learned of Hortense 's accouche-
ment the King announced the event to the people; of
his capital collected under his balcony, and receive«|
the customary felicitations. He wrote again to Hor
tense : ' I should like the little one to be solemnly bap|
tised here in Holland ; but I subordinate my wishes to
yours and to those of the Emperor.' It seems evident;
then, that King Louis was in the full belief that he was
the father of the infant to whom his wife gave birth on
the afternoon of April 20, 1808, in her house in the Rue
Cerutti. He proved that conviction on his part by
leaving all his property to his son Louis Napoleon-,
whom he described in his will as ' my only surviving]
son.' King Louis' four years' tenure of the throne of Hol
land had been constantly troubled by the high-handed
ness of the Emperor Napoleon. At the Emperor's;
instigation a deputation from Holland had come to
Paris in June, 1806, to desire that Prince Louis should-
accept the Batavian throne. In vain did he attempt to
shun the proffered honour. When he pleaded his ill'.
health Napoleon sternly replied, ' It is better to die a
King than live a prince ; ' and Louis was proclaimed
King of Holland at St. Cloud. He went to Holland!
accompanied by Hortense, who quitted St. Leu with'
bitter tears and who took an early opportunity of return-
ing to France. But for the vexations to which he was
continually exposed on the part of the Emperor, Louis
might have had a useful reign in Holland. But the
bitter insults heaped on him by Napoleon in letter after
letter stung him beyond endurance. Reduced to the

By permission of S. S. McClure Co.
EUGENIE HORTENSE, QUEEN OF HOLLAND, WITH HER THIRD SON LOUIS
NAPOLEON, AFTERWARDS NAPOLEON III.
{From the marble group by Emile Chatronsse at Versailles)

PARENTAGE — BIRTH — CHILDHOOD 15
harsh alternative of crushing Holland with his own
hands or of leaving that task to his autocratic brother,
Louis determined to lay down his sceptre. I le abdi
cated in favour of his elder son Napoleon Louis, and in
his default, of Charles Louis Napoleon, his younger son,
afterwards Napoleon III. In July, 1S10, taking the
title of Comte de St. Leu, he quitted Holland and re
paired to the waters of Toeplitz, where he was living in
retirement when he learned that Napoleon had united
Holland to the French Empire. His protest, in which
he declared ' the pretended union of Holland with
France mentioned in the decree of the Emperor to be
null, void, illegal, unjust, and arbitrary in the sight of
God and man,' was in effect a dead letter, its circula
tion strictly prohibited by the police. Some time be
fore the abdication of Louis he and Hortense had
become entirely estranged, and years elapsed before
they had any friendly intercourse in their common
solicitude regarding their sons.
That Napoleon III. intended to write his auto
biography is proved by a fragment which Mr. Jerrold
has printed and which is now in the possession of the
Empress Eugenie. He did not pursue his design, and
the Souvenirs de ma Vie written in after-life are but the
casual beginnings of an abandoned project. 'I can
still see,' so wrote Napoleon III., 'the Empress Jose
phine at Malmaison covering me with her caresses, and
even then flattering my vanity by the zest with which
she retailed my childish bons mots. " Louis," said the
Empress once, "ask for anything that will give you
the greatest pleasure," and I requested to be allowed
to go and walk in the gutters with the little street

16 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
boys. . . . One day I entered into conversation with
the old soldier on sentry duty. I called to him, " I,
too, know my drill — I have a little musket." Then
the grenadier asked me to command him, and there I
was, shouting " Presentez armes ! Portez armes !
Armes bas/" — the old grenadier obeying to please
me. . . . My brother and I often went to breakfast
with the Emperor. He used to take us by the head
between his hands, and in this attitude stand us on the
table. This way of carrying us frightened my mother
very much, Corvisart having told her it was extremely
dangerous to children. . . . When the first news of
the Emperor's return from Elba came there was great
irritation among the Royalists against my mother and
her children — the rumour ran that we were all to be
assassinated. One night our governess came with
a servant and took us across the garden of my mother's
house in the Rue Cerutti, to a little room on the
boulevards where we were to remain hidden. We
were flying from the parental roof for the first time,
but our young years prevented us from understanding
the meaning of events, and we were delighted with the
change.' This fragment vividly suggests how interest
ing would have been Louis Napoleon's full autobiogra
phy from those early days down the long varied years
to the quiet residence at Chislehurst.
Louis __Nappieon_had scarcely attained the age of six
y^ILJih^B^h^ lorries. of tiie_ French Empire jvere
overcast by terrible reverses. In the early summer of
1813, broken and mutilated soldiers, the survivors of
the ill-fated Russian campaign, were seen in the streets
of Paris. The Emperor's star, indeed, had beo-un to

PARENTAGE— BIRTH — CHILDHOOD 17
pale ever since his divorce from Josephine. He bade
Hortense reopen the doors of her salons, and fetes and
balls were to be resorted to as expedients to exorcise
the gloom now lowering over the Imperial fortunes.
A woman of a staunch and loyal heart, Hortense did
her best to meet his wishes; but the gaiety she strove
to simulate was forced and hollow. Yet she played
her part gallantly; and she retired to the grateful
repose of St. Leu only after Napoleon had quitted
Paris in April, 18 13, to conquer still occasionally, but
ultimately to be defeated in the long bloody struggle
around Leipsic. In the seclusion of St. Leu Hortense
had her children, of whom she was proud, and in the
rudiments of whose education she maintained a con
stant interest. The brothers were bright, high-spirited,
affectionate children; but the younger, Louis, was m
his childhood very feeble.
Hortense would not be absent from the Emperor's
farewell to the National Guard previous to his depar
ture to join his sorely depleted army on Jan. 23, 1814.
Spite of his extraordinary activity, his corpulence had
increased, and in his pale face was an expression of
melancholy and irritability. The sombre silence was
profound until, in a firm and sonorous voice but with
a certain lack of confidence, Napoleon spoke to the
assembled officers. His opening words were very
solemn: ' I set out this night to take the command of
the army. In quitting the capital I confidently leave
behind me my wife, and my son Jn whom so many
hopes are centred.' After a short brilliant campaign,
during which, always against superior numbers, he
fought and won battle after battle, he gave his enemies

18 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
the opportunity of which they availed themselves with
an unwonted celerity; and when the Allied artillery
was bombarding Montmartre Napoleon was far away
at Troyes. He speeded back, but when he approached
Fontainebleau Paris had already capitulated.
When in the disastrous finale of the campaign of
1814 the enemy were at the gates of Paris, and when
every hour brought tidings of some new defection and
some new disaster, Hortense maintained her courage
and protected her children sedulously. She had
hastened to the Tuileries to advise the Empress Maria
Louisa not to leave Paris, but courageously to remain
at the post where her husband had placed her. The
Empress would not listen to Hortense's high-minded
advice. Hortense determined to stay with the Pari
sians and share their fortunes. But Paris was officially
declared untenable, the Cossacks were at hand, and
maternal love asserted its natural sway. A friend fur
nished the refuge of a country house at Glatigny ; but
there, on the following morning, was heard the roar of
the cannon with which the Allies had begun to batter
the feeble defences of Paris. It was resolved to make
for Rambouillet, which was reached very late, and
where the fugitive Bonapartes and the Ministers were
found at supper. They were all bound for Blois ; but
the intention of Hortense was to join her mother at
the Chateau of Navarre in the Eure. A crust of bread
was requisitioned, not without difficulty, by Hortense
for her children. The whole vicinity of Rambouillet
was being scoured by Cossacks ; but at Maintenon the
resolute Hortense found a French cavalry regiment
from the commander of which she obtained an escort,

PARENTAGE — BIRTH — CHILDHOOD 19
and thus protected she proceeded in much greater
safety towards the Chateau of Louis, whose owner had
begged her to spend the night there. Cossacks were
still occasionally visible ; but they seemed not to ad
vance beyond Louis. It happened, therefore, that all
that part of the country traversed by the refugees was
in a condition of delightful tranquillity, and they
journeyed with elevated spirits through shady lanes
and along the windings of beautiful valleys which pre
sented exquisite pictures of pastoral life. The escort
was dismissed with gracious thanks. Queen Hortense
regarded herself, her children, and her entourage as now
in safety. Next morning by daylight the cortege set
out towards the Chateau of Navarre where her mother
was residing, and where Josephine and Hortense with
her two sons remained throughout the period of nego
tiations which was ended by the departure of Napoleon
for his new domain of Elba.

20

LIFE OF NAPOLEON III

CHAPTER II
EXILE — BOYHOOD — ADOLESCENCE — INSURRECTIONIST —
CONSPIRATOR
It was not until April 20, 1814, that Napoleon quitted
Fontainebleau for Elba ; and meanwhile Josephine and
Hortense, with the children of the latter, remained at
Navarre in mournful retirement. Josephine would fain
have joined Napoleon in his exile; Hortense trembled
for the future of her boys. In a letter to Mdlle. Coche-
let of April 9 she exclaims : ' Ah ! I hope they will not
demand my children, for then my courage would fail
me.' The mother and daughter returned to Paris as
soon as affairs had calmed down. Hortense went to
her town house in the Rue Cerutti, to find it empty;
her servants had deserted. The Emperor Alexander
— chivalrous gentleman that he was — made haste to
pay her a visit and expressed his anxiety to be of ser
vice. He advised her to rejoin her mother at Malmai
son, whither he presently followed her, and continued
to protect her with delicacy and true kindness during
the time he remained in Paris. Malmaison became
a sort of rendezvous of the Sovereigns then assembled
in Paris. All the Kings, Princes, and chief men of
the Allies united to evince their respect for the fallen
Empress and her beautiful daughter. One day the
King of Prussia brought to Malmaison his two sons.

NAPOLEON III., ABOUT 1813
(From tite painting by H. V'tger)

EXILE — BOYHOOD— ADOLESCENCE 21
the Princes Frederick William and William, stalwart
striplings, who were amused in their Teuton manner
by the naif innocent remarks of the boys of Hortense.
More than half a century later King William of Ger
many, and Louis Napoleon, still then Emperor of the
French, who had seen each other for the first time in
Queen Hortense's salon at Malmaison, met for the last
time in the Chateau Bellevue on the morrow of Sedan,
surrounded by the dead and wounded .of the great
battle the issue of which lost Napoleon his throne and
sent him into exile.
Grief had done its work on Josephine. She died
at Malmaison on May 29, 1814, after a short illness;
her last utterances were, ' Bonaparte — Elba — Marie
Louise.' After the funeral of her mother, Hortense
retired with her children to St. Leu until the return of
Napoleon from Elba. It was then that her husband,
King Louis, living in retirement in Rome, demanded
that his two sons should be given up to him by their
mother. They and she had been exempted from the
general proscription of the Bonapartes, and as the
children were in France he had to sue in the French
Courts. Hortense resolutely fought the claim; and
while she was still in mourning for Josephine the cause
came to trial. The result brought anguish to the
mother, who would have made every sacrifice to keep
her sons in France. But the finding of the Court was
that the elder boy should be jjivenjo the father, and
share his exile. The verdict, however, was not acted
on until a later period.
Simultaneously with this wrench to her tenderest
feelings, Hortense was informed that Napoleon had

22 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
landed at Cannes and was marching on Paris. She
was warned to take precautions — the Bourbons were
quite capable of seizing her children as hostages. She
herself might be in danger. But she found safety for
her children and herself under the hospitable roof of
her brother's old nurse. From that humble shelter
she wrote to her brother Eugene : ' I have just seen
him (Napoleon). He received me very coldly. I think
he disapproves of my having remained here. My God !
if only there is no more war ! . . . Ah ! speak to him
for peace — use your influence with him ; humanity
demands it. I have been obliged to hide myself for
the last twelve days because all sorts of reports were
circulated about me.'
During the ' Hundred Days ' Hortense and her sons
were present at the lukewarm ceremony of the Champ-
de-Mai ; during which the mother saw the Emperor, in
the absence of his own son the little King of Rome,
present her two boys to the troops in the Place du
Carrousel. When Waterloo had been fought and lost
and when Napoleon's extraordinary career had come
near to its ending, Hortense accompanied her step
father to Malmaison, leaving him for a time at the door
of the bed-chamber in which the dying Josephine
had uttered his name with her last breath ; and she and
her two sons were the last to take a sad farewell of
the fallen man when he set forth to his captivity on
the rock of St. Helena. The figure of an eagle cut
in the sward of the Malmaison lawn long marked the
spot of French ground last impressed by the foot of
Napoleon ; but Josephine's beautiful chateau has un
dergone many vicissitudes; and the shell fire of the

EXILE — BOYHOOD— ADOLESCENCE 23
last sortie from Paris in January, 1871, utterly wrecked
Malmaison and the charming amenities which once
surrounded it.
It has been said that Hortense and her sons had
been exempted from the general proscription of the
Bonapartes. But after the Restoration rumours, ab
surd but venomous, of conspiracies directed against
the safety of the Allied Sovereigns, had come into cir
culation, in which the name of Queen Hortense was
malignantly and falsely involved-. Hortense was not
a conspirator, but she was an impulsive woman ; and
she was probably over-eager to be of service to unfor
tunate Bonapartists lurking in Paris because unable
to make their escape. Some ill-feeling had been en
gendered against her by the Royalists, who grudged
her the exceptiqnal exemption from proscription, and
who were chagrined because Louis XVIII., as the
result of repeated solicitation on the part of the Em
peror Alexander, nominated Hortense to the title of
Duchesse de St. Leu, giving her at the same time the
estate of that name as an independent duchy.
Early orr^July 17, 1815, an aide-de-camp of the
Prussian General Muffling, who was then the Military
Governor of Paris, called at the hotel of the Duchesse
de St. Leu and informed her major-domo by his supe
rior^} instructions that within two hours the Duchesse
must leave Paris with her children. The reason
alleged for an order so sudden and so peremptory was
that she was held to hp fonpprned in a plot for assas
sinating all the foreign^ Prjr_.rps then in the capital —
a ridiculous pretext, considering Hortense's cordial
relations with many of the high personages alluded to.

24 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
Ultimately she obtained a few hours' delay ; but the
order was explicit that she must be outside the walls
before nightfall and withdraw from French territory
without delay. She had to be beholden to the courtesy
of alien soldiers for safe conduct to the frontier for her
children and herself. Prince Schwarzenberg had the
chivalry to appoint his own adjutant, the Count von
Voyna, to act as escort to the refugees, a mission
which that brave officer performed with delicacy and
courage. The journey was full of incident and peril. At Dijon
a rabble surrounded Hortense's carriage with shouts of
'Down with the Bonapartiste ! ' During von Voyna's
temporary absence several Royalist officers broke into
the apartment of the Queen, averring that they were
ordered to arrest her in the King's na/ne. The Aus
trian troops quartered in the city came to the rescue
at the instance of von Voyna. All night the heroic
Frenchmen drank, swore, and strutted, brandishing
their swords and clattering with the scabbards. But
the Austrian soldiers maintained a steadfast front;
and Hortense was protected and passed out of the city
under cover of a general review of French troops,
mustered to prevent the risk of a collision between the
French and Austrian soldiers. After much anxiety
and danger the fugitives reached Geneva only to be
ordered away at a day's notice, and von Voyna had
difficulty in obtaining permission for the party to
remain for a few days pending further instructions from
Paris. Aixj_ in Savoy, proved more hospitable, and
there Hortense temporarily established herself and
family in a small house. When the Abbe Bertrand

EXILE — BOYHOOD— ADOLESCENCE 25
arrived his pupils' lessons were resumed, and Hortense
had the help and sympathy of Mdlle. Cochclet. But
she soon found herself surrounded by Royalist spies
from France, and precautions had to be taken for the
safety of her children. A crowning trouble occurred to
the harassed woman in the practical success of her
husband's lawsuit for the possession of his elder son.
The day arrived for the departure of Napoleon Louis,
escorted to Rome by his father's emissary, the Baron f
de Zuite ; and his mother was in despair. ' I cannot
describe,' wrote Mdlle. Cochelet, ' the grief I felt at
seeing Prince Napoleon tear himself from the arms of
his mother and his voung brother. I could not calm
the grief of my dear Prince Louis, nor amuse him
when he was left alone — the deeper his woe because
he had never before left his brother for an instant'
Louis is described as having been at this time a gentle,
timid child, speaking little but thinking and feeling
a great deal. He had now in effect, become the only
child of his mother, who thenceforth concentrated on
hinrthe greater proportion of her maternal tenderness.
Quitting Aix in the early winter of 18 15 and jour
neying towards Constance, Hortense was met by a
letter from her relative the Grand Duchess of Baden —
the Stephanie de Beauharnais of Madame Campan's
Academy, one of the bevy of laughing girls who had
once made Malmaison gay — intimating very courte
ously that no member of the Bonaparte family was per
mitted to reside in the Grand Duchy. Hortense
pleacjed illness and she had passports authorising her
sojourn at Constance, in the vicinity of which she
found a house which although out of repair was habit-

26 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
able. Its position was charming, on the tongue of
land near Constance where the narrowing channel of
the waters barely affords a passage for the Rhine,
which connects the upper and the lower lake. Settled
here, at least for a time, Hortense concentrated herself
on the education of her son. "Louis in his childhood
was a slow~and reluctant^ student, although he used
his natural gifts as well as his feeble health permitted.
The Abbe Bertrand in course of time gave place to
M. Lebas, who became the boy's private tutor when in
1816 Louis entered the college of Augsburg where,
with intervals of home life, he remained for eight years.
It was in 181 7 that his mother bought and established
herself in the Chateau of Arenenberg, a residence
which Hortense greatly beautified, in which she died,
and which now belongs to the Empress Eugenie. To
this delightful spot she had been attracted not only on
account of the hospitable invitation of the good people
of the Canton of Thurgau, but also because of the
vicinity of relatives. The Chateau of Arenenberg
stands on a magnificently wooded hill, about 1,400 feet
above the level of the sea. It overhangs, not the Lake
of Constance itself, but what is known as the ' lower
lake,' between Constance and Schaffhausen, an expan
sion of the Rhine where the river leaves the lake ; and
it is charmingly situated opposite to the isle of
Reichenau. ,
Prince Louis' is described as having been a singularly
amiable, and attractive, child, and in youth time and in
after-years he exercised an equal charm. He was
Possessed of many accomplishments, both physicaland
mental.^ He was a remarkable swimmer — he is said

EXILE— BOYHOOD — ADOLESCENCE 27
to have once swum across the Lake of Constance. He
excelled in all bodily exercises — as a gymnast few
equalled him in excellence; and he was an admirable
horseman. To accomplish all this he had to struggle
against the defects of a constitution naturally effemin
ate ; yet he came to develop an uncommon energy and
power of will.
On the completion of his civilian education the
Prince adopted the military career, and naturally fol
lowed his great uncle's example in choosing the artil-
lery arm of the service. Presently he joined the camp
of Thun as a volunteer under the orders of Colonel
Dufour, one of Napoleon's old officers. Although
never quite robust in health, he took his part stoutly
in the roughest duties. The young officers, it seems,
fared in many respects like common soldiers, march
ing out for the day's Avork with tools and instruments
in their knapsacks and camping for the night in the
open. ' The exercise,' Prince Louis wrote to his
mother, 'does me much good. I have double my
ordinary appetite. We muster at six o'clock in the
morning and march, drums beating, to the Polygon,
where we remain until near noon. At twelve we dine,
and at three we are on the Polygon again until seven.
We sup at eight and then go to bed, for we are quite
prepared for sleep. During the entire day we have
barely two hours free, in which time there are notes
to copy and drawings to make.'
The third Lord Malmesbury, who for the first time
made the acquaintance of Prince Louis in 1829 in the
drawing-room of Queen Hortense at Rome and who
remained his close friend throughout Napoleon's event-

28 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
ful life, furnishes in his memoirs a description of the
Prince at this period of his life. ' Here,' wrote Lord
Malmesbury, ' I met for the first time Hortense's son
Louis Napoleon, then just of age. Nobody at that
time could have predicted his great and romantic
career. He was a wild, harum-scarum youth, or what
the French call un crane, riding at full gallop through
the streets to the peril of the public, fencing and pistol-
shooting, and apparently without serious thoughts of
any kind, although even then he was possessed with
the conviction that he would one day rule over France.
We became friends,' — Lord Malmesbury, then Lord
FitzHarris, was just one year older than Prince Louis,
— ' but at that time he evinced no remarkable talent
nor any fixed idea but the one which I mention. It
grew upon him with his growth and increased daily
until it ripened into a certainty. He was a very good
horseman and a proficient in athletic games ; although
short he was very active and muscular. His face was
grave and dark, but redeemed by a singularly bright
smile. Such was the personal appearance of Louis
Napoleon in 1829, at the age of twenty-one years.'
In 1830 the Prince was full of intense interest in the
Revolution of July of that year, which exiled Charles
X. and his family, gave the throne of France to Louis
Philippe, and supplanted the drapeau blanc of the
Bourbons with the tricolour of the Orleanists and sub
sequently of the Second Empire. But that interest,
fervent though it was, did not distract the Prince from
his military duties at the camp of Thun. He quietly
worked and watched ; corresponding occasionally with
his elder brother, who had married a daughter of King

EXILE — BOYHOOD — ADOLESCENCE 29
Joseph and was then living in Florence in attendance
on the invalided father of the brothers.
It was a serious discouragement for Prince Louis
and his elder brother to learn that one of the con
ditions on which the Great Powers were prepared to
recognise Louis Philippe was, that he should continue
to maintain in force the sentence of exile which the
Bourbons had passed on the family of Napoleon, and
which of course included the sons of Hortense. She
was informed on the part of Louis Philippe that she
herself was free to return to France, but only without
her children. The scorn with which she repelled such
a condition may be imagined. Under disabilities so
stringent it would have been utter folly on the part of
the brothers, even if a secret possibility had existed, to
take any measures in the direction of attempting to
form a Napoleonist Party in France. But both were
full of energy and were eager to make a career. The
elder brother had conceived the project of joining the
Greek cause, but was dissuaded by the urgent represen
tations of his mother. The warmest ambition of Prince
Louis was to win his rank in the French army, but
that "opportunity was denied him by the proscription
under which he writhed. When tiie Liberal Party in
France was striving to force the Government to hinder
Russia from sending her troops into Poland to quell
the insurrection in that territory, the Italian patriots
became encouraged, and the young Princes rejoiced
in the fleeting assurance that the Citizen-King would
support the principle of non-intervention. ^Suqh was
the influence of the name of ^Napoleon that the chiefs
of the Polish insurrection offered the young Louis, in

30 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
1 83 1, the command of their legions 'as the nephew of
the greatest captain of all ages,' and also the crown
of Poland ; but the capture of Warsaw by the_Russians
put a stop to this proposal. Prince Louis at Thun
and Prince Napoleon at Florence caught echoes of the
shouts of the exulting Liberals of the boulevards.
They saluted the tricolour as the emblem of the Revo
lution and of French glory; and, to use the stirring
words of Jerrold, ' they imagined that all the romantic
dreams of liberty which the excited band of young
journalists then in the ascendant described in glowing
language were speedily to come to pass.' It was long
a moot question whether Louis Napoleon, afterwards
Napoleon III., ever actually took the oaths as a Car-
bonaro. Cavour was convinced that he had done so,
and used his knowledge of the fact to a notable pur
pose. Count F. Arese, till the death of Napoleon III.
his close and true friend, has not spoken positively on
the point. ' It cannot,' he has written, ' be said that at
this first period' — presumably in 1829-31 — 'Louis
Napoleon was a Carbonaro; for the Prince always
appeared strongly opposed to sects of all descriptions.
But it may be said that he was one in his young
days — for in effect all were Carbonari who laboured
to drive the Austrians and their representatives out of
Italy.' The question, however, has been decided be
yond a doubt by the authoritative statements made by
Count Orsi in his 'Recollections of the Last Half-
Century.' 1 Count Orsi writes as follows : ' The organi
sation of secret societies, which began in 182 1, had in
1 Longmans, Green & Co., London, 1881.

EXILE — BOYHOOD — ADOLESCENCE 31
1829 developed itself in every part of Italy to such an
extent as to form a nucleus in the remotest and poor
est villages of the country. As those societies were
the only means of communication left to the people,
every possible device that could be invented to avoid
detection was resorted to by their leaders. . . . The
most powerful of those societies was that called the
"Carbonari," of wliich Prince Napoleon Louis and
his brother Prince Louis Napoleon had become
members.' 1
Count Orsi, in later pages of his book, proceeds to
afford further proof of Louis Napoleon's membership
of the ' Carbonari.' He thus writes : ' I attended the
meeting convened by Prince Napoleon at my house on
the night of Feb. 26, 1831, at which were present his
brother Louis Napoleon, Ciro Menotti's brother, three
delegates from various provinces, and myself. . . . One
of the most remarkable features of this meeting was
the complete silence of Prince Louis Napoleon. He
had just arrived from Rome, and the information he
was expected to give us concerning the real position
and plan of the insurrectionary forces already in the
field was the very thing I had been anxiously awaiting.
Not a word was uttered by him. . . . Speaking for the
first time, Prince Louis Napoleon remarked :
'"You lose sight of the engagements we have en
tered into, and which we swore to perform."
' " Engagements ! With whom ? " said I.
' " With the secret society of Carbonari, of which we
are members," answered the Prince.
' " I was not aware of it," said I ; " and such being
1 Count Orsi's Recollections, p. 5.

32 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
the case I cannot help feeling even more anxious than
I did before." '
In October, 1830, Queen Hortense, accompanied by
her younger son Prince Louis, set out from Arenenberg
to pass the winter in Rome in accordance with their
wonted custom. On their way they spent a fortnight
at Florence with Prince Napoleon, the elder of the
brothers. Hortense and Louis arrived in Rome about
the middle of November. What actually were the de
signs of the Bonaparte family at this time it is impos
sible to determine with certainty, but there are strong
evidences that most of the members of it were deeply
concerned in fomenting the anarchy prevailing through
out the Peninsula. A mother not devoid of personal
ambition and yet more ardent in ambition for the ad
vancement of her sons, it is probable that Hortense
was neither surprised nor disappointed to find in the
Papal city an assemblage of the leading members of the
Bonaparte family keenly watching impending events.
In December a sort of family conclave was held in the
palace of ' Madame Mere,' at which among others pres
ent were Cardinal Fesch, Jerome Bonaparte, Queen
Hortense, and Prince Louis. From the wreck of the
Empire the older members of the family had salvaged
large amounts of money, and they were prepared, it was
believed, to utilize their opulence in the furtherance of
the schemes which they were secretly promoting. The
opportunity was tempting. The misgovernment and
anarchy which unquestionably existed in the Papal
States, in the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, in Pied
mont, Bologna, Parma, and even in Tuscany, went to
encourage the aspiration that the house of Bonaparte,

INSURRECTIONIST — CONSPIRATOR 33
exiled from France though it was, might still erect for
itself an Empire beyond the Alps. From the family
council-board at Rome agents and emissaries were be
ing despatched in various directions to stimulate the
co-operation of the well-wishers of the family and to
hurry on affairs to a crisis. The heads of the house
had their own ends to serve ; and it by no means fol
lowed that the objects for which they were engaged in
conspiring were intrinsically deserving of censure.
Had they succeeded in their enterprises, it was impos
sible that they should have proved worse rulers than
the potentates whom they would have supplanted, and
it is extremely likely that they would have proved much
better. The whole country from the Alps to the Faro
of Messina was in a state of great excitement, and all
those secret societies which for years had been labour
ing to bring about a revolution were now sanguine that
the time was at length at hand when the accomplish
ment of the longed-for purpose was to be achieved.
The effervescence of the public mind was perhaps
most active in the Romagna, where the desire for polit
ical emancipation penetrated through every rank of
society. Unfortunately the people contented them
selves in a great measure with applauding the approach
ing advent of the Revolution, instead of passionately
and purposefully espousing its cause. Immersed in a
supineness the shame of which they were not capable
of recognising, the masses were more disposed to hail
the march of the liberators than to take an active and
resolute part in the patriotic ranks. Leaders, more
over, were lacking ; there was no unity, no guiding hand.
In Bologna, Modena, Parma, and Reggio there had

34 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
sprung up as many extemporary Provisional Govern
ments — not rivals one to the other, but distinct — and
even deprived to the idea of combining their efforts by
a foolish holding to the principle of non-intervention.
Day by day the state of Italy became more anarchi
cal. In the streets of Rome the enthusiastic patriots
shouted for ' Louis Philippe, the giver of independence
to the nations ' ; they believed in their simplicity that
he was preparing a crusade for the oppressed — that
he would deliver Poland out of bondage and drive
the Austrians from Italian soil. It is needless to add
that Louis Philippe had not the slightest intention of
doing anything of the kind. What he did do, however,
was to ' assure the Holy Father by an express message,
of his protection and intervention for the maintenance
of the Papal States under the government of the Holy
See.' But meantime men from the Sabine mountains,
from the quarries, the marshes, and the mines began to
show their fierce and rugged figures in the purlieus of
Rome. Knots of conspirators gathered muttering in
the public places. Among the lower classes of the
multitude an inexplicable movement was discernible.
The Papal Government was obviously disquieted, and
the death of Pius VIII. increased the effervescence
among the Italian youth, in whose minds the Revo
lution of July and the installation of a Constitutional
King in France had engendered the idea that the time
had come to strike.
The spirit of disorderly agitation was greatly intensi
fied when one day, with an obvious and intentional
significance, Prince Louis rode along the Corso with
the tricolour ostentatiously displayed on his head-gear .

INSURRECTIONIST — CONSPIRATOR 35
and saddle-housings. The boldness of his attitude,
while it stirred the patriots, gave umbrage to the author
ities, both of which results the Prince probably desired.
The chief of the Papal police went to Cardinal Fesch
and demanded that Prince Louis should depart from
Rome, adding that a person less powerfully protected
would have been arrested and sent to prison. The
Cardinal, himself concerned in revolutionary intrigues,
maintained that the Prince had committed no offence
and insisted that he should not be made to leave the
city. His mother was in great anxiety ; she was aware
that there was an extensive revolutionary conspiracy in
Rome and that the conspirators looked to her son to
support and lead them.
One afternoon the chief of the Pope's guard was
announced ; the palace of Hortense was surrounded,
and her son was seized and carried off across the fron
tier of the Papal territory. In spite of her ambition on
behalf of her son, she dreaded a repetition in the Eter
nal City of those bloody tragedies which near the close
of the previous century had made of Paris a human
shambles; and she was not sorry that Prince Louis
should be removed from the impending outbreak.
Maternal solicitude outweighed with Hortense all other
considerations, and her mind was at rest when she
learned that her sons were with their father in Flor
ence. She wrote cautioning them to enter into no rash
undertakings, and warning them that the Romagna
alone was preparing to raise the standard of revolt. She
was not aware till later that on Feb. 5, 1831, an insur
rection had broken out in Bologna and had spread rap
idly through all the Romagna. The tricolour had been

36 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
hoisted in Perugia, Spoleto, Foligno, and Terni; the
insurrection raged in the provinces of Umbria and
Transimene; Cardinal Benvenuto was a prisoner at
Cosimo ; Ancona surrendered to Colonels Sercognani
and Armandi; and Maria Louisa fled from her States,
to which the conflagration had spread. The standard
of Young Italy soon floated over the heights of
Ottricoli, and terror reigned in the Vatican. The sons
of Hortense, without her cognisance, had been fighting
during most of this turbulent period. The character
of the answer of the Princes to the wise and discreet
letter of their mother had tranquillised the mind of
Hortense, and she remained quietly in Rome until at
length in the beginning of March insurrection broke
out in that capital. Her sons immediately wrote to
their mother imploring her to leave Rome, and after
a hazardous journey she reached Florence.
The expectation that she would find her sons there
was not fulfilled. A servant of Prince Louis handed
her the following letter : ' Your affection will under
stand us. We have accepted engagements, and we
cannot depart from them. The name we bear obliges
us to help a suffering people who call upon us.' The
brothers had displayed conduct and valour. Menotti,
one of the most fervent leaders of the insurrectionary
movement, had gone to Florence and addressed him
self to the Princes. He had appealed to the name
they bore, and the young men had become devoted to
the cause. A practical soldier who had studied the art
of war, Prince Louis had been of especially valuable
service, and he it was who had planned the preliminary
operations for a coup de main on / Civita Castellana.

INSURRECTIONIST — CONSPIRATOR 37
Napoleon, the elder brother, with 200 men had repulsed
a considerable body of Papal troops who had attempted
to capture the towns of Terni and Spoleto ; and Louis
with another detachment was now preparing for the as
sault on Civita Castellana. Solicitude for her sons had
temporarily brought together the long-estranged King
Louis and Queen Hortense, and courier after courier
was sent with messages of recall to the young men.
But their answer to their parents was that they were
recognised by all the youth of the country as their
leaders, and that they were on the eve of seizing
Civita Castellana and of delivering the prisoners
who had been immured for years in the dungeons of
that place.
But jealousies and the youth of the brothers rendered
it inexpedient that they should retain commands in the
revolutionary army, which were placed in the more ex
perienced hands of Generals Sercognani and Armandi.
They were informed that their position threatened to
become a hindrance to the national cause and might
even occasion a fresh danger to the patriots in the
event of failure. Content to resign command, Napoleon
and Louis remained in the field, insisting on continu
ing to fight in the capacity of simple volunteers. But
even this service was not permitted to them ; and then
their troubles began. It seemed that their mere pres
ence with the revolutionists involved the brothers in
danger at the hands of the neighbouring Governments.
The Provisional Government of Bologna looked as
kance on them. They were banned from Tuscany, and
the approaching Austrians would probably accord
them a short shrift, for they were excepted from the

38 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
amnesty proclaimed by the army of the Emperor on
entering the Papal territory. In fine, the brothers
were in a dangerous dilemma, for Austrian troops
were approaching Ancona.
It was then that the intrepid mother resolved to carry
her sons into safety by an unsuspected route to an un
suspected destination. An English gentleman fur
nished Queen Hortense with a British passport in the
name of an English lady travelling from Italy through
France to England ; and on March 10 she quitted
Florence in search of her sons. After delays at Fo
ligno and Perugia she at length was informed that they
had recently been seen at Forli. On the way thither
the disastrous news was brought to her that her elder
son was dangerously ill and desired ardently to see her.
She hurried foward in a state almost of delirium ; but
at Pesaro she was informed that Napoleon was dead.
Then, sunk in unconsciousness, she was laid on a bed
in her nephew's palace only to be roused by the arrival
of Prince Louis, who threw himself on her bosom and
told her that his brother had died of measles and fever
in his arms. He himself was very ill. Accompanied
by the whole population of Forli he had followed his
brother to the grave, on the eve of the occupation of
the town by the Austrians.

TRAVELLING IN DISGUISE — FRANCE

39

CHAPTER III
TRAVELLING IN DISGUISE  FRANCE — ENGLAND —
RETURN TO ARENENBERG
While Hortense lay in Pesaro prostrated by her be
reavement she was informed that the Austrian troops
on land were almost in sight, and that their ships were
visible in the offing. She realized that she had still
one son left, whom she must endeavour to save at
all hazards. She and Louis reached Ancona after
a hurried drive, only to find that there was greater
danger in Ancona than there had been in Pesaro.
The imminence of the danger stimulated the resource
ful ingenuity of Hortense. Her English passport was
for a lady travelling with two sons; and in order to
avoid suspicion on the contemplated journey it was
necessary that she should find a substitute for the son
in his grave at Forli. At this time there was tempor
arily in Ancona the Marquis Zappi, a young nobleman
whose position was seriously compromised, since he
was the bearer of secret despatches to Paris from the
Revolutionary Government of Bologna. Hortense
offered him the place of her lost son during the
journey she was about to make to Paris ; Zappi con
sented, and preparations were at once made for
departure. But meanwhile Louis fell ill of the disease
which had carried off his brother. In this dilemma

40 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
she caused a berth to be taken for her son in a vessel
about to sail for Corfu, and procured for him a passport
for that port duly signed by the authorities of Ancona.
She spread the report that it was she herself who was
ill, and had a bed made up for her son in a cabinet
close to her own room. Her servants were ostenta- .
tiously carrying baggage from the palace of Hortense
to a vessel which was to sail the same evening; it
duly departed at nightfall, and no one doubted that
Louis Napoleon had left Italy in the little craft.
It happened that the general commanding the
Austrian vanguard which had entered Ancona was
the officer who had escorted Hortense and her sons
from Paris to the frontier in 1815. When after eight
days of anxiety and danger Prince Louis was pro
nounced in a condition to travel, Hortense apprised
the Austrian commander of her approaching depar
ture. The General courteously furnished her with a
pass through the Austrian lines ; and she informed
him that she would leave Ancona early on the morning
of Easter Sunday. One of her servants feigned sudden
illness, and Prince Louis dressed himself in the livery
of the lackey ; the Marquis Zappi, who had lain con
cealed in the house of a friend, joined the cortege in
the livery of another domestic. Before daylight Hor
tense, and her son disguised as a footman, descended
the great staircase at the foot of which the guard per
mitted her to pass without interference. Louis Napo
leon stood in livery on the footboard of his mother's
carriage and Zappi on that of the second vehicle. At
the gate of the town the passports were duly examined
without occasioning any suspicion. By-and-by Hor-

TRAVELLING IN DISGUISE — FRANCE 41
tense halted to pray in the church of Loretto and then
continued the journey. At Tolcntino a wretched
Italian, who recognised the Prince notwithstanding his
disguise, pointed him out to the commander of the
Austrian attachment stationed there ; the officer re
plied that the lady's passports were in perfect order
and that he was not there to arrest people.
Hortense made no pause until she had passed the
last Austrian outpost. Worn with fatigue and anxi
ety she nevertheless pushed on through Foligno and
Perugia, whose inhabitants awaited with apprehension
the approach of the Austrian masses. On nearing the
Tuscan frontier her anxieties and apprehensions were
increased ; for all over Tuscany Louis and his brother
had been familiar figures. The frontier was passed in
the dead of night. The Commissioner of Police was
¦ absent and had left orders that nobody should pass the
barrier until his return. Ultimately Hortense's courier
found the Commissioner, who vise 'd the passport on
the courier's assurance that Prince Louis was not of
the party. At Camoscia the travellers were to leave
the high road and go by short stages to Sienna. But
no relays of horses were procurable at Camoscia.
Hortense waited in her carriage in the street, for the
inn was full. Prince Louis, the future Emperor of the
French, in the dress of a flunkey, slept on a stone bench
out in the open until at length horses were procured.
After driving through the charming valley of Chiana
during the whole day, the travellers reached a quiet
little town where they ventured to take a night's rest.
* Without that night's sleep,' wrote Hortense, ' I
should have died.' On this little-frequented road the

42 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
travellers were in comparative safety. But the incog
nito could not be long maintained. Queen Hortense
had to go through Sienna, where she was well known,
since she had been in the habit of passing through the
place every year on her way to Rome. She now took
the bold course of passing through the city openly in
full day ; but this would have been imprudent for
Prince Louis. While the Queen's passports were
being examined at the gate Louis jumped from behind
the carriage, and dodging along the bye-lanes made
quickly towards the street leading to the Florence
gate. Owing to the number of travelling English
swarming in the town a stay in Sienna was impossible;
so the party repaired to a roadside inn outside the
town, the Prince having been taken up after a search
for him on the way.
Early on the following morning the travelling party
was safe in Pisa. By this time Prince Louis and Zappi
had changed their clothes, and as Fritz, Queen Hor
tense's old domestic, expressed himself, 'the servants
had ceased to be masters.' From this time Queen
Hortense was an English lady travelling with her two
sons, although Prince Louis was the only member of
the party who could speak English, and he then only
with a marked French accent. Their incognito went for
very little. At Lucca the landlord of the inn recognised
the courier of the travellers, and the jeweller of the
Court of Florence did not need to look at them twice.
It was in the valley of Sevarezza near Pietra Santa
where the elder son of Hortense had formerly lived
with his wife that Hortense for the first time could
breathe freely. Perhaps no spot in Italy is more lovely.

TRAVELLING IN DISGUISE — FRANCE 43
Tt unites,' so wrote St. John, 'the magnificence of
Switzerland with the softness of the south — delicious
valleys, marble mountains, lofty spreading trees,
glimpses of the distant sea, and a sky of deep azure
tinged towards the horizon with the soft glow of eve
ning.' The thoughts of the mother, like those of her
son, were with the dead. Here Hortense persuaded
herself that it would be delightful to rpass what re
mained to her of life, plunged in soft melancholy and
communing quietly with her own ideas. The mother
and son proceeded until they came within sight of the
foundations of the house which the young Napoleon
had begun to build for himself. The grass was now
springing up among the stones, as he lay at rest in the
church of Forli.
The party hurried through a dependency of the
Duchy of Modena, where there was reason to fear
the vigilant police of the Duke. Finally Genoa was
reached, where the British Consul affixed his vise to
their passports without any difficulty. At length, after
having been recognised times out of number but never
betrayed, the fugitives found themselves once more on
French soil. They had entered territory from setting
foot on which they had been proscribed ; but after six
teen years of exile they were in their native land once
again, and they slept happily that night at Cannes.
The members of the Bonaparte family were by law
exiled from France and forbidden to return on pain of
death. But Hortense and her son had little apprehen
sion that in their case the law would be sternly
enforced, although they took the precaution of travel
ling under names different from their own. When

44 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
Hortense had been sent into exile in 1815, she had car
ried with her letters from Louis Philippe's mother and
from his aunt the Duchess of Bourbon, in which they
had thanked her warmly for having obtained pensions
for them and for permission to remain in France —
letters which were long extant. Louis Philippe had
commissioned the Grand Duchess of Baden to inform
Queen Hortense that she might always rely on his
good offices. The resolution of Hortense and her son
was to travel direct to Paris, to make known to him
their presence, and to place themselves in his hands.
Hortense in her Memoirs recounts with what hap
piness she noted that as they journeyed forward
towards Paris, her son threw off the weight of melan
choly which had oppressed him since the death of his
brother. ' When we stopped anywhere,' she wrote, ' he
would go for a walk in the streets, enter the cafes, gos
sip with the people whom he met, and then return and
relate to me all that he had seen and heard. In some
places, finding that he had come recently from Italy, he
was asked about the death of young Napoleon, the
questioners little imagining to whom they were address
ing themselves. But it was when we passed through a
garrison town that he hastened to examine the soldiers
and their equipments with the greatest minuteness.
. . . My son, electrified by the atmosphere of the
country he loved so much, had only one desire — to
remain in it, to serve in it as a simple soldier/ This
was the object of the following letter which Louis
Napoleon addressed to King Louis Philippe, from
which some passages were excised by the advice of M.
Casimir Perier:

TRAVELLING IN DISGUISE — FRANCE 45
'Sire, — I venture to address myself to your
Majesty, as the representative of the Great Nation, lo
ask you a favour which is the sole object of my ambi
tion. I pray you, Sire, to open the gates of France to
me, and to allow me to serve as a simple soldier. I
could console myself for absence from my country when,
in an unfortunate land, liberty called me under her
standards; but now that courage has been compelled
to yield to numbers, I have found myself obliged to fly
from Italy. Nearly all the states of Europe are closed
against me. France is the only one where it would
not be reproached to me as a crime that I had embraced
the sacred cause of a people's independence ; but a
cruel law banishes me. Separated from my family,
inconsolable for the loss of my brother who died in
Romagna after having given so many proofs of his
love of liberty, life would be insupportable to me if I
did not continue to hope that your Majesty will per
mit me to return as simple citizen to the French
ranks — happy if one day I may die fighting for my
country. France and your Majesty might rely on my
oaths and on my gratitude.'
M. Perier expressed his approval of this appeal,
which he undertook to present to the King; but so far
as is known no notice was ever taken of it. Louis
Philippe desired in the French army no ambitious and
ardent young scions of the House of Bonaparte. He
was wise in his generation.
M. Guizot thus describes in his memoirs the arrival
in Paris, in April, 1831, of Queen Hortense and her
son : ' On her arrival, Queen Hortense addressed her
self to Count d'Houdetot the King's aide-de-camp, beg-

46 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
ging him to inform the King of her position. The
King received her secretly at the Palais Royal, whither
the Queen and Madame Adelaide came also to see
her. The Queen and Queen Hortense were seated
on the bed, the King and Madame Adelaide upon the
only two chairs. The King and Queen showed the
kindest interest in the condition of Queen Hortense.
She wished to be permitted to return to France, or
at any rate to go to the waters of Vichy.
' " Vichy, yes," said the King, " for your health ; it
will be considered quite natural. And then you can
prolong your stay, or you can return."
' She desired also to press some pecuniary claims on
the Government. The King promised all the help in
his power, but referred M. Casimir Perier to her, whom
she did not receive without misgivings. " I know, sir,"
she said, as the Minister entered her room in the Hotel
de Hollande, " that I have violated a law ; you have
the right to arrest me."
'" Legally, yes ; justly, no," answered the Minister,
and presently he departed, having offered Hortense
any help she required, which she refused.'
Queen Hortense has contradicted in many particu
lars the account of M. Guizot. Her version was that
Louis Philippe, when informed of the arrival in Paris
of Hortense, was exceedingly incensed and sent M.
d'Houdetot to intimate his refusal to see her. That
emissary told her that the King had said that 'he
deplored the audacity of the Duchesse de St. Leu in
returning to France, and that he could not consent to
an interview with her.' But later his Majesty sanc
tioned a visit to Hortense on the part of M. Casimir

TRAVELLING IN DISGUISE — FRANCE 47
Perier, the President of the Council, the result of which
was that the King consented to see her in the Palais
Royal. The ladies of Louis Philippe's family were
present at the interview. Nothing could exceed their
politeness and their insincerity. His Majesty received
Queen Hortense with all the graciousness and courtesy
which were the distinguishing characteristics of the
'Citizen-King.' After a short prelude he began to
speak of the subject which he knew lay nearest to the
heart of Hortense, the abrogation of the sentence of
exile. ' I know,' said he, ' all the bitterness of exile,
and it is not my fault that yours is not yet ended.
But,' he added, ' the day is at hand when there shall
be no more exiles ! I shall have none during my reign.'
Hortense informed his Majesty that her son had accom
panied her to Paris, and that he desired to beg of the
King that his Majesty would allow him to enter the
French army. It seemed that the King had suspected
the coming of the Prince, and he was very desirous
that the presence in Paris of the mother and son should
be kept quite secret — he had divulged the fact to none
of his Ministers except M. Casimir Perier. He added
that if circumstances permitted he should be happy to
fulfil the aspiration of Prince Louis. ' I wish you to
understand,' said Louis Philippe to Hortense, 'that in
every respect I shall consider it a pleasure to serve you.
I am aware that you have a claim for considerable
sums, and that the State has hitherto neglected to do
you justice. Write down everything which France
owes you, and send the account to me. I know some
thing about this sort of business and I will be your
charge d'affaires!

48 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
Hortense believed in the King's honesty and friend
ship, and was greatly touched by his affability. Queen
Marie Amelie, as well as Madame Adelaide, showed
her great sympathy. But it was significant that the
latter asked Hortense how long she meant to remain
in Paris, and that when Hortense replied that she
would probably prolong her stay for three days,
Madame Adelaide exclaimed in obvious alarm, ' So
long? Three whole days? Are you aware that there
are a great many English families here who have seen
your son in Italy and may recognise him ? '
When Hortense returned to her hotel from her
visit to the Palais Royal, she found, so she tells, her
unfortunate son in bed, suffering from a recrudescence
of the fever from which he had suffered in Italy.
The physician called in declared that he had, besides,
a dangerous inflammation of the throat. This is the
account of Hortense. It must, however, be stated
that another version is extant for which M. Thirria,
the author of ' Napoleon III. avant l'Empire,' is re
sponsible. His story is that on the morning after
Hortense's visit to the Palais Royal M. Casimir Perier
said to Louis Philippe at the Cabinet Council, —
' Did not the Duchess of St. Leu present to you the
excuse on behalf of her son that he was confined to
his room by illness ? Well, believe me, his plea of in
disposition was feigned. At the time your Majesty was
receiving the mother the son was in conference with
the chief leaders of the Republican Party, and was
devising with them the means whereby your throne
might be overthrown.' Thirria adds that there could
be no question as to the Prince's relations with the

TRAVELLING IN DISGUISE — FRANCE 49
Republicans, and that they existed more or less ac
tively until December, 1848.
This anecdote must be taken for what it may be
worth. Louis Philippe and his Minister could afford
to disregard the efforts of the Republican Party to
subvert the throne. The Bonapartists were not more
formidable. In the Revolution of 1S30 scarcely any
voices were heard uttering the name of the great Em
peror in a city which had so long echoed to that
sound. Ladvocat and Dumvulin, two men without
influence, military reputation, or celebrity of any kind,
had conceived for a moment the idea of proclaiming
the Empire : both were jeered at as visionaries. Old
General Gourgaud, who had returned from St. Helena,
alone made a feeble effort to stir the dulling pulses of
his brother-veterans ; and he went so far before he flick
ered out as to protest against the nomination of the
Duke of Orleans. But in effect, at this time there
existed no Bonapartist Party. The nominal head of
the House of Napoleon was the Duke of Reichstadt,
an Austrian prince living in Vienna under surveil
lance. Joseph's protest from America was at once
futile and belated. Most of the members of the Bona
partist family were living in Italy possessed for the
greater part by local ambitions, in aid of which they
had a sufficiency of means. The Chamber of Depu
ties gave the crown of France to Louis Philippe in
virtue of the fact that he was the only possible com
promise of a dangerous position ; the only safeguard,
in the words of Thiers, 'against a republic and its
inevitable tempests.' As for Prince Louis Napoleon,
he was a mere negligible quantity now and for five

4

50 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
years later ; a grown man, he nevertheless dangled on
his mother's apron-strings.
Sick or shamming, Prince Louis remained in bed
in the H6tel de Hollande ; and his mother never left
him except to receive M. Perier's daily visit to inquire
in the King's name as to the Prince's health. The
Minister and Queen Hortense became very friendly.
' As regards you personally, a ready consent,' said
Perier, ' would be given to your return to France ; but
your son's name would be an obstacle in his case. If
later he should aspire to enter the French army he
would have to relinquish his name.' Louis overheard
the remark and broke out into a passion. ' What ! '
he exclaimed, ' sacrifice my name ? Who dares to
make to me such a proposition ? Let us return into
obscurity. You were right, mother ; the hour of the
Napoleons has passed — or has not yet arrived!'
For the time Louis Philippe needed to feel no con
cern regarding the young man whose letter, if he had
received it, he had not deigned to answer. It was
really by a fafon de parler that Louis Napoleon could
call himself a Frenchman. He was now in his
twenty-third year, and since the age of seven he had
seen scarcely anything of his native land. He needed
to assume no incognito; his old nurse of the Rue
Cerutti would not have recognised him. There was
in Paris a varied wealth of intense interest for this
curiously belated quasi-Frenchman ; but he had the
misfortune to be debarred from making any pilgrim
ages or any explorations. Hortense and her son had
been eleven days in Paris, and Louis was reported to
be still in a very serious condition. On the afternoon

TRAVELLING IN DISGUISE — FRANCE 51
of May 4, M. d'Houdetot, the aide-de-camp of the
King, came in great haste to insist that the departure
from Paris of Hortense and her son could no longer
be postponed. This imperative urgency was occa- \
^ sioned by the circumstance that the following day
chanced to be the anniversary of the death of Napoleon
the Great. The celebration was an annual remem
brance of the name which France will never allow to
fall into oblivion ; but in 1831 the occasion was hon
ored with exceptional warmth, because the Premier had
carried in the Chamber the proposal to reinstate the I
statue of Napoleon on the Yendome Column, and the
V V work was actually in progress. Already great excite
ment prevailed throughout the capital ; and it was
with feelings of apprehension that Louis Philippe's
Government, not yet a year old, regarded an anniver
sary so charged with momentous memories. From the
earliest dawn throughout the long day dense crowds
; i gathered around the Vendome Column, loading the
eagles and the railings surrounding it with garlands
and crowns of flowers. Hortense had been watching
the interesting spectacle from the window of her
apartment looking into the Place, and possibly she
was recognised. What occurred was in effect that
a hasty knock was heard at her door, and that M.
d'Houdetot, pale and confused, entered the room.
'Madame!' he said hurriedly, ' you must depart at
once. I am ordered to tell you that not another hour
will be allowed unless the doctor is prepared to state
that Prince Louis' life will be absolutely endangered
by a journey so sudden.' Ultimately the travellers
started for England on the early morning of the 6th.

52 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
( A few days later they arrived in London, where the
unfortunate Louis was promptly attacked by jaundic|
The best people called on the exiles, who thoroughly
enjoyed themselves in the free atmosphere of England,
dined at Holland House and other notable mansions,
and paid a lengthened visit to Woburn Abbey. Tal
leyrand, then the French Ambassador to England, lost
no time in inquiring the object of the visit of Queen
Hortense and her son. The reply was that they were
on their way to Switzerland by way of Belgium, an
answer which threw the diplomatic world into a tem
porary commotion, since that little monarchy had been
very recently constituted. Prince Leopold, indeed, had
not yet been elected to its throne; and the voice of
rumour had it that Prince Louis intended to try his
fortune in that direction. Leopold, an old friend of
Hortense, rallying Prince Louis as to the canard, said
jocosely, ' You 11 not pocket my little kingdom as you
go home, I hope.' On the surface the stay in England
of Louis and his mother had no political character or
significance. Apparently mother and son were wholly
absorbed in the courtesies and pleasures of society.
They visited, they dined at great houses, they to all
appearance had no concealments and no concerns;
but in reality they lived in an atmosphere of plot,
intrigue, and jealousy. The Duchesse de Berri, who
was then living at Bath, had at once hurried to Lon
don to watch Hortense. This bold and enterprising
lady was already engaged in preparations for an expe
dition to France, in the forlorn hope of fomenting an
insurrection having for its object a revolution which
should restore the Legitimist dynasty and place on the

'¦'¦^Vv^

¦J)
-4>

¥

w

r

p

LOL'IS NAPOLEON, AFTERWARDS NAPOLEON III.
{From a drawing made by Goubaitd, in Loudon, 1X31)

ENGLAND 53
throne of France her son, the Comte de Chambord, a
boy of eleven. She suspected, and probably with
reason, a counterplot on the part of Hortense having
a similar character and object.
Joseph Bonaparte had quitted his retirement at Bor-
dentown — a spot in the American State of New Jersey,
where he had bought a property on which he had built
himself a mansion, in which he had resided under the
name of Comte de Survilliers — on the errand of
ascertaining whether it would be worth while to take
a hand in a plot against Louis Philippe. But the
discovery was made that the Bonapartists of character
and devotedness were at this period not strong in
France ; and the idea was suggested that an advan
tage might be gained by a coalition with the Repub
licans. A well-known politician has written : ' Lafitte
and Lafayette were won over, and several other Repub
licans of distinction repaired to London in the hopes
of being able to ripen that notable scheme of fusion.
Several generals of Louis Philippe's army displayed
considerable eagerness to transfer their allegiance;
but not being able to invent any reasonable pretext
for visiting the British capital, they instead went clan
destinely to Ostend, where Prince Louis Napoleon met
them. What was to have formed the basis of the new
revolution, had it occurred, was never divulged. In all
likelihood it would have been Republican in name, but
certainly Bonapartist in reality. About the mode of
carrying it out Louis Napoleon and Joseph differed
essentially, the former being desirous of pushing things
at once to extremities, while the latter, with the
characteristic timidity of age, sought all manner of

54 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
pretexts for procrastination. Meanwhile the actual
conductors of the journal ' La Tribune,' having dis
covered the design of the conspirators, denounced it
with great severity. They went back over the bloody
history of the Revolution ; they enumerated the victims
of Napoleon I.'s perfidy and despotism, and they ear
nestly and vigorously cautioned the French nation
against being deluded a second time by any member
of the Bonaparte family, against which they inveighed
as a tyrannical cabal utterly irreconcilable with liberty.
This outspoken philippic was attributed to the sugges
tion of Louis Philippe, with some colour of reason ;
but with whomsoever it originated, it had its effect in
thwarting the designs of the Bonapartes and in postpon
ing for nearly twenty years their advent to power.
It ultimately became evident to Prince Louis that
any attempt in the direction of action would at this
time be premature. The French Ambassador fur
nished him and his mother with passports, and they
returned to Arenenberg through France, travelling
incognito. During the journey they discovered that
there had not been time for the French people to grow
tiredof King Louis Philippe, who, indeed, was then
still quite popular with the bulk of his subjects. Since
no wider field of action lay open to Prince Louis, he
cheerfully concerned himself with his neighbours and
his local surroundings. Having become a Swiss citi
zen — he had bought his citizenship in the village of
Ermatingen, just below the Chateau of Arenenberg —
he was duly called upon to undergo his statutory term
of military service ; and along with Mocquard (later
his Minister), he served as an officer of artillery in

RETURN TO ARENENBERG 55
the Swiss army at the camp of Thun. He became
greatly interested in his special arm, regarding which
he had already made some important scientific studies;
and he elaborated a number of novel combinations
regarding explosive cannon balls which at that period
were still chiefly of a spherical form. He employed a
manufacturer of scientific instruments in Schaffhausen
to construct for him finely worked brass models or pat
terns of those inventions. Having acquired the Swiss-
German language, he lived on friendly terms with the
worthy inhabitants of the vicinity of Arenenberg,
especially with his nearest neighbours the villagers of
Ermatingen, where he was quite a familiar visitor and
was at one time a member of the Gemeinde Rath or
Communal Council. He had many friends through
out the Canton of Thurgau, in which Arenenberg is sit
uated, among whom was Dr. Kern, later, under the
Empire, Minister Plenipotentiary of the Swiss Con
federation in Paris.
The Prince was a very good marksman with the
then very heavy arm of precision used by the Swiss
Sharpshooters, and he frequently took part in the
regular rifle meetings held in the neighbouring Swiss
towns. On one of those occasions, a yearly festival
of the Society of Sharpshooters at Schaffhausen, he
experienced some unpleasantness by being forcibly
ejected from the shooting stand in consequence of his
refusing to conform to the standing rules; and this
ejection, by a curious coincidence, was executed by
the descendant of a French Protestant family which
had long previously been expelled from France.
But the chief employment of Louis Napoleon at

56 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
this comparatively uneventful period of his life was
with his pen. He was a copious writer. His first
work was entitled ' Political Reflections,' including a
project for a new French Constitution. The manu
script had the advantage of being revised and altered
on several points by the illustrious Chateaubriand,
who happened at that time to be on a visit at the
Chateau of Arenenberg. The ' Political Reflections '
may be accepted as the political programme with
which Prince Louis was by-and-by to appeal to
France. It was, in effect, the carefully elaborated
result of his study of his great uncle's life and works,
adapted, according to his own personal views, to the
wants and desires of the French people. It was the
outline, in short, of the regime which he was prepared
to establish ; and it embodied in effect the form of
Constitution with which in his hand the Prince was
later to make his attempt on Strasburg.
The ' Reflections ' were presently followed by a
pamphlet in a yellow paper cover, on the title-page of
which were the words 'Political and Military Con
siderations in regard to Switzerland.' The author's
brief and modest preface is as follows :• ' I commend
to the indulgence of my readers these reflections,
which I submit to their judgment. If, in speaking of
Switzerland, I have been unable to prevent the fre
quent recurrence of my thoughts to France, I trust
that my digressions may be pardoned, for the interest
wherewith a free nation inspires me naturally aug
ments my love for my own country. I counsel the
Swiss to be always the allies of France, because their
local interest invites, because their interest as a civ-

RETURN TO ARENENBERG 57
ilised nation impels them to that result.' This bro
chure, published in 1833, was mainly the outcome of
the studies which the Prince had been pursuing at
Thun. It was the result of some thought, reading.
and experience. The views he advocated were natur
ally those of a Frenchman of the Napoleonic School.
He was at this early period of his career a Republi
can, although he found a crucial difficulty in reconcil
ing his political ideas with the traditions of his family
— above all, with his reverence for Napoleon.' Among
his chief mental idiosyncrasies derived from that hom
age were his hatred of England and the aspiration,
then cherished more or less deeplv by nearly all
Frenchmen, of avenging the defeat of Waterloo.
What of philosophy he then possessed had not yet
taught him to regard with calmness the events of his
tory, and to reflect that it is the destiny of great na
tions to have to experience alternations of victories
and reverses. It had not yet come to him to realise
that the animus of revenge is incompatible with civilisa
tion in its best sense ; and Mr. Jerrold has shrewdly
pointed out that the young author would not or could
not recognise that Frenchmen might as well chafe at
the remembrance of Cressy, Poictiers, and Agincourt,
as at the fresher memory of Waterloo. The ' Con
siderations ' nevertheless are not destitute of interest
and suggestion. Their author wrote with strong con
victions in favour of freedom, although he seldom per
mitted himself to be impassioned or enthusiastic^
In evidence of their appreciation of this careful and
friendly study of Switzerland the Cantons of Thurgau
and Berne conferred on the Prince the rank of Cap-

58 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
tain of Artillery. In acknowledgment of this honour
he wrote : ' I am proud to be placed among the de
fenders of a nation where the sovereignty of the peo
ple is the foundation of the Constitution, and where
every citizen is ready at any time to sacrifice himself
for the liberty and independence of his country.'
C In the intervals of his literary work the Prince from
time to time found change in his duties at the camp
of Thun, where 12,000 men were assembled on a war
footing, and where he first appeared in the character
of a captain of the Swiss Confederation. He drew up
a ' Manual of Artillery ' for the Swiss army, which was
accepted and taken into use. It was not without a
certain modesty that he now regarded himself as the
practical head of the House of Bonaparte ; for the
Duke of Reichstadt had died in 1832, King Joseph
had become heir to the Imperial Crown, King Louis
being next in succession, and his son Prince Louis
being third. But Joseph was now old and never had
been adventurous. King Louis was a permanent in
valid ; and the hopes of such Bonapartist Party as
there still existed were vested in the son of Queen
Hortense. (' From this time forward the whole life of
Louis Napoleon, speculative and practical, was de
voted to his realisation of what now became his ' fixed
idea ' — the conviction that he was destined to occupy
the throne of FranceJ

THE ATTEMPT ON STRASBURG 59

CHAPTER IV
THE ATTEMPT ON STRASBURG
Prince Louis Napoleon in 1836 had been quietly
watching public opinion in France for a considerable
time, and had been in constant communication with
some of the leading men of the country. He was
aware that discontent in France with the government
of Louis Philippe was gradually becoming profound
and general. In writing to his mother after his fail
ure he declared that in undertaking the Strasburg
expedition he acted on calmly settled convictions, and
that it was after mature reflection and after very care
ful calculations that he resolved once again to raise the
Imperial eagle within the borders of France. ' What,' he
continued, 'care I for the shouts of the vulgar who now
call me fool because I did not succeed, and who would
have exaggerated my merit had I been triumphant?
I take all the responsibility of the attempt upon myself,
for I acted from conviction and not by impulse.'
Laity, the chronicler of the enterprise, avers too
sanguinely yet not wholly without warrant, that a
revolution consummated at Strasburg by the nephew
of the Great Emperor in the name of liberty and the
sovereignty of the people, would have stirred France
to its depths. ' Had this city been secured,' in Laity's
ardent words, ' the National Guard would have manned

60 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
the ramparts and protected it from assault without.
The youth of the city, formed into corps of volunteers,
would have been added to the garrison. The march
on Paris would have been begun with 12,000 men, 100
guns, a full military chest, and spare arms for the
enthusiasts rallying to the cause. Every garrison in
Alsace would have fallen into line. The route of
march on Paris would have been through the Vosges
into Lorraine, and Prince Louis might have entered
Champagne at the head of 50,000 men.' Instead of
which hypothetically swift and amazing successes, the
Prince was fast in prison a few hours after he had en
tered the fortress which he had come to conquer. Yet
he was not so very far from winning the coup which he had
projected ; he had friends in many of the cities of Eastern
France and he had the ardent good wishes of a great
many influential inhabitants of Alsace and Lorraine.
Nephew of the Great Emperor yet condemned to
the vexations of an obscure youth, his kindred pro
scribed, while he himself was exiled by an unjust law
from the country which he loved and in which the
memory of Napoleon was still alive, Louis Bonaparte
probably did believe himself destined to uphold the
honour of the great name he bore, to punish the per
secutors of his family, and to reopen for his country a
path to fame and glory. The attempt was hazardous ;
and Prince Louis, although capable of having con
ceived it, was not strong enough to carry it through.
Louis Blanc with rare perspicuity has thus described
the character of the Prince at the opening of his active
career : V To be insensible and patient ; to care for
nothing but the end in view ; to dissemble ; not to

THE ATTEMPT ON STRASBURG 61
expend one's daring on mere projects, but to reserve
it for action ; to urge men to devotedness without put
ting implicit faith in them ; to seem strong, in order to
be so ; such, in the egotistical and vulgar meaning of
the phrase, is the genius of the ambitious. Now,
Prince Louis possessed scarcely any of the constituent
elements of that genius, whether good or evil. His
easily-moved sensibility exposed him unarmed to the
spurious officiousness of subalterns. Through haste
or good nature he often erred in his judgment of men.
The impetuosity of his aspirations deceived him or
hurried him away. Endowed with a natural straight
forwardness injurious to his designs, he exhibited in
curious combination the elevation of soul that loves
the truth and the weakness of which flatterers take ad
vantage. He was prodigal of himself to augment the
number of his partisans( In a word, he possessed neither
the art of husbanding his resources nor that of dexter
ously exaggerating their importance. But on the other
hand he was generous, enterprising, prompt in military
exercises, and the uniform sat upon him with a manly
grace.^ There was no braver officer, no more gallant cava
lier. Though the expression of his countenance was
gentle rather than energetic and imperious, though there
was an habitual languor in his looks, often dashed with
thought, no doubt the soldiers would have loved him for
his frank bearing, his honest and hearty speech, his small
figure, resembling his uncle's, and the lightning which
the passion of the moment kindled in his blue eyes.'
In July, 1836, Prince Louis left Arenenberg for a
temporary residence at Baden-Baden, a place which
he found suitable to his purpose from its vicinity to

62 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
Alsace, and from the opportunities it afforded him of
covering his designs under the mask of pleasure. It
was there that the preliminary arrangements for the
project were made, and whither gathered around him
some of his most trustworthy adherents. Colonel
Parquin, an old soldier of the Empire, had been long
an intimate of Arenenberg, having married in 1822
Mdlle. Cochelet, Queen Hortense's reader and school-
time friend. The Colonel's regard for the Prince and
his estimation of the latter's qualities had helped to
draw to the vicinity of Arenenberg many soldiers of
the Empire. Colonel Vaudrey was a scar-worn officer
who had commanded a battery at Waterloo, and who
was now in command of the artillery force in Stras
burg. Fialin (afterwards Comte, and later Due de
Persigny), a ci-devant cavalry ofiicer who had been
cashiered, had attached himself devotedly to the for
tunes of the Prince and in his later career proved a
man of remarkable ability and character. The plan
of the project was bold and had a specious aspect of
feasibility, mingled, however, with fantasy. The Alsa
tian democrats were to be gained over, the garrison of
Strasburg was to be captivated by the cry of ' Vive
V ' Empereur 1 ' '; the citizens were to be summoned to
liberty, the young men of the schools to arms ; the
ramparts were to be intrusted to the holding of the
National Guard. And then the pictures which pre
sented themselves in the glowing mind of Prince Louis
were of towns surprised on the march to Paris, of gar
risons swept onward with the movement, of young
men eagerly enlisting under the tricolour, and of old
soldiers quitting the plough to salute the eagle in its

HALIN, DUC DE I'hkbH.XY

THE ATTEMPT ON STRASBURG 63
advance, amid acclamations caught up by echo after
echo along the valleys and over the hills.
The decisive blow was to be struck in Strasburg.
Two months before the actual attempt Prince Louis
was brought into that city under cover of night, and
introduced into a room in which a friend of the cause
had assembled twenty-five officers of the garrison rep
resenting the different arms of the service. He was
received with unanimous enthusiasm. ' The nephew
of the Emperor was welcome,' was the cry ; ' he has
nothing to fear. We would defend him with our
lives!' He made the officers a short speech which
appeared to stir them greatly; and according to Laity,
one and all declared that the Prince should no longer
live in exile, and assured him that they would exert
themselves to restore him to his country.
The preliminary arrangements had the pretence of
secrecy, but it is certain that many persons must have
been aware that a conspiracy was in the air. So
frank, indeed, was the Prince, that he himself made
overtures to General Voirol, in chief command at Stras
burg, and military governor of the Department of Bas
Rhin. Voirol was an old soldier of the Empire, but he
was true to his salt. He repelled the advances of the
Prince, and warned him off French territory. He further
considered it his duty to acquaint the Prefect of Stras
burg with the projects in progress on the frontier. The
Prefect wrote on the subject to the authorities in Paris,
adding that he had a secret agent about the person of
the Prince. Louis Philippe's Government apparently
regarded the matter as trivial ; at all events no obsta
cles were offered to the designs of the conspirators.

64 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
During the stay in Baden a strange element was
imported into the enterprise in the person of a certain
enthusiastic Madame Gordon, said to be the daughter
of a captain in the Imperial Guard, and to have been
brought up in the worship of Napoleon. While giv
ing concerts in the Kursaal in the character of a pro
fessional singer she became fully initiated into the
secrets of the plotters, and she threw herself ardently
into their designs, devoting herself to gathering in
partisans for the Prince. He had returned from
Baden to Arenenberg on a short visit to his mother,
and when on October 25 he took farewell of her os
tensibly to join a hunting party in the Principality of
Heckingen, Hortense showed more emotion than a
temporary separation seemed to warrant. It is prob
able that she was aware of the danger which her son
was about to encounter; for pressing him to her heart,
she slipped on his finger the marriage-ring of Napoleon
and Josephine, which she regarded as a talisman. A
rendezvous in the Grand Duchy of Baden with some
important persons on whom the Prince had counted
somehow miscarried ; he found no one at the place
appointed ; and at length on the morning of the 28th
he quitted Freiburg along with Parquin, Vaudrey, and
Fialin, and reached Strasburg late the same night.
Next day was spent in consultations and arrange
ments with Parquin, Vaudrey, Laity, an officer of
pontonniers in the Strasburg garrison, and the rest
of the fifteen faithful participators in the adventure
of the morrow. The Prince presented a report on
inquiries which he had directed to be made in Neu-
Brisach, Colmar, and other frontier towns; and the

THE ATTEMPT ON STRASBURG 65
result seemed to afford the conviction that their gar
risons and civilian inhabitants were prepared to rise so
soon as an imposing military force should be known
to have raised the Imperial eagle in Strasburg.
The first condition towards success, then, was to
secure the adhesion of a regiment. The garrison of
Strasburg consisted at the time of the 3rd and 4th
regiments of artillery, a ponton nier battalion, and the
14th, 1 6th, and 46th regiments of line infantry. The
16th, quartered in the citadel, was isolated by a forti
fied neck from the ramparts surrounding the town.
The 14th regiment, quartered in the Margarethen
barracks, in the western section of the city beyond the
111, was quite outside of the prospective line of opera
tions. The nearest military quarters to the house in
which the conspirators were in consultation were the
Austerlitz barracks occupied by the 4th artillery; of
which, as well as of the 3rd artillery, Colonel Vaudrey
had the command. Diagonally across the town from
the Austerlitz barracks was the open space of the Place
d'Armes, otherwise known as the Broglie-Platz, the
further extremity of which abutted on the northeastern
section of the ramparts. Bordering the Place d'Armes
were the Hotel de Ville, the General's quarters, the Pre
fecture, the military establishments, and the quarters of
the 3rd artillery regiment. Some distance away, close
under the northern extremity of the ramparts, were the
Finkmatt barracks, separated from the ramparts only by
a narrow enclosed court, and occupied by the 46th infan
try regiment. There were two accesses to the Finkmatt
— one by the broad thoroughfare of the ramparts, and
the other by a narrow lane from the Faubourg Pierre.
s

66 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
It was finally determined that the first regiment to
be attempted was the 4th artillery. Its rank and file
were strongly Bonapartist ; it had been Napoleon's
own regiment, and it had opened the gates of Gren
oble to him on his return from Elba. The attachment
of the soldiers to their chief, Colonel Vaudrey, a brave
soldier devotedly attached to Prince Louis, seemed to
give assurance that his regiment would be most easily
carried. The fulfilment of the plan consisted in re
pairing as soon as possible from the Austerlitz quar
ters to the Finkmatt, where, as has been said, were
the barracks of the 46th. According to the plan, the
leaders would have arrived there before the movement
should become known, and therefore before any op
position should be encountered. On the way along
the Place d'Armes they would pass the residences of
the Chief Authorities, who would either be won over
or secured. The 46th once brought into acquiescence
with the design of the Prince the military difficulties
would have been surmounted ; since while the 46th
was being dealt with the officers of the 3rd artillery
and of the pontonnier battalion who were in the con
fidence of the Prince, would form their respective
corps and bring them on without delay to the general
rendezvous on the Place d'Armes.
The morning of Oct. 30, 1836, was dark and cold.
As day dimly broke and the cathedral bells chimed
the hour of six, Prince Louis and his handful of some
twenty adherents set forth on what the less sanguine
hearts of the party must have felt to be a forlorn hope.
But all wore a good front and tramped steadily towards
the Austerlitz barracks, whither Colonel Vaudrey

THE ATTEMPT ON STRASBURG 67
had gone in advance. Parquin, now dressed as a
general officer, walked alongside the Prince, as hold
ing the rank of second in command. De Querelles, a
retired cavalry officer, carried the shrouded eagle
which he was to display before the soldiers whom
Vaudrey was preparing to muster. Lombard, a mili
tary surgeon of Strasburg, was on his way to the
printing-office to have the proclamations printed and
distributed. Louis, like most Frenchmen, was ad
dicted to proclamations ; and, unlike his great uncle,
he preferred that they should be long. His first pro
clamation was addressed to the French people, and its
opening sentence was certainly to the point. ' You
are betrayed,' it said; 'your political interests, your
commercial interests, your honor, your glory, are all
sold to the foreigner.' The second proclamation was
to the army, and had a certain reminiscence of the
' little corporal's ' bulletins : ' Soldiers ! the time has
come to regain your ancient renown. The Govern
ment, which betrays our civil interests, would also
tarnish our military honour. The simpletons ! do
they think that the race of the heroes of Areola, of
Austerlitz, of Wagram is extinct ? ' The third instal
ment of bunkum was addressed to the citizens of
Strasburg, and began in this wise : ' Alsatians ! my
name is a flag that should recall great memories to
you; and this flag — you know that it is inflexible
before factions and the foreigner — will droop only
before the Majesty of the People.' Alas that Lom
bard should have destroyed efforts so striking, if also
so full of platitudes! Persigny and Madame Gordon
were more purposeful when they committed to the

68 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
flames all the compromising documents left by the
Prince. The trumpet-sound calling Vaudrey's soldiers to fall
in was the signal in the barrack-yard for the appear
ance of the Prince and his sparse following. Laity,
an eye-witness, has recorded the scene : ' The officers
pressed closely round him as the Prince entered the
yard. " Forward, Prince ! " they shouted ; " France is
following you ! " The Colonel was in the centre of the
square ; as the Prince advanced the regiment presented
arms.' At the close of the inevitable harangue the
Colonel cried, ' Shout with me, " Long live Napoleon !
Long live the Emperor! "' The soldiers replied 'with
indescribable enthusiasm.' Then the Prince signified
that he desired to speak ; and when silence had been
restored he spoke in a strong deep voice : ' Soldiers! I
present myself in the first instance to you, because
between you and me grand memories exist. It was
in your noble regiment that the Emperor Napoleon,
my uncle, served as a captain ; it was with you that
he made himself illustrious at the siege of Toulon;
and, again, it was your brave regiment that opened the
gates of Grenoble to him on his return from Elba.
' Soldiers ! the glory of beginning a great enterprise
be yours ! Yours be the glory of having first saluted
the eagle of Austerlitz and of Wagram ! ' Here the
Prince seized the eagle which one of his officers car
ried, and presenting it to the regiment, he continued :
' Soldiers, there is the symbol of French glory, des
tined henceforth to be also the emblem of liberty!
During fifteen years it led our fathers to victory. It
has shone over every battlefield. I confide it to your

PRINCE LOUIS PRESENTING THE EAOI.E TO THE FOI'KTH KFOIMENT
OF ARTILLERV AT STRASI!L'R< ;, OCTOBER 30, 1836
(From a contemporary engraving)

THE ATTEMPT ON STRASBURG 69
honour, to your courage. Let us march together
against the oppressors of their country, to the cries
of " Long live France ! Long live liberty ! " '
The Prince's address was scarcely finished when
every sword was drawn. The men held their shakoes
aloft, cheering with prolonged vehemence, their cries
mingling with the sounds of martial music. But now,
the regiment gained to a man, no time was to be
wasted. The regiment, with the Prince and Colonel
Vaudrey at its head, Parquin and the other conspirators
following, began its march, its band in the advance.
Lombard hurried faster to the printing-office to hasten
the publication of the proclamations. A detachment
took possession of the railway station. The officers of
the 3rd artillery hurried to bring their men on to the
parade ground and an officer was sent off to notify in
advance the distant 46th at the Finkmatt. The Prince
with his staff led the 4th artillery through the city to
the headquarters on the Place d'Armes.
Though still early, crowds thronged the streets and
considerable enthusiasm was visible. The Prince
doubtless felt assured at that moment that he had not
mistaken the sentiments either of the army or of the
people. General Voirol, however, to whom the Prince
appealed with great fervour, remained staunch to his
duty, notwithstanding the pleadings and expostulations
of the Prince; the latter could not shake the allegiance
of the loyal old soldier, and he was held a prisoner in
his quarters. But in the general glow of enthusiasm
Voirol's obduracy reckoned as but a momentary check.
The advance of the 4th artillery, still headed by the
Prince, was resumed. But whereas the proper route

70 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
to the Finkmatt barracks was along the broad ram
parts on which a body of men could march on a wide
front, he led the column into the Pierre Faubourg,
which was connected with the main entrance to the
Finkmatt quarters by an extremely narrow lane. The
barracks themselves were separated from the ramparts
only by a long, narrow yard, at one end of which was
an iron gate locked. Leaving the mass of his force in
the Faubourg the Prince followed the lane, and he
presently found himself with a weak escort in a nar
row and overhung yard which, if fortune had failed
him, might easily have become his prison or his grave.
It was a serious misfortune that the officer sent in
advance to apprise the 46th of the Prince's coming
should not have arrived. The infantrymen of that reg
iment were thus taken by surprise, but they crowded
to the windows and the doors when they heard the
name of Napoleon. The cheers of the gunners were
caught up by the foot-soldiers ; and, in short, the
reception of the Prince was at first as hearty and
unanimous as it had been at the Austerlitz barracks.
Success now seemed assured on all sides. General
Voirol and the Prefect were under arrest, as were the
General of brigade and the Colonel of the 3rd artillery ;
and that regiment was hurrying to the general ren
dezvous on the Place d'Armes. Several companies
of the 46th had already been formed by the Prince
and his officers. An old sergeant exclaimed that he
had served in the Imperial Guard, stooped down to
kiss the hands of the Prince, and embraced him with
tears. Emotion seized the soldiers at this spectacle ;
already the Prince was surrounded with marks of

THE ATTEMPT ON STRASBURG 71
devotion; already the cry was heard of 'Vive I'Empe
reur!'; when suddenly a strange clamour astonished
the bystanders, and Colonel Tallandier, the officer
commanding the 46th, came storming forward with
drawn sword, shouting loudly to his men, ' Soldiers,
you are being deceived — this man is an impostor!'
A staff officer called out, ' He is not the nephew of the
Emperor! I know him — he is the nephew of Colonel
Vaudrey!' An infantry lieutenant named Pleignier
rushed forward to seize the Prince. Himself arrested
by the artillerymen the wildest confusion ensued. Lines
men and gunners became mingled in a general struggle ;
muskets were loaded, bayonets were fixed, and swords
were drawn. The Prince was parrying with his sword
the bayonets pointed against him by the infantrymen
when a rush of artillerymen rescued him ; but both he
and they were driven back up against the barrack wall.
The court-yard resounded with menaces ; swords were
out and flashing in all directions. The artillerymen who
had been left in the Faubourg, hearing of the Prince's
imminent danger, moved forward ; suddenly they were
seen rushing in great crowds into the barrack-yard ; and
with them entered pell-mell sixty mounted cannoneers.
The infantry thus driven back to both ends of the yard,
formed again with shouts of fury and returned fiercely
on the Prince's partisans, who were pushed and knocked
down by the horses against the base of the ramparts.
Here stood the foot-soldiers with bayonets charged ; there
the gunners with levelled carbines; on the ramparts the
populace cheering for the Prince and throwing volleys
of stones down on the infantry, amidst wild clamours,
roll of drums, clash of arms, and neighing of horses.

72 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
But the end soon came. The people on the ram
parts were scared by a few shots fired in the air by
order of Colonel Tallandier. Gricourt and Querelles
would have cut a passage sword in hand for the
Prince, but he rejected the offer and was made a
prisoner. Colonel Vaudrey wisely dismissed his men
and surrendered himself. Parquin and Laity followed
his example ; and later all the members of the Prince's
following, with the exception of Persigny, who adroitly
escaped, found themselves in prison. The daring at
tempt, almost at the moment of seeming success, had
suddenly and utterly collapsed.
The late Mr. Kinglake, the virulent enemy of Louis
Napoleon, remarks on this Strasburg fiasco as follows:
' In some of its features this attempt was a graver
business than was generally supposed. At that time
Louis Napoleon was twenty-eight years old. He had
gained over Vaudrey, the officer commanding a regi
ment of artillery, which formed part of the garrison.
Early in the morning of Oct. 30 the movement began.
By declaring that a revolution had broken out in
Paris and that the King had been deposed, Vaudrey
persuaded his gunners to recognise the Prince as
Napoleon II. Vaudrey then caused detachments to
march to the houses of the Prefect and of General
Voirol, the General commanding the garrison, and
made them both prisoners, placing sentries at their
doors. All this he achieved without alarming any of
the other regiments. . . . Louis Napoleon was brought
into the presence of the captive General, and tried to
gain him over, but was repulsed. Afterwards the Prince,
surrounded by men personating an imperial staff, was

THE ATTEMPT ON STRASBURG 73
conducted to the barrack of the 46th regiment ; and
the men, taken entirely by surprise, were told that the
person now introduced to them was their Emperor.
What they saw was a young man with the bearing
and countenance of a weaver — a weaver oppressed by
long hours of monotonous indoor work, which makes
the body stoop and keeps the eyes downcast ; but all
the while, — and yet it was broad daylight — this
young man, from hat to boot, was standing dressed up
in the historic costume of the man of Marengo and
Austerlitz. It seems that this painful exhibition began
to undo the success which Vaudrey had achieved ; but
strange things had happened in Paris before, and the
soldiery could not with certainty know that the young
man might not be what they were told he was —
Napoleon II., the new-made Emperor of the French.
Their perplexity gave the Prince an opportunity of
trying whether the sentiment for the Bonapartes were
really existing or not ; and if it were, whether he was
the man to kindle it. But by-and-by Tallandier, the
Colonel of the regiment, having been at length ap
prised of what was going on, came into the yard. He
instantly ordered the gates to be closed ; and then —
fierce, angry, and scornful — went straight up to the
spot where the proposed Emperor and his "imperial
staff" were standing. Of course, this apparition —
the apparition of the indignant Colonel whose barrack
had been invaded — was exactly what was to be ex
pected, exactly what was to be combated ; but yet, as
though it were something monstrous and undreamt
of, it came upon the Prince with a crushing power.
... In a moment the Prince succumbed to the

74 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
Colonel. Some thought that after what had been
done that morning, the Prince owed it to the unfor
tunate Vaudrey to take care not to let the enterprise
collapse without testing his fortune to the utmost by a
strenuous, not to say desperate, resistance ; but this
view did not prevail. One of the ornaments which
the Prince wore was a sword ; yet without striking a
blow he suffered himself to be publicly stripped of his
grand cordon of the Legion of Honour and of all his
other decorations. According to one account the
angry Colonel inflicted this dishonour with his own
hands, and not only dragged the grand cordon from
the Prince's breast, but trampled both epaulettes and
cordon under foot. When he was thus stripped, the
Prince was locked up. The decorated followers who
had been personating the imperial staff, underwent
the same fate as their chief. . . . Louis Napoleon
could not alter his nature, and his nature was to be
venturesome beforehand, but to be so violently awak
ened and shocked by the actual contact of danger as
to be left without the spirit and seemingly without
the wish or motives for going on any further with the
part of a desperado. The truth was, that the sources
of his boldness were his vanity and his theatric bent;
and those passions, though they had power to bring
him to the verge of danger, were not robust enough
to hold good against man's natural shrinking from the
risk of being killed. Conscious that in point of hat
and coat and boots he was the same as the Emperor
Napoleon, he imagined that the great revoir of 1815
between the men and the Man of a Hundred Fights,
could be acted over again between modern French

THE ATTEMPT ON STRASBURG 75
troops and himself. But it was plain that this belief had
resulted from the undue mastery which he had allowed
for a time to his ruling propensity and not from any
actual overthrow of the reason ; for when checked, he
did not, like a madman or a dare-devil, try to carry his
vengeance through ; nor did he even, indeed, hold on
long enough to try fairly whether the Bonapartist
sentiments to which he wished to appeal were really
existent or not. On the contrary, the moment he en
countered the shock of the real world, he stopped
dead ; and becoming suddenly quiet, harmless and
obedient, surrendered himself to the first firm man
who touched him. The change was like that seem
ing miracle which is wrought when a hysteric girl who
seems to be carried headlong by strange hallucina
tions is suddenly cured and silenced by a rebuke and
a sharp, angry threat. The diagnosis is actually vit
riolic in its bitterness, but it loses much of its venom
because of its obvious and indeed undisguised animus.
fJThe Prince remained a prisoner in Strasburg until
November 9. In charge of two officers he was then
brought to Paris, where he arrived in the early morn-
ino- of the nth, and was confined in the Prefecture of
Police. His mother had already hastened to Pans,
and had addressed to the King and his Ministers
petitions in favour of her son. His Majesty and the
Council had already resolved not to try Prince Louis
at the bar of justice, but to despatch him in a frigate
to the United States. After a detention of but two
hours in Paris he was hurried to the fortress of Port
Louis near Lorient, where he remained until the 21st,
when he sailed for America in the Andromede frigate.J

76 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
He had written a manly letter to the King entreating
his mercy and generosity on behalf of his companions
in misfortune, who, he said, had been led away by him
and ' seduced by the charm of glorious recollections.'
It may be said here that after a trial which lasted for
twelve days, the associates of Prince Louis in the
attempt on Strasburg were acquitted by the unani
mous verdict of a jury, to the great disgust of Louis
Philippe and his Ministers. When the Andromede
was on the point of sailing the sub-prefect of Lorient
asked the Prince whether he had any means where
with to meet his immediate wants on arrival in
America. ' None,' replied the Prince. ' Well, then,'
said the sub-prefect, ' His Majesty the King has de
sired me to hand you this case, which contains 15,000
francs in gold.' The Prince accepted the case, the
sub-prefect landed, and the Andromede set sail.
Prince Louis had assumed, with considerable right,
that the frigate was bound direct to the United States.
But as soon as the captain opened his sealed letters
when some days out from port, it appeared that in his
orders from Paris he was directed in the first instance
to make a detour by way of Rio de Janeiro, to take in
fresh water and provisions there, to keep the Prince on
board during the Andromede s stay in the roadstead,
and finally to convey him thus circuitously to the
United States. Ultimately he was put ashore at
Norfolk in Virginia, in March, 1837, and was there
greeted by the cheering tidings of the acquittal of his
Strasburg associates. Joseph Bonaparte, who had been
in England since the death of the Duke of Reichstadt,
Prince Louis had known would risk nothing to assist

J

H. I. H. PRINCESS MATHILDE, DAUGHTER OF JEROME BONAPARTE
{From, au engraving)

SOJOURN IN AMERICA 77
the fortunes of the family, and his nephew was well
assured that he had disapproved of the Strasburg
attempt. Nevertheless, before his departure from
France Prince Louis had written to his uncle, beg
ging for a few letters of introduction for Philadelphia
and New York and requesting Joseph to inform him
through his American agent what land he would sell
him. Louis, so he wrote, had determined to turn
farmer ; and perhaps, he added, he would never return
to Europe. On his arrival in New York Prince Louis
found that his uncle was more incensed against him
than he had apprehended, and that Joseph had not
written him a line. This was discouraging, but he
allowed himself to be disheartened neither by the
indifference of his family nor by his distance from
France. It was seldom that Louis Napoleon was
pathetic, but in one of his letters of this time to his
mother he reveals a sorrow. Among his cousins was
one, Mathilde, a daugher of King Jerome, to whom he
was attached, who was believed to return his affection,
and who is still alive, the last survivor of her genera
tion. The little passage is as follows : ' When a few
months ago I was returning through the park of Aren
enberg, after having accompanied Mathilde home, I
came on a tree riven by the storm. I said to myself,
" Our marriage will be broken by fate." This vague,
passing thought has become the truth. Have I ex
hausted, then, all the store of happiness life had in
store for me ? '
Prince Louis' stay in America was shorter than he
had anticipated; but in two months and a half he
assimilated avast quantity of information in travelling,

78 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
visiting, and conversing. There is no doubt that in
a marvellously short time he made himself fully ac
quainted with the laws and form of government of the
United States. He is said to have lived much with
such people as FitzGreene Halleck, Generals Scott
and Watson Webb, the Schuylers," the Hamiltons,
the Clintons, the Livingstones, the Bayards. His
friends, of the best houses in the States, found him
silent and reserved, but conceived a sincere and lasting
regard for him ; and they contrasted his conduct and
manners with those of his dissipated and rowdy cousin
Prince Pierre Bonaparte, who was in America at the
same time. One prominent gentleman of New York
wrote of Prince Louis : ' His bearing was always
quiet, gentlemanly, and reticent; he seldom laid aside
his grave demeanour. He associated almost exclusively
with our best and oldest families, and he always evinced
a fondness for ladies' society. He mixed occasionally
in a small but refined French circle. I never heard
of his having committed any imprudence ; he always
sought the company of persons older than himself and
preferred grave topics of conversation.' Another friend
wrote : ' He was winning in the invariableness of his
amiability, sometimes playful in spirits and manner,
and warm in his affections. He was a fondly attached
son and seemed to idolise his mother. When speak
ing of her, the intonations of his voice and his whole
manner were as gentle and feminine as those of a
woman. It was said that he was without means and
lived on loans which he never repaid ; but this was
wholly untrue. Funds were awaiting his arrival in
New York and money was always at his command.'

SOJOURN IN AMERICA 79
This certainly seems explicit enough. Yet there is
not lacking evidence of quite a different character.
Some strange circumstances concerning Louis Napo
leon's short residence in America are still claimed to
be authentic. He is stated to have lived in a clingy
street of Hoboken, a squalid suburb of Jersey City
over against New York. ' His room,' says this in
formant, 'was in the attic of a large frame building,
the basement and upper floor of which were occupied
by stores and the intervening storeys in rooms let
out to mechanics. Louis Napoleon's room looked to
the east. There were no decorations on the walls but
such as the plain boards afforded, and no furniture
except a small iron bedstead and three chairs — two
small ones and a kind of armchair in which he sat
when he wrote. His wardrobe was of the scantiest
description, and sometimes he presented as sorry a
specimen of seedy gentility as one need look at, in
worn-out and threadbare coat. How he succeeded in
appeasing the wants of the inner man was a mystery
which soon attained solution in the neighbourhood
when he was seen under the cover of night to steal
out and buy bread at an adjoining baker's. He
always managed, however — how, few could tell — to
have a good bottle of wine in his room and never to be
out of tobacco. He was the steadfast customer of a
little Alsatian Frenchman named Sangler who kept a
tobacco store across the road from his tenement, and
many a discussion was held between the two.'
Apparently Louis had no intention of persevering
in the farming project — at all events until he should
receive from Europe some definite advice. With

80 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
General Watson Webb's assistance he was planning
a year's tour through the States of the Union, with
intent to study their institutions and observe the
practical operation of their political systems. But a
letter from his mother, delayed in transmission, reached
him, intimating her intention to undergo an operation
which she had assured herself would prolong her life.
The doctors knew differently, and therefore it was that
the faithful and skilled Conneau wrote on the envel
ope the fateful words ' Venez ! Venez ! ' Sailing by
the first packet the Prince reached London on July
10, only to be refused passports for Switzerland by
the representatives of the Great Powers. And now
it was charged against him that when deported to
America by the French authorities, instead of being
tried for high treason, he had given an undertaking
not to return to Europe within a period of ten years.
Nevertheless the Prince, having suddenly returned
from America, persistently denied that he had entered
into any such undertaking; and that so far from
agreeing to any conditions, it had been his ardent
desire to remain in France and present himself for
trial at the head of his adherents ; not only that he
might accept the whole responsibility of the Strasburg
expedition, but also prove to the world how much
more serious and more nearly approximating to suc
cess was that enterprise than the journalists in the
hire of Louis Philippe were instructed to represent it.
His contention was upheld later when, referring to
the Strasburg affair a servant of the Government of
July, M. Franck-Carre, Procureur-G'eneral to the Court
of Peers, exclaimed at the Prince's subsequent trial in

THE DEATH OF HORTENSE 81
1840: * Conquered without a fight, pardoned uncondi
tionally, ought he not to have remembered that his
machinations were not feared?'
Prince Louis was at length fortunate enough to
obtain the use of a friend's passport; and after a
rapid journey he reached the Chateau of Arenenberg
in the dead of night. Conneau told him that his
mother was asleep and that it would be unwise to dis
turb her. In the early morning the quick ear of the
sick mother was on the alert, and a few minutes later
her son knelt by her bedside. The first glance told
him that Hortense was stricken for death ; and relay
on relay of medical men whom he requisitioned as
forlorn hopes told him that no human hand could
save her. Day after day Louis spent by her bed
side until the end came. She lingered until Oct. 5,
1837. Her last physical effort was to clasp her son
in her worn arms. And as the early sun rose over
the Swiss mountains, Hortense de Beauharnais, Queen
of Holland, Duchesse de St. Leu, passedirom a -world
in which she had paid for a brief period of splendour
and joy with more than twenty years of exile, harass-
ment, and suffering. Her son closed her eyes, in the
light of which he had lived so long, and fell weeping on
the bed. Her dying entreaty that her remains might lie
by the side of her mother in the church of Rueil, near
Mailmaison, was granted by the French Government.
In July that Government, to which the return of
Prince Louis to Switzerland occasioned great uneasi
ness, wrote to the Swiss Federal Directory requesting
his expulsion from the republic. For the moment
the matter rested, M. Mole being content to wait until
6

82 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
Queen Hortense should have passed away. After
her death the Due de Montebello presented himself at
Lucerne to communicate the demand of the Cabinet
of the Tuileries that Prince Louis Napoleon should
be compelled to quit Swiss Territory without delay.
The demand was answered by a firm refusal. The
French emissary was peremptory for immediate ex
pulsion, and there ensued a close combat of words,
gradually threatening actual hostilities between France
and Switzerland. The situation was abundantly satis
factory to Louis Napoleon. He became for the nonce
an European celebrity; the newspapers were full of
him, and he acquired for the first time real impor
tance in the eyes of the Napoleonic Party throughout
France. He was no longer a mere adventurer, but
was elevated into the position of a serious political
opponent of the French King. Switzerland actually
armed to resist the French demand for his expulsion;
and a French army was in course of concentration to
coerce the Switzers and enforce the extradition of
Prince Louis Napoleon. Had the situation become
further exacerbated, there was a possibility that the
Prince might be crushed between the upper and the
lower mill-stone. For the present Louis Napoleon
had made himself sufficiently conspicuous in the eye
of the world; and he prudently put an end to the
trouble by voluntarily withdrawing himself from Swiss
territory. He sold his carriages and horses by auc
tion at Arenenberg, paid his farewell respects to the
Diet, and travelling through Germany and Holland,
returned to London in the end of October, 1838.

THE FIASCO OF BOULOGNE 83

CHAPTER V
THE FIASCO OF BOULOGNE
Prince Louis Napoleon had many staunch and
influential friends in England, and as a consequence
of the futile folly of Louis Philippe and his Ministers
he brought with him to London in October, 1838,
an European prestige. The days of obscurity were
passed in the case of a man to remove whom a great
State had put an army in motion. In all respects
London was a more convenient place of residence for
Prince Louis than had been his mother's chateau in
an obscure Swiss canton. No molestation could reach
him in the bosom of the great and free British nation.
In London he was in every sense nearer Paris than
he had been in Switzerland ; he found in England his
uncle Joseph, and he was in the midst of a number of
well-affected fellow-countrymen. He at once made
good his footing in the best circles of the British capi
tal, and he became immediately a personage of high
social interest and importance. He seems to have
been on terms of intimacy with the leading members of
the aristocracy ; he was welcomed in the best country
houses, and notwithstanding his silent and reserved
manners he was a favourite in ladies' society. He
frequented the literary and intellectual society of Gore
House, and soon after his arrival in England he went

84 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
on a tour of the manufacturing districts, afterwards
making a round of visits which extended to some of
the most notable houses of Scotland. In the famous
Eglinton tournament which was held in August, 1839,
the Prince took an active part. Armed cap-a-pie as a
knight of the days of chivalry he broke a lance with
an antagonist. Their spears riven, the combatants
drew their swords and their armour rang under the
heavy blows. The Prince had been always addicted
to exercises requiring spirit and skill. His training at
Thun had given him skill in the use of arms, and he
excelled in the management of the lance, a circum
stance which no doubt gave the Eglinton tourney a
special attraction in his eyes.
During the London seasons of 1839 and 1840
Prince Louis, so far as the outside world was con
cerned, led the life of a man of fashion. He has been
accused of having been dissipated and a spendthrift.
No doubt he had his share in the fashionable vices of
a lax and dissipated period. But a man who thought,
worked, and schemed so assiduously as did Louis
Napoleon, could not have been altogether absorbed in
pleasure ; for he lived in daily preparation for the des
tiny of which he had assured himself. That he had
a mission to perform, as those who knew him most
closely recognised, was throughout a fixed idea in
Louis Napoleon's mind. The man who wrote the
' Idees Napoleoniennes,' which were published in 1839,
and speedily ran through four editions in France, was
assuredly a thoughtful, serious, and earnest-minded
person. ' The " Idees," wrote Mr. Jerrold, ' are the
brightest and fullest expression of the mind of Prince

THE FIASCO OF BOULOGNE 85
Louis Napoleon. His political life was this work in
action. By its lights his conduct as President and as
Emperor must be judged. It is the text-book of his
policy, the code of his personal law, the last result of
his unwearied study of the man under whose inspira
tion he lived and died. Yet the " Idees " are not a
mere summary of the intellectual manifestations of
Napoleon I. ; they are rather new developments of
those manifestations, applications of them to the
changed aspects of the political world, the Napoleonic
ideas amplified and carried forward for the govern
ment of society by a later Napoleon.'
The Prince had brought with him to London a
suite of seven devoted adherents, among whom were
General Montholon (who had shared the St. Helena
exile with Napoleon I. until the death of the latter in
1 821), Persigny, Colonels Vaudrey and Bouffet de
Montauban, and the faithful Dr. Conneau. His con
fidential servant was Charles Thelin, who later became
a person of some importance. On leaving Fenton's
Hotel the Prince established himself at first in Lord
Cardigan's house in Carlton Terrace, whence in the
winter of 1839 he removed to the house of Lord
Ripon in Carlton Gardens. His domestic habits dur
ing this period are thus described in the ' Lettres de
Londres ' : — ' The Prince is an active working man,
severe towards himself, indulgent towards others. At
six a.m. he is in his study, where he works till noon —
his hour of dejeuner. After this repast, which never
lasts longer than ten minutes, he reads the newspapers
and has taken notes of the more important events and
opinions of the day. At two he receives visits; at

86 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
four he goes out on his private business ; he rides at
five and dines at seven ; then, generally, he finds time
to work again for some hours in the course of the
evening.' It has been said of him by unfriendly
writers that the Prince, once established in London,
gave himself up to the dissipations of the town and
degenerated into the mere spendthrift votary of pleas
ure. One hostile author has permitted himself to
aver that, instead of learning how to command armies
and govern nations, his time was almost wholly spent
on the turf, in the betting-room, or in clubs, ' where
high play and desperate stakes roused the jaded
energy of the blase gambler.' But Mr. Jerrold main
tains this description to be untrue. ' Prince Louis,'
according to that writer, ' was no saint either before,
during, or after his residence in London. He had his
full share of the fashionable vices. He kept a mis
tress. He was fond of sports ; he delighted in racing ;
he was expert in all manly exercises. Both in the
hunting-field and the park his horsemanship was re
markable.' In a word, he lived among the most
fashionable men of the day; and if he were in a meas
ure dissipated, he was dissipated among gentlemen.
His earnest belief in his star, even when fate seemed
most unpropitious, struck his English friends with
mingled astonishment and amusement. To most of
them it was a sort of fetish betokening weakness of
mind and strength of vanity. But no badinage or
discouragement impaired his faith in the ultimate ful
filment of his destiny. That he had a mission to fulfil
was a fixed conviction in Louis Napoleon's mind. His
manner for the most part was grave and taciturn ; he

PRrNCE LOUIS, AFTERWARDS NAPOLEON III., IN 184O
(From a lithograph after Charlet)

THE FIASCO OF BOULOGNE 87
was wrapt in the future and seemed indifferent to the
present. ^In the spring of 1840 the Prince of Joinville was
voyaging to St. Helena in the Belle Foule, on the
errand of restoring to France the ashes of Napoleon
the Great ; and the statue of the ' Little Corporal ' now
surmounted the Vendome Column. Prince Louis in
discreetly and prematurely deemed the time favour
able for making a second effort towards the restoration
of the Napoleonic power in France; The chiefs of
the party certainly did not respond with ardour ; nor
did the emissaries despatched to test the feeling of
the French Army of the North bring back favourable
reports. Among the Prince's adherents detailed for
this service were Parquin, Lombard, and a new re
cruit, de Mesonan, to whom was confided the forlorn-
hope attempt of bringing over to the Prince General
Magnan, then in command of the Army of the North
with his quarters at Lille. Mesonan sapped up
towards his purpose with but little address ; and after
several visits to the General he seized a moment
which he deemed propitious, and produced for Ma-
gnan's perusal a letter to himself from the Prince, the
terms of which were as follows : ' It is important that
you should promptly sound the General in question,
whom I have marked to be one day a Marshal of
France. You will offer him 100,000 francs down, and
deposit 300,000 more with his banker to meet the
contingency of the loss of command.'
The General, stupefied by a communication made so
bluntly and so abruptly, shouted in passion : ' This to
me — to me — such a letter! I had thought better

88 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
of you. I will never betray my oaths — never be a
traitor. But you are mad! My attachment to the
memory of the Emperor will never lead me to betray
my oaths to the King. Were I so base as to accept
this offer, I should be a thief whom the meanest cor
poral would have the right to take by the collar ! I
ought to have you arrested, were it not that I cannot
denounce a man whom I have received at my table.
For God's sake, in regard for me, for your own honour,
renounce your projects ! I shall not expose you.'
The General opened the door of his room, and as he
thrust Mesonan out he exclaimed, ' Go and get your
self hanged somewhere else ! '
This was not an encouraging episode./'' The Prince, V
having failed in regard to General Magnan and not
having succeeded in corrupting any officers of the
Lille garrison through the machinations of Parquin
and Lombard,' abandoned3 his original idea of causing
a rising in a large town ; and having decided to act
without any more delay, he fixed his choice on the
seaport of Boulogne.) To that coast-town the access
was comparatively easy ; its garrison was very weak,
and there had already been suborned a member of it
in the person of Lieutenant Aladenize, an officer who
belonged to the infantry detachment of two companies
of the 42nd regiment then in garrison in Boulogne.
Muskets were purchased in Birmingham ; a number
of old French soldiers were hired for whom French
uniforms were provided; and Dr. Conneau himself
sewed on them buttons stamped with the figure 40,
the number of the regiment quartered in Calais and
Dunkirk. A printing-press was purchased for print-

THE FIASCO OF BOULOGNE 89
ing the several proclamations which were to be issued
in France — to the soldiers, to the inhabitants of Bou
logne and the Pas-de-Calais, and to the French nation.
The specific roles of the principal adventurers, as well
as the details of the execution of the enterprise, were
prepared in advance.
Including the Prince, the expeditionary body con
sisted of fifty-six persons, more than half of whom were
servants. Among the superiors a few indeed were
cognisant that some such enterprise as the attempt
on Strasburg was impending ; but apart from Per
signy and Conneau, and the two officers ordered
to Boulogne to warn Aladenize, every person impli
cated denied more or less directly at the subsequent
trial having been aware of the time of sailing, or
even, when once aboard, what was to be the object or
the destination. The steamship Edinburgh Castle had
been chartered for a month from August 1, ostensibly
for a party of pleasure-seekers, with freedom to go
whithersoever the charterer might desire. On the
night of August 3-4 the vessel came alongside the
Custom House Wharf near London Bridge, and early
on the morning of the 4th there were put on board
ship, under the superintendence of Count Orsi, two
heavy vehicles, nine horses, a number of packages of
uniforms, and a quantity of wine and spirits. It was
charged against the followers of Prince Louis that on
arriving at Boulogne they were nearly all drunk. Cap
tain Crow, the skipper of the Edinburgh Castle, testified
before the Boulogne authorities that the drinking on
board was enormous, and that sixteen dozen of wine,
besides a quantity of spirits and liqueurs, were con-

90 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
sumed during the stay at sea, or at the rate of about
four bottles of wine per man. Probably among the
miscellaneous throng of underlings there was a consid
erable consumption of wine, but it is certain that not
one of the conspirators was found when arrested to
show any token of inebriety. The ' wild orgie ' was
of a piece with the story of the ' live eagle ' which, it
was said, was carried on the shoulder of the Prince
on entering Boulogne. The story of this historic fowl
was very simple. Colonel Parquin, during a delay
while the Edinburgh Castle was anchored off Graves
end, was obstinately determined to go ashore for the
purpose of purchasing some decent cigars, those on the
ship being detestable. He had his way in spite of all
remonstrance ; and on the way to the cigar-shop, ac
companied by Orsi and Thelin, he noticed a boy on
the wayside feeding an eagle with shreds of raw meat.
The eagle had a chain fastened to one of its claws,
with which it was secured. Returning towards the
landing-place Parquin, whose obstinacy was sustained,
approached the boy and looking at the eagle asked,
' Est-il a, vendre ? ' The boy turned to Orsi and said, ' I,
do not understand the gentleman.' Orsi entreated,
' My dear Colonel, I do hope you don't intend to buy
that eagle ? For any sake don't think of such a thing ! '
The stubborn Parquin insisted, ' Why not ? I will
have it. Combien veux-tu ? ' The boy shrugged his
shoulders ; and at last Parquin asked him in broken
English, ' How mooch ? '
' One pound,' answered the boy. The eagle was put
into the boat, Parquin insisting vehemently. On arri
val aboard the eagle was fastened to the mainmast by

THE FIASCO OF BOULOGNE 91
the boy, and from that moment was taken no further
notice of until it was discovered and seized by the
Boulogne authorities. It remained on shipboard, and
to use the sententious words of the sub-prefect of Bou
logne, ' filled no role in the affair.' The ' eagle,' indeed,
seems to have been a common vulture, and it subse
quently found a temporary residence in the slaughter
house of the town, whence it escaped ; but, altering its
mind, it returned for a time, and ultimately belonged
to a charcoal merchant of Arras.
1 From the outset the Boulogne enterprise was an utter
fiasco^' Between London Bridge and Gravesend Orsi
in the Edinburgh Castle picked up at various wharves
detachment after detachment of adventurers. In giving
Orsi his instructions for the arrangements regarding
the steamer the Prince had particularly insisted on the
former being at Gravesend on the 4th at three p.m. pre
cisely ; ' because,' said he, 'we shall have to proceed to
sea without delay, since we must land at Wimereux
near Boulogne at four a.m. of the 5th.' But the hours
passed at Gravesend ; it was nearly six p.m. and the
Prince had not yet made his appearance. His house
in London was actually gardee a vue ; wherever he went
he was followed and closely watched. The French
police were much more suspicious and active than
usual. A council was held, as the result of which
Orsi took a post-chaise and hurried to Ramsgate,
whither General Montholon, Colonel Voisin, and
Colonel Laborde had been sent by the Prince to
wait for him. Orsi reached Ramsgate at a very late
hour and with no news of Prince or steamer. Voisin,
who was one of the three officers whom Orsi found

92 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
at Ramsgate, waited until the other two went to bed
and then expressed to Orsi his utter despair at the
non-arrival of the Prince with the Edinburgh Castle.
' Do you not know,' said he, ' that the success of our
undertaking depends entirely on our reaching the Bou
logne barracks at four o'clock to-morrow morning —
the 5th ? The only man we dread is Captain Col-
Puygelier, commanding the detachment at Boulogne ;
besides being a man who will do his duty unflinch
ingly he is a Republican, and nothing could induce
him to join an Imperial Pretender.'
' Well,' observed Orsi, ' we shall have to deal with
this Hector ; whether it be to-morrow or next day does
not seem to matter.'
' You are mistaken,' replied Colonel Voisin ; ' Cap
tain Col-Puygelier will be absent from Boulogne all
day to-morrow. The Prince had purposely fixed the
5 th for the enterprise, because he is aware that Col-
Puygelier has been invited to a shooting party on that
day some distance from Boulogne, and probably he
will not return until late. If we miss our landing to
morrow morning we are doomed to utter failure.'
Between one and two a.m. of the 5th the steamer
stopped off Ramsgate. Thelin came to announce that
the Prince had arrived and that he desired everyone to
come aboard. It had been expected that the debarka
tion at Wimereux should be accomplished by three
o'clock in the morning of the 5th. It was now two
a.m. ; the adventurers were still at Rumsgate and the
programme of the enterprise was dislocated if not de
stroyed. The undertaking now, if attempted at all,
had clearly become a most hazardous and difficult

THE FIASCO OF BOULOGNE 93
adventure. Out of the twelve men of superior stand
ing whom the Prince had called in to deliberate with
him as to the future, three advised the Prince to return
to London. Nine were urgent for the landing taking
place ; for a desperate dash being made towards the
barracks in order to secure the adhesion of the com
panies of the 42nd at any price and by all available
means ; and leaving the town promptly, reach by a
quick march St. Omer, where other important ele
ments of success might be anticipated. Forestier,
Count Persigny's cousin, was promptly sent across the
Channel in a row-boat, with instructions to make all
speed to Boulogne and inform Aladenize and Bataille
of what had occurred, enjoining them to get every
thing in readiness, so far as was possible, for the fol
lowing day, the 6th.
After deliberating for some time as to the advisability
or the reverse of remaining at Ramsgate during the
whole of the 5th, it was unanimously resolved, that in
order to avoid the risk of suspicion it was the safest
policy to go tacking about at sea until nightfall of the
5th. Once out in the Channel the steamer cruised
about, frequently changing its direction so as not to
anticipate the time of landing arranged with Aladenize.
On the 5th the Prince collected his adherents on deck
and made them a short address. ' Companions of my
destiny,' said he, 'it is for France that we are bound.
The only obstacle is Boulogne ; that point once gained,
our success is certain. Support me bravely and in a
few days we shall be in Paris; and history will relate
that it was with a mere handful of gallant fellows such
as you are that I shall have accomplished this great

94 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
and glorious enterprise ! ' It has been stated that the
Prince had with him a sum of 16,000/., left to him by his
mother; and that shortly before the debarkation Bure,
his paymaster and foster-brother, distributed by order
of the Prince 100 francs to each person of the band.
Count Orsi, however, who at this period was one of
the henchmen of the Prince, states in his ' Recollec
tions ' that it was he who financed Louis Napoleon
at this juncture. The Prince, says Orsi, required
20,000/., of which 10,000/ was to be paid at once and
another 10,000/. on the day previous to the departure
for the projected enterprise. Orsi testifies: 'A fort
night of difficult negotiations enabled me to comply
with the Prince's wishes. On June 21 I handed him
10,000/. in gold and notes. The second payment of
10,000/ took place on August 3, the day before the start.
On the early morning of the 6th the Edinburgh
Castle anchored about a mile off shore opposite Wim-
ereux, a petty port about two and a half miles north
of Boulogne. In four successive trips between two
and three o'clock the whole force of the expedition
had been landed; and Forestier, Bataille, and Ala
denize had been found waiting on the beach. A Cus
toms officer had observed the coming and going of the
ship's boat, and had hailed it. A voice had replied
out of the gloom, 'We are soldiers of the 40th regi
ment on voyage from Dunkirk to Cherbourg; but
one of the paddles of our steamer is broken and that
is why we are debarking.
A superior officer of Customs asked for some fur
ther information. He was told that there was no
time for talking and that by will or by force he would

THE FIASCO OF BOULOGNE 95
have to act as guide to the body which had just
landed. Montauban asked Brigadier Guilbert of the
Customs, ' Do you know whom you are to escort? It
is Prince Napoleon ! The unhappy douanier replied
that he would lose his place by acting as a guide.
' Men don't lose their places,' was the answer, ' who
are constrained by force. Have no fear. The family
of the Prince is rich ; it will not forget you.' General
Montholon offered the man money, but he would not
accept it ; and the Prince, noticing that he was
troubled, permitted him to go free on condition that
he would keep silence. The lieutenant of Customs
pleaded fatigue when ordered to lead the way to
Boulogne. ' Fatigue or no fatigue,' cried de Mesonan,
'you must tramp'; and Parquin threatened the poor
fellow with his hand on his sword, shouting ' Come,
march ! ' But the Prince again interposed and per
mitted the officer to remain. The man was staunch
in refusing Montholon's offer of money, nor would he
accept the Prince's promise to pension him should he
lose his place. At length the expedition started on
the march for Boulogne.
)The plan of action] was v^ry simple, if not alto
gether practical. It consisted, above everything, in
seizing the barracks occupied by the two companies
of the 42nd regiment, in bringing over the soldiers, in
seizing and holding the castle which served as arsenal,
in taking possession of the principal public buildings,
in guarding all the exits, and then in rapidly organis
ing a military force which should march on Paris,
gathering up on the way an irresistible army borne
onward by a popular impulse. /

96 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
About five o'clock on the morning of the 6th the
expeditionary column entered the town. It reached
first the Place d' Alton, where there was on duty a
post of four men and a sergeant. The sentry recog
nized Aladenize, who was heading the advance; then
came Lombard carrying the flag, and behind him was
visible a brilliant staff followed by a few soldiers. The
sentry shouted, ' Guard turn out ! ' and the men of the
post presented arms. Aladenize exclaimed, ' Behold
the Prince ! sergeant, come with us ; ' but the loyal
sergeant would not quit the post he commanded in
spite of Aladenize's alluring representations. The
sergeant shrewdly noticed that the Imperial eagle
was above the flag which Lombard carried and that
no member of the strange band knew the watchword;
so he ordered his men to stand to their arms and reit
erated his refusal to quit his post, giving no heed to
Parquin's threat that he would be punished for his
recusancy. The stout sergeant's staunch attitude was ominous,
and as the band of conspirators were marching along
the Grande Rue there occurred a second rebuff. An
officer of the garrison, Sub-Lieutenant Maussion, was
met, and one of the Prince's principal adherents ac
costed him, asking, 'Do you not know the Prince?
Come, I will present you ! ' Maussion declined, but a
sort of forced presentation was nevertheless made;
and the Prince begged the young officer to join his
enterprise. Maussion, however, stammered out a nega
tive, made a pretext for quitting the Prince, and hur
ried away to give warning to his superior officer,
Captain Col-Puygelier, of the extraordinary and alarm-

THE FIASCO OF BOULOGNE 97
ing event which was in course of progress. The Cap
tain hastened to get into uniform, all the more quickly
because tidings had also reached him that a detach
ment, seemingly of the 40th regiment, had strangely
appeared at the barracks of the 42nd. The news was
true; the expeditionary column had reached the bar
rack gate. ' To arms ! don't you see the Prince ? '
shouted Aladenize to the sentry on the gate. The
soldier obeyed without hesitation the command of his
officer ; the guard promptly turned out and presented
arms; and the Prince, followed by his suite, entered
the barracks of the 42nd without the slighest hin
drance. Two sentries were at once posted on the
gate with orders to prevent any officer from entering
and to permit nobody to leave the barracks. Already
a crowd had gathered outside, into which one of the
Prince's officers was throwing money and calling for
shouts of ' Vive r Empereur ! ' It need not be added
that the crowd shouted accordingly with a hearty un
animity so long as the distribution of franc-pieces
held out. A couple of sergeants, just as they entered
the barrack-yard, were taken hold by Aladenize, each
by an arm, and brought up to the Prince. ' This
man,' said he, ' is an old soldier who fully deserves a
pair of epaulettes ; ' and the Prince replied, ' I make
you at once captain of grenadiers ! ' Shaking the
other sergeant's hands xhe said, ' And you, mon brave,
I make you an officer also ! ' Then the assiduous Ala
denize presented a sergeant-major, whom the Prince
made a captain and desired to bestow on him the
cross taken from his own breast. But in attempting
in vain to detach it he tore his uniform, whereupon he
7

98 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
consoled the sergeant-major by assuring him heartily
that he was none the less a Chevalier of the Legion
of Honour. Sub-Lieutenant Maussion having come
on duty Aladenize begged him earnestly to cry ' Vive
I'Empereur /' but in vain. Maussion shouted 'Non!
jamais/ Vive le Roi toujours ! '
Now appeared Captain Col-Puygelier in great ex
citement. At the gate of the 42nd barracks a retainer
of the Prince promptly accosted him. ' Captain ! ' he
entreated, ' do join us ; here is the Prince ; your for
tune is made.' Col-Puygelier's prompt answer was to
draw his sword and shout ' Clear the way — let me get
to my soldiers ! ' He was surrounded, but he fiercely
resisted. 'Fine men of honour,' he roared, 'to com
mit such a treason as this ! ' The Prince addressed
him : ' Captain, I am Prince Louis ; join us, and there
is nothing which you may not expect to have.'
' Prince or no Prince,' replied the staunch soldier, ' I
don't know you — get out of my barracks!' Then,
turning to his men he cried : ' Soldiers ! You are
being artfully deceived ! Vive le Roi ! Rally round
me ! ' The rest of the loyal officers had now arrived
with their swords drawn, and Col-Puygelier formed up
his troops preparatory to marching out for action. It
was then that Prince Louis in his rash excitement
fired a pistol, and the bullet wounded a grenadier in
the mouth. Col-Puygelier promptly distributed ball-
cartridges to his men, and rapidly gave orders to cer
tain of his officers to strengthen the barrack-guard,
seize the port, and send a detachment to the upper
town to prevent the seizure of the castle and the pil
lage of the arsenal.

THE FIASCO OF BOULOGNE 99
By this time it was six o'clock, and the civil autho
rities were now on the alert. Informed that strange
men were traversing the streets with treasonable
shouts, they mustered the gendarmes, and warned
their subordinates to turn out for duty. Meanwhile
the band of conspirators, driven out of the barracks by
superior strength, headed for the castle, spreading pro
clamations and scattering money. As they passed the
sub-prefecture, the sub-prefect stepped out into the
street and summoned them in the King's name to dis-
perse and at once lay down their flag. The Prince
gave the order to push him aside and pass on. As the
sub-prefect showed an intention to bar the way, he
was struck full in the chest by a blow of the eagle sur
mounting the flag, and in defending himself his hands
were wounded so that he was obliged to give way to
the Prince and his followers; but he hastened to col
lect the National Guard, some two hundred of whom
rendezvoused in the Place d' Alton under the command
of Colonel Sausot.
The adventurers failed to seize the castle, nor did
their axes make any serious impression on the closed
Calais gate in the ramparts of the upper town. Without
any apparent object they hurried to the Column of the
Grand Army half a mile from Boulogne, ascended it,
and planted on its summit the Imperial flag. A pur
suit by horse and foot was promptly organised, where
upon the adventurers scattered and fled in all directions.
The Prince in despair would fain, it has been alleged,
have committed suicide on the spot but that his adhe
rents prevented him. Aladenize and six others were
captured when hiding in the adjacent fields. Desjar-

IOO

LIFE OF NAPOLEON III

dins was apprehended in the act of mounting a peas
ant's horse ; Ornano was routed out of a hut in which
he had hidden. General Montholon and Colonel Par
quin were captured near the port. The main body of
adventurers, closely pursued by soldiers and National
Guard, hurried down to the water's edge shouting, but
in vain, to the captain of the Edinburgh Castle to take
them aboard. Most of the fugitives surrendered on the
beach ; some few, among whom were the Prince, Per
signy, Conneau, and Mesonan, plunged into the water
and attempted to seize a boat which by chance lay at
anchor near the shore. Then the Royalist soldiers
opened fire at close range on the defenceless unfortu
nates and the boat capsized while they were attempt
ing to scramble aboard. Colonel Voisin was hit on
the loins and breast, the Prince was struck by a spent
ball, Viengiki was severely wounded in the shoulder,
and d'Hunin was drowned. Faure was killed. The
lieutenant of the port manned a boat, and in the face
of the hot fire rowed to the people in the water and
rescued the Prince along with four of his officers. The
sub-prefect and the mayor bundled the Prince, numbed
and shivering, into a carriage and had him driven to
the castle. Persigny, Voisin, Conneau, and Mesonan,
streaming with water, followed in another carriage
escorted by gendarmes. The Prince obtained permis
sion to divest himself of his wet clothes and to go to
bed at once. By eight a.m. the affair was at an end —
the outbreak, from beginning to end, having lasted just
three hours. The band of filibusters were incarcerated
en masse.
Lord Malmesbury has given a version in his Me-

THE FIASCO OF BOULOGNE 101
moirs of the affair, which differs in some particulars
from the account detailed above. The Prince and
some of his followers, it is stated, had taken possession
of a lifeboat, which was swamped; and the Prince was
picked up by a steamer while clinging to a buoy a
short distance from the shore. He would have been
drowned, it is added, but that the Custom House offi
cers brought the Edhiburgh Castle close enough to
permit of his being conveyed aboard. Some of the
party were said to have made their escape by taking
forcible possession of horses belonging to some English
gentlemen, but were pursued and most of them taken ;
some of the adventurers, however, were killed by the
French soldiers after they had surrendered.
Early on the morning of the 7th two carriages en
tered the castle-yard. The sub-prefect and some of the
other authorities presented themselves and desired the
Prince to follow. As he came out into the yard his
adherents thronged the windows of their cells with
shouts of ' Vive I'Empereur ! ' Halting for a moment
the Prince turned to them and said in a loud voice,
'Adieu, my friends! I protest against this forcible
removal!' His farewell, uttered with emotion, was
answered by a loud voice from the officers' prison,
1 Adieu, Prince ! the great shade of the Emperor will
protect you ! ' \He was escorted to the fortress of Ham
by a detachment of lancers and a body of municipal
guards. At midnight of the 8th the Prince arrived at
the fortress, with the grim walls of which he was soon
to be familiar during a long and weary captivity. But
for the present Ham was merely a temporary resting-
place. He was brought to Paris on the 12th, and in

102 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
the cell in the Conciergerie which Fieschi had occu
pied he was imprisoned under the close surveillance of
three warders, without permission even to have the
services of his valet.
Kinglake's comments on the Boulogne fiasco are
very biting. ' If,' he remarks, ' Louis Napoleon was
wanting in the quality which enables a man to go well
through with a venture, his ruling propensity had
strength enough to make him try the same thing over
and over again. His want of the personal qualifica
tions of this sort being now known in the French army
and ridicule having fastened upon his name, he could
not afterwards seduce into his sehemes any officers of
higher rank than a lieutenant. Yet he did not desist.
Before long he was planning another " return from
Elba ; " but this time with new dresses and decorations.
So long as he was preparing counterfeit flags and coun
terfeit generals and counterfeit soldiers, and teaching
a forlorn London bird to play the part of an omen and
guide the destiny of France, he was perfectly at home
in that kind of statesmanship ; and the framing of the
plebiscites and proclamations which formed a large
part of his cargo was a business of which he was a mas
ter. But if his arrangements should take effect, then
what he had to look for was, not only that at an early
hour on a summer morning he would find himself in
a barrack-yard in Boulogne surrounded by a band of
armed followers and supported by one of the garrison
whom he had previously gained over ; but also having
to do with a number of soldiery of whom some would
be for him and some inclined against him, and others
confused and perplexed. Now, this was exactly what

PIERRE ANTOINE BERRYER
( From a lithograph)

THE FIASCO OF BOULOGNE 103
happened to him ; his arrangements had been so skil
ful, and fortune had so far lured him on, that whither
he meant to go there he was at last, standing in the
very circumstances which he had brought about with
long design aforethought. But then his nature failed
him. Becoming agitated and losing his presence of
mind, he could not govern the result of the struggle by
the resources of his intellect ; and being also without
the fire and joyfulness which come to warlike men in
moments of crisis and of danger, he was ill-qualified to
bridle the hearts of the bewildered soldiery. So, when
a firm, angry officer forced his way into the barrack-
yard, he conquered the Prince almost instantly by the
strength of a more resolute nature, and turned him out
into the street with all his fifty armed followers, with
his flag and his eagle and his counterfeit headquarter
staff, as though he were dealing with a mere troop of
strolling players. Yet only a few weeks afterwards
this same Prince Louis Napoleon was able to show by
his demeanour before the Chamber of Peers, that when
the occasion gave him leisure for thought and for the
exercise of mental control, he knew how to comport
himself with dignity and with a generous care for the
safety and welfare of his followers.'
£Xouis Philippe's Government brought Prince Napo
leon and his adherents to trial before the Court of
Peers, the highest tribunal of the realm. A middle-
class jury had acquitted the conspirators of Strasburg;
but the Court knew itself safe in the hands of the
Peers, although most of them owed their honours to
the great uncle of the chief of the accused. The illus
trious Berryer undertook the defence of the Prince,

104 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
and the trial was begun on Sept. 28. Much curiosity
was evinced as the Prince, followed by Berryer and the
venerable Montholon and wearing the highest order of
the Legion of Honour, passed to his seat a little apart
from his adherents.
The Chancellor, addressing him as ' First Accused,'
bade the Prince stand up. He gave his name and
age ; his profession he described as ' a French Prince
in exile.' Then, having obtained permission, he read
the interesting statement from which here only extracts
can be made. ' For the first time in my life,' said he in
a firm voice, ' I am at last able to make my voice heard
in France and to speak freely to Frenchmen. ... In
the midst of you, gentlemen, whom I know, I cannot
think that I need justify myself or that you can be my
judges. If, without pride as without weakness, I recall
the rights deposited by the nation in the hands of my
family, it is only to explain the duties which those
rights have imposed on us all. For the fifty years
during which the principle of the sovereignty of the
people has been consecrated in France by the most
powerful revolution the world has ever seen, the na
tional will has never been so solemnly proclaimed as
in the adoption of the Constitutions of the Empire,
The nation has never revoked this great act of her
sovereignty, and the Emperor had said, " All that
has been done without her is illegal." . . . The
cruel and undeserved proscription which for twenty-
five years has dragged my life from the steps of a
throne to the prison which I have just left, has not
been able to impair the courage of my heart. It has
not made me for a day a stranger to the dignity, the

THE FIASCO OF BOULOGNE 105
glory, and the rights and interests of France. ... As
regards the recent enterprise for which I stand ar
raigned, I have had no accomplices. Nobody knew
beforehand my projects, my resources, my hopes.
If I be guilty towards anyone, it is only towards
my friends. They will understand the motives of
honour that prevent me from divulging, even to
them, how widespread and powerful were my reasons
for anticipating success. ... A last word, gentlemen.
I represent before you a principle, a cause, a defeat.
The principle is the sovereignty of the people; the
cause is that of the Empire ; the defeat is Waterloo^
. . . The representative of a political cause, I cannot
accept as the judge of my acts and aspirations a polit
ical jurisdiction. In the struggle about to open there
is only the conqueror and the conquered. If you be
the men of the conqueror, I have no justice to expect
from you and I repudiate your generosity.')
This address made a strong impression on the
Court. The Prince's subsequent examination was brief, since
he refused to criminate others and kept his own coun
sel. He declared that the discharge of his pistol was
a casual mischance — an accident of excitement.
The trial lasted until Oct. 6th, the time for the most
part occupied by the pleadings and evidence on behalf
of the conspirators. The sentence to which the Prince
was finally condemned was perpetual imprisonment in
a fortress of France. Montholon, Parquin, Lombard,
and Persigny were doomed to twenty years' ' detention,'
and Mesonan to fifteen. Three more were sentenced
to ten years', and three more to five ; all to be under

106 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
surveillance of the police for life, and to be deprived of
their titles, rank, and decorations. Conneau and La
borde were sentenced to five years' imprisonment.
The sentences were delivered by the Court in the
absence of the prisoners. / At four p.m. of Oct. 6, 1840,
the officers of the Court of Peers entered the cell of
Prince Louis Napoleon, and in a broken voice M.
Cauchy read the decree condemning the nephew of
Napoleon to imprisonment for lifep ' At least, sir,' was
the calm reply of Prince Louis, T shall die in France.'
In response to a rather heartless question he asked
with a quiet smile, ' How long does " perpetuity " last
in France, monsieur ? ' Eight years later, and then
again eighteen years later still, he was to answer that
question as the result of his own personal experience.

FROM PRISONER TO PRESIDENT 107

CHAPTER VI
FROM PRISONER TO PRESIDENT
Before Prince Louis Napoleon received his sentence
of perpetual imprisonment he had already completed
his preparations for the worst. He arranged his
property in such wise that the pensions bequeathed by
his mother to her entourage should be safely settled.
No claim was disregarded. For the benefit of those
dependent on him he held it necessary so to dispose of
his property that it should be beyond the reach of the
law. This was accomplished, and when on Oct. 6th,
1840, he left Paris for his prison he was, in the words
of the faithful Thelin, 'as poor as Job.' It was some
thing of a coincidence that on the day on which Louis
Napoleon quitted the Conciergerie for Ham the Belle
Poule arrived in St. Helena to receive the remains of
his great uncle and restore them to the France which
he had loved.
Accompanied by the venerable General Montholon
on the evening of the 6th he was put into a carriage
without being permitted to see any of his friends, and
under the charge of a colonel of the municipal guard
he was escorted to Ham, where he arrived at midnight
of the 7th. Dr. Conneau, who was allowed to share
the imprisonment of the Prince, followed in a few
days, and with the faithful Thelin the little coterie was

108 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
complete. Ham is an obsolete fortress situated in
the marshy region through which flows the sullen
Somme. It had been long used as a State prison.
At the commencement of his enforced sojourn in Ham
the Prince occupied the rooms which had been previ
ously appropriated to M. de Polignac, the Minister of
Charles X., and he was later transferred to those
which had been occupied by the Count de Peyronnet,
the colleague of Polignac. Those apartments were sim
ply in a state of utter delapidation, and comfort was as
carefully excluded from this melancholy abode as was
liberty. The ceilings were full of holes, the paper on
the walls was torn, the brick flooring was badly laid
and rotten, the doors and windows could be neither
closed nor opened. To remedy in some measure this
condition of matters which was sensibly injuring the
Prince's health and against which the doctor had re
monstrated with, vigour, the Minister of the Interior
placed 600 francs at the disposal of the commandant
for the purposes of repairs. The pittance of 24/ was
ridiculously inadequate, for new floors, ceilings, win
dows, and doors were needed. Nevertheless no supple
mentary amount was forthcoming, and the Prince was
actually asked to complete the repairs from his own
resources. ' It is not for me,' he quietly answered, ' to
keep a State prison in repair.' He certainly was not
of an exceptionally querulous nature. The Chevalier
Wikoff, an American who visited him in his prison,
thus writes : ' From his person my glance wandered
over the room, which surprised me by its extreme rude
ness. It was very small, the walls were bare, and the
floor was without covering. Three or four wooden

FROM PRISONER TO PRESIDENT 109
chairs, and a single table on which among other objects
stood a plain student's lamp, constituted its principal
furniture. In recesses on either side of the chimney
were shelves carried up to the ceiling, filled with books ;
and here and there round the apartment were suspended
several engravings with some miniatures of the Prince's
family. On the low wooden mantelpiece stood a
common clock and a small plain looking-glass above it.
The whole had very much the appearance of a common
kitchen in some unpretending private house.' When
Wikoff observed that nothing could well be more vin
dictive and illiberal than the spirit which had assigned
him those miserable quarters, the Prince answered,
' Oh ! I am very well off now, I assure you, since they
have ordered the removal of the damp brick floor,
which in this wet climate and decayed old building was
seriously imparing my health. I am afflicted with
a violent rheumatism which, you see, has lamed me;
but I trust it will pass off with time.'
The garrison of Ham consisted of 400 men, of whom
at least sixty were constantly on duty. In addition to
the military guard which properly speaking formed the
guard of the fortress, there was within those gloomy
walls a brigade of warders, turnkeys, and keepers, to
whom the constant watch on the person and move
ments of the Prince was more particularly intrusted.
Besides this mass of espionage, the commandant of
the place zealously performed the duties of high sur
veillance. Sentries there were in all directions; on
the stairs, in the corridors, at the doors, keepers were
stationed whose duty it was never for a moment to lose
close sight of the prisoner, and who dogged his footsteps

no LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
even when he took his walk upon the ramparts within
a space of forty yards long by twenty broad.
As regarded the interior arrangements the Prince's
household consisted of a very modest establishment.
The expenses of his table had been regulated by M.
Lardenois, Lieutenant-Colonel of Gendarmerie, the
officer who had escorted the Prince from Boulogne to
Paris and from Paris to Ham. The sum paid to the
canteen was fixed by this officer at seven francs a head
per day. The Prince arranged his mode of life to the
best possible advantage. )He rose early and worked
until ten ; after breakfast he walked on the ramparts or
cultivated the flowers for which he had made a sloping
parterre along the parapet ; he then retired to read his
correspondence, to write to his friends, or to take up
his reading ; and he thus continued to occupy himself
till dinner, which was served at half-past five. After
dinner he conversed with his friends and received the
formal daily visit on the part of the Commandant of
the fortress ; and in the evening a game of whist in
which General Montholon, the Commandant, and Dr.
Conneau joined, completed the somewhat dreary dayj
In the further right-hand corner of the main court
yard of the fortress were the watched and barred
windows of the building in which the Prince and his
companions were confined. The main entrance was by
a narrow door opening to a white-washed passage at
the extremity of which was the guard-room. On the
ground floor to the right of the passage were the two
rooms occupied by General Montholon ; on the other
side of the passage were the bath-room and chapel.
The Prince's quarters consisted of two rooms on the

FROM PRISONER TO PRESIDENT in
first floor, the windows of which were closely barred.
One of those was the work-room, the other the salon,
which was the first on entering. Its principal furniture
consisted of a great mahogany bureau, an old commode,
a couch, an easy-chair, four straw-bottomed chairs, a
deal table converted into a card-table, and a screen
hung with designs from ' The Charivari.' Little by lit
tle the Prince had added several engravings connected
with the historic epic of the Empire, a portrait of his
mother, busts of the Emperor and the Empress Jose
phine by Chaudet, statuettes of soldiers of the Imperial
Guard, and lastly, on the shelves fixed against the walls
a number of books — in particular a file of the ' Moni
teur' and fifty volumes of the 'Journal des Debats.'
The second room served as a bedroom, in which
was a bed of painted deal, a toilette table in white
wood, a jar of earthenware, several chairs, and two small
deal tables, on which was a toilette service in silver
bearing the Imperial arms. The Prince habitually
wore either a military great-coat and forage-cap, or a
blue frockcoat buttoned up with a red kepi trimmed
with gold cord. The presence of the three men, Mon
tholon, Conneau, and the valet Thelin, who were al
ways, so to speak, at his side, very greatly ameliorated
the bitterness and sorrows of the Prince's captivity, all
the more because they loved him devotedly.
Nevertheless Louis Napoleon chafed under the petty
and continual vexations of which he was the victim.
He had calculated that he should be able to refrain
from making complaints until he had endured nine
months of suffering ; but then he considered that he
was called on no longer to endure in silence an intol-

ii2 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
erable situation, and he consequently addressed the
following protest to the French Government :
' Accustomed from my youth,' he wrote, ' to a strict
rule of life, I do not complain of the inconvenient sim
plicity of my dwelling; but that of which I do com
plain is being made the victim of vexatious measures
by no means necessary to my safe-guarding. . . . During
the first months of my captivity every kind of com
munication from without was forbidden and within I
was kept in the most rigorous confinement ; since, how
ever, several persons have been admitted to me, these
internal restrictions can have no longer an object, yet
they are the more rigorously enforced. . . . The atten
tions of my single faithful servant who has been permit
ted to follow me are encumbered by obstacles of every
description. . . . The insulting inquisition which pursues
me into my very chamber, and which follows my foot
steps when I breathe the fresh air in a retired corner of
the fort, is not limited to my person alone but extends
even to my thoughts. My letters to my family are sub
mitted to the strictest scrutiny ; and if a letter to me
should contain any expression of too lively a sympathy,
the letter is sequestrated and the writer is denounced
to the Government. . . . The treatment which I endure
is neither just, legal, nor humane. If it is to be sup
posed that such measures will subdue me, it is a mis
take ; it is not outrage, but marks of kindness which
subdue the hearts of those who suffer.
'(Signed) Napoleon Louis Bonaparte.
' Citadel of Ham, May 22, 1841.'
The result of this protest was that the Prince's valet
Thelin obtained permission to go out into the town of

FROM PRISONER TO PRESIDENT 113
Ham, and that the authorities were induced to adopt
measures more conformable to their true dignity. The
future of the Prince was accepted by him as that of one
who notwithstanding numerous offers of devotedness
to his cause, chose to remain a stranger to any thought
of escape. Indeed, this acceptance of an indefinitely
prolonged imprisonment had a certain serene pleasure
for the exiled. ' Recovered,' he wrote, ' from all the illu
sions of youth, I find in my native air which I breathe,
in the studies which I sedulously pursue in the quiet
of my prison, a charm which I have never before felt
even when partaking of the pleasures of foreign lands.'
Apparently he was in earnest. \\ riting to Lady
Blessington in 1841, he said : ' I have no desire to go
beyond the limits within which I am enclosed, because
here I am in my place. With the name I bear, for me
is either the gloom of a dungeon or the glare of power.
My life passes here monotonously enough because the
rigour of authority is unbending ; nevertheless I can
not say that I find myself bored, because I can create
for myself occupations which interest me. I am just
now engaged in writing some reflections on the his
tory of England, and then also I am planting a little
garden in a corner of my rampart by way of change.
But I must own that these things merely pass away
the time without stirring the heart, and that sometimes
I do recognise a vacuity of thought. But I make no
complaint of the position I have made for myself, and
I am completely resigned.'
The Prince carried on a large correspondence ; but
that by itself did not occupy his active mind. In the
course of the five years from 1840 to 1845 he wrote

n4 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
and published articles on a curious variety of subjects.
It was while in Ham that he wrote his ' Historical
Fragments'; where he treated on the 'Analysis of the
Sugar Question 'published in the local journals; where
he published a treatise on the ' Extinction of Pauper
ism ' ; and where he drew up a memorial which he
sent to Arago, on the ' Production of Electric Cur
rents.' He wrote a memoir of his uncle Joseph Bona
parte, who died in July, 1844. Among his other works
were ' Opinions on Various Political and Administra
tive Questions,' ' Of Governments and their Support
ers,' ' A Reply to M. de Lamartine,' ' The Past and
Future of Artillery,' and ' The Revision of the French
Constitution,' as well as a series of ' Miscellaneous
Papers.' In 1844 he schemed out a history of Charle
magne ; and in 1845 he occupied himself with the
question of the possibility of the junction of the Pa
cific and Atlantic oceans by means of a canal. The
Minister Plenipotentiary of Guatemala offered him
the presidency of the construction of the Nicaragua
Canal, as the sole person who could fulfil the diverse
conditions which might bring success to that impor
tant undertaking.
In April, 1845, Lord Malmesbury visited the Prince
in Ham, at the request of the latter. The Prince stated
that a deputation from Ecuador had come to him,
offering the Presidency of that Republic if Louis
Philippe would release him, and in that case he would
give the King his parole never to return to Europe.
He was anxious that Sir Robert Peel, then Prime Min
ister of England, should intercede with the French
King to comply with his wishes, promising every possi-

FROM PRISONER TO PRESIDENT 115
ble guarantee for his good faith. The Prince assured
Lord Malmesbury that the soldiers had for the most
part been gained over, and that the prestige of his
name was universal in the French army. ' You see that
sentry under my window ? ' asked the Prince. ' I know
not whether he is one of mine or not; if he is, he will
cross his arms ; if not, he will do nothing when I make
a sign.' He went to the window and stroked his mous
tache; there was no response until three sentries had
been relieved, when the fourth answered by crossing
his arms over his musket. ' You see,' said the Prince,
' that my partisans are unknown to me, as I to them.
My power is in an immortal name, and in that only;
but I have waited long enough and cannot endure im
prisonment any longer.' Lord Malmesbury returned
to London deeply impressed with the calm resolution
— or rather philosophy — of Prince Louis, but putting
little faith in his ever renouncing his pretensions to
the throne of France. Sir Robert Peel was not averse
to apply to the French Government in favour of the
Prince on certain conditions; but Lord Aberdeen,
then Foreign Secretary, ' would not hear ' of the
Ecuador proposition.
In the end of 1845 Louis Napoleon had been a pris
oner in the fortress of Ham for over five years. His
father, the ex-King of Holland, was lying dangerously
ill in Florence ; and he sent an emissary to beg of the
French Government that he might have the presence
of his only son at his approaching death. The Coun
cil of Ministers, however, decided that ' it could not
accede to the Prince's request, because it would be con
trary to law, and because it would be granting a full

116 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
and free pardon without the King having the merit of
it.' The Prince then wrote direct to his Majesty. On
receiving the letter Louis Philippe seemed satisfied,
and without breaking the seal, said that he thought
'the guarantee previously offered by the Prisoner of
Ham — " his honour" — was sufficient.' But the Coun
cil held that the acceptance of the letter would amount
to a pardon by indirect means ; and that ' in order to
maintain the proper exercise of the King's clemency,
it was necessary that this act of grace should be de
served and frankly avowed.' M. Odilon Barrot pro
posed to M. Duchatel the drawing-up of a new letter
to the King containing the following passage : ' I had
hoped that your Majesty's Government would see in
that engagement' (of returning to prison) 'one guaran
tee more and a new obligation in addition to those
which gratitude should have imposed on me.' The
Prince, however, refused to go further. ' I may die in
prison,' he exclaimed, 'if unexampled severity condemns
me to such a lot, but nothing shall induce me to de
grade my character. My father, I am convinced, would
regard my liberty as over-dearly purchased at the ex
pense of my dignity and of the respect I owe to my
name.' Yet the Prince, being anxious to go as far as possi
ble without failing in what he owed to the dignity of his
name, authorized his English friend Lord Londonderry
to assure the French Government that if the Prince
were set free from his imprisonment in Ham, he would
undertake, after spending a year with his father in
Italy, to betake himself into exile in America, there to
reside permanently. But to this proposal no reply

FROM PRISONER TO PRESIDENT 117
was accorded ; and then it was that the Prince resolved
to attempt making an escape from his imprisonment
in Ham. This resolve was finally made only ten days
before the plan was put into execution, and at a time
when at length some workmen had appeared to repair,
the dilapidated rooms and staircases. Dr. Conneau has
described the preparations and the Prince's escape :
' Every morning we rose betimes, to watch the move
ments and habits of the workmen as they entered the
prison, and to ascertain whether there had occurred any
alterations in the usual orders. We noticed that the
Commandant was more vigilant than ever and that he
was constantly superintending the workmen ; but as he
was then suffering from a severe rheumatic attack, we
found that he did not rise before eight o'clock, and we
therefore determined to carry out our project before that
hour. On May 25 we rose early, by six o'clock. The
Prince put on his workman's disguise, consisting of a
coarse shirt, a blue blouse, a pair of blue trousers with
an apron, and a pair of sabots over his boots. As his
face was naturally pale, he coloured it with some dye
which gave him a ruddy complexion. He also painted
his eyebrows and put on a black wig which completely
disguised him and covered his ears. Shortly after seven
he shaved off his thick whiskers and moustache ; and I
should certainly not have recognised him notwithstand
ing my familiarity with his person. Thelin invited the
workmen to have something to drink ; and when the
Prince knew that they were all partaking of a morning
dram he went downstairs with a plank carried on his
shoulder, convinced that he would not be recognised.
I assured him that he might go forth in safety. The

118 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
workmen came out one by one and I saw that none of
them recognised the Prince. He went out into the
courtyard followed by the workmen. It had been ar
ranged that Thelin should hold the guards in converse,
in order to keep them engaged while the Prince passed
out. I ran to the window to watch what was occurring,
and I had a few moments of anxious doubt ; but pres
ently I saw the Prince with the plank on his shoulder
advance towards the officer who was on guard, and who
was reading a letter and paying no attention to the
workmen. I observed the engineer officer and the
director of the works come into the court separating
the prison from the guard. As both were well ac
quainted with the persons of all the workmen I dreaded
lest they should recognise the Prince ; but they were
both reading papers and did not notice the Prince.
He then advanced towards the gate ; the guard opened
the wicket, and to my inexpressible relief I saw his
Highness go forth.'
In a letter written from London a few days after his
escape the Prince thus described his adventures to the
editor of a Calais newspaper:
' The gate of my prison was kept by three ward
ers, two of whom were always on duty. It was there
fore necessary to pass them first, and then to traverse
the whole interior court ; at the gate it was necessary
to pass the wicket kept by an orderly, and afterwards
to pass in succession a sergeant, a turnkey, a sentry,
and finally a post of thirty men. I had cut off my
moustache and taken a plank on my shoulder. Scarcely
had I left my room when I was accosted by a workman
who took me for one of his companions. Face to face

DR. CONNEAU

FROM PRISONER TO PRESIDENT 119
with the keeper at the foot of the stairs I screened my
self with the plank and reached the court, always keep
ing the plank towards the sentries. As I passed in
front of the first sentry I let my pipe fall ; I stopped,
however, to pick up the fragments. The soldiers at
the wicket seemed surprised at my figure; meantime,
however, the orderly of the guard opened the gate and
I found myself outside the fortress. There I met two
workmen, who looked at me with attention. I shifted
the plank to the side next them ; they appeared, neverthe
less, so curious that I thought I should not be able to es
cape them, when I heard them say : " Oh, it 's Berton."
' Once beyond the walls, I walked rapidly towards
the St. Quentin road. Shortly afterwards Thelin, who
on the previous evening had engaged a cabriolet,
joined me and we reached St. Quentin. I crossed the
town on foot, having got rid of my blouse. Thelin
having procured a post-chaise under pretence of a
drive to Cambray, we arrived without hindrance at Val
enciennes, whence I took the railroad through Belgium
to Ostend, and thence crossed to England.'
The faithful Conneau made great efforts to conceal
the escape of the Prince ; his anxiety was to gain at
least twenty-four hours for the escape of his Highness.
He gave out that the Prince was ill in bed and had
taken medicine. Conneau took the medicine himself ;
then he mixed coffee and nitric acid to produce a disa
greeable smell, so that his men-of-all-work might be
assured that the Prince was really ill. At noon came
the Commandant, whom Conneau informed that his
patient was somewhat easier. He came again at seven
in the evening, with an air of some suspicion. ' If,'

iao LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
said he, ' the Prince is still ill I must speak to him!'
Conneau had prepared a large stuffed figure which he
had laid in the Prince's bed, the head resting on the
pillow. He called the Prince, from whom naturally
came no reply. It was then indicated by a sign to the
Commandant that the Prince was asleep. This did
not satisfy the suspicious officer; he sat down in the
salon with the observation, ' The Prince will not sleep
always ; I shall wait.' The hours passed and the even
ing drum beat. At length the Commandant rose and
said, ' The Prince has moved ; he is waking up.' The
Commandant strained his ears, but heard no sound of
breathing from the form in the bed. Conneau plead
ed, ' Let him sleep on.' But the suspicions of the
Commandant had reached a climax. He approached
the bed, to find there the stuffed figure. Turning to
Conneau he angrily exclaimed, ' The Prince has gone !
At what hour?' Conneau answered, 'At seven this
morning.' ' Who were the persons on guard ? ' asked
the irate Commandant. ' I know nothing,' replied
Conneau. ' These,' Conneau has said, ' were the only
words which were exchanged between us ; and the
Commandant went out.' Conneau was sentenced to
three months' imprisonment, the Commandant and
keepers were acquitted, and Thelin was condemned in
absentia to six months' imprisonment.
On his arrival in England Prince Louis wrote to the
British Foreign Minister, assuring him of his peaceable
intentions. Lord Aberdeen replied that on this assur
ance the Prince's residence in England would not be
objectionable to the Queen or her Government. The
Prince publicly intimated to the French Ambassador

NO. IO KING STREET, ST. JAMES'S, PRINCE LOUIS
NAPOLEON'S RESIDENCE IN LONDON
(From a photograph by Elliott & Fry)

FROM PRISONER TO PRESIDENT

121

to the English Court his escape from Ham and his
arrival in England, stating formally that he had no in
tention ' to enter on the political scene nor to attempt
to disturb the peace of Europe, but solely to fulfil a
sacred duty.' His endeavours, however, to procure pass
ports which would admit of his reaching his father's
death-bed met with no success. The Austrian Min
ister refused his request, the reason alleged being
deference to the expressed desire' of the French Gov
ernment. The Grand Duke of Tuscany refused to
allow him to pass even twenty-four hours within his ter
ritory, on the pretext that French influence blocked the
way. The French Government remained pitiless ; and
the ex-King Louis died at Florence on July 25, 1846,
without having had the solace of having been permitted
tq^embrace his only surviving son.
[From May, 1846, until February, 1848, Prince Louis
Napoleon lived quietly in England."1 In the beginning
of 1847 he installed himself in a newly-built house in
King Street, St. James's where he occupied himself in
collecting his books, portfolios, and family portraits.
It was while living in this house — which was originally
numbered 10, King Street, but which is now numbered
' I.C.,' in that street, and on the front of which is the
blue plaque commemorating the residence there of Louis
Napoleon from 1846 to 1848 — that, according to Mr.
Jerrold, 'he saw his days of comparative poverty.'
Yet the rent of this house amounted to 300/ a year ;
and although he incurred heavy losses on the Turf and
needed to have recourse to the help of friends, he prob
ably never was in the straits to which he has been said
to have been reduced. He had many staunch and

122 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
true friends, although it seems unquestionable that
when he went to Paris in February, 1848, he was 'al
most moneyless.' The subject is not one on which
there is any necessity to dwell ; it remains that in his
worst days Prince Louis Napoleon was always able to
pay his way with more or less promptitude.
vThe Prince was living his usual life in London,
waiting and watching with alertness yet without im
patience, when the Revolution of February, 1848, sud
denly opened for him a vista of which he did not.delay
to take advantage. He had departed for Paris as soon
as the tidings of the flight of Louis Philippe reached
London, and on Feb. 28 he addressed the following
letter to the Provisional Government : J
( Gentlemen, — The people of Paris having de
stroyed by their heroism the final vestiges of the recent
foreign invasion, I hasten from exile to place myself
under the flag of the Republic just proclaimed. With
no other ambition than that of serving my country,
I announce my arrival to the Provisional Government,
and beg to assure them of my devotion to the cause
which they represent, and my sympathy for them
personally./ ' L. N. Bonaparte.'
The Government, however, promptly requested him
to withdraw from France, thus acknowledging the
danger in which his presence would involve them. He
answered courteously, ' You think that my presence at
this time would be an embarrassment ; I therefore re
tire for the present.' He returned to England, to serve
in London on April 30 on his beat in Park Lane, armed

FROM PRISONER TO PRESIDENT 123
with the truncheon of a special constable. Although
strongly pressed he declined to be nominated for the
Constituent Assembly elected on April 23, but was
elected in June in three Departments and in Paris ; in
each case, however, he declined the honour. He was
well out of the ferocious and bloody insurrection of
June, during which tremendous conflict between the
Red Republicans and the guardians of society more
than 300 barricades were erected, 16,000 persons were
killed or wounded, 8,000 prisoners were taken, and the
loss incurred by it to the nation was estimated at
300,000,000 francs.
At length, in his fortieth year, after a life of exile
and captivity, of danger and trouble, the nephew and
heir of Napoleon the Great entered the capital of
France, called thither, in spite of the animosity of hos
tile factions in the Assembly, as the representative of
five Departments, offering him a total of over 200,000
votes. He elected to sit for Paris, which was his place
of birth ; and he went quietly to the Hotel du Rhin in
the Place Vendome, from the windows of which he could
see towering over the capital the figure of the great
man whose genius had been the guiding star of his life.
On Sept. 26, 1848, the heir of Napoleon made his
first appearance in the National Assembly. On his
way he had been heralded by irrepressible shouts of
'Vive Louis Napoleon /' ' Vive I 'Empereur /' In
side the Assembly he was received in deep silence.
Under the gaze of his enemies his bearing was quiet,
composed, and resolute ; when he mounted the tribune
the audience listened to the firm voice and marked the
soldierly attitude. He wasted no words :

124 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
' After thirty-four years of proscription and exile,' he
said, ' I have returned to my country and to my rights
as a citizen. The Republic has given me this blessing;
let it receive my vow of gratitude and devotion, and let
the generous compatriots who have returned me to this
Assembly be assured that they will always see me de
voted to the noble task which devolves on all of us —
that of securing order and tranquillity, and the develop
ment of the institutions of the State which the people
have a right to demand.
' For a long time, gentlemen, I have been able to
give to my country only the meditations of exile and
captivity. To-day the career which you follow is
opened to me also. Receive me into your ranks, dear
colleagues, with the affectionate sympathy I myself
feel. You need not doubt that my conduct will always
be inspired by respectful adherence to the law ; it will
prove to all who have endeavoured to traduce me with
the design of proscribing me still, that no one is more
devoted than I to the defence of order and the consoli
dation of the Republic'
On October 13 the Republican Constitution of 1848,
which Marrast, President of the Assembly, had pre
pared, was carried ; on October 9 the Assembly de
cided by a vote of 627 against 130 that the President
of the Republic should be elected by a direct universal
vote of the nation ; and on November 4 the famous
Constitution of 1848 was finally carried by 739 votes
against 30. On November 12 was held the national
fete of the promulgation of the Constitution. Venetian
masts from which tricolour banners waved and from
the base of which incense rose into the air, adorned

FROM PRISONER TO PRESIDENT 125
the Place de la Concorde. By the gates of the Tuil
eries rose a gorgeous altar all velvet and gold, and sur
mounted with the sacred legend ' Love one another.'
Armand Marrast, the President of the Assembly, with
General Cavaignac on his right, and Marie, Keeper
of the Seals, on his left, stood bareheaded in the wind
and snow of the bitter winter day and read the Consti
tution in a loud voice. The Archbishop of Paris cele
brated high mass followed by a Te Deum, and on the
morrow the ' Moniteur ' approved this grand and sim
ple manner of promulgating the new code of laws ' in
the face of Heaven.'
The method of the election of the President of the
Republic was the battle-ground of parties in the As
sembly, the Republican democrats ,fully conscious that
election by universal suffrage meant the return of
Prince Louis Napoleon. In the ballot of December
10 the great class of small owners and small manufac
turers voted in a body for the Prince. They voted for
law, order, and authority, for settled times and quiet
streets, because they wanted to be at work and to re
new the old happiness of saving. And the result was
decisive, for Prince Louis Napoleon had a majority of
three and a half millions over all his rivals combined.
The election was held on December 20. No opposi
tion was presented against the colossal majority which
the Prince had obtained. As he entered the thronged
Assembly all eyes were turned upon him. M. Marrast
rose from the Presidential chair, and announced that
Citizen Louis Bonaparte having obtained an absolute
majority of votes, was proclaimed by the National
Assembly President of the French Republic,1 from that

126 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
day until the second Sunday of May, 1852; and he
was invited to ascend the tribune and take the oath.
The spectacle was sombre in the dimly-lighted cham
ber as M. Marrast read aloud the oath :
' In the presence of God and before the French
people I swear to remain faithful to the democratic
Republic, and to defend the Constitution.'
The Prince raised his right hand, and said, ' I swear.'
M. Marrast again spoke in a solemn voice : ' I take God
to witness the oath that has been sworn. It will be
inserted in the proces-verbal in the " Moniteur," and will
be published in the form prescribed for public oaths.'
The scene ended with the measured withdrawal of
the Prince-President, escorted by questors nominated
to conduct him to the Elysee Palace with the cere
monies due to his exalted position. So hurriedly had
the function been prepared that not a single room in
the Elysee had been arranged for his reception. A
bed, a table, a chair, and a washhand-stand sufficed for
the new occupant of the Elysee, who had returned to
one of the haunts of his childhood after forty years
of wandering and exile.

THE COUP D'ETAT 127

CHAPTER VII
THE COUP D'£TA T
On Dec. 20, 1848, Prince Louis Napoleon had sworn
in the presence of God and before the French people ' to
remain faithful to the democratic Republic and to de
fend the Constitution.' Then, asking leave to address
a few words to the Assembly, he said : ' I shall regard
as enemies to the country all who should attempt to
subvert the Constitution, and between me and the As
sembly will exist the most perfect harmony of views.
The policy of France should be peace abroad and
a spirit of conciliation at home. I have called to
my Council honourable men who, sprung from varied
origin, are a guarantee of conciliation. . . . The Gov
ernment will be neither Utopian nor reactionary. We
will strive to give happiness to the country; and we
hope that, with the blessing of God, if we do not ac
complish great things we shall endeavour to do good
things.' The Citizen-President had three years before him in
which to make good these words ; but, as it turned out,
they were mere words and nothing more. He soon
gave the ' men distinguished for talent and patriotism '
whom he called to his Councils to understand that he
had little regard for their advice, and he did not delay
to apprise them that he had no intention of according

128 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
to them the responsibilities which etiquette ascribes
to high official functionaries. When he demanded of
the Minister of the Interior the delivery to him of the
papers and evidence relating to the Strasburg and
Boulogne affairs, M. de Malleville, ' refusing to be a
purloiner of public documents,' resigned from the
Ministry. This first and most respectful of the half-
dozen Ministries which, with intervals of no Ministry at
all, the Prince-President formed and dismissed in the
course of three years from December, 1848, to De
cember, 185 1, had Odilon Barrot for its chief, and it
had to be reconstucted almost as soon as formed.
When, after sundry chops and changes, it went to
pieces in October, 1849, the Prince-President fell back
on his devoted adherents Persigny and Ferdinand
Barrot to form a ministry. They constructed one of
men independent of party ties, but in the main devoted
to the policy of the Elysee. From this time com
menced that system of puppet administration in which
neither genius, experience, nor patriotism, neither hon
esty nor personal honour, could intervene to check or
modify the absolute will of the Prince-President. To
follow the Ministerial history of the subsequent periods
! would be a humiliating and unprofitable task. In the
\ course of three years Louis Napoleon had some eighty
or ninety Ministers — the Cabinet generally consisting
! of ten members — to not one of whom did he accord
I an unreserved confidence except to Saint-Arnaud and
jde Maupas, members of the Ministry during which the
\Coup d'Etat occurred.
The Prince-President held on his way to the ulti
mate goal. In his domestic policy his first acts were

THE COUP D'ETAT 129
to suspend universal suffrage, now that it had served
his turn ; to shackle the press ; to suppress associations
of all kinds — in a word, to crush the expression of
public opinion. The Church party having been propi
tiated and military ardour having been gratified by the
bombardment of Rome, the systematic corruption of
the army was undertaken. Champagne, sausages, and
cigars were distributed lavishly among whole regiments
on the plains of St. Maur and Satory, the recompense
for which was shouts of 'live Xapolion!' and ' Vive
I'Empereur! ' Those proceedings, which stank in the
nostrils of all Europe, justly alarmed the Constitutional
party in France. This alarm was the more justifiable
because the Constitution had jealously provided that
the President should never have any personal command
of the army. Yet Louis Napoleon, with no other mil
itary rank than that of a captain of artillery in the Swiss
service, wore the uniform of a French general officer
and surrounded himself with an etal-major, aides-de
camp, and orderly officers. He reviewed troops, dis
tributed orders and honours with all the forms employed
by soldier-sovereigns, and in all respects deported
himself as the General-in-Chief of the army. Then
followed those demonstrations, ostentatious progresses
through the provinces, feasting and speech-making, in
which ' the consolidation of the new institutions of the
country ' were phrases which were mingled with allu
sions to a ' great name' and the policy and institutions
of a ' great ancestor.'
Nothing proved more fully the conciliatory charac
ter of the Assembly as a body than the manner in
which, though its members were justly jealous of Im-
9

130 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
perial banquets and Imperial progresses among the
troops and through the provinces, they abstained from
cutting short those extravagances by refusing the
supplies expended in paying for them. The Assembly
made allowance for the hereditary vanity of the Presi
dent; and deemed it the wisest policy to allow the
period of his rule as limited by the Constitution to
elapse without insisting on a rigid adherence to justice
and public honesty.
The Constitution had contemplated, on the principle
of economy, a President without a court. It had pro
vided that ' he should be lodged at the public expense,
and that he should receive a stipend of 600,000 francs
(24,000/.) per annum.' This sum the Assembly with a
certain liberality consented to double by an additional
vote under the pretext of ' expenses of display,' with
150,000 francs extra for charities, &c. ; making the
President's total official income about 1,625,000 francs
in addition to the expenses of his palace, being above
a million francs more than the sum specified in the
Constitution. But even this amount proved insuffi
cient for the Prince's occasions, surrounded as he was
by an entourage of courtiers and maintaining a semi-
Imperial luxury — to say nothing of roast fowls and
champagne to 20,000 men at St. Maur'and to 30,000
more a week later at Satory. Previous to those ex
penditures the President had asked through his Min
isters for a large supplementary addition to these
sums — indeed, for no less than 1,400,000 francs.
The Assembly with some reluctance voted this extra
ordinary allowance also, chiefly at the persuasion of
General Changarnier. But when after the reviews of

THE COUP D'ETAT 131
St. Maur and Satory the President in February, 1S51,
made yet another demand for 1,800,000 francs, and in
timated that he expected his annual income should be
fixed at 3,425,000 francs (about 140,000/.), being about
five times the amount specified in the Constitution, in
spite of the eloquent protest of M. de Montalembert
the Assembly refused the credit by a majority of 102.
Indiscreet friends of the President proposed a national
subscription to furnish the moneys which the Assem
bly had declined to grant ; but the Prince, to do him
justice, promptly suppressed this project. His reply to
the defeat of his Minister of Finance, according to
Mr. Jerrold, was the reduction of his establishment and
the sale of some of his horses and carriages.
Louis Napoleon, it must be owned, was profuse
rather than avaricious. His hand was ever open, how
ever unworthy was the suppliant. He sincerely loved
France and was zealous for her welfare. In his mes
sage to the Assembly in the session of 1850 he dwelt
on plans prepared for the completion of the main lines
of railway, for the construction of canals and highroads,
and the improvement of rivers. Attention had been
given to the introduction of agricultural machinery,
the improvements in breeds of cattle and horses, the ap
plication of scientific farming and cultivation, and the
establishment of model farms. Other measures affect
ing the development of arts, manufacture, and industry
were in progress. The President was already projecting
the embellishments and drainage of the capital. The
prolongation of the Rue de Rivoli and the demolition of
the old stalls and tenements which had long disfigured
the Place du Carrousel were voted ; but the completion

132 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
of the Louvre had to be temporarily postponed, although
the measure would have given work to the unemployed.
In the same message the Prince referred significantly
to the future. ' If,' said he, ' you decide in favour of a
revision of the Constitution, a Constituent Assembly
will recast our fundamental laws and will regulate the
future of the Executive power. If you do not, the peo
ple in 1852 will give expression to its will. Rest as
sured that what preoccupies me is not who will govern
France in 1852, but how so to employ the time at my
command that the transition be effected without dis
turbance.' When the Legislative Assembly on May
25, 185 1, entered on its final year of existence, the two
burning questions were the revision of the Constitution
and the prolongation of the President's tenure of office.
The question of the revision was lost by a considerable
majority. But the vital portion of the Presidential mes
sage of November 6 was that in reference to the resto
ration of universal suffrage, upon which the Prince had
now fixed his hopes of re-election. This measure, how
ever, like that of the revision, was lost ; and with it the
last hope of an accommodation between the President
and the Assembly.
The President had displayed firmness in the crisis
v> of January, 185 1, by boldly dismissing General Chan-
garnier from the command of the army. On October
i 26 was announced the formation of a new Ministry, the
i most important members of which were General Saint-
) Arnaud, the hero of the recent campaign against the
Kabyles, who was appointed Minister of War ; and M.
de Maupas, recently a provincial Prefect and now hold
ing the office of Prefect of Police. Colonel Fleury it

THE COUP D'ETAT i33
was who answered for Saint-Arnaud's entire devotion
to the cause of the President, and whose mission it had
been to bring him from Algeria to a higher sphere in
Paris. General Magnan during the Coup d' Etat was
Saint-Arnaud's second in command. He had not cared
to be informed as to the event_LLQ jyJaich Jie was_to jxir-
ticipate ; he chose to remain the soldier who simply .
obeyed his chief and confined himself to his military
role. The other African generals who came to com
mand divisions in the army of Paris were for the most
part soldiers of whom the country had reason to be
proud, and who were later to add to the glory of France
in the Crimea and in Italy. De Maupas was something
of a busybody and his self-complacency was amusing ;
but he was a loyal and devoted creature of the Prince-
President, knew his duty as assigned to him, and car
ried it out with a characteristic thoroughness, and, it
may be added, with a characteristic fussiness.
To the officers of the regiments newly arrived in
Paris, who were received on November 9 by the Prince-
President in the Elysee, he thus spoke : ' In receiving
the officers of the various regiments who succeed each
other in the Paris garrison, I congratulate myself that I
see them animated by the military spirit which was
once our glory and which to-day provides our security.
Your duties you have ever discharged with honour,
whether on African or on French soil, and you have
always amidst trials preserved discipline intact. I trust
that those trials will not recur; but should grave cir
cumstances ever bring their return and compel me to
appeal to your devotion, it would not fail me, I am sure,
because you know that I would not ask you to do aught

134 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
incompatible with my rights, with the honour of a sol
dier, with the welfare of the country ; because I have
placed at your head men who possess all my confidence
and deserve yours ; and because, if ever the hour of
danger should strike, I should not do as did the Gov
ernments which preceded me and say to you "Go! I
will follow you," but " I go ! follow me." '
The Prince was addicted to procrastination. Novem
ber 20 was the first chosen date for the Coup d'Etat;
then he preferred the 25th ; then again he was for the
28th ; presently he asked for a fresh delay and pro
posed December 2 ; and finally he proposed to alter
that day for one in the next week but one. De
cember 2 was finally fixed on, and only just not too
late. ' The question is,' said Changarnier to Odilon
Barrot, ' which of us two, Louis Napoleon or myself,
will take the initiative.' When Odilon Barrot asked
him bluntly whether he was in a position to arrest the
President, Changarnier replied that whenever he re
ceived an order to do so, he would put him in a punier
a salade and drive him to Vincennes without more ado.
On the evening of Dec. 1, 185 1, the Prince-Presi
dent held his customary reception in the Elysee, at
which were present a throng of officers, Deputies, dip-
lomates, and distinguished foreigners. Hostile Dep
uties who were on the watch went away in the con
viction that nothing extraordinary was in the immediate
future. About nine the Prince went into his private
room for a short time, remarking to his secretary that
' nobody had the least suspicion ; ' and he went care
fully over the proclamations which he had prepared,
, and which in a few hours were to be posted on the

GENERAL CHANGARNIER, COMMANDER- IN-CHU.K OF THE NATIONAL GUARDS
AND DEPUTY FOR THE DEPARTMKNT OF THE SEINE

THE COUP D'ETAT 135
walls of Paris. Then, returning to his guests, he made
a leisurely tour of the suite of apartments, conversing
with groups of ladies and exchanging a passing word
with a General or Ambassador. At ten o'clock, as
usual, he retired to his private room, remarking" cheer
fully to his secretary, ' Do you know what is being said
in the salons ? There is a general talk of an imminent
Coup d'Etat, but it is not ours ; it is a Coup d'Etat
which the Assembly is preparing against me ! ' Pres
ently Persigny entered, soon followed by the other
three members of the intimate Cabinet — de Maupas,
Prefect of Police; de Morny, Minister of the Interior;
and Saint-Arnaud, Minister of War. The proclama
tions which in a few hours were to alter the destinies
of France were carefully re-read and finally settled.
Saint-Arnaud and de Maupas recapitulated the meas
ures each had to carry into effect, and expressed their
confidence that no hitch would be allowed to occur.
Then the Prince bade his friends good night and re
tired to his bedroom. Morny went to play whist at the
Jockey Club until he should come on duty at the Min
istry of the Interior at seven on the following morning,
by which time such difficulties as Saint-Arnaud andde
Maupas would encounter would have been surmounted.
Saint-Arnaud went to instruct General Magnan regard
ing the duties assigned to him ; he carefully detailed
the military strength at the disposal of the latter to
meet the contingency of a possible conflict on the mor
row ; and in concert with Magnan, on whom he could ¦
implicitly rely, he took every precaution as if in an,
enemy's country. Colonel Espinasse was directed to
surround the Assembly with a military cordon.

1 36 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
When de Maupas left the Elysee he was accom
panied by Colonel Beville, who was intrusted with the
proclamations for the printers of the Lmprimerie Na
tionale. A company of mobile gendarmerie entered •
the printing establishment along with the Colonel, sen
tries were posted at doors and windows, and the strict
est orders were given to prevent all communication
with the outside. The work was performed with expe
dition, and at the appointed hour the printed proc
lamations of the President, the Minister of War, and
the Prefect of Police were in the hands of M. de
Maupas for distribution among his men, for whom
conveyances were waiting ; and they started for every
quarter of Paris and the suburban communes. At
half-past seven the work of placarding was finished in
Paris, between eight and half-past in the outskirts.
A grave responsibility rested on de Maupas — noth
ing less than the success or fail'ure of the Coup d'Etat.
If a single arrest should fail the alarm might be given
and would spread. But de Maupas was equal to the
occasion. Every arrest was to be personally directed
by a commissary of police. He had chosen from
among his subordinates for the most important mis
sions the men whom he judged to be the most ener
getic and most devoted. The selected functionaries
received at two o'ctock in the morning instructions to
present themselves at the Prefecture of Police at a
given moment and within short intervals, between 3
and half-past 4 a.m. On arrival they were 'absolutely
isolated one from the other. Each was introduced into if
the Prefect's room by himself, and received every de- 1
tail of his instructions from him alone. To each com-

M. DE MAUPAS, PREFECT OF POLICE

THE COUP D'ETAT 137
missary the astute de Maupas confined himself to an
announcement of the arrest with which he was in
trusted, leaving him in ignorance that he was partici
pating in a collective measure. No doubt, nevertheless,
intelligent, as they all were, those men understood that
they were co-operating in the long-spoken-of Coup
d'Etat. ' To each,' in de Maupas's words, ' I recalled
in brief terms what his duty required of him, the perils
courage and energy can brave when the soul is inspired;
I enjoined each one to shrink from no measure in the
execution of his mission, but above all to protect and
to respect, at the risk of his own life, those men whom
he was detailed to arrest. Every few minutes, and
without as yet communicating with any of his col
leagues, a commissary left my room and repaired to an
indicated spot, where he found the staff necessary to
an arrest which had to be made under such conditions
that failure was almost impossible.
The prison of Mazas was chosen as the place of con
finement for the State prisoners. To the Governor
of Mazas was appointed a commissioner in extraordi
nary of superior rank in the person of Colonel Thierion,
a man of approved energy, tact, and devotion. The
persons who were to be arrested by the police were of
different categories, — members of the Assembly more
or less implicated in a counter-plot, the heads of the
secret societies, and the noted commanders of barri
cades. For the last fortnight they had all been watched
and had never been lost sight of by invisible agents.
The total number of persons to be arrested amounted
to seventy-eight, among whom were eighteen members
of the Assembly and sixty heads of secret societies and

138 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
of barricades. It had been arranged by the Prefect of
Police and the Minister of War that the several arrests
should be made a quarter of an hour before the arrival
of the troops at their respective destinations. The ar
rests were to take place simultaneously at a quarter-
past six, and the agents were ordered to be at the doors
of the persons specified at five minutes after six. Every
thing was effected with astonishing punctuality, and
no arrest occupied a longer time than twenty minutes.
Some of the details of those arrests presented traits so
characteristic as to be worth narrating. Some had re
sisted ; some had made solemn protests ; and some had
frankly acknowledged that they had been outwitted.
The commissary detailed to arrest General Chan
garnier found a difficulty in obtaining entrance ; but his
assistant got into the courtyard by passing through an
immediately adjacent grocer's shop and so opening the
door to his principal. The General was found in his
shirt in the doorway of his room, with a pistol in each
hand ; but he surrendered immediately, only saying, ' I
expected the Coup d Etat, and now here it is.' He was
promptly carried to Mazas. The commissaries in
trusted with the task of arresting the two quaestors
residing in the Palace of the Assembly, M. Baze and
General Le Flo, found the latter sound asleep ; but he
hurriedly dressed while vehemently protesting against
his arrest. He attempted to bully the commissary and
threatened to have him shot ; then he poured abuse on
the Prince-President, General Saint-Arnaud, and the
Prefect of Police ; and it was only after some lively
resistance that he consented to leave his apartment.
M. Baze showed still greater irritation and was even

\-

-i

GENERAL DE LA MORICIERE, MIN'ISTEK OF WAR AND DEPU'I V FOR
SAR TI I K

GENERAL CAVAIGNAC, PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL AND CHIEF OF THE
EXECUTIVE

THE COUP D'ETAT 139
more violent than General Le Flo. He resorted to
every means of resistance, refused to dress himself, and
had to be carried almost by force to the carriage wait
ing for him. The arrests of Generals de Lamoriciere,
of Bedeau, and of Colonel Charras, gave rise to inci
dents similar to those in the case of M. Baze — the
same fruitless resistance and the same abortive attempts
to address the troops on the way to Mazas. General
Cavaignac was more guarded in the expression of his
anger, and remained very dignified. M. Thiers was
seized with a genuine terror when informed that he
was arrested. He became quite incoherent — 'He
did not want to die, did not conspire, for the future he
would abstain from politics and would retire abroad.'
On discovering that his life was not in danger the illus
trious orator, sitting down on his bed, proceeded to
harangue the commissaries. When requested to rise
and dress he responded by a very unceremonious act,
from which it would have been more decent to refrain.
Then, still undressed, he produced a brace of pistols,
remarking to the commissary, ' I might blow your
brains out ; I am armed, and would have every justifi
cation for treating you as a malefactor.' The commis
sary quietly remarked that he, too, could shoot, and at
the instance of M. Thiers that topic of remark was not
continued. When at length dressed and in the car
riage, terror once again assailed M. Thiers. 'You are
going to have me shot,' he exclaimed — ' I see clearly
that I am being led to execution.' Reassured on that
point, he then tried to bribe the commissary into letting
him escape by promise of a large reward. At Mazas
M. Thiers fell into a state of complete prostration ; his

140 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
strength wholly forsook him. M. Lagrange, who had
come home in the morning thoroughly inebriated, in
dulged in the most violent imprecations. M. Cholat,
powerless at first in the dread of being shot, regained
fictitious courage by drinking a quantity of absinthe.
The arrests of the various other representatives were
not marked by any incident worthy of notice. When
the arrested persons found themselves congregated in
Mazas there were many greetings of recognition ; bit
ter smiles and as bitter words were exchanged. ' See
how he treats us,' said General Changarnier to General
Cavaignac. ' Well, he makes a mistake, because he
would certainly have been re-elected next May, but now
. . . . ' By half-past eight the last of the arrests were
over. No attempts had been made to escape; nor
were there any attempts at rescue from outside. De
Maupas's instructions had been carried out to the let
ter. No precautions had been neglected to secure the
guardianship of his prisoners against any attempt on
the part of foes and friends ; and every possible meas
ure had been taken to soften the severities inseparable
from the situation. General Changarnier sent the fol
lowing note to his sister : ' Set your mind at rest ; I
am treated with the greatest consideration. M. de
Maupas treats me like a gentleman.'
On the 3rd Generals Bedeau, Eugene Cavaignac,
Changarnier, Lamoriciere, and Le Flo, Colonel Char
ras, and MM. Royer and Blaze were despatched by
General Saint-Arnaud to the fortress of Ham, where
they were treated with great leniency, had access to
their families, and within a month were set at lib
erty. M. Thiers, after a few days at Mazas, where he

M.THIERS, DEPUTY FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF SEINE INFERIEl! KE, 1851

THE COUP D'ETAT 141
was treated with great consideration, was conducted
beyond the Rhine frontier and set at liberty. The
representatives who had been sent to Mont Valerien
and Vincennes were liberated within a few days, many
within a few hours, of their arrest.
Early on the morning of the 2nd Persigny arrived
at the Elysee with his report of the nocturnal proceed
ings. The Prince presently appeared, calm and cool
as was his wont. De Morny was at the Ministry of
the Interior, telegraphing assiduously to the provinces.
Saint-Arnaud was at work at the War Ministry.
General Magnan had occupied all points with bodies
of troops. De Maupas had sent out his emissaries far
and wide, tracking insurrectionists and rioters. Chan-
garnier's counterplot had been foiled utterly by the
arrest of himself and that of his principal accomplices.
Among the earliest visitors to the Elysee were Prin
cess Mathilde, King Jerome, and Marshal Exelmans.
At nine o'clock the Prince mounted his horse, and as
he rode out from the courtyard of the Elysee followed
by his friends, his staff, and his mounted escort, hand
kerchiefs fluttered from every window, welcoming the
cortege as it deployed into the street. He rode on to
the Place de la Concorde, vociferous adherents scatter
ing copies of the proclamations among the crowd.
Shouts of ' Vive Napoleon '! ' Vive I ' Empereur! ' came
from the massed soldiery ; and the excitement was in
tensified when the Prince rode towards the Tuileries
and entered the gardens of the palace. ' He is going
to take possession of the palace,' a workman was heard
to say — ' // a fait son coup. Well, all the better ;
work will be slack no longer.' The Prince, however,

142 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
was not going to the palace. He rode into the Place
du Carrousel, where he reviewed the regiments of the
line stationed there. His reception along the quays and
boulevards was diversified ; at some points in sombre
silence, at others with hostile manifestations, at many
with ebullitions of welcome. He returned to the
Elysee in good spirits, for his adventure seemed to
have the approval of the masses, and on the whole
he considered that he had been well received.
Mr. Kinglake has asserted that the Prince remained
gloomy and solitary during those eventful days. After
his ride along the boulevards on the morning of the 2nd,
according to that brilliant but bitter writer, the Prince
' thenceforth, for the most part, remained close shut up
in the Elysee. There, in an inner room, still decked in
red trousers, but with his back to the daylight, they say
he sat bending over a fireplace for hours and hours
together, resting his elbows on his knees, and burying
his face in his hands. . . . What is better known is,
that in general, during this period of danger, tidings
were not suffered to go to him straight. It seems that,
either in obedience to his own dismal instinct, or else
because his associates had determined to prevent him
from ruining them by his gloom, he was kept sheltered
from immediate contact with alarming messengers. It
was thought more wholesome for him to hear what
Persigny or the resolute Fleury might think it safe to
tell him, than to see with his own eyes an aide-de-camp
fresh from Saint-Arnaud or Magnan, or a commissary
full fraught with the sensations which were shaking
the health of Maupas.' Captain Gronow, who wit
nessed what he described, says, on the other hand,

THE COUP D'ETAT i43
that the Prince during his ride through the streets
maintained his wonted equanimity, and was not more
grave and silent than usual ; that he never for an in
stant flinched from possible danger, but was always
quietly prepared to meet it. 'The Elysee,' continues
Captain Gronow, ' was not closed to any visitors en
titled to present themselves. Those who were re
ceived found the Prince calm, collected, and urbane ;
he addressed all with his customary affability and
kindness, and conversed freely upon various topics.
He thinks and weighs before he speaks, and what he
says is concise and to the point. His manner is cer
tainly quiet and reticent — that of a grave and thought
ful man ; but this quiet is amply made up for by the
flattering attention which he gives to the words of all
with whom he speaks. He listens intelligently to
everything that is said, and his replies and observations
seem to evince a wish, not to express his own opinion,
but to learn that of others. He never fails to appre
ciate with courtesy the views and opinions brought
before him.'
Notwithstanding the decree pronouncing the dissolu
tion of the National Assembly, the re-establishment of
universal suffrage, the repeal of the law of May 31, the
announcement of the forthcoming elections, and the
proclamation of the state of siege, groups of members
of the dissolved Assembly met in the Palais Bourbon
on the morning of the 2nd, with the object of pro
nouncing the downfall of the Prince-President. The
Deputies insisted on seeing their President, M. Dupin,
who for hours had recognised the futility of resistance.
When at length he made his appearance, he wasted no

144 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
words. ' It is evident,' said he, ' that the Constitution
is being violated. Right is with us ; but as we are the
weaker party, I suggest your withdrawal. I have the
honour to bid you adieu ; ' and M. Dupin summarily
took his departure. A noisy demonstration was being
prepared, when a battalion of gendarmes abruptly
cleared the chamber. A later meeting, at which were
present about 300 Monarchist and Republican Depu
ties, was held at the Mairie of the 10th Arrondissement.
In this assemblage M. Benoist d'Azy occupied the
presidential chair and M. Berryer was the principal
speaker. The orator addressed from the window the
groups of Deputies gathered in the outer courtyard.
A decree was unanimously carried removing Louis
Napoleon Bonaparte from the presidency of the
Republic, and declaring that the Executive power
had passed by right into the hands of the National
Assembly — an institution which no longer existed.
In the midst of the confusion two of de Maupas's com
missaries entered the arena with soldiers at their backs,
and summoned the gathering immediately to disperse.
After a wrangle the commissaries seized by the collar
the president and vice-president ; and when the repre
sentatives vehemently declared that they would yield
only to force they were marched arm-in-arm, by twos,
through the streets to the barracks of the Quai d'Orsay,
where they were shut up until later in the day, when
they were driven away in omnibuses to a brief incarcera
tion in Forts Valerien and Vincennes. f Thus ended
the Parlimentary resistance to the Coup d'Etat^ The
legal opposition was yet more feeble. The High Court
of Justice dispersed abruptly at the sight of commis-

THE COUP D'ETAT 145
saries of police backed by soldiers, leaving behind
them futile decrees declaring Louis Napoleon guilty of
high treason and convoking a national jury to proceed
to judgment on him.
Paris had rested perfectly quiet throughout the criti
cal day of December 2. But shrewd critics of the situ
ation recognised the improbability that the calm would
last. The Reds were not the men to refrain from tak
ing advantage of an opportunity so tempting. Before
midnight Baudin, Schoelcher, Esquiros, and Madian
de ,Montjau, the chosen leaders of insurrection, were
already on the war-path. De Maupas had averted the
ominous tolling of the tocsin by the expedient of cut
ting the bell-ropes and guarding the belfries. But the
work of barricade-building was begun late in the even
ing on the old familiar fighting ground of the Temple
and of the St. Antoine, St. Martin, and St. Marceau
quarters. The masses, however, were not forthcoming
in their thousands ; and the leaders of anarchy post
poned their activity until the early morning of the 3rd.
It was to be a half-hearted insurrection, — a very feeble
repetition of the terrible days of June, 1848, when the
gutters ran with human blood. Behind the barricades
there now stood but a puny minority of malcontents;
opposed to them was a great mass of soldiery com
manded by able chiefs, and the vast preponderance of
contented Parisians, who stood for order and social
security. During the 3rd there were for the most part mere
desultory conflicts, in the course of one of which Baudin
the insurrectionist was killed. A great part of the
eastern quarters of Paris was a scene of riot, but as yet

146 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
no general movement on the part of the troops was
made. Magnan kept the gross of his soldiers in bar
racks, holding them fresh till the time for converging
and overwhelming action should arrive. The two bri
gades which he sent out to deal with the insurrection
ists of the Faubourgs St. Antoine and St. Jacques
swept the barricades and scattered their defenders;
elsewhere also detachments of chasseurs prevented
barricade-building in and about the Rue du Temple ;
but the day closed without serious fighting. Magnan's
orders to his subordinate commanders for the 4th were
firm and precise : ' The troops mostly are to have their
night's rest ; the barricade-building is not to be inter
rupted. To-morrow at ten the army of Paris will pro
ceed to carry the barricades with artillery.'
During the forenoon of the 4th Magnan was at the
Place du Carrousel, while his army was steadily con
verging on the strongholds of the insurrection. At the
appointed hour of two p.m. the Carrelet and Levasseur
brigades headed for the centre of the insurgent Fau
bourgs. The Bourgon brigade swept into position be
tween the Portes St. Martin and St. Denis. Canrobert
carried the great barricades thrown up in the Rue Fau
bourg St. Martin and adjacent streets, his chasseurs
attacking fiercely at the bayonet-point. Dulac's brigade
supported by artillery cleared the Rue Rambuteau and
its vicinity; Levasseur and Marulez struck at the heart
of the insurrection in the Rues du Temple, de Ram
buteau, and the region of the Rue St. Denis; and
Courtigis, from the Faubourg St. Antoine, took the
barricades in reverse and scattered their defenders in
all directions. Desultory fighting still continued about

THE COUP D'ETAT 147
the Montmartre region, where Colonel Lourmel de
stroyed five barricades after dark, killing forty insur
gents in carrying one of the five. There was no more
actual fighting after that. On the 5th Magnan dis
played, in a sort of parade to the people, the entire
army of Paris; detailing all arms to scour the streets in
flying columns and destroy all obstacles to free circula
tion. Thus ended the short-lived insurrection follow
ing on the Coup d'Etat ; Paris beheld no longer an
array of troops in her streets and promptly resumed
her business and her pleasures. The casualties of the
Coup d Etat were never accurately computed. De
Maupas gives them as about 600 killed and wounded.
But those figures do not include the Jacquerie in the
Provinces, which in many Departments was virulent,
bloody, and prolonged. Abominable atrocities were per
petrated in the Jura, Provence, and Languedoc, where
pillage and assassination were rife for days. At Cla-
mency the insurgents had their will of the town for a day,
and horrible cruelties were committed, while the Reds
shouted, ' Vive Barbes ! Death to the rich ! ' Those
bands of miscreants were ultimately dispersed by flying
columns of regular troops, and the ring-leaders of the
insurrection were gradually secured. They were dealt
with sternly, but justly. A large proportion of the sen
tences inflicted by the fixed commissions were remit
ted by commissioners charged with powers to remit
punishments on an extensive scale. ' Compare,' wrote
M. Cheron de Villiers, ' the results of those mixed com
missions with the condemnations pronounced against
the insurgents of 1848, and the list of transportations
to Cayenne at that period — and it will be easy to judge

148 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
in which case moderation was shown.' Well, however
severe were the punitive measures carried out against
the insurgents of 1848, and however long the lists of
transportations to Cayenne and elsewhere at that
period, moderation was scarcely the strong enough
term in relation to the punishments following on the
Coup d' Etat. The total number of persons arrested
and prosecuted in France after that event amounted to
26,642. The number of the convicted reached a total
of 15,033. The d'eport'es to Cayenne numbered 239, to
Algeria 9,536; those sentenced to exile or expulsion
1,545, to imprisonment 2,804 — making a total of
14,124. Apart from those figures, up to Jan. 27, 1852,
the following punishments on persons already under
sentence by mixed commissions were inflicted : to
Cayenne, 173; to Algeria, 4,042; exile or expulsion,
614; internment, 1,325 — a total of 6,153. Persons
subjected simply to police surveillance, 5,108.
Yet there can be no question that the French nation
as a whole approved of the action, stern as it was, by
which the Prince-President had done away with a fac
tious Assembly and had disconcerted the Bourbon,
Orleanist, and Socialist factions. Of the 8,116,773
persons who voted on Dec. 20, 185 1, no fewer than
7,439,216 indicated by their votes their approval of the
deeds of December 2 ; and it was apparent that the tide
of public opinion in regard to the Coup d'Etat set
strongly in its favour throughout Continental Europe.

EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH 149

CHAPTER VIII
EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH
"\| Prince Louis Napoleon emerged from the Coup d'Etat
the absolute ruler of France.- From Dec. 2, 185 1, until
March, 29, 1852, the date of the first meeting of the
governing bodies which he called into existence as the
^elected Chief of the State, his position was that of
Dictator.^) In his proclamation of Dec. 8, 1851, he
called on the people to refrain from bloodshed but to
make their will known at the ballot-boxes on the 20th.
' Our troubles,' said he, 'are at an end. Be the decision
of the people what it may, society is saved. I was con
vinced that an appeal to the nation to put an end to
party conflicts would notput public tranquillity seriously
in danger. But until the nation has spoken I shall
spare no effort to put down factions.' On December 31,
M. Billault, president of the Consultative Commission,
presented himself at the Elysee as head of the Com
mission, when he formally informed the Prince-Presi
dent that his election was acclaimed by seven million
four hundred and fifty suffrages. In his reply the
Prince used the famous phrase, ' Je n'etais sorti de la
legalite que pour rentrer dans le droit! ' More than
seven million suffrages,' he added, ' have absolved me,
by justifying an act which had but one object — that of
saving France from years of disorder and misery. I

150 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
thank you for having officially declared this manifesta
tion to have been thoroughly national and spontaneous.'
In the midst of his legislative activity and while
taking every precaution for the maintenance of order,
the Prince-President lost not a day in putting in execu
tion measures of public utility. So early as Decem
ber 10 he gave the concession for the line of railway
from Lyons to Avignon, decreed the immediate con
struction of the Ceinture Railway round Paris, ordered
the prompt renewal of the interrupted public works in
the capital, and issued instructions for the demolition
of the ugly structures between the Tuileries and the
Louvre. On Jan. i, 1852, the Prince went in state to
Notre Dame to pray, as he said, for God's protection
for the fulfilment of the duties and undertakings to
which he was to devote himself. ' Invested by France,'
so he expressed himself solemnly, ' with the right which
emanates from the people,' he prayed for ' the power
which is derived from God.' On the same occasion he
decreed the restoration of the Imperial Eagle to the
French flag and of the Cross of the Legion of Honour.
In an introductory explanation of the details of the
Constitution of 1852, which was about to be promul
gated, the Prince on January 14 addressed to the peo
ple a synopsis of the principles which had weighed with
him in its preparation, but of which only a mere resume
can be here given. The ' first wheel in our new organ
isation,' to use his own term, was to be the Council of
State — the real Council of the Government — which
should prepare and debate laws in a General Assem
bly with closed doors before presenting them for the
acceptance of the Corps Legislatif. Of the two As-

EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH 151
semblies, the Chamber styled the Corps Legislatif was
to vote the laws and taxes, be elected by universal suf
frage, and to consist of about two hundred and sixty
members. The other Assembly, to be styled the Sen
ate, was to be composed of ' elements which in all coun
tries are legitimate influences — illustrious names,
fortune, talent, services rendered to the country.' Its
character was to be that of ' supreme moderator,' inter
vening to solve any difficulty that might arise in the
absence of the Corps Legislatif, or to define any point
of the Constitution and regulate its operation. ' The
Constitution outlined cursorily had been fixed,' said its
specious author, ' only in places that could not be left
doubtful. It had not closed in an iron circle the des
tinies of a freed people. Space enough had been left
for chance, so that in any great crisis there might be
means of safety other than the disastrous expedient of
revolution.'| Mr. Jerrold remarks truly that the power vested in
Prince Louis Napoleon by the Constitution of 1852, as
formed on his own model, was such as had scarcely ever
devolved on mortal man. He was absolute master of a
great people standing in the van of modern civilisation,
master of the foremost nation of Continental Europe,
and he could boast that he was Dictator by the free
assent of the millions whose fate lay in his hands. The
political institutions which he had called into existence,
from the Senate downwards, centred in him; all the
public servants of France derived their authority from
him. For from the prison of Ham he had reached at
length the Tuileries, and the eyes of the civilised world
were bent intently on the man who, after having sur-

15-2 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
mounted vicissitudes so strange and so varied, was now
the absolute ruler of a great nation, and who, whenever
he chose, might mount the steps of an Imperial throne.
One of the first cares of the Prince was to surround
himself with as many men of high character and good
birth as possible.NHis anxiety in this respect, it was
true, was scarcely evidenced in his hurried appoint
ments to the Consultative Commission at the time of
the Coup d'Etat, but it was fairly manifested in regard
to his nominations to the Senate and the Council of
State. Of the seventy-two Senators appointed by him
in January there were eighteen generals, three admirals,
fourteen ex-Ministers, and five Judges, the rest being
ex-peers of France and ex-representatives. Ex-King
Jerome Bonaparte, Marshal of France, was created
President of the Senate. The Council of State had for
Vice-President M. Baroche (presiding in the absence
of the Chief of the State) ; and besides the Presidents
of Sections there were thirty-four Councillors in addi
tion to forty Masters of Requests and thirty Auditors.
In those two bodies of supporters and advisers the
Prince-President secured all the political wisdom, the
administrative experience, and the personal devotion
which he could command.
The famous decree of January 22nd, in virtue of
which the landed property of the House of Orleans
was to be confiscated within a year, was denounced
with great severity and brought on Louis Napoleon no
small odium. But he was not destitute of justification
for this sweeping measure ; indeed, there was a prece
dent which it was not likely that he should forget. It
was but natural that the Prince should have regarded

EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH 153
as a matter of fair reprisals against Louis Philippe the
confiscation or sale of their property in France which
Louis XVIII. inflicted on the members of the Bona
parte family in January, 1816. And there was another
precedent to his hand in the circumstance that the
head of the House of Orleans had deprived the elder
branch of his own family — his own flesh and blood —
of the right to hold property within French territory.
The decree of January 22 declared that measures of
realisation and removal of property belonging to the
Orleans family with the alternative of confiscation on de
fault were needful to public order and for the public
good, and that it was all the more necessary to take
drastic measures with regard to the property of the House
of Orleans, since that property was computed to have
a value of over twelve millions sterling. The political
influence which a princely family, although in exile yet
endowed with possessions so vast, could sway, was in
the nature of a standing menace to the assured quie
tude of the reigning Sovereign ; and the necessity for
diminishing so vast a property, if intrigue were not to
be constantly fomented, was beyond question. It ap
peared that the property dealt with by the decree of Jan.
22, 1852, had been put under provisional sequestration
immediately after the Revolution of 1848, when Jules
Favre had proposed that it should be confiscated to
the State since it had been secured to Louis Philippe
fraudulently, who had been confirmed in the possession
of it by an obsequions Parliament and servile Ministry.
That proposition had been negatived on the counter-
representations of M. Berryer; and so late as Febru
ary, 1850, M. Fould argued against confiscation. But

154 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
within a month after the Coup d'Etat the decree
promulgating the confiscation of the Orleans proper
ties was issued, it having been prepared without the
knowledge of the Prince's closest friends. Several of
the most important Ministers resigned in token of
their disapprobation, and a number of men of influence
who had accepted the Government of the Coup d' Etat
— such men, for instance, as the Duke Pasquier, M.
de Montalembert, several Senators of note, and most
of the new Councillors of State — now resigned their
functions. M. Dupin sent in his resignation in pro
test against the violation of the rights of property, and
those of the Ministers who retained their portfolios did
their utmost to dissuade the Prince from carrying out
the measure. But the feeling thus expressed did not
move him from his resolution. He seems, indeed, to
have considered himself generous when it was stated
in the decree that the Orleans family would still have
left to its members some four millions of private prop
erty, on which, as the decree curtly stated, ' they could
maintain their rank abroad.' No dissuasion could
conquer the obstinacy of the Prince in regard to this
subject, although his attitude was almost universally
considered a great mistake.
The reader, however, should not disregard the fact
that the confiscated property was wholly devoted to the
benefit of the French public. The property which would
come into the possession of the State when realised
was to be devoted to the carrying-out of such measures
as subventions to mutual benefit societies, to the im
provement of artisans' homes in great cities, to credit
societies in agricultural districts, and to other kin-

EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH 155
dred purposes which will presently be detailed. The
decrees affecting the rank and file of the old soldiers of
the Republic and the Empire called for an inquiry into
their numbers and condition. A Commission had
examined the papers of the veterans, had recognised
the claims of 1 1,200 ancient warriors who had fought
for France on many fields and were now in indigent
circumstances, and had claimed for them pensions
ranging from 200 to 325 francs per annum. The
conditions were that the pensioner should be eighty
years of age, have soldiered for twenty years, and have
received at least six wounds. The Prince recognised
the obligations to France of the old soldiers by opening
a credit of 2,700,000 francs to be disbursed in pensions
to the ' glorious veterans.' He also decided that ser
vices performed within the realm in the suppression
of insurrection or disorder should confer equal privi
leges; and he therefore recognised the claims of the
gendarmerie, those 'martyrs of the demagogues.' A
number of military reforms, such as the institution of
the military medal and the restoration of the eagle
to the national flags, were warmly welcomed by the
army. On the occasion of the first distribution
of the military medal on March 1, the Prince-Presi
dent explained to the troops its intention. It was
to be supplementary to the Legion of Honour; and
it would be awarded to men re-engaging after having
served their first term with honour, and to sol
diers who had made four campaigns, been wounded,
or had especially distinguished themselves. ' The
medal,' said the Prince, 'would carry a pension of a
hundred francs — no great sum — but it will mark

156 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
your character as a worthy soldier.' And the military
medal would lead too, with good fortune, to the higher
decoration of the Legion of Honour, which latter was
at_ the same time being reorganised.
) No sooner had order been established after the Coup
d'Etat than the Prince manifested remarkable vigour
in causing work and resultant prosperity in every part
of France. ) In Mr. Jerrold's fanciful but expressive
phrase, ' the sound of workmen's hammers was the
music of his triumph.' \ Between December, 185 1, and
March, 1852, public works of various kinds were autho
rised; in the great provincial towns improvements were
set on foot, municipalities were empowered to raise
loans of magnitude; canal and railway systems received
a vigorous and well-judged impetus; and private en
terprise, stirred by the strength and resolution of the
new Government, took heart to expand itself with
courage in commercial and financial adventures./ Cred
its were early offered for the improvement of the
navigation of the rivers Seine and Rhone, and for the
construction of important departmental highways. In
virtue of an agreement between the Government and a
private company the long-delayed line of railway com
munication from Calais to Marseilles by way of Lyons
was to be completed within four years, a measure which
would connect by the most direct way the English
Channel with the Mediterranean. Decrees conceded
railway lines from Dijon to Besancon, and from Mul-
house to Lyons ; and presently was sanctioned another
line connecting Strasburg with the territory on the
right bank of the Rhine, by which France should ac
quire a railway route to southern Germany. The

EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH 157
Northern Railway Company obtained concessions for
branches which should link it with the eastern system
of lines, so shortening the route to northern Germany.
Thus the great network of French railroads was being
in course of completion, and that, too, without subven
tions from the State. The only advantage obtained by
the Government was the extension of the concessions
to a period of ninety-nine years, at the expiration of
which time they were to become the property of the
community. Following on the outline of a system of
telegraph wires linking with the capital the principal
provincial cities — a scheme sketched by M. de Morny
in a clear and comprehensive report — a decree autho
rised that Minister to proceed at once to the construc
tion of the system and a large credit was opened for
this purpose.
The financial reforms of the short Dictatorship were
not less important than the commercial and industrial
activities with which the period was rife. The principal
operation was the conversion of the 5 per cent Rentes
into 4^ per cents, with the equitable condition that
objectors should be reimbursed at the rate of 100 francs
for every five francs of Rentes, provided the demand
were made within twenty days from the date of the de
cree. The proof that this measure was reasonable was
shewn by the fact that the State creditors evinced no
wish to withdraw their investments, while the saving
to the Government by the transaction amounted to
720,000/ The last of the important financial opera
tions during the Dictatorship was the authorisation of
Credit Foncier societies in agricultural loan or mort
gage banks, the first funds placed at their disposal

158 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
being a subsidy of ten million francs to be derived from
the Orleans property, an equal sum to be furnished by
the State, and two hundred million francs to be ad
vanced as required by the Bank of France to the de
partmental branches of the central society established
in Paris. Finally, the finances of the Dictatorship as
embodied in the Budget for 1852 showed an increase
for extraordinary public works of fourteen million
francs. And wonderful to relate, although the army
estimates were increased by a million francs and the
navy estimates by thirty-two millions, the Finance Min
ister could still present a surplus of about eighteen
million francs.
Mr. Jerrold has pointed out that the above was not
all of the work of the Dictatorship, and he has referred
to other salient features of the Prince-President's pol
icy : ' Sanitary measures for the improvement of the
homes of the working poor, regulations for the preven
tion of food adulteration, the transfer of taxes from
necessaries to luxuries, the assurance of Christian burial
to the poorest, increase of pay and honour to the lower
ranks of the army, railway works withdrawn from Gov
ernment patronage extended and confided to private
enterprise, town improvements set in operation all over
the country, Sunday labour discountenanced, and the
provident habits of the people promoted by a vast sys
tem of mutual benefit societies, the National Guard re
modelled, and the educational machinery of the State
reformed and withdrawn from party political influences,'
Some of the measures of the Dictatorship must, no
doubt, have been rash and crude ; some questionless
evinced a love of show and splendour ; some were bids

EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH 159
for the favour of the masses or for the favourable dis
position of the army, and others deserved to be con
demned as concentrating over-much power in the hands
of the Chief of the State. But it is not possible to re
gard the measures of the Dictatorship as a whole,
without arriving at the conviction that they were well
meant, full of consideration for the public weal, and
conceived by a man of a firm but of a kindly and sym
pathetic nature.
The term of the Dictatorship came to an end on
March 29, 1852; and on the same day the Chambers
met in the Hall of Marshals in the Palace of the Tuil
eries. In this noble hall there was nothing of Repub
lican simplicity or severity. It was hung with crimson
hangings. Its galleries were filled with the ladies of
the Diplomatic Corps and the high functionaries of
State ; its floor was thronged with diplomatists, Sena
tors, and Deputies in rich and varied costumes. The
scene was dominated by the canopy overhanging the
dais, on which was the State chair of the Prince-Pres
ident; near by, on a lower elevation, was that of ex-
King Jerome, President of the Senate. To the sound
of cannon and the beating of drums the Prince entered
the hall, preceded and followed by his staff and house
hold. Courteously desiring the company to be seated,
he proceeded forthwith to read his speech :
' The Dictatorship which the people intrusted to me
ceases to-day. Public affairs are about to resume their
regular course. My constant care has been to re
establish order. . . . Often discouraged, I admit that I
have thought of giving up a power so persistently dis
puted. I held on because I saw that there was only

160 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
anarchy to take my place. . . . When, through the
assistance of a few men of courage and the energetic
attitude of the army all those perils were swept away
in a few hours, my first care was to ask the people for
institutions. Universal suffrage was re-established,
authority was restored. France having adopted the
principal features of the Constitution which I submit
ted to her, I was enabled to create political bodies, the
influence and prestige of which will be great because
their functions have been carefully regulated. . . .
While watching me re-establish the institutions and
re-awaken the memories of the Empire, people have
repeated again and again that I wished to reconstitute
the Empire itself. If this had been so the transforma
tion would have been accomplished long ago ; neither
the means nor the opportunities would have been
wanting. . . . But I have remained content with that
which I had. Resolved now, as heretofore, to do all in
my power for France and nothing for myself, I would
accept any modification of the present state of things
only if forced by necessity. ... If parties remain quiet,
nothing shall be changed. But if J:hey endeavour to
sap the foundations of my Government ; if they deny
the legitimacy of the result of the popular vote; if, in
short, they continually put the future of the country in
jeopardy — then, but only then, it might be prudent to
ask the people for a new title which should irrevocably
fix on my head the power with which they have already
clothed me. But let us not anticipate difficulties ; let
us preserve the Republic. Under its banner I am anx
ious to inaugurate once more an epoch of reconciliation
and of pardon ; and I call on all without distinction,

EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH 161
who will frankly co-operate with me for the public
good.' But, as was inevitable, the Prince was urged on all
sides to put an end to what was obviously a provisional
form of government, by boldly assuming the Imperial
dignity. Yet he continued steadfastly to refrain from
taking this final step until he should have ascertained
as a certainty that it was the desire of the great major
ity of the French nation. He professed that he would
accept the Imperial elevation only when the sovereign
people should have definitely signified its united will
that he should mount the throne. Meantime the
State balls in the Tuileries, the organisation of a mag
nificent hunting establishment, the Prince's name
heading all public documents and his head on the
coinage, the oath of personal fidelity, the restoration of
the eagles to the standards, and the selection of August
15 — Napoleon's fete day — as the national holiday of
the year; those were all so many circumstances and
events tending significantly in the direction of the
Empire. It seemed that any day the Empire might
suddenly arrive. It was in the air when, on May 10,
the Prince-President distributed eagles to an army of
60,000 men on the Champ de Mars ; eagles which were
blessed by the Archbishop of Paris and handed back
by the Prince to the standard-bearers with the words,
' Take back these eagles which so long led our fathers
to victory, and swear to die, if need be, in defence of
them.' It was in the air when the first celebration of
the Fete Napoleon was marked by an amnesty
granted to 1,200 political prisoners; and men held it
as good as accomplished when Thiers, Remusat, and

162 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
other prominent politicians who had been fugitives
from France were allowed to re-enter their native
land on August 7.
In the autumn of 1852, having earlier in the year
made a progress to Strasburg, the Prince- President set
forth on a journey through the provinces of southern
France, in order to ascertain for himself the sentiment
of the people on the subject of the accession to the
Imperial throne, which was recognised by all about
him as the condition precedent to the consolidation
of his Government. He had been suffering from men
tal and physical overstrain ; and at the outset of his
tour he begged the authorities of the towns which he
intended to visit not to waste money on his reception,
desiring that where large sums had been voted for this
object at least part of the fund should go to the poor.
His progress was one long triumph. All along the
route from Paris to Lyons, from Lyons to Marseilles,
from Marseilles to Bordeaux, and from Bordeaux back
to Paris, his way lay through regions the inhabitants
of which crowded around him with shouts of ' Vive Na
poleon III. ! Vive I Empereur ! ' In the old seats of
Socialism, as, for instance, in Lyons, the workmen
gathered en masse to greet their future Emperor.
When, in the midst of a vast throng of spectators in the
great square of that city he unveiled an equestrian
statue of Napoleon I., he frankly mentioned that all the
way from Paris he had been hailed with shouts of
' Vive I'Empereur!'; and he added, 'This greeting
awakens a memory which goes straight to my heart,
rather than a hope which flatters my pride.' At
Montpelier, a place in which Socialism had taken deep

EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH 163
root, cries of ' Vive I'amnistie !' arose during a work-
me\\s>fete in honour of the Prince, and as he was leaving
the sinister cry was repeated. The Prince was equal
to the occasion. Facing the turbulent throng with
untroubled mien, he signed to the people to listen. ' I
hear,' said he, 'calls for an amnesty. An amnesty is
more in my heart than it is on your lips. If you really
desire it, become worthy of it by your good conduct
and patriotism.' The tour culminated at Bordeaux ;
and it was there, at a dinner in his honour given by the
Chamber of that city, that he at length announced his
resolution to accept the Throne. In the course of his
speech the Prince said : ' I have conquests to make, but
they are conquests of peace. We have vast waste terri
tories to drain and cultivate, roads to open, ports to be
deepened, canals to be completed, rivers to be made
navigable, railways to be connected. . . . This is how
I shall interpret the Empire, if the Empire is to be
re-established. These are the conquests which I medi
tate ; and you who surround me, who desire the good
of your country, you are my warriors.'
Prince Louis Napoleon returned to Paris a week
later, in effect Emperor of the French. From the rail
way station he was conducted with great military pomp
and under triumphal arches to the Tuileries, where
the municipal and other official metropolitan and pro
vincial bodies presented addresses conjuring him to
accept the Imperial Crown and so assure to France a
secure and permanent future. On November 7 the Sen
ate pronounced the Imperial dignity re-established in
the persons of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte and his heirs
male, and the Constitution of Jan. 14, 1852, maintained

1 64 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
in all its parts except those which referred to the Chief
of the State. But this decision was not to take effect
until ratified by the vote of the nation ; the Prince would
accept only a sovereignty proceeding from the direct
voice of the people. This vote was obtained on No
vember 21 and 22, and on the 25th the Corps Legislatif
was convoked to receive and declare the result of the
plebiscite. That result was overwhelmingly conclu
sive. ' I am anxious,' said the Prince-President, address
ing the Corps Legislatif, ' that you should formally put
on record the freedom with which the voting has taken
place, and the number of suffrages stated, so that the
legitimacy of my position may be established beyond
dispute.' The result of the scrutiny had proved the
fact that 7,824,129 Frenchmen had replied ' Aye' to the
question whether or not should the Imperial dignity be
re-established in the person of Prince Louis Napoleon.
The ' Noes ' were 253,149.
On the night of December 1 the dignitaries of the
new Empire went to St. Cloud, carrying to the Prince
the Imperial Crown. The imposing ceremony was
held in the Gallery of Apollo, where, surrounded by his
household, Louis Napoleon took his seat on the throne.
Addressed as ' Sire' by M. Billault on the part of the
Corps Legislatif and by M. Mesnard on that of the
Senate, the Emperor said : ' The new reign which you
now inaugurate has not originated in violence, conquest,
or conspiracy. You have just declared it the legal
result of the suffrages of almost an entire people, who
have consolidated in the midst of peace that which
they had founded in a period of agitation. I am full
of gratitude to the nation which three times in four

EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH 165
years has supported me with its suffrages, and which
on each occasion has increased its majority to add
to my power. ... I assume from to-day with the
Crown the name of Napoleon III., because the logic of
the people in their acclamations has already given it
to me, because the Senate has legally proposed it, and
because the entire nation has ratified it.'
On the following morning the Emperor Napoleon
III. rode from St. Cloud to the Tuileries, the Palace of
successive French dynasties. The procession marched
between lines of soldiers with arms at the ' present ' ;
the cannon roared, the bells rang gaily, and the military
bands played ' Partant pour la Syrie,' the stirring air
composed by Queen Hortense. The three marshals,
Saint-Arnaud, Magnan, and Castellane. created that
morning, rode with Persigny at the head of the bril
liant staff ; and at the entrance of the ancient Palace
the members of the house of Bonaparte waited the
arrival of their head. What a contrast from the prison
to the Throne of a great nation ! Cynics had sneered
at the man's faith in his destiny ; but thus far at least
his destiny had fulfilled itself. He who had been the
mock and gibe of France was now the omnipotent
master of that France.
The proclamation of the Empire was made with
stately ceremony on the Place de 1' Hotel de Ville, on
the Place de la Concorde, and in the Court of the
Tuileries. In the midst of his state the Emperor did
not omit to mark the opening of his reign by many
gracious acts of charity. He could afford to be char
itable, for his income was fixed at a million sterling
per annum. The settlements on the several branches

1 66 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
of the Imperial family, comprehending twenty-one per-
sons, were very munificent. Rich salaries were be
stowed on the dignitaries of the Imperial household.
None of his adherents of the evil days were forgotten
in this time of lavish prosperity. Theiin, for instance,
the devoted valet, became Treasurer of the Privy Purse.
It was the aspiration of the Head of the State that
the Imperial Court should reflect the pride and full-
handedness of the nation, in contrast with the affected
simplicity of the Republic and the meanness of the
Monarchy of July. England hastened to recognise the
new Emperor under the title of Napoleon III., and
the other Great Powers followed with less warmth, but
promptly. In his matrimonial enterprises Napoleon III. was
scarcely so successful as had been his great uncle.
Immediately after he became Emperor he despatched
Walewski to enter into negotiations. A proposal for
the hand of Princess Vasa, the present Queen of Saxony,
did not prosper. Then, on December 13, Walewski
came to England to ask for the Princess Adelaide of
Hohenlohe, a niece of Queen Victoria, in marriage for
the Emperor. The Queen did not object to the mar
riage, but on December 28 came a letter from the lady's
father declining the marriage in consequence of objec
tions of religion and morals. Three weeks later, on
Jan. 22, 1853, the Emperor summoned to the Tuileries
deputations of the Senate, the Corps Legislatif, the
Council of State, and the great dignitaries of the Em
pire, to hear an address from the Throne announcing his
approaching marriage, of which the following is an ex
tract : 'When,' said his Majesty, ' in the face of ancient

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THE EMPRESS EUGENIE
{From the portrait by IV inter halter at Versailles)
EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH 167
Europe, one is carried by the force of a new principle to
the level of the old dynasties, it is not by affecting an
ancient descent or endeavouring to push into the fam
ilies of Kings that one claims recognition. It is rather
by remembering one's origin, by preserving one's own
character, and by assuming frankly towards Europe
the position of a parvenu — a glorious title when one
rises by the free suffrages of a great people. Thus, com
pelled to part from precedents, my. marriage becomes
but a private matter. It has remained for me to choose
my wife. She who has become the object of my choice
is of lofty birth. French in heart, by education she has
as a Spaniard the advantage of not having a family in
France to whom it would be necessary to give honours
and dignities. Gifted with every quality of the heart,
she will be the ornament of the Throne as in the hour
of danger she would be one of its most courageous de
fenders. A pious Catholic, she will pray with me for
the happiness of France. ... I come to-day, gentlemen,
to say to France : " I have preferred a woman whom I
love and respect to an unknown woman, an alliance
with whom would have brought advantages mixed with
sacrifices." . . . Soon, on my way to Notre Dame, I
shall present the Empress to the people and the army.
The confidence which they repose in me secures their
sympathies towards her whom I have chosen ; and you,
gentlemen, when you have learned to know her, will
be convinced that once again I have been inspired by
Providence.' Next day the ' Moniteur' announced what was al
ready an open secret, that the lady whom the Emperor
had chosen for his, wi£e__was Mademoiselle de Montijo,

1 68 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
Countess of Teba. The Emperor's address was uni
versally regardecTas being in admirable taste, and dig
nified by a high tone of self-respect. ' Nothing,' said
' The Times ' — and it said well — ' could be better
than the phrase in which the Emperor adopts the posi
tion of parvenu, keeping his origin clearly before him,
and emancipating himself from the traditions of States
in which the bases of society have not been destroyed
nor monarchical institutions suffered ruin.'
The Emperor watched with joy the rapid progress
which his beautiful betrothed made in the hearts of his
countrymen. When the Imperial bride declined to
accept the costly diamond necklace presented to her
by the Municipal Council of the Seine, desiring that
its value should be devoted to charitable purposes, the
kind-hearted action was received throughout France
with warm appreciation. Her husband's wedding-gift
of 250,000 francs she distributed among maternal so
cieties and to beds in the hospitals. On the evening
of January 29 she was received on the threshold of the
Tuileries by the Court dignitaries, who ushered her
into the drawing-room in which the Emperor and his
Court awaited her coming. Then Napoleon led his
bride to the Hall of Marshals, where the civil ceremony
was performed by the Minister of State. When, after
the signature of the marriage Contract the wedding
party assembled in the theatre to listen to Auber's
cantata, the scene presaged the splendour that was to
belong to the new regime. On the conclusion of the
cantata the Grand Master of the Ceremonies con
ducted her Majesty back to the Elysee.
Next morning the pair set forth for Notre Dame in

EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH 169
great pomp, the Empress wearing the crown which
Napoleon I. had placed on the head of Marie Louise.
Before the high altar in the crowded cathedral were
the State chairs of their Majesties on a raised platform
under a lofty canopy. The procession of the clergy
moved slowly from the porch towards the altar, and
the notes of the ' Wedding March ' swelled as the vast
congregation rose ; then the Emperor appeared, lead
ing his bride with the Regent diamond on her bosom.
The marriage rites were performed by the Archbishop,
the Bishop of Nancy presenting the pieces of gold and
the ring upon a gold salver for the blessing. The
Empress moved from the throne to the altar, and after
the benediction she crossed her brow, her lips, and her
heart with her thumb in the Spanish fashion. At the
end of the gorgeous ceremony the Archbishop con
ducted the bride and bridegroom back to the cathedral
porch, and Napoleon and his Consort returned along
the quays to the Tuileries.

i7o LIFE OF NAPOLEON III

CHAPTER IX
THE CRIMEAN WAR
It was at the Bordeaux dinner, on Nov. 9, 1852, that
Louis Napoleon, not yet Emperor of the French, said :
' Distrustful people say to themselves and to one an
other that the Empire means war. I say that the Em
pire means peace. It means peace, because France
desires it ; and when France is satisfied, the world is
tranquil.' There had been a time when the pessimists
were permitting themselves to believe that France was
becoming isolated in Europe, but the advent of Lord
Derby to power in England had improved the rela
tions of the two countries, and the Prince-President
found an old and true friend in Lord Malmesbury who
was now the English Foreign Secretary. Under the
gloomy influence of the brooding Eastern Question
England and France had been drawing together more
and more closely : and the British Court and Cabinet
had fully accepted the sincerity of the Emperor's anx
iety for the continuance of peace and for a firm and
stable alliance with England. On Aug. 8, 1853, the
Queen's Speech said : 'The Emperor of the French has
united with her Majesty in earnest endeavours to rec
oncile differences, the continuation of which would in
volve Europe in war.' The Prince Consort wrote to

THE CRIMEAN WAR 171
Stockmar that ' Louis Napoleon wishes for peace, enjoy
ment, and cheap corn.' Later he wrote to the same
correspondent that the relations between England and
France had ' settled into an entente cordiale ' ; and in
November he added that ' Louis Napoleon shows by
far the greatest statesmanship, which is easier for the
individual than for the many ; he is moderate, but firm :
gives way to us even when his plan is better than ours,
and revels in the advantages he derives from the alli
ance with us.' This testimony from such a source can
not be gainsaid ; and it may be taken for certain that
the French Emperor faithfully co-operated with the
British Government throughout in its endeavours to
settle the great quarrel by diplomatic pressure backed
by a display of force.
A Russian force crossed the Pruth on July 2, 1853,
and proceeded to occupy the Danubian Principalities;
and on the 3rd the Czar issued a manifesto to the effect
that ' it was not his intention to begin war, but to have
such security as would ensure the restoration of Russian
rights.' This invasion, for invasion in effect it was,
might justly have been met by the Sultan with a coun
ter-declaration of war, for which the Turkish soldiers
were burning with impatience. But the Western
Powers, anxious for the maintenance of peace, resorted
to a conference at Vienna. That measure had no re
sult and the Porte demanded the evacuation of the
Principalities within fifteen days, with the alternative
of war. This summons being disregarded, a state of
nominal war occurred on October 23, but for some
time no actual hostilities took place. Up to this period
the Western Powers were not involved. It has often

172 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
been said that England 'drifted' into the Crimean
War. In a sense this was true ; no actual convulsion
of national emotion stirred us. In the perspicuous
terms of Hamley : ' Our part in the war was the result
of a state of feeling gradually aroused by observation
of what was passing in the East, and of the steps which
the British Government, with intentions anything but
warlike, had slowly taken, tending to commit it to the
active support of Turkey. Up to the period when the
Western fleets were ordered to the Bosphorus, it had
been possible for England to restrict herself to diplo
macy.' But she had abandoned her attitude of media
tor when Nicholas in his blind arrogance chose to
show his hand to the British Ambassador in the fol
lowing terms : ' We have on our hands a very sick man.
If your Government has been led to believe that Tur
key retains any elements of existence your Govern
ment must have received incorrect information. I
repeat to you that the sick man is dying, and we can
never allow such an event to take us by surprise. We
must come to some understanding. ... I can only say,
that if, in the event of a distribution of the Ottoman
succession upon the fall of the Empire, you should
take possession of Egypt, I shall have no objection to
offer. I would say the same thing of Candia ; that
island might suit you, and I do not know why it should
not become an English possession.' Nicholas seemed
the chronic victim of illusions. Even when he was at
actual war with Turkey he sent an autograph letter to
the Queen expressing surprise that there should be
any misunderstanding between her Government and
his own in regard to Turkey, and appealing to her

THE CRIMEAN WAR 173
Majesty's 'good faith ' and ' wisdom ' in the character
of arbiter. It would thus seem that Russia was the
Power which had drifted into war, rather than Eng
land; this being owing to the false and narrow views
held by the Autocrat.
When, however, the Allied Governments despatched
their fleets to the Bosphorus, the control of events
passed out of their hands. Should Russia disregard
the moral pressure of the Allied fleets and resenting
their entry into the Bosphorus avenge that measure
on the Turks, the Allies could no longer preserve a
mediatory attitude but had to become active princi
pals. This was foreseen with singular prescience when
her Majesty wrote to Lord Clarendon : ' We seem to
have taken on ourselves in conjunction with France
all the risks of an European war without having bound
Turkey to any conditions with regard to provoking it.'
The Turks, while keeping most of their fleet in the
Bosphorus, had left a squadron of light warships in the
Black Sea. On November 30 it was found at anchor
in the roadstead of Si nope by the Russian admiral
Nackimoff, who signalled the Ottoman squadron to
surrender. The superiority of the Russian force would
have justified compliance, since Nackimoff had six line-
of-battle ships against the Turkish flotilla of seven fri
gates and three corvettes ; but nevertheless the stub
born Ottoman seamen answered the summons by
opening fire. With obstinate gallantry they fought on
until their ships blew up under them or burned to the
water's edge. When the sun went down there re
mained nothing of the Turkish squadron in the bay
but the blazing wrecks and the mangled and powder-

174 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
scorched bodies of the sailors. Nearly 4,000 men
perished ; one steamer only escaped to bring to Con
stantinople the tidings of the awful disaster.
It is not necessary to argue that the Russians were
exceeding their rights as belligerents in order to prove
the impolicy of this stroke. The disparity of force in
the encounter deprived it of any glory ; but it roused
public feeling in England, already by no means favour
able to Russia, to a degree which could only be ap
peased by reprisals. For months and indeed years, the
English people had been chafing at the wrongs inflicted
by the Russians on the Turks. The seizure of the
Principalities had evinced a contempt for public law
and common justice so gross that the popular mind
could not but become alive to it. The manifestoes of
Nicholas, haughty and insolent in tone and manner,
had aggravated the bitter feeling ; and now the catas
trophe of Sinope was of a character thoroughly to ex
asperate a nation whose greatest triumphs have been
won on the sea. The French people had hitherto
been somewhat supine, since the impending war was
not popular ; but now they were to be deeply stirred.
It seemed in the nature of things that the French
Emperor should desire to engage in war, at once to
divert attention from the circumstances attending the
origin of his elevation and to find employment for an
army which could not always be depended on. Both for
himself and for his people it was distinctly expedient
that he should make the influence of France promptly
and markedly felt. \ But that in allying himself with
Great Britain on the Eastern question the French Em
peror was seizing an opportunity for war is a surmise

THE CRIMEAN WAR 175
in favour of which there was no pronounced evidencc.y
The advantage was obvious of ranking himself along
side of the great Sea Power his neighbour on the other
side of the narrow strait ; and he had lived long enough
in England to have acquired a warm esteem for Brit
ish people, British institutions, and British habits. As
a contrast to the cordiality of his insular neighbour,
which none appreciated more than he, was the haughty
arrogance by which Nicholas of Russia had given just
offence both to him and to the French nation in refus
ing to address him as ' Mon Frere ' ; as if he, the elected
of France, was not entitled to enter the brotherhood of
Sovereigns. That treatment, which stung the French
sensibilities, still did not prevent the French Emperor
from addressing to the Russian potentate, as a final
attempt at accommodation, a letter suggesting a possi
ble scheme of general pacification ; assuring him, how
ever, at the same time that if it were rejected the West
ern Powers must declare war. The answer of the Czar
was a bitter taunt. ' Menaces,' he wrote, ' will not in
duce me to recede. My confidence is in God ; and
Russia will prove herself in 1854 what she was in 18 12.'
This allusion to the French disasters in the humiliat
ing campaign of 18 12 effectually dispelled the apathy
of the French people. It was accepted as a challenge ;
and when the insulting terms were disseminated peace
became impossible, even if the outrageous conditions
which Nicholas had senj: to Vienna and to which he
haughtily referred the Emperor Napoleon, had been
admissible. At the instance of the French monarch
the Allied fleets promptly entered the Black Sea, driv
ing all Russian ships into refuge in the harbour of

176 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
Sevastopol. England and France declared war against
Russia in the end of March. The Allied troops grad
ually moved up from Gallipoli to Scutari, and from
Scutari to Varna. At the summons of Austria the
Czar began the evacuation of the Principalities, in
which his arms had not prospered ; and the Pruth was
recrossed in the beginning of August, the Austrian
troops occupying the territories abandoned by Russia.
But English resolutions had long gone further than the
acceptance of a mere drawn game. On the first dec
laration of war the French Emperor had sketched, and
our Ministry had approved, a plan for the attack of
Sevastopol. The feeling was all but unanimous. ' In
no event,' said the venerable Lord Lyndhurst in June,
' except that of extreme necessity, ought we to make
peace without previously destroying the Russian fleet
in the Black Sea and laying prostrate the fortifications
by which it is defended.' In July ' The Times' spoke
with decision : ' The broad policy of the war consists
in striking at the heart of the Russian power in the
East ; and that heart is in Sevastopol.' And the
Queen in dealing with the causes of the war wrote:
' It is the selfishness, the ambition, and the want of
principle of one man which has done it'
In the middle of September, 1854, there landed on
the coast of the Crimea within a few marches of Sevas
topol, an Allied force consisting, all told, of somewhat
more than 60,000 men with 128 guns.
War once entered upon, the French Emperor acted
with prudence and promptitude in amassing a reserve
force to meet the casualties of probable battles and
certain losses by disease in his army on active service

THE CRIMEAN WAR 177
in the field. Unlike England, France was, as she still
is, a military nation ; and although the Emperor had
materially reduced the strength of the army it still
amounted to about 600,000 men. The camp at Bou
logne which was formed as soon as the army which
Marshal Saint-Arnaud commanded had been despatched
to the East proved to Europe, that without weakening
the garrisons of the French frontiers and of the inte
rior, no difficulty was experienced in assembling an
army of 100,000 men between Cherbourg, St. Omer,
and Boulogne, which should yield relays of reserves to
the field army while instalments of reinforcements
should be forthcoming to supply the drain which
otherwise would diminish the standing strength of the
forces in the camp. The Emperor in one of his ad
dresses to the soldiers specified yet another raison
detre for the camp at Boulogne. ' The creation,' said
he, ' of the Camp of the North was intended to bring
our troops nearer to those of England, so that they
might go swiftly whithersoever the honour of the two
nations might call them.'
The Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the elder brother
of the Prince Consort, had paid a visit to the Emperor
in the spring of 1854; and in the summer Napoleon
asked the British Ambassador in Paris whether an in
vitation to the Boulogne camp would be acceptable to
the Prince Consort. The result was a cordial letter
from the Emperor to the Prince. 'Wishing,' wrote
Napoleon, ' to prove my determination to carry out to
the end the struggle we have begun together, I have
formed a camp between Boulogne and St. Omer. I
need not tell your Highness how pleased I should be

1 78 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
to receive you and how happy I should be to show you
my soldiers. I am convinced, moreover, that personal
ties will contribute to strengthen the union so happily
established between two great nations. I beg you to
present my respectful homage to the Queen, and to
receive the expression of the esteem and affection I
have conceived for you.'
The Prince's reply was even warmer than was the
Emperor's invitation. Napoleon was addressed as ' Sire
et cher Frere' and the Prince signed himself'/*? bon
Frere ' of his host to be. The visit lasted four days.
It was remarked that during the first greetings there
were tears in Louis Napoleon's eyes while he expressed
to the Prince his pleasure at ' this fresh proof of the
cordiality of the alliance which England proffered him.'
An autograph letter from the Queen was couched in
terms which delighted him. When the Prince and
the Emperor were together by themselves their con
versation, as reported to the Queen by her husband,
was very frank and cordial. Napoleon questioned the
Prince very closely as to the details of the administra
tion of the English Government, the Queen's relations
with her Ministers, and her supervision of the whole of
the diplomatic correspondence. He was astonished
when the Prince told the Emperor that every despatch
went through the Queen's hands and was read by her.
He, it seemed, merely received extracts made from the
despatches ; and he appeared to have little time or in
clination to read. Napoleon frankly stated that he did
not allow his Ministers to meet or discuss matters to
gether, each of whom transacted business solely with
him. He rarely told the one Minister what he had

MARSHAL DE ST. ARNAUD, GENERAL-IN-CHIEF OF THE FRENCH ARMY

THE CRIMEAN WAR i79
settled with the other. In other words, it seemed, he
was an absolute monarch — a despot, if, for the most
part, a genial and benign despot. In regard to mili
tary matters he was quite frank as to the condition in
which the outbreak of the war found the French army.
He owned that France was not yet ready for the strug
gle. In his own words, ' He had to refurnish almost
his whole material, but was going on satisfactorily, and
would be quite ready next year.' And then he de
scribed how he intended to keep up the camps and
season his troops for the field.
According to the Prince Consort, the Emperor was
almost the only individual among the French military
men who had any real hope of the success of the expe-
pedition against Sevastopol. Before the Prince left
Boulogne the decision was announced to advance to the
Crimea ; Saint-Arnaud writing of himself, 'Je suis plein
de confiance el plein d'ardeur' ' On the whole,' the
Prince Consort wrote to the Queen, ' the impression
which my stay at Boulogne left upon me was that by
nature the Emperor would neither in home nor in for
eign politics take any violent steps ; but that he ap
pears in distress for means of governing, and is obliged
to look about for them from day to day. Having de
prived the people of any active participation in the
government and having reduced them to passive spec
tators, he is bound to keep up the " spectacle " ; and as
at fireworks whenever a pause occurs between the dis
plays, the public immediately grows impatient, forget
ting that new preparations require time. Still,' the
Prince continued, ' he appears to be the only man who
has any hold on France, relying on the " nom de Napo
leon'' the last thing left to a Frenchman's faith.'

180 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
In the midst of war the Emperor was pursuing his
projects for the embellishment of Paris, and especially
for the first International Exhibition of Industry in
France to be held in the summer of 1855. About the
same time he re-established the Imperial Guard, assign
ing to it a force of 20,000 men, a corps d'elite consisting
of soldiers of good conduct who had completed seven
years' service. On Jan. 9, 1855, he addressed detach
ments of this fine force on their departure for the East,
bidding them plant their eagles on the ramparts of
Sevastopol. A levy of 140,000 men was demanded to
fill the gaps made by expirations of service and by the
war. The revenues of the years 1852 and 1853 had
exceeded expectations- by no millions of francs — a
wonderful evidence of prosperity. But surpluses have
an unpleasant habit of melting like snow in the face of
huge war-votes and more huge war-loans. During the
first year of the Crimean War the French expenditure
in that struggle amounted to 2 \ milliards of francs, just
one-half of the war indemnity exacted from France by
Germany in 187 1.
The year 1855, although it was to be among the
most glorious of the Second Empire, opened gloomily.
The bitter winter weather on the Chersonese upland
told with awful effects on the Allied armies lying in
misery under the walls of Sevastopol. The delay in the
reduction of the great fortress caused the impatient
Parisians to chafe and murmur. The Emperor fol
lowed every episode and every stage of the siege with
the closest attention. In his slow methodical manner
he gradually conceived a plan for the spring campaign;
and then there arose within him the resolve to go him-

THE CRIMEAN WAR 181
self to the Crimea, and take position at the head of his
army. Many reasons combated the project. Scarcely
yet firm on the Throne, there was danger in prolonged
absence from his capital. His health was never strong.
While weighing the issues, Canrobert sent him a re
port that the British army was sinking gradually under
the privations which maladministration had brought
upon it. He resolved to despatch large reinforcements
to the Crimea immediately, and he requested the Brit
ish Admiralty to help him with ships since all the
French ships were already engaged in transport service.
The request was promptly complied with, and before
the close of 1854 a French army was sailing from a
British port on board a British fleet on the way to con
front a common enemy.
\Then the desire to go himself to the Crimea revived
in Louis Napoleon. S On Feb. 16, 1855, his cousin the
Princess Mathilde argued long but ineffectually against
his determination. The Empress, on the other hand,
urged him to go, and, indeed, proposed to go part of
the way with him. On the 18th it was all but decided
that he was to go, and the day of departure was ac
tually fixed. The Council of Regency in his absence
was provisionally formed. On the 20th the Emperor
said, ' I am going to the Crimea in the interests of
peace, which can only be secured at the scene of ac
tion. The incidents of the campaign will bring this
about more effectually than any diplomatic confer
ences ; and moreover the Emperor Nicholas will also
probably come to the Crimea.' A week later Nicholas
was a dead man ; and on the 27th the journey of the
Emperor to the Crimea was countermanded.

182 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
On February 20 Napoleon had written to Lord
Palmerston announcing his determination to go to the
Crimea, where his presence, he believed, could alone
save the expedition from disaster. He detailed his
proposed plan of campaign, which need not here be
recapitulated. ' Not only,' he wrote, ' would a mere
General not be able to exert my influence, but time
would no longer be wasted between Canrobert and
Raglan and between Raglan and Omar Pasha.' Lord
Clarendon crossed the Channel to discuss the subject
with the Emperor. Fleury frankly told the English
statesman that although the French army was loyal to
Napoleon as Emperor, 'it did not like to be com
manded by any one save a professional soldier, while he
was regarded as a civilian.' Lord Clarendon brought
forward argument after argument against the Emper
or's project ; and although the latter did not at once
abandon it, the impression produced by the English
statesman's reasoning prepared the way for the coup
de grace which the Queen gave it during the Windsor
visit. A fortnight later came a proposal on the part of
the Emperor that he and the Empress should pay
a visit to the Queen. Her Majesty cordially desired
the visit ; and on April 16 the Imperial guests passed
through London on their way to Windsor. As they
landed at Dover a telegram announced to the
Emperor that the second bombardment of Sevas
topol had opened on the 9th. All classes of the
metropolis greeted the august pair with cordial enthu
siasm. He who had lived for years in London a
powerless exile and regarded as a dreamy adventurer

COUNT WALFWSKI, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND PRESIDENT OF

THE CRIMEAN WAR 183
was now the master of France, the honoured ally of
England, the most powerful antagonist of Russia.
Louis Napoleon had many faults, but there was no
snobbery in his nature. As the cortege passed alon<r
St. James's Street he halted the carriage that he might
point out to the Empress the modest dwelling in
King Street in which he had lived during his later
exile in England. At Windsor a reception not less
gratifying but of a quieter though not less cordial
character awaited the Imperial guests, and the visit
was an unbroken success. The Emperor at once
charmed her Majesty. Her diary is full of appre
ciation of her guests. She wrote : ' Nothing can be
more amiable or more well-bred than the Emperor's
manner — so full of tact.' Of the Empress the
Queen noted : ' Her manner is the most perfect thing
I have ever seen — so gentle, and graceful, and kind ;
and the courtesy so charming, and so modest and
retiring withal.'
On April 18 a Council of War was held at Wind
sor, at which was present the Prince Consort, Lords
Palmerston, Panmure, Hardinge, and Cowley, Sir
Charles Wood, Sir John Burgoyne, Count Walewski,
and the French War Minister, Marshal Vaillant. All
present unanimously declared against the Emperor's
project of going himself to the Crimea ; but without
obtaining from him. the admission that he was shaken
in his resolution. )On his return to Paris the Em
peror, however, found that while the Windsor visit
had vastly increased his popularity in France, the
failure of the Vienna negotiations had so greatly
complicated events that he announced to the Queen

1 84 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
the final abandonment of his intention to go to the
Crimea) But his scheme for the conduct of the war
was nevertheless persisted in.
While the cannons were roaring and men were
dying in the trenches before Sevastopol, the Em
peror on May 15 — the day before Canrobert's resig-'
nation of the chief command in the Crimea — was
opening with pomp and circumstance the Universal
Exhibition of 1855; in Napoleon's own words, 'a
temple of peace which invites all nations to a gather
ing of concord.' Twenty-five thousand exhibitors
had responded to the Emperor's appeal, and hosts of
visitors from all parts of the world crowded to Paris
during the summer and autumn. But below the
gaiety and festivities of this brilliant period lay the
solicitude incident to a state of war and the resultant
strain. Among the exigencies were the calling-out
of 140,000 conscripts as the contingent for 1856, the
imposition of further taxation, and the conjunct
guarantee with England of a Turkish war-loan of five
millions sterling. The nation was loyal and eager,
the Government asked for a war-contribution of thirty
millions sterling, and the subscriptions came pouring in
until the collective offers amounted to 146,000,000/.!
The battle of the Tchernaya, fought on August 16
and won so gallantly by French arms, heralded aus
piciously the visit to France of the Queen of England,
accompanied by her Consort and their two elder chil
dren. Received by the Emperor in person they
landed at Boulogne on the afternoon of August 18,
under salutes from the batteries and a feu de joie
maintained for miles along the edge of the cliffs, and

NAPOLEON III. IN 1855

THE CRIMEAN WAR 1S5
later were escorted to the railway station by cavalry.
The Queen has herself recorded her impressions of
her 'first sight of Paris': ' The approaching twilight
rather added to the beauty of the scene ; and it was
still quite light enough when we passed down the
Boulevard de Strasbourg (the Empror's creation) and
along the Boulevards, by the Porte St. Denis, the
Madeleine, the Place de la Concorde, and the Arc de
Triomphe.' Along the Champs Elysees and through
the Bois de Boulogne the progress to St. Cloud was
made in the twilight ; but all the way the troops kept
the road, bands playing the National Anthem at inter
vals. The Queen was delighted with the splendour
and brilliancy of the scene ; and as she approached
the Palace she remarked the Zouaves as ' splendid
troops in splendid dress, the friends of my dear
Guards.' The Empress, who was in expectation of
an heir and was suffering, met the Queen at the
Palace. Sunday was a dies non ; and what the Prince
Consort called the Parisian Campaign, which lasted
during the week, began on the Monday with hours
spent in the Exhibition. Incognito drives through
the quaint places of Paris, pilgrimages to the Tuile
ries, to the Invalides where lay the Great Captain, a
visit to the old palace of the Stuarts at St. Germain,
another to Versailles, and yet another to the grand
final ball there, filled up a varied and busy week. On
Monday the 27th the British royalties departed for
home. C Having definitely abandoned the intention to go
himself to the Crimea, the French Emperor deter
mined, nevertheless, that the plan which he had ma-

186 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
tured should be carried out. Briefly that plan was as
follows : the Allies were to divide themselves into
three armies. One army was to continue to guard
the trenches and push the siege. A second army,
under Lord Raglan, was to assemble in the valley of
Baidur (east of Balaclava), and to push its advanced
post towards Bakshisarai. The third, under the
French General-in-Chief, composed of troops from
before Sevastopol and the reserve French army from
Turkey, was to land at Alushta on the south-eastern
face of the peninsula about abreast of Bakshisarai.
This last army was to cross the Tchatur-dagh range
and march on Simpheropol. Should the Russians
have concentrated there their chief magazines and
massed troops for their defence, Lord Raglan march
ing on Bakshisarai would threaten the Russian right
or rear in combination with the other field army. But
should the enemy abandon Simpheropol and concen
trate in the vicinity of Sevastopol, the French army
from Simpheropol would advance on it by Bakshisarai
while Lord Raglan in concert would attack the Mac
kenzie Farm heights. The Russian army, if defeated,
would be driven off the line of communication ; the
Allies would sever it ; and Sevastopol, deprived of
supplies and reinforcements, must speedily sur
render.! No doubt to defeat the Russian field army and to
sever the communication between Sevastopol and the
interior of Russia would have speedily caused the
surrender of the Russian stronghold. But there was
another and a better alternative. There was the prob
ability — indeed, the ultimate certainty — of capturing

THE CRIMEAN WAR 187
the south side of Sevastopol on the plan hitherto pur
sued. The besieging fire could always establish a
superiority, constantly increasing, over that of the
place. The enemy's losses must continue to be im
mensely more severe than those of the Allies. It was
certain, therefore, that perseverance in the siege would
finally result in crushing the enemy's fire, in storming
his works, and in rendering the south side untenable.
On this hypothesis Pelissier, who had succeeded
Canrobert as Commander-in-Chief, resolved energeti
cally to operate. Pelissier was a man of exceptionally
resolute and determined character. After deliberate
study of a difficult problem, he decided to ignore the
Emperor's project and to devote all his forces to push
ing the siege. He wasted no words, having once
taken his resolution.
' The project,' he telegraphed to the Minister of
War in Paris, ' of marching two armies from Alushta
and Baidur is full of difficulty and risk. I have
arranged with Lord Raglan for the storming of the ad
vanced works, for the occupation of the Tchernaya, and
finally for an operation on Kertch. All these move
ments are in train.' When it is remembered that
Louis Napoleon was an absolute Sovereign who could
pull this truculent general down just as he had chosen
to set him up, it must be owned that in thus acting in
direct and resolute opposition to the cherished scheme
of his master Pelissier evinced himself to be an uncom
monly strong man. There did come from the Em
peror something in the nature of a rebuke to his dog
gedly determined subordinate. ' I have confidence in
you,' the Emperor wired, ' and I don't pretend to com-

1 88 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
mand the army from here ; however, I must tell you
my opinion and you ought to pay regard to it. A
great effort must be made to beat the Russian army in
order to invest the place. If you send 14,000 men to
Kertch you weaken yourself uselessly. . . . Weigh all
this carefully.'
The Emperor's arguments had no effect on Pelissier;
he went forward right in the teeth of his master. The
expedition to Kertch was made, resulting in the com
plete destruction of everything that could aid the
Russian forces in the Crimea throughout the shores of
the Sea of Azov. Pelissier wrote to the War Minister:
'We have struck deep into the Russian resources:
their chief line of supply is cut. I did well to
carry out this expedition and I view with calm assur
ance the approach of the final act' In full accord
with Lord Raglan the French Commander-in-Chief
resolutely prosecuted the siege operations, assailing in
the first instance the principal outworks of the defence,
the White Works, the Mamelon, and the ' Quarries.'
The Emperor telegraphed : ' In conformity with the
British Government which writes in the same sense to
Lord Raglan, I give you a positive order not to devote
yourself to the siege before having completed the
investment.' But this message was crossed by the fol
lowing telegram from Pelissier: 'Lord Raglan and I
are settling the final dispositions for an attack by storm
which should gain us the White Works, the Mamelon,
and the " Quarries." I calculate on beginning this
operation on the 7th (June) and on carrying it right
through with the utmost vigour.'
The preliminary bombardment began on the after-

THE CRIMEAN WAR 189
noon of the 6th, and was maintained with tremendous
energy until late on the following afternoon, when the
Mamelon was silenced and the White Works were
ruined. The latter were promptly captured and were
presently connected with the French trenches. After
desperate fighting the Mamelon was also captured and
held, and ultimately the ' Quarries ' remained in British
possession. Pelissier had everywhere driven the enemy
from their outworks of which he now had possession;
but during the bombardment and storm the total losses
amounted to over 15,000 men.
Notwithstanding Pelissier's successes the Emperor
would not relinquish his plan. It was not till a week
after the action of the 6th and ;th that he telegraphed
to Pelissier, saying that before congratulating him on
his success he had wished to know the cost. ' I per
sist,' he wrote, ' in ordering you to make every effort
to take the field.' Pelissier replied dauntlessly : 'The
execution of your orders is impossible ; it would place
me between insubordination and discredit. ... I pray
your Majesty either to free me from the straitened
limits imposed on me, or to permit me to resign a
command impossible to exercise in concert with my
loyal allies, at the end, sometimes paralysing, of an
electric wire.' No answer reached him; and on the
night of the 1 7th he telegraphed : ' I have waited all
day for an answer to my important despatch of yester
day, but have received none. To-morrow at daybreak,
in concert with the English, I attack the Redan, the
Malakoff, and their dependent batteries. I have firm
hope.' That hope was doomed to disappointment ; the 18th

190 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
was marked by a series of blunders and misfortunes, and
the only gleam of good fortune was General Eyre's
partial success. The total losses of those two bloody
days, the 17th and 18th, were not short of 10,000, of
which more than half were Russian casualties. Not
withstanding the reverses and bloodshed of those days
of gloom Pelissier still held fast to the prosecution of
the siege. He curtly reported : ' From causes which
cannot now be discussed, our attack of to-day has not
succeeded, although part of our troops set foot in the
Malakoff. Our allies not having attained a footing in
the Redan in spite of their vigour, I ordered a with
drawal to the trenches. I cannot console myself for the
failure otherwise than in repairing it by energy and,
above all, by method.' After the lamented death of
Lord Raglan Pelissier had no colleague and in effect
was omnipotent over the Allied forces. The Emperor
ceased from adverse criticism. On September 8 the
obstinate and bloody struggle was fought out, and at
length Sevastopol fell.
The Emperor turned gladly to home affairs; and
the closing of the Paris Exhibition in November in the
presence of a great assemblage of soldiers, statesmen,
artists, and men of letters, gave him an opportunity of
making his sentiments and wishes known, not only to
France but to Europe. Presently he was welcoming on
their return from the East bodies of the Guard and of
the Line. As the heroes of the Crimea re-entered
Paris amidst triumphant enthusiasm on December 20,
the Emperor accosted his home-coming soldiers in a
stirring and appropriate address. The Guard and the
Line, bearing with them their wounded and their shot-

iHh. CRIMEAN WAR 191
torn standards, marched along the Boulevard under
triumphal arches and amid the loud acclamations of
their fellow-citizens; and this spectacle, now stirring
to pride, now to sympathy as the wounded were borne
by, closed what was one of the most eventful and most
brilliant years of Napoleon's reign.
The feeling in favour of peace had always been
much stronger in France than in England, for the
war, save during the elation and excitement of its
victories, was never popular with the French people ;
and Sevastopol had no sooner fallen than public opin
ion demanded speedy peace with a voice which could
not be disregarded. "It was no small relief to Louis
Napoleon when, on \ March 30, 1856, the Treaty of
Paris was signed. ~7 After the signature of peace the
Emperor addressed his congratulations to the Con
gress, and illuminations and a review of 50,000 men
closed the scene. A letter from the Queen congrat
ulated him on the peace concluded ' under his au
spices ' ; and he in reply expressed his joy that the
Alliance between France and England was as close
and stable as when first it was ratified.

192 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III

CHAPTER X
THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN OF 1 859
On the morning of March 16, 1856, the guns of the
Invalides informed Paris that a son had been born to
the Emperor. The infant, for whom was in store a
sad but heroic fate, received the names of Napoleon
Eugene Louis Jean Joseph, the Pope and the Queen
of Sweden being godfather and godmother^) Paris
wore a holiday aspect, and at noon the Emperor,
radiant with joy, received the Diplomatic Body. The
Pope's legate, at a solemn service in the chapel of the
Palace of St. Cloud, presented to the Empress the
golden rose which the Pope had sent her. At length
the dynasty seemed to be resting on a solid founda
tion. Such clouds as still lay on Napoleon's horizon
appeared to be confined within the bounds of his
realm, where a bad harvest, wild speculation, excessive
expenditure, and extravagant public works threatened
commercial disasters of the most perilous political
character. Had he chosen then to adopt the methods
of liberal and constitutional government to which he
subsequently resorted when too late, he would have
spent a calmer and a happier life and his end might
have been both serene and glorious. But permitting
himself to be influenced by evil and selfish advisers,

THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN OF 1859 193
he engaged in a course of political conduct which
embittered the resentment of his domestic enemies
and shook the confidence of his best friends abroad.
In the winter of 1856 there passed through Paris
Prince Frederick William of Prussia (the late Em
peror Frederick II.), accompanied by his adjutant,
Major von Moltke, whom later the world was to know
as the greatest strategist of the age. Of the French
Emperor the Prussian soldier wrote : ' He struck me
by a sort of immobility of features and the almost
extinguished look of his eyes. The predominating
characteristic of his face is a friendly and good-
humoured smile, which has nothing Napoleonic about
it. He is a quite simple and rather small man, whose
always tranquil countenance gives a strong impression
of good-natured amiability. " II ne se fache jamais,"
say the people who are in most frequent intercourse
with him. " II est toujours poli et bon envers nous;
ce n'est que la bonte de son cceur et sa confiance qui
pourront lui devenir dangereux." : Of the infant
Prince Imperial Moltke remarked that ' he seemed
a strapping little fellow.'
The session of 1857 produced some useful meas
ures. A subvention of twelve million francs was
voted for the further embellishment of Paris, and
another of fourteen millions for the establishment of
three great translantic lines of French steamers. The
privileges of the Bank of France were prolonged and
extended, and its capital was doubled. The plebiscite
of 1857 proved that the popularity of the Emperor
and his Government was not materially impaired,
although in comparison with the plebiscite of 1852
13

194 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
that of 1857 showed fewer ' Ayes' and more 'Noes.'
Nevertheless this election did not pass off without
menacing manifestations. Probably the life of no
man of modern times was ever attempted by the hand
of the assassin so frequently as that of Louis Na
poleon. He may be said to have habitually carried
his life in his hand ; but in that strange faith of his in
his 'star' his cool courage never faltered, save, per
haps, on one occasion ; and the charge of want of
personal courage averred against him has only brought
discredit on a bitter enemy. ' When,' in the words of
Lord Cowper, ' we consider that the same charge was
brought against Marlborough and Cromwell, and the
great Napoleon himself, we may dismiss it with the
words used by the object of it when he read King-
lake's chapter — "C'est indigne." ' f The Emperor
was hoping that the time was approaching when the
iron hand of absolute rule might be relaxed as an act
of favour as well as of prudence and of safety^) (But
now the names of well-known^ revolutionary leaders)
were coupled with rumours of a widespread organisa
tion for the (advancement of the Republican banner
in the red hand of the regicide ;)and Napoleon found
himself the mark of men who sought his life in the
name of the very cause he had always had at heart.
The restlessness of the French Emperor had
created by degrees a very dangerous state of public
feeling in Germany, Austria, and England; and
Persigny, then French Ambassador in England, went
to Paris to describe to the Emperor the attitude of
profound suspicion regarding him which England had
assumed in consequence of his disturbing and adven-

THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN OF 1859 195
turous foreign policy. Napoleon suggested that the
mutual misapprehensions would be best dispelled by a
personal interview with the Queen. The proposal
was accepted; and the Emperor and Empress reached
Osborne on August 6, where they spent three days.
The meeting of the Sovereigns was still cordial ; and
the visit, with the assistance of Lords Clarendon and
Palmerston and MM. Walewski and Persigny, was
turned to the best account, since it brought into
cordial contact the rulers of both realms and enabled
them to settle the question of the Principalities and
other matters of importance. But the cordial im
pressions which the Osborne visit had produced in
the minds of Queen Victoria and her Consort were all
but effaced by the subsequent excursion made by
them a few days later to inspect the forts, basins, and
breakwater of Cherbourg. ' It makes me very un
happy to see what is done here,' wrote the Queen in
her diary, ' and how well protected the works are.'
The Cherbourg breakwater was ' treble the size of the
Plymouth one,' and 8,000 men were at work upon it.
The Prince Consort wrote to Stockmar, ' Cherbourg
is a gigantic work and gives one grave cause for reflec
tion. The counter-defences at Alderney are childish
in comparison.' The Queen and her husband did not
care to accompany the Emperor to the camp of
Chalons for the opening of the great school of war on
that vast plain whereon the Imperial Guard was
assembled. The great camp of Chalons, together
with the vast works of Cherbourg and the prodigious
growth of the French armour-plated naval force,
served not unnaturally to foster that mistrust which,

196 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
in spite of their personal regard for the French Sover
eign, was taking hold of the minds of the Queen and
Prince. Yet at the meeting of monarchs at Stuttgart
in September, 1857, the French Emperor was found
to be loyally impervious against all inducements to a
breach of the English Alliance. Of Napoleon's con
duct at Stuttgart Sir Theodore Martin remarks : ' The
parvenu Emperor, thrown for the first time into the
midst of the royalties of the " Almanach de Gotha,"
had distinguished himself by great self-possession and
dignity, bearing himself, as said a shrewd observer,
" like a thorough gentleman, holding his own, and show
ing no eagerness to seize at the advances made to him
which might well have turned the steadiest head.'"
On the evening of January 14, 1858, the Emperor
and Empress were driving to the Opera House in the
Rue Lepelletier to hear the opera of ' Le Bal de
Gustave,' which culminates in the assassination of
Gustavus III., when Felix Orsini and his accomplice
threw three explosive bombs under the carriage of
their Majesties. The Emperor received a slight
wound on the nose and the Empress a blow on the
eye — her dress was spotted with blood from the
wounded surrounding the carriage. Both Emperor
and Empress appeared wonderfully composed and
courageous — she, indeed, rather more so than he.
They remained all through the performance in igno
rance of the bloody tragedy enacted outside, where
eight persons had been killed and a hundred and fifty-
six wounded. Orsini was an Italian revolutionist of
the most reckless and uncompromising type. From
the fortress of Mantua he had escaped to England in

THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN OF 1859 197
1856, whence in 1857 he had repaired to Paris, hav
ing formed a conspiracy with Pieri, Rudio, and Gomez,
the aim of which was the assassination of the French
Emperor. For once the ' habitual calm ' of Napoleon was not
maintained. He has, indeed, been accused of having
sunk for the time into the position of a political
poltroon, trembling under the threats of the Car
bonari, to whom he was believed with truth to have
belonged in his own early revolutionary days, and
quaking under the terror of such another lesson as
Orsini had administered. His ill-wishers declared that
his prestige was gone and that his cool courage had
forsaken him ; it was even averred that his time was
occupied in devising precautions for his own safety.
He was said to wear a cuirass under his coat ; to have
had wires fixed over the chimneys of the Tuileries so
that explosive substances should not reach him at
his hearth ; to have bought the houses opposite the
Tuileries lest grenades should be dropped from their
windows into his carriage ; and that a cohort of spies
mingled with the guests at Lady Cowley's ball to
assure his protection.
Whether it was by significant pressure or by strenu
ous entreaty that in 1858 Cavour obtained from Louis
Napoleon his promise to support Italy with armed
force, may never be known. The bargain was struck
— the compact of Plombieres was ratified between the
French Emperor and the Sardinian Prime Minister.
That Italy made a good bargain is long since beyond
dispute. She leaped by two or three great bounds into
a new and free liberal national life. An united Italy

198 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
was not in the Plombieres agreement, nor did Cavour
expect to find it there. What he did hope for and
obtained was a free northern kingdom to begin with,
which should absorb the Italian nation ' from the Alps
to the Adriatic' But the impulse which his genius
and patriotism gave to his countrymen's destinies has
carried the seat of the Italian Government from Turin
to Florence and from Florence to Rome.
In November, 1858, Vincenzo Salvagnuoli presented
a memorial to the Emperor at Compiegne, in which the
expulsion of Austria from Italy with the assistance of
France was assumed as a question already agreed upon.
The Emperor undertook to throw 200,000 troops into
Italy and to command them in person in the following
summer. On New Year's morning of 1859, when the
Emperor was receiving the customary greetings of the
Diplomatic Body at the Tuileries, he turned to M.
Hiibner, the Austrian Ambassador, and said to him ab
ruptly in the hearing of his colleagues, ' I regret that
our relations with your Government are not so good as
they have been hitherto ; but I beg you to assure the
Emperor that my personal feelings towards him are
unchanged.' Those simple words fell upon Europe
like the shock of an earthquake. The ' Moniteur ' was
instructed to declare that there was nothing in the dip
lomatic relations of the two Courts to warrant the pre
vailing rumours of war. But this pacific assurance was
counteracted by the tone of Victor Emanuel's speech
in opening the Sardinian Chambers on January \of It
was generally believed that a secret alliance had been
formed between the French Emperor and the King of
Sardinia, although its precise nature remained un-

THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN OF 1859 199
known./ That it was to the advantage of France was
inferred from the marriage of Prince Napoleon to the
Princess Clothilde, eldest daughter of Victor Emanuel.
Her hand by proxy was demanded by General Niel on
January 23, and the marriage was celebrated a week
later. Those and other indications of the designs of
the French Emperor warned the .Austrian Government
to make energetic preparations for the defence of its
Italian possessions ; and an appeal was made to the
German Confederation to act as an united power if
Austria by an attack on her Italian provinces should
be called upon to take up arms against France and
Sardinia combined. While thus appealing for support
to the other German Powers, Austria was pushing for
ward great armaments along the Ticino and the Po.
Strong masses of troops were quartered in Cremona,
Placenza, and Pavia, assuming an aggressive aspect
against Piedmont; and a loan of 150 million francs
had been contracted in Vienna.
\ Louis Napoleon had given his pledges to Cavour,
but it seemed as if he were fain that they would not be
exacted. / He was disconcerted by the precipitate march
of events. He was not ready for action. He had been
told that his words to M. Hiibner would cost France a
milliard. (The French people were not at all eager to
make heavy sacrifices for the deliverance of Italy. ) The
Ministers, ': whose policy frequently clashed with that
-of the Emperor/were opposed to Italian independence
and disliked Cavour/^- Walewski even hated him.
/The attitude of France towards Austria and Italy was
the subject of much discussion and great difference of
opinion throughout Europe when the question of war

200 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
or peace was seemingly hanging in the balance.) Not
withstanding the emphatic declaration of Louis Napo
leon that the Empire meant peace, there was a strong
and widespread suspicion that the Imperial policy
would be guided by a spirit of war and conquest. The
Emperor took great pains to effect the removal of this
impression, especially from the minds of English
statesmen ; but with slight success. The Congress,
in the assemblage of which at the desire of the French
Emperor Russia took the initiative, seemed to meet
with general acquiescence but ultimately came to
nothing. All efforts at conciliation proved unavailing.
Each of the three Powers most concerned seemed ani
mated by the conviction that the questions at issue
could be settled only by an appeal to the sword. Each,
in fact, was impatient for the opening of hostilities.
Before departing for the seat of war the Emperor
addressed a proclamation to his subjects from which a
few sentences may be extracted :' I desire no conquests,
but I resolve firmly to maintain my national and tra
ditional policy. I observe treaties on the condition
that no one shall violate them to my disadvantage. I
respect the territory and rights of neutral Powers ; but I
boldly avow my sympathy for a people whose history is
mingled with our own and who groan under foreign op
pression. ... I am about to place myself at the head of
the army. I leave in France the Empress and my son.
Aided by the experience and enlightenment of the last
surviving brother of the Great Emperor, the Empress,
who will be the head of the Regency during my absence,
will understand how to show herself equal to the gran
deur of her mission.'

THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN OF 1859 201
/ The Franco-Austrian War of 1859, so unpopular
when first rumoured, became so popular when actually
engaged in that the French people watched the military
movements with eager enthusiasm and crowded eagcriy
to subscribe to the war loan. ,
Just before the opening of the war Victor Emanuel
summoned Garibaldi to take the command of the little
army of noble Volunteers. ' We want you,' said Cavour.
' I am always ready to serve my country,' said Garibaldi
simply. ' My first duty is to offer my sword to my
country. My war-cry therefore shall be, " Italian Unity
under the constitutional rule of Victor Emanuel." Re
member, however, that the aid of foreign arms must be
paid for dearly. As for the man who has promised to
help us, I ardently wish he may redeem himself in the
eyes of posterity by achieving the noble task of Italian
liberation.' By the end of April Garibaldi was in com
mand of three fine regiments of Cacciatori delle Alpi, a
company of Genoese sharp-shooters, and a small squad
ron of Guides. The little force, slight in numerical
strength, was formed from the best elements of Lom
bardy, the Romagna, and the minor Duchies; and it
did gallant service in the war.
On May 2 King Victor Emanuel called his warriors
to arms. He was himself Commander-in-Chief. He
had five divisions of regular infantry, amounting to
about 13,000 men. Each division had two battalions
of Bersaglieri, a regiment of cavalry, three batteries,
and a company of sappers. The cavalry division con
sisted of sixteen squadrons, with twelve field-guns and
two batteries of horse artillery. The third and fourth
French corps were on the march before the declaration

202 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
of war ; they crossed the Alps and hastened from the
slopes of Mont Cenis and Mont Genevre toward the
scene of action in the great Italian plain. The first
and second corps with the materiel of the army had
sailed from Toulon to Genoa, and having crossed the
Apennines were hurrying northward to occupy the
valley of the Scrivia. On May 12 the French Emperor
made his entry into Genoa under arches, draperies, and
flowers. At Alessandria he rode under an arch on
which was emblazoned the legend, ' To the descendant
of the Conqueror of Marengo ! ' And when he entered
the Palace he found on his table the map on which his
great uncle had traced the movements of his army
before the battle of Marengo.
Space forbids any attempt to give the details of the
battles of this short but bloody campaign. The first
engagement occurred at Genestrello on May 20; from
which place, after some hard fighting, the Austrians
were driven out. They then made a stand at Monte
bello, where, although 20,000 strong, they were routed
by some 6,000 Sardinians. The Austrian general was
completely outmanoeuvred by the Emperor and the
King. By a wide turning movement the Allied com
manders forced the Austrians to cross the Po and then
to retire behind the Sesia. On the 30th General
Cialdini crossed the Sesia and drove the Austrians
from the fortified positions of Palestro, Venzaglio, and
Casalino, having carried each position at the bayonet-
point. Next day the Austrian general strove hard to
retake Palestro ; but Victor Emanuel threw himself
into the heart of the struggle and carried everything
before him. The 3rd French Zouaves performed prod-

THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN OF 1859 203
igies of valour, and French and Sardinian soldiers
vied with each other in gallant deeds.
The battles of the war followed each other with ex
traordinary rapidity. Magenta was a splendid if a
bloody triumph. The brilliant march of MacMahon
from Turbigo on Buffalora and Magenta, and the prod
igies of valour performed by his soldiers ; the deeds
of the Grenadiers of the Guard at the bridge of Buf
falora ; the splendid fight at the Ponte Vecchio ; the
fierce bayonet charges under Wimpffen ; the hand-to-
hand struggle in the streets of Magenta, — all were
achievements of unsurpassed valour. The Emperor
remained under fire on the bridge of Buffalora during
the fighting. Many times during the day came mes
sages that the commander of the Imperial Guard could
no longer hold his ground. ' He must hold it,' was
the Emperor's answer ; and the Guard held on.
The Austrians left 6,090 dead and wounded on the
battlefield, and 4,000 were taken prisoners.'' The losses
of the victors were almost as heavy as those of the
vanquished ; but the great triumphant result of the day
was that the hated Austrian had been once and for all
driven out of Piedmont, On the early morning after
the battle the Emperor and Victor Emanuel entered
Milan ; and the Emperor went to the Villa Buona
parte, which for him was full of associations. His great
uncle and Eugene Beauharnais had inhabited it.
Queen Hortense had spent within its walls many happy
days. Louis Napoleon pointed out to his aide-de-camp
the very room in which he had slept in 1813; and he
sent to ask whether the fine tall porter whom he re
membered of those days was still alive. When the

204 LIFE 0F NAPOLEON III
Emperor and Victor Emanuel appeared together in
the streets of Milan their progress was a triumphal
march. The King did not try to conceal the deep
emotion which his face betrayed ; and the Emperor
himself, notwithstanding his phlegmatic temperament,
could not control the joy which he exhibited. The
enthusiastic Italians who then kissed his feet could not
anticipate that five weeks later the discredit of Villa-
franca would follow the victory of Magenta.
After their defeat at Magenta the Austrians had
abandoned Milan in haste, leaving at Malegnano, half
way between Milan and Lodi, a strong rearguard for
the protection of their main army in its retreat. It was
determined to attack this force and to attempt to cut
off its retreat across the Adda. The commanders as
signed to this undertaking were Baraguay d'Hilliers,
MacMahon, and L'Admirault; the divisional generals
were Bazaine, Forey, and Goz. Bazaine's division of
Baraguay d'Hilliers' corps arrived before Malegnano at
five p.m. of June 8. An Austrian division was in posses
sion of the town, the entrance to which was barricaded
and defended by four guns. Bazaine's troops suffered
severely while exposed to the enemy's cross fire. Bul
lets rained down from the windows ; shells, round-shot,
and grape poured in showers on the road ; bayonets
and butt-ends of muskets were freely used; but the
French storming parties were repulsed. Suddenly,
however, the sound of artillery was heard from the
other end of the town, indicating that Forey had turned
the Austrian position. Then Bazaine's Zouaves dashed
at the barricade with a fury which nothing could with
stand. The first line of the Austrian defence consisted

THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN OF 1859 205
wholly of officers who fought with desperate valour ;
but nevertheless the obstacle was carried and the
French sappers cleared the way for the artillery. The
cemetery on the left of the road, defended by the Aus
trians with great obstinacy, was at length carried by
General Goz and Colonel Paulze d'lvry; and the for
tune of the bitter fight manifestly began to turn against
the Austrians. L'Admirault struck in at the double
upon the massed troops of the enemy in the streets and
piazzas of the town. The Zouaves at length reached
the square, after having stormed every house, every
church, every portico. As darkness set in torrents of
rain covered the bloody ground and the noise of the
fighting was responded to in peals of thunder. During
the night the Austrian army succeeded in effecting
the passage of the Adda, whence it fell back sullenly
towards the Chiese, the Oglio, and the Mincio.
The Emperor and the King did not rest long on their
laurels at Milan. The former fixed for the time his
headquarters at Gorgonzola with the Imperial Guard,
which thus acted as the reserve of the Allied armies. At
Brescia the Emperor slept in the room which his great
uncle had occupied, and wrote his despatches upon the
table which the First Consul had used. From Brescia
the Imperial headquarters were moved forward to Mon-
techiaro, almost on the edge of the battlefield. On the
day before the great battle the lines of the Allied armies
reached from the shore of the Lake of Garda at Desen-
zano along the western edge of the hilly country from
Lonato down to Castiglione ; and bending back towards
Caspenedolo touched thereabouts the river Chiese. Dur
ing the 23rd and the early morning of the 24th the

206 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
Austrian commander, General Hess, had caused the
Austrian army to move out from Verona and Mantua;
to recross the Mincio at Salionze, Vallegio, Ferri, and
Goito ; and to occupy Pozzolengo, Solferino, Cavriana,
Volta, and Guidizzuolo — positions which had been
abandoned by it only three days previously.
From the Imperial headquarters at Montechiaro
there was issued on the evening of the 23rd a general
order regulating the forward movements of the Allied
armies, which were to begin by daylight of the morrow.
To the left flank was assigned Victor Emanuel's army,
of which the ist and 2nd divisions were in the hilly
country about Lonato ; the 3rd was at Desenzano and
Rivoltella; the 4th in advance of Lonato; and the
cavalry at Biddizole. The instructions were that his
Sardinian Majesty should advance with his army on
Pozzolengo; Marshal Baraguay d'Hilliers, whose left
was in touch with the Piedmontese, was to march from
Essenta on Solferino; and Marshal MacMahon was to
advance from Castiglione on Cavriana. The two corps
of Niel and Canrobert were to move across the plain,
the former from Carpenedolo on Guidizzuolo, the lat
ter from Mezzano on Medole. The Imperial Guard
was to move forward from Montechiaro on Castiglione,
and two cavalry divisions were to manoeuvre in the
plain between Solferino and Medole.
Considerable fighting had already occurred when at
five a.m. of the 24th urgent messengers from MacMahon
and Baraguay d'Hilliers reached the Emperor in his
headquarters at Montechiaro. He at once despatched
his staff to precede him to Castiglione, while he him
self, escorted by the Cent-Gardes, drove with all speed

THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN OF 1859 207
in the same direction. Alighting at Castiglione he as
cended a lofty church-tower from which is visible a wide
panorama. As he surveyed the scene, the smoke of the
guns enabled him to form a distinct idea of the con
ditions of the battle then being fought. From his ele
vated position he could see the masses of the enemy
swarming along the heights uniting Cavriana with
Solferino. The distant cannon-roar indicated that
Canrobert had passed Castel Goffredo and was hurry
ing; towards Medole. Nearer to Castiglione could be
seen the head of the Imperial Guard marching forward
in the direction of Guidizzuolo. The Piedmontese
cannon on the extreme left announced to the Emperor
that the legions of Victor Emanuel were fighting hard ;
but the distance and the undulations of the ground
hindered the view in that direction.
High military ability has been rarely ascribed to
Louis Napoleon ; yet the directions he sent to his
Marshals as soon as he had descended from the steeple
of the church of Castiglione certainly evinced the pene
tration and tactical sagacity of an experienced com
mander. He had immediately perceived that the object
of the Austrians was to divert the attack on Solferino
— the key of their position —by outflanking the right
of the French army, filling up the gap between the
second and fourth corps, and thus cutting the enemy's
forces in two. The Emperor, therefore, commanded
the cavalry of the Imperial Guard to join MacMahon,
to whom he sent orders to dislodge the enemy from
Morino's farm; he also directed that the Imperial
Guard should march forward in rear of the heights
on which the first corps was fighting. The plan of

208 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
the Emperor appears to have been clear and precise.
In a word, his design was to make himself master of
Solferino at any cost ; and then, by a flank movement,
to beat the enemy out of his position at Cavriana.
Meanwhile death was ravaging the divisions of
Baraguay d'Hilliers, fighting on the heights which
face Solferino. From the plain the Emperor saw the
smoke enveloping the masses of his army, and he felt
that his place was with them. Galloping up on to the
Monte Fenile, he found that Dieu's brigade had
reached the foot of the Cypress Mamelon and that
d' Alton's was massed on the road from Castiglione to
Solferino, edging the foot of the hill from which the
Emperor was witnessing the tremendous drama then
being acted out. Suddenly a thick phalanx of bayonets
was seen glittering through the trees of the valley —
a body of Austrian troops which Stadion had sent to
cut the line of the French. D'Alton's brigade stood
its ground like a wall of granite, but the odds of five
to one were too great and d'Alton could not hold his
own any longer. The artillery of the Austrians was
brought to bear on his flank, and showers of shot, grape,
and shell were poured into the brave but shattered
brigade. Forey's division, and more especially d'Alton 's
brigade, would undoubtedly have been crushed by a
fresh hostile column just then debouching from the
road of Casal del Monte, had not succour been at hand.
The crisis was imminent; there was not a moment to
be lost. From the heights of Monte Fenile Louis
Napoleon had perceived the danger and saw that the
instant had arrived when to engage his reserve. He
may have remembered the exclamation so often used

THE iIaLiajn CAMPAIGN OF 1859 209
by his great uncle, 'A moi la Garde/' He sent
orders to General Maneque of the Guard to advance
at once against the Austrian columns and give support
to d'Alton. The movement was executed with the
rapidity which is one of the finest qualities of the
French army, and the Austrians were beaten back.
Hours of desperate fighting and of horrid slaughter
passed before Solferino fell into the possession of the
French. At length the Cypress Mount was carried and
the Austrian artillery was captured. The long-expected
moment had now come. Forey gave orders to storm
the Tower Hill of Solferino. The drums beat, the
trumpets sounded; shouts of ' Vive I'Empereur ! " rent
the air; voltigeurs of the Imperial Guard, chasseurs,
and linesmen rushed to the assault with an impetuosity
which the Austrians could not withstand. The heights
of Solferino were covered in a moment by thousands
of French troops. The Tower Hill was carried, and
General Forey then halted his victorious columns for a
few moments ; while Lebceuf brought up his powerful
artillery to bear upon the defeated masses of the
Austrians now retiring through the narrow streets of
the village of Solferino towards Cavriana.
Long hours of hard fighting followed the great
success just recorded, and the final issue was wholly in
favour of the French. The Austrian retreat, though
orderly, was so rapid that the Kaiser himself had barely
time to gain the cross-road from Cavriana to Valeggio.
Two hours later Cavriana was filled by the victorious
adversaries of Francis Joseph ; and the Casa Pastore,
which had been his temporary quarters, now opened
its doors to receive the rival Emperor.
M

210 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
The valorous deeds performed by the Italian troops
fighting on the extreme left of the Allied armies cannot
be here detailed. After having beaten back the enemy
from Monte Manca and forced him to retreat in dis
order to the village of Pozzolengo, they were able to
expel the Austrian masses from the strong positions
of San Martino and Contracania. Those achieve
ments proved that the Piedmontese were no whit
inferior to their gallant allies ; for they had to deal with
Benedek, who certainly was a more skilful soldier and
resolute fighting man than any of his colleagues.
The Allied armies had achieved a splendid victory
but at a most serious cost. The French had 12,000
hors de combat; 150 officers killed, and 570 wounded.
The Italian losses were 5,521 men killed, wounded, and
missing. The casualties among the Austrians were
stupendous — there were from 20,000 to 25,000 men
hors de combat and the ' missing ' reached a total of
4,000. The Austrians left thirty guns on the field as
well as several regimental colours. The battlefield was
a horrible and shuddering spectacle.
A strange and startling series of events followed the
battle of Solferino. Two days after the victory Cavour
had a long interview with the French Emperor. Napo
leon was disgusted with the quarrels of his generals and
shocked by the horrible scenes of war he had just
witnessed, but proud and delighted that the military
glory of France had been once again splendidly as
serted. Cavour left the Imperial headquarters at
Valeggio in high spirits and full of assurance that
the Emperor was determined to prosecute the war
with vigour to its conclusion. But rumours were

THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN OF 1859 211
presently rife in the camp that a French General had
been sent to Verona on some mysterious mission to
the Austrian Emperor. Those reports proved well
founded. Since daybreak of July 6 the several corps
of the Allied armies had been formed up in position
for the battle which was believed to be imminent. On
the early evening of the same day General Fleury left
Valeggio with a letter from the French Emperor to
the Austrian Kaiser, making direct proposals for an
armistice. This step was taken without any commu
nication with Victor Emanuel and without the knowl
edge of anyone except the bearer of the message. By
eleven o'clock of the following morning Fleury was
back in Valeggio, announcing the success of his
mission. The result was the conclusion of an armis
tice for one month. The announcement spread con
sternation in the Sardinian camp and excited the
deepest disappointment and indignation throughout
Italy. Coming upon the Italians while still in the
flush of victory and buoyant with hope, the tidings
were felt not only as a terrible shock but as a betrayal
of the cause and a national humiliation.
The two Emperors met at Villafranca on the morn
ing of the nth, and were closeted alone for an hour.
Of what passed between them there is no record.
When they came forth the Austrian looked pale and
embarrassed, the Frenchman gay and at his ease.
The proud descendant of the Hapsburgs doubtless
felt bitterly the humiliation of that moment. Louis
Napoleon, on the contrary, had satisfied his greatest
desire — the dealing in person with a legitimate Em
peror. Nothing had been committed to paper at that

212 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
interview ; but on his return to Valeggio the Emperor
despatched his cousin Prince Napoleon to Verona,
there to settle the preliminaries of that peace which
was finally adjusted at Zurich after many delays and
contentions. The same evening Napoleon informed
Victor Emanuel that if the preliminaries of which
Prince Napoleon was the bearer should be accepted
peace would be concluded. Victor Emanuel replied
gravely and coldly, 'Whatever may be the decision
of your Majesty I shall feel eternal gratitude for
what you have done in behalf of Italian independ
ence ; and I beg you to believe that you may reckon
on my fidelity.' Cavour had less self-control. He
rushed into the King's presence in great excitement,
his face scarlet with passion, and his manner, usually
simple and easy, marked by violent gesticulations.
He spoke of the French Emperor in the most disre
spectful language ; and he advised his master to reject
the terms of peace, to withdraw his army from Lom
bardy, to abdicate, to do anything to vindicate his dig
nity. The great statesman resigned rather than agree
to a peace concluded without his Sovereign or himself
being considered, and Ratazzi received instructions to
form a new Ministry.
On the evening of July 12 the Emperor left the
army for France, passing through Milan and Turin,
where he had so recently been hailed with enthusiastic
acclamations. He must painfully have felt the con
trast, when the victor of Magenta and Solferino was
allowed to return from the scenes of his successes
without a single cheer from the people whose country
he had promised to free ' from the Alps to the Adri-

THE EMPEROR AND E.Ml'RESS IX WALKING DRESS
(From a photograph taken about ti<*>)

THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN OF 1859 213
atic,' but whom he was now abruptly abandoning,
leaving his 'mission' but half accomplished. On July
19 the Emperor received at St. Cloud the great bodies
of the State. The Due de Morny addressed him in
terms of lavish adulation. Napoleon's reply was in
effect an apology to the French, the Italians, and the
English for what he must have felt to be a very imper
fect fulfilment of the task he had undertaken. His
reasons for stopping short were very forcible in them
selves, but they were susceptible of this complete
answer — that they should all have been foreseen and
should have entered into his calculations when he
published his programme of freedom to Italy ' from
the Alps to the Adriatic' Yet it appeared that even
when he addressed the Italians at Milan as their deliv
erer the new light had not broken in upon him which
revealed the strength of the Quadrilateral, the cost of
expelling the Austrians from Venetia, and the convic
tion that further French successes would certainly
bring mobilised Germany into the field. That new
light seems to have flashed upon Napoleon for the
first time from the stern Austrian ranks on the day of
Solferino. It was then he realised that should he go
forward, he would be obliged to attack in front an
enemy entrenched behind great fortresses, and pro
tected against any diversion on his flanks by the neu
trality of the territories surrounding him. In short,
to use the chagrined Emperor's own words, ' in com
mencing a long and sterile war of sieges I recognised
in presence of me Europe in arms, ready either to dis
pute our success or to aggravate our reverses.' Admi
rable a posteriori reasoning but curiously belated.

2i4 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III

CHAPTER XI
THE MEXICAN TRAGEDY
Louis Napoleon was a man of very considerable
ability, and it is possible enough that he would have
been a stable Sovereign but for the restless ambition
which possessed his soul. His life was one of con
stant plotting and scheming, occasionally, it is true —
as in the cession to him by Victor Emanuel of Nice
and Savoy — with substantial if unscrupulous results,
but more often with a futile or disastrous outcome to
his projects. At the outbreak of the Civil War in the
United States in 1861 his impulse was to intervene in
^favour of the South, and to form of the Confederate
States a separate Republic which, he dreamed, would
become the ally of France. That inclination had been
abandoned by a conviction of the force of the growing
unanimity in the Northern States of the great Ameri
can Union in favour of the abolition of slavery, and by
the attitude of Great Britain. But Mexico presented
to his sanguine disposition a tempting sphere of oppor
tunity. The origin of the Mexican adventure has been
said to have resulted from some scandalous financial
operations on the joint parts of the Due de Morny and
a certain Jecker, a Swiss banker who was subsequently
shot in the Paris Commune. The character of Morny

THE MEXICAN TRAGEDY 215
in his financial relations and the pretensions of Jeckcr
gave some colour to those charges. But as a matter of
fact, the expedition to Mexico of 1861-62 was origi
nally undertaken in consequence of the joint action of
England and Spain under a convention signed in Lon
don on Nov. 20, 1 86 1, to which France later became a
party. Mexico had so long evaded her obligations to
her English and Spanish creditors and had left unre
dressed so many outrages on individual Englishmen and
Spaniards residing in Mexico, that the Governments of
the two countries had at length resolved to resort to
strenuous measures. France also claimed to have
grievances ; and it was not in the first instance under
stood that the ultimate aims of the French Emperor
were not in substantial accord with the objects of the
other Powers.
The expedition sailed in December, 1861. Spain
embarked 7,000 soldiers, France about 2,500, the
English contingent consisted of but 700 Marines. In
the early days of January, 1862, the troops landed at
Vera Cruz without resistance, under the command of
the Spanish General Prim. The Allied Commission
ers presently published a manifesto addressed to the
Mexican people, declaring that neither conquest nor
political dictation was the object of the Allied Powers,
which had long beheld with grief a noble people
' wasting its forces and extinguishing its vitality in
the violence of civil war and perpetual convulsions ' ;
and who had now landed on their shores to give them
an opportunity of constituting themselves in a per
manent and stable manner. Yet all this time the
views of the French Emperor were extended to ulte-

216 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
rior aims of which his Allies never dreamed. When,
after the issuing of the manifesto, the Commissioners
of the Allied Powers began to exchange ideas and to
communicate to each other the exact nature of the
instructions emanating from their respective Govern
ments, the divergence of views between the French
and the other two Commissioriers soon became appar
ent. The object of England and Spain was simply,
by occupying a portion of the Mexican seaboard, to
obtain a material guarantee for the redress of the
wrongs of which their subjects had to complain. But
the French Commissioner — evidently with an eye to
the eventual introduction of an Imperial regime —
refused, on the pleas of perverseness, renewed out
rages, and general impracticability, to hold any com
munication with the Juarez Government ; and insisted
that the proper course of action on the part of the
Allied forces was to march on Mexico, the capital.
Regarding their views and those of their French
colleague as utterly irreconcilable, General Prim and
Sir Charles Wyke, the Spanish and British Commis
sioners, withdrew from the expedition on the parts
of their respective Governments. The English and
Spanish squadrons put to sea; and the French ex
peditionary forces, about 6,000 strong, remained by
themselves in Mexico.
In February the Mexican Government and the
Allied plenipotentiaries signed respectively a prelim
inary convention confirming the authority of the Pres
ident Juarez and the maintenance of the Mexican
flag. Two months elapsed while the draft of the
treaty was being sent to and returned from Europe,

THE MEXICAN TRAGEDY 217
during which time the Allied forces occupied the
towns of Cordova, Orizaba, and Tehuacan, quarters
favourable to the health of the troops. But when at
length the return of the treaty was signalled, it was
notified that France declared she could not accept
the Convention, as being 'counter to the national
dignity.' The French General Lorencez was then commis
sioned to open an offensive campaign at the head of
the French expeditionary corps, then in march towards
Mexico. When approaching the strong city of
Puebla, the light-hearted Lorencez did not take the
trouble to make a preliminary reconnaissance, imagin
ing that the city before him was friendly, and he was
rudely surprised by meeting on May 5, 1862, with a
vigorous resistance on the part of the Mexican gar
rison commanded by General Zaragoza. Lorencez
sustained a disastrous check and was compelled to
retire on Orizaba, where he was joined by Marquez,
a general of the Church Party, at the head of 2,500
men. It was not, however, deemed advisable to
attempt a fresh advance until a reinforcement of troops
should have been obtained from France. When ap
prised of the Puebla repulse the French Emperor
promptly appointed General Forey to the chief com
mand in Mexico, and hurried him across the Atlantic
with an army 30,000 strong. It was expected that a
force so powerful would immediately take the offen
sive, and that a vigorous and decisive campaign would
result. In his instructions to General Forey the
French Emperor wrote: 'Our military honour en
gaged, the necessities of our policy, the interests of

218 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
our industry and commerce, all combine to make it
our duty to march on Mexico, boldly to plant our
flag there, and to establish either a monarchy, if not
incompatible with the national feeling, or at least a
Government which may promise some stability.' If,
he added, the respectable portion of Mexican society
should choose to adopt monarchical institutions, so
much the better for all concerned.
Alertness however, was not Forey's strong point.
He had landed in the end of September, 1862, with
a fresh and imposing army. The winter months are
those most suited for military operations on the lofty
plateaux dividing Orizaba from Mexico. But Forey's
proceedings were so dilatory that he gave the Juarists
time to prepare their defence, to muster their con
tingents, and to shelter Puebla behind a double bar
rier of ramparts and cannon. Five months of futility
passed, until at length in April, 1863, the French army
advanced slowly on Puebla. It was considered neces
sary to undertake a siege in regular form. On March
29 Fort San Xavier, one of the principal defences of
Puebla, had been attacked and taken by assault. ' For
the first time,' wrote General Forey, ' the Mexicans
felt the points of our bayonets ; they gave way before
the impetuosity of our attack.' Puebla surrendered
on May 18, in rather extraordinary circumstances.
As the supplies of the place were running short, Gen
eral Ortega, who commanded the garrison, proposed
to capitulate, but on condition that the garrison
should be allowed to march out with all the honours
of war, and with arms, baggage, and artillery to with
draw to the city of Mexico. General Forey refused

THE PRINCE IMPERIAL WHEN AHOUT SIX YEARS OLD
{From a jnintature)

THE MEXICAN TRAGEDY 219
to accept this proposal ; but agreed that the garrison
might leave with all the honours, on condition, how
ever, that they must march past the French army and
lay down their arms, remaining prisoners of war.
'These proposals,' says General Forey in his despatch,
'were not accepted by General Ortega, who in the
night between May 16 and 17 disbanded his com
mand, destroyed their weapons, spiked the guns, blew
up the powder magazines, and sent me an envoy to
say that the garrison had completed its defence, and
surrendered at discretion. It was scarcely daylight
when 12,000 men, most of them without arms or
uniforms, which they had cast away in the streets,
surrendered as prisoners ; and the officers, numbering
from 1,000 to 1,200, of whom 26 were generals and
200 superior officers, informed me that they waited
at the palace of the Government ! ' Although the
besieged had given way and fallen into panic-stricken
confusion, the command nevertheless was given by
Forey to retire and abandon the positions already
taken. This wretched siege lasted three days longer
than that of Saragossa; and but for the fortunate
attack on the fort of Totimehuacan which caused the
fall of the town, preparations must have been made to
undergo the winter in front of the entrenchments of
Puebla. After the capitulation the French march on
Mexico would certainly have been deferred but for
the interposition of the generals of division. This
sheer folly would have had the effect of causing an
other siege, for the city of Mexico was surrounded
by works which were about to be armed. Suddenly
attacked, the capital made no resistance.

220 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
With the adverse result of the defence of Puebla, on
which he had expended all his resources and in the
attempt to relieve which General Comonfort had been
defeated, Juarez had played his last card for the time.
He fell back on San Luis de Potosi and on June 10 the
French army entered the capital. In spite of the fire
works and flowers scattered in the path of Forey, the
enthusiasm was only factitious. Juarez had not been
expelled by the will of the population of the capital.
The Chief of the State had yielded to force majeure, but
without compromise. He was brought down, but he
never abdicated. He took with him into his retreat the
Republican power, nor did he ever allow it to slip from
his grasp.
On June 14 a Provisional Government was consti
tuted in the first instance, which presently convened a
'Junta of Notables.' This assembly was desired, at the
instance of General Forey and of course under French
auspices, to determine after due deliberation what form
of Government should be definitely established in
Mexico — the vote on the question to unite at least
two-thirds of the suffrages. The phantom of a Junta
was got together somehow, held a meeting, and duly
voted, to the sound of the cannon which proclaimed the
birth of the Empire. The decision was imfavour of a
monarchy and the proffer of the Crown to the Arch
duke Maximilian. A Commission was appointed to
proceed to Miramar, bearing the requisite documents
and proffering the Imperial sceptre. When the deputa
tion presented itself at Miramar Maximilian hesitated
— and well he might ; for he could not but be aware
that a burning principle of resistance against monarch-

THE MEXICAN TRAGEDY 221
ical institutions was tenaciously maintained by a large
proportion of the population of Mexico, and that the
aversion of the people of the United States from this
masterful conversion of their Republican neighbours to
Imperialistic sentiments was notorious. On the very
day on which the French troops entered Mexico city
brave old Juarez published from his retirement in San
Luis de Potosi a proclamation bearing the sternest
defiance. ' Concentrated on one point,' so spoke
Juarez, 'the enemy will be free on all others; if he
divides his forces, he will be weak everywhere. He
will find himself compelled to acknowledge that the
Republic is not shut up in the towns of Mexico and
Puebla; that life, the consciousness of right and power,
the love of independence and democracy, the noble
pride aroused by the invasion of our soil, are sentiments
common to all the Mexican people.' Senor Doblado,
a man of high character, was not less outspoken. ' In
the bloody struggle,' said he, ' in which we are now
engaged, there are only two camps — Mexicans and
Frenchmen — invaded and invaders.'
Maximilian, as has been said, was hesitating ; he at
length made the declaration that he would accept the
proffered Throne only ' on the condition of its being
tendered to him as the result of a truly popular vote
and secured by European guarantees.' Mexico mean
while waited. The French arms were everywhere suc
cessful. Juarez had been driven from San Luis de
Potosi and his adherents were weak and scattered.
The gallant General Comonfort had been slain in
battle. The Provisional Government was styled the
'Regency'; it had a triumvirate consisting of Gen-

222 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
erals Almonte and Salas, and the Archbishop of
Mexico. In October, 1863, General Bazaine took the Com-
mand-in-Chief out of the hands of General Forey, who
had been promoted to be Marshal and had been
recalled to France ; he also assumed the functions
which had devolved on M. de Saligny, who did not long
delay in following the cunctatory captor of Puebla.
When succeeding to the command Bazaine was pre
ceded by a reputation for bravery which had its in
fluence over the Mexicans, who besides were not
indifferent to his good-humour, so full both of hearti
ness and polish. They also felt flattered by hearing
the French Commander-in-Chief speak the Spanish
language, which he had learned during the last Spanish
war. He acted with great promptitude. In six weeks
the enemy was overthrown by the rapidity of his
advance. The Franco-Mexican flag waved on all the
plateaux from Morelia to San Luis, towns which Mar-
quez and Mejia won brilliantly for the future Crown;
and from Mexico to Guadalajara, which Bazaine after
six weeks' rapid marching entered without striking a
blow. This was a campaign entirely of speed, happily
planned and promptly terminated. Never since 1821,
the date of its independence, had Mexico enjoyed a
calm equal to that which it experienced during the
four months following this campaign in the interior.
( The Mexican adventure had been from the first un
popular with the French people, and it served the
enemies of the Empire as a weapon against the
Government/ M. Rouher, indeed, called it ' the great
est enterprise of the reign ' ; but in spite of the reports

THE MEXICAN TRAGEDY 223
of the splendours and wealth of Mexico it never found
favour even with the majority of the Legislative Body
which voted the expedition. Two sinister influences
combined to damage the enterprise in public opinion.
The speculators for whom Morny acted were its main
supporters ; and from the time when war was made
to establish a Catholic Empire in a continent almost
exclusively Republican the Clerical Party alone de
fended it.
Nevertheless Maximilian in an evil hour allowed
himself to be persuaded into accepting the Mexican
Crown. A Mexican loan of fifteen millions sterling
was placed on the principal European bourses, but the
conditions were so onerous that Maximilian carried
with him to Mexico only a small portion of that great
sum. By the terms of his convention with Louis
Napoleon of April 10, 1864, it was arranged that a
French corps of 25,000 men was to remain in Mexico
until Maximilian should have organised an army of his
own ; and that on the withdrawal of the French corps
there should still remain in Mexico for six years longer
a force of 8,000 men, forming a foreign legion in the
service of that Empire. The Emperor of Austria also
gave permission for officers of the Austrian army to
volunteer into the Mexican foreign legion, retaining
for six years their Austrian military rank. In accord
ance with the convention Maximilian on April 10,
1864, formally accepted the Mexican Crown; and a
few days later he and the Empress with a large suite
embarked on board the Novara frigate for their new
destination, halting on their way to pay a short visit to
Rome, where they had an interview with the Pope.

224 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
On May 28, 1 864, the new Sovereigns landed at Vera
Cruz, where their reception was not propitious. After
a rough journey from the coast they made their entry
into the capital on June 12, followed by a brilliant
cortege, and subsequent to a short sojourn in the
Palace took up their permanent residence in the adja
cent chateau of Chapultepec.
On Maximilian's arrival an active Imperialist party,
sincere and full of enthusiasm, was freely and spon
taneously formed, captivated by the personal charm of
their Majesties. There was then a time when the
young Empire, in spite of the difficulty which the
task promised, had a good chance for a great future.
It was a fortunate hour for Mexico ; but neither the
monarch nor his subjects knew how to take advantage
of it. Despite the loyal efforts of a wife abounding
in illusions which were subsequently to be so pain
fully dissolved, Maximilian committed numerous errors,
because with his mingled chivalric and undecided
character he persisted in fancying that he was seated
as on an European Throne. He could not have
expected to conquer a turbulent kingdom with a bulle
tin of laws as his weapon ; he should have been
always in the saddle, with sword in hand.
It cannot be said, however, that he was inactive.
During the autumn of 1864 he made considerable
progress in pacifying the country and in endeavouring
to crush the partisans of Juarez, who were defeated
in a pitched battle at Durango in September. But
Maximilian had unfortunately incurred the hostility
of the powerful ecclesiastical interests of the country.
The settlement of the mortmain endowments still

iHh. MEXICAN TRAGEDY 225
remained in suspense. The Court of Rome had not
yet consented to declare its sentiments ; and it ap
peared the less inclined to do so as Maximilian,
determined to uphold the law of secularisation, had
in effect repudiated the Clerical Party to which he
mainly owed his Crown. This sudden volte-face had
but little disposed the Pope to make any concessions,
for his Holiness in assisting an Austrian Archduke
to place himself on an old Spanish throne had ex
pected that the result would be to bring those distant
lands into the bosom of the Church. On the other
hand the holders of the clerical property professed
themselves anxious for a settlement favourable to
their interests, although to a great extent their right
of property had originated in fraud.
By the end of the year armed resistance was almost
wholly subdued, while the French troops were in pos
session of the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
The new Empire seemed to be making progress
towards a condition of prosperity. But the Church
question remained unsettled, and Maximilian's Liberal
proclivities gave no hope of a reversal of the policy
of confiscation. In December, 1864, the Papal Nun
cio, Monsignor Meglia, arrived from Rome, to whom
Maximilian presented a settlement of religious ques
tions on the basis of (1) the supremacy of the Catholic
religion in Mexico, (2) gratuitous religious ministra
tion, (3) the support of the Church at the cost of the
State, and (4) the confirmation of the law under which
the Church lands had been confiscated. The Nuncio
positively refused to negotiate on those terms, assert
ing that when he left the Vatican the belief prevailed
15

226 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
that the confiscation of the Church lands was to be
reversed. Maximilian, with whom haughtiness and
irritability were constitutional, promptly ordered his
Minister to submit to him Bills founded on the basis
specified; and he presently issued a decree reviving
an obsolete law requiring that Pontifical Bulls and
rescripts should receive the exequatur of the Govern
ment before publication. The Nuncio, protesting
strenuously, quitted Mexico, whereupon diplomatic
relations between Rome and the new Empire were
entirely broken ^.off. No real progress was made
towards conciliating the Liberal Party, and it was cer
tain that the measures specified effectually offended and
estranged the great majority of the Conservatives.
At the beginning of 1865 tranquillity was for the
most part established, while, as has been said, the
French troops remained in possession of the country
from shore to shore. The national army had been
organised on the basis of the schemes proposed and
elaborated by the military chiefs. The whole terri
tory had been divided into nine military departments.
On January 26 the Emperor signed the military code
of laws ; and two months later he released the French
head-quarter staff from its duties in a complimentary
letter thanking Marshal Bazaine for his services in
the reorganisation of the Mexican army, which the
Minister of War had thenceforth to administer. But
Maximilian unfortunately seemed incapable of realis
ing that he was making no effective advance in at
taching to his person and Government the Mexican
nation or any considerable portion of it, and that he
was still, as from the first, entirely dependent^on

NAPOLEON III. IN 1 865

THE MEXICAN TRAGEDY 227
French bayonets. On October 3 of that year he
promulgated the ill-omened and sinister decree which
in its consequences ultimately proved fatal to himself
— the condemnation to outlawry of all persons who
thenceforward should be taken with arms in their
hands. In virtue of this sweeping and outrageous
decree several Juarists were actually shot by drumhead
courts-martial, and extreme indignation was not un
naturally aroused by those summary executions not
only among Mexican Republicans but also in the con
tiguous States of the American Union. In the inten
tion of Maximilian the decree was directed only
against persons whose object was to shelter their brig
andage under the Republican flag; but nevertheless
the original minutes of the fatal decree were wholly
written in the Emperor's own hand. The date of its
publication marked the beginning of Maximilian's
progressive ill-fortune. The Civil War in the United
States was now at an end, and the undisguised objec
tion of the American people to the intermeddling of
the French Emperor in Mexican affairs, hitherto in
abeyance during the war period, was beginning to have
vent. In the course of the winter of 1865-66 the
American General Sheridan continued covertly to
supply arms and ammunition to the Mexican Liberals
— more than 30,000 muskets were sent from Baton
Rouge Arsenal alone; and by midsummer of 1866
Juarez, having organised a considerable army, thanks
to the good-will of the North, was in possession of the
whole line of the Rio Grande, and in fact of nearly
the whole of Mexico down to San Luis de Potosi. In
his message to Congress of Dec. 4, 1865, President

228 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
Johnson had animadverted strongly on the outrage to
Republican feeling which the situation beyond the
Rio Grande presented to American eyes. He pointed
out that the American people refrained from interven
ing in the affairs of Europe on the express condition
that the European Powers should not interfere in the
concerns of the New Wor^ ; and he added with grave
significance : ' I should regard it as a great calamity
to the peace of the world that any European Power
should throw down the gauntlet to the American
nation, as if to challenge it to the defence of Re
publicanism against foreign intervention.' With con
tinuous steady pressure and in terms more and more
peremptory, the American Government in the latter
months of 1865 and during 1866 kept urging upon
the French Emperor the recall of the French troops
from Mexico. Napoleon hesitated in face of the termg
of the convention of April 10, 1864; then he threw
to the wind his pledged word to Maximilian. Ren
dered anxious because of the ominous condition of
affairs in Germany which threatened to involve
Europe in war, and reluctant to force the United
States to extremities, the French Emperor at length
decided to withdraw his troops from Mexico as soon
as he could consistently with decency.
The year 1866 began under sad auspices. In the.
early part of January disaffection began to manifesj.
itself on all sides in the very heart of the Empire.
The situation had become extremely critical. The ,
State Treasury was completely exhausted and the
Mexican army was calling loudly for its pay. Maxi
milian realised that his Throne was imperilled. The

THE EMPEROR, EMPRESS, AND I'RINCI'; LMI'I.KIAL
(From a photograph taken about 1866)

THE MEXICAN TRAGEDY 229
state of his mind was depicted in the following lines :
T know,' he wrote, 'that I have accepted a singularly
difficult task; but my courage is equal to supporting
.the burden and I will go on to the end.' The French
Government, anxious to recoup for itself a portion of
the expenditure incurred by the Mexican adventure,
was severely exacting in regard to the Imperial loans
of which it retained considerable amounts. After the
ill-advised decree of October, 1865, Juarez and his
partisans had been driven out of the settled districts
by the French troops and compelled to resort to brig
andage ; but the United States continued to recognise
Juarez as President of Mexico. Marshal Bazaine, no
doubt informed of Napoleon's real intentions, treated
Maximilian with almost open contempt and acted in
utter disregard of his wishes. The insurgents were
well aware that the French Emperor was tired of
Maximilian and of Mexico, and they became more
daring than ever. In April, 1866, was promulgated
the decision of Napoleon that the French troops would
be withdrawn from Mexico between November, 1866,
and November, 1867. This decision was in utter vio
lation of the convention of April 10, 1864, by the
terms of which it had been agreed that the French
regular forces were to quit Mexico only when Maxi
milian should have organised an army of his own ;
and that after their recall France should still let
Mexico have the services of 8,000 men as a foreign
legion. Scarcely two years had elapsed when those
engagements were abruptly broken, and then Napo
leon cynically left Maximilian to his fate.
The shipwreck of the Mexican enterprise, de-

230 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
servedly doomed from the hour of its inception, was
now almost within sight. The efforts to organise a
home army failed for want of money. Quarrels broke
out among the foreign adventurers in Maximilian's
service. As a last despairing resort the Empress her
self went to Europe in the summer of 1866, in the
forlorn hope of attempting to shake the determination
of Napoleon in regard to the recall of the French
troops in Mexico. ' Vainly did the unfortunate Em
press urge the arguments of justice, honour, and good
faith. Louis Napoleon was in an ignoble alarm for
himself and his dynasty; and neither tears nor elo
quence availed to alter the resolve to which selfish
terror had given rise. Not only did he refuse to pro
long the period within which the troops were to be
withdrawn; he brusquely informed Charlotte that their
departure would be hastened and that they would be
withdrawn in the beginning of 1867. This cruel
announcement seemed to close out all hope ; the
brain of the. poor brave woman reeled; she went to
Rome, and there, during an interview with the Pope,
her reason gave way.'
In the latter months of 1866 the malcontents made
rapid progress. As Marshal Bazaine gradually con
centrated his troops in the capital previous to quitting
Mexican ground, the Juarists followed closely and
occupied province after province. Napoleon hav
ing determined to leave Maximilian to his fate was
desirous, on account of the heavy expenses of the
expedition, of saving from the wreck as much as
possible for the benefit of the French Treasury. In
October General Castelnau, sent by Napoleon, arrived

THE MEXICAN TRAGEDY 231
with instructions to urge Maximilian to abdicate ; and
also to treat with some Mexican chief who, in return
for the possession of supreme power, would undertake
the financial engagements with the French Treasury
in which Maximilian had failed. The arrival of
Castelnau impressed on Maximilian the conviction that
he was definitively to be abandoned, and he quitted
the capital for Orizaba on October 2 1 , in order to avoid
General Castelnau. When the courier from Europe
brought him the heart-rending details of the sad con
dition of the Empress, he retired to the Hacienda la
Jalapilla, a retreat adjacent to the town of Orizaba.
A portion of the Imperial baggage had already actu
ally been sent on board the Austrian frigate Dandolo
anchored in the roadstead of Vera Cruz ; but he was
still a prey to hesitation. He could not make up his
mind to take any decided course, so great was the
vacillation of his character and the extent of his re
luctance. Probably he was finally influenced in some
measure by a despatch forwarded from Vienna to the
Austrian Ambassador to Mexico, which forbade the
Archduke to set foot on Austrian soil if he returned
to Europe bearing the title of Emperor. Yet he was
preparing to set sail for Europe without intention of
return, when a letter from M. Eloi'n, the Belgian Coun
cillor, was handed to him. Its tenor was such that
Maximilian, disregarding all the perils before him and
obeying only the voice of ambition, again grasped the'
reins of power; and, having resolved to commit him
self into the hands of the Clerical Party who promised
him both men and money, he prepared to make an
appeal to the Mexican people. On December 8, Ba-

232 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
zaine, Castelnau, and Dano the French Minister pre
sented themselves to Maximilian, strongly urging him
to abdicate ; but he had taken his line and would not
leave it. An instruction from the French Emperor
to Castelnau proves that Napoleon was utterly indiffer
ent as to the fate of Maximilian, and cynically thought
only of saving appearances. ' To treat with Juarez,'
he wrote, ' would look too much like a defeat. Arrange
with Bazaine and Dano in order to obtain promptly
the abdication of Maximilian. . . . Make all necessary
arrangements to embark the troops in February or
March (1867). To sum up, I see by your letter that
you have quite understood my intentions, which are to
leave Mexico as soon as practicable, while protect
ing our dignity and French interests as much as
possible.' On his return to the capital Maximilian abandoned
the Palace of Chapultepec for a modest villa just out
side the city. In November and December, 1866, the
French troops were all concentrated at Mexico and
Vera Cruz; in January, 1867, the embarkation was
begun and it was completed in February. Now his
own master, Maximilian acted with energy. Early in
January he had sent General Miramon with 6,000
men into the northern provinces on the errand of
repelling the advancing Juarists. But Miramon was
utterly defeated in the battle of San Jacinto (Jan. 27),
and with the remnants of his broken army he fell
back on Potosi, whence with about 3,000 men he with
drew into the fortified city of Queretaro, distant about
130 miles north-west of the capital, already occu
pied by General Mejia. Maximilian, advancing from

THE MEXICAN TRAGEDY 233
Mexico with 6,000 men, joined Miramon and Mejia in
Queretaro, having left the Austrian legion to hold
and protect the capital. On February 19, he finally
entered Queretaro, where he was presently besieged
by the Liberal forces under the command of General
Escobedo. Maximilian's environed army stood stoutly
on the defensive, and also made many gallant sorties
in which the Emperor took part ; but he did not suc
ceed in compelling the Juarists to relinquish the siege.
Provisions began to fall short, and on March 17 Maxi
milian sent out a strong detachment commanded by
General Marquez, Chief of the Staff, with orders to
return with reinforcements and supplies. Marquez,
indeed, cut his way through the hostile lines, but he
never returned to Queretaro. Having occupied the
capital and gathered to his standard the garrison of
that city, instead of hastening to the relief of the
beleaguered Maximilian, Marquez marched towards
Puebla with the intention of raising the siege of that
place, which was being hard pressed by Porfirio Diaz;
but on learning that Puebla had fallen he retraced his
steps. Before he could reach Mexico he was attacked
by the Juarists at San Lorenzo on April 1, and was
defeated after three days of irregular fighting. With
the remains of his army he re-entered Mexico, where
he assumed supreme power as Lieutenant-General of
the Empire.
In Queretaro after March 24 there remained no
more meat. The garrison held out manfully ; but
scanty rations, constant fighting, and the duty of con
tinual harassing watchfulness had cruelly reduced its
strength. On May 14 it was decided in a council of

234 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
war presided over by the Emperor that a general
assault should be made against the lines of the be
siegers, that being the only alternative to death by
hunger. On the same night, however, whether by neg
ligence or, as was generally believed, by the treason
of Colonel Lopez, Juarist soldiers gained admission
within the town, which by dawn of the following
morning was in full possession of the enemy. Maxi
milian, Miramon, and Mejia were made prisoners.
The fate of the fallen Emperor was not long delayed.
The representatives of the foreign Powers at Wash
ington entreated the intervention of the United States
to save the life of Maximilian ; and Mr. Seward did
intervene accordingly, but without favourable result.
The Juarists observed duly the forms and ceremony
usual with civilised nations ; they appointed with no
indecent haste the day for the trial of the fallen Em
peror, and he had the advantage of the services of
two eminent Mexican advocates. His trial by court-
martial was held at Queretaro, and on June 13 he
was condemned to death. On the 19th the sentence
was carried into execution. Maximilian confronted
the firing party with calm fortitude, and met his death
like a hero. The following particulars, taken from the
diary of Prince Salm-Salm, who was the Emperor's
aide-de-camp and who later met a soldier's death in
the battle of Gravelotte, may be read with interest:
' The Emperor had attended mass and received the
last sacraments early in the morning, and had after
wards been brought up in a fiacre, attended only by
the priest Father Soria and his Hungarian servant
Tudos, to the place of execution, a rocky hill outside

THE MEXICAN TRAGEDY 235
the town, called Cerro de la Campaha. Miramon
and Mejia were placed beside him. An officer and
seven men now stepped forward till within a few paces
before each of the three condemned. The Emperor
went up to those before him, gave each soldier his
hand and a Maximilian louis d'or (twenty pesos), and
said, " Muchachos! (boys!) aim well. Aim right
here," pointing to his heart. Then he returned to his
stand, took off his hat, and wiped his forehead with
his handkerchief. This and his hat he gave to Tudos,
with the order to take them to his mother the Arch
duchess Sophia. Then he spoke with a clear and firm
voice the following words :
' " Mexicans ! persons of my rank and origin are
destined by God either to be benefactors of the people
or to be martyrs. Called by a great part of you, I
came hither for the good of the country. Ambition
did not bring me here ; I came animated with the best
wishes for the future of my adopted country and for
that of my soldiers, whom I thank, before my death,
for the sacrifices they have made for me. Mexicans !
may my blood be the last which shall be spilt for the
welfare of the country ; and if it be necessary that its
sons should still shed their blood, may it flow for its
good, but never for treason. Viva tndependencia I
Viva Mexico ! "
' Looking around, the Emperor noticed not far from
him a group of men and women who sobbed aloud.
He looked at them with a mild and friendly smile;
then he laid both his hands on his breast and looked
forward. Five shots were fired and the Emperor fell
on his right side, whispering slowly the word " Hom-

236 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
bre." All the bullets had pierced his body and each
of them was deadly; but the Emperor still moved
slightly. The officer laid him on his back and pointed
with his sword to Maximilian's heart. A soldier then
stepped forward and sent another bullet into the spot
indicated.' The resistance of Marquez could not be prolonged
after Maximilian's death, and Mexico opened its gates
to the Juarists on June 20. The liberals used their
victory with moderation. No excesses were committed,
no vindictive excesses were authorised. The Euro
peans who had become prisoners of war were well
treated and finally set at liberty. Juarez was defini
tively re-elected President of the Mexican Republic in
October, 1867.
The tidings of the execution of the Emperor Maxi
milian reached the Tuileries on July 2, while the dis
tribution of awards at the Great Exhibition of 1867
was in progress. One authority states that the pro
ceedings were interrupted and that the Emperor and
Empress were stricken with deep sorrow. Another
chronicler has it that the Court went into deep mourn
ing ; that on the 14th a mass was performed in the
chapel of the Tuileries for the repose" of the soul of
Maximilian ; and that on August 4 the Emperor and
Empress, having thrown off their mourning, went to
the theatre to see Mr. Sothern play ' Lord Dundreary.'
Maximilian's body was embalmed by his friends and
adherents and sent to Europe on board the frigate
Novara, the same ship which three years previously
had conveyed him to this new Empire, the short-lived
possession of the Throne of which had cost him his

THE MEXICAN TRAGEDY 237
life. The remains reached his family in the following
year and were pompously buried in January, 1868, in
the Imperial vault under the Church of the Capuchins
in the New Market of Vienna, among the metal coffins
of the dead Hapsburgs from Matthias (16 19) to Maria
Theresa, the Emperor Joseph II., Marie Louise and
her son the Duke of Reichstadt, and many others.
The' Empress Charlotte lives partly in the solitude of
Laeken, partly in her villa of Miramar near Trieste.

238 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III

CHAPTER XII
CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS  SADOWA AND LUXEMBURG
The Treaty of Cession of Savoy and Nice was signed
in March, i860. Cavour signed it only on a threat that
if he refused the French troops would occupy Bologna
and Florence. In the same month the feeling against
the French Emperor ran so high in English political
circles that the Queen wrote to Lord John Russell that
she feared lest ere long the union of Europe for safety
against a common enemy might become a painful
necessity. Lord Palmerston left no doubt in the mind
of the people as to the quarter whence they might
apprehend invasion. In demanding a subsidy of nine
millions sterling for purposes of fortification he said
(July 23) : ' The horizon is charged with clouds which
betoken the likelihood of a tempest. The Committee
of course knows that, in the main, I am speaking of
our immediate neighbours across the Channel, and
there is no use in disguising it.' In view of England's
defensive preparations, the increase of her navy, and
the creation of a volunteer force — not to speak of an
European coalition against the French Empire — all
idea of lightening the burdens of France by the reduc
tion of her military budget appeared impossible. The
Emperor protested, but in vain, that he had no dreams

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS 239
of conquest and no intention of marching on the
Rhine. But Lord John Russell delivered a strong
anti-Gallican speech in the House of Commons, in
which he described the annexation of Savoy as an
aggression which might lead the warlike French nation
' to call on its Government to commit other acts of
aggression,' and he declared that the policy of Eng
land should be to seek fresh alliances. Count Persigny,
the French Ambassador in London, and the Emperor's
kinsman, Count de Flahault, warned the English Gov
ernment that this language might precipitate war by
aggravating the mutual irritation between the two
countries. The danger, however, was averted when
Lord John stated later that as the French Emperor
had undertaken to consult the European Powers
regarding the neutralised portions of Savoy, the ques
tion might be regarded as satisfactorily settled. But
although Lord Palmerston had written in January
that ' there was no ground for imputing to Napoleon
unsteadiness of purpose in regard to his views about
Italy,' the idea had become fixed in the mind of the Eng
lish Premier that the French Emperor was working his
way to an opportunity for avenging Waterloo.
It was scarcely a favourable time, when the two
nations were on unfriendly terms, for settling between
them the terms of an international commercial treaty.
But this great work, thanks to the devoted exertions
of Mr. Cobden and to the patience and intelligence of
the Emperor, became an accomplished fact in i860.
The broad lines of the famous treaty may be shortly
stated. France undertook to reduce all duties on
English manufactures 30 per cent as a maximum, and

24o LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
on English coal and coke to fifteen centimes the ioo
kilogrammes. England abolished duties on French
manufactures, and reduced the duty on wines to one
shilling a gallon, rising to two in proportion to alco
holic strength. The most-favoured-nation clause gave
to each country the benefit of any reduction or remis
sion of duty either might grant to a third Power.
The treaty was signed for ten years, and within those
ten years the value of imports from France to England
was more than doubled.
A meeting of the French Emperor with the Prince-
Regent of Prussia (later Kaiser William I.), and with
the Sovereigns of Germany then at Baden-Baden,
took place there on June 16, i860. The Emperor at
once explained that he had sought the interview as an
earnest of his pacific intentions and to dispel the
excitement which an apprehension regarding his
designs on a portion of their country had given rise
to among the Germans. Nothing, he said, could be
further from his thoughts than to dissever any territory
from Germany and incorporate it with France. So
clamorous, however, remarked the Emperor, had been
the outcry of the German Press, that something must
be done to convince Germany of his sincerity. What
form should this take ? Nothing could be easier, was
the reply. Most of the German Sovereigns were then
in Baden. Let the Emperor tell them what he had
told the Prince-Regent, and the news of his desire to
refrain from disturbing Germany would speedily per
meate the country. While the guest of the Grand
Duke at Baden, the Emperor met in the course of a
single day the Kings of Wiirtemberg, Bavaria, Saxony

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS 241
and Hanover, the Grand Dukes of Hesse- Darmstadt
and Saxe-Weimar, the Dukes of Nassau and Saxe-
Coburg-Gotha, and the Prince of Hohenzollern. It
was quite a ' parterre of Princes.' When the Emperor
returned to Paris on the 19th, the 'Moniteur'
announced that 'his spontaneous mission of peace
and good-will would tend to consolidate the peace of
Europe.' On June 24 of this year died the ex-King Jerome,
the last surviving brother of Napoleon the Great. In
the autumn the Emperor made a progress through his
recent acquisitions of Savoy and Nice and paid a visit
to the cradle of his race in Corsica. The year ended
sadly — in September the Empress lost her beloved
sister, the Duchess of Alba; and in the winter,
because of domestic disagreements the Empress made
a journey to Scotland. She visited the Queen
(December 4), who recorded in her diary : ' She looked
thin and pale ... as amiable and natural as ever.'
In the autumn of i860 the Emperor communicated
to M. Rouher his resolution to liberalise the Parlia
mentary methods of the Empire. The important step
by which he intended to institute debates on the
Address and to make other considerable advances
towards a free Constitutional Government was stub
bornly resisted by the adviser in whom he had the
fullest trust. M. Rouher believed that public opinion
neither expected nor desired Constitutional Reform,
and that the Sovereign in endeavouring to disarm the
opposition of a few irreconcilables was running the risk
of reducing that strength which the Imperial Govern
ment undoubtedly possessed with the consent of the
16

242 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
immense majority of the country. The Emperor, on
the other hand, insisted that the time had come to
give the Senate and the Legislative Body liberty to
reply frankly, after a free debate, to the speech of the
Sovereign at the opening of the session ; and he
resolved to select two Ministers who should act as the
exponents of the Government policy. M. Billault was
ultimately given the position of chief spokesman for
the Government in both Chambers — a position filled
by him with consummate tact and force until his death
in October, 1863. The Government was unquestion
ably strong at the commencement of the new departure.
Persigny was Minister of the Interior, Forcade la
Roquette was Minister of Finance, Thouvenel was
Foreign Minister, Baroche was president of the Coun-
cil of State, Walewski was Minister of State, and
Rouher held the portfolio of Agriculture and Com
merce. Morny since 1854 had been the skilful and
accomplished President of the Corps Legislatif. In
clined by education in favour of Parliamentary Govern
ment, he approved of the new order of things; and
Captain Bingham truly remarks that his commanding
intellectual resources would have achieved for him
lasting fame had his public services not been tarnished
by the private vices causing his premature death, which
occurred on March 10, 1865, after a brief illness. He
had lived a profligate and reckless life, and when his
end was near he had to choose between renouncing
the pleasures and sins of the world and a sudden end
ing. He chose the latter. Shortly before he died he
received a visit from the Emperor, who found the
Count de Flahault by the bedside of his wayward son.

THE DUC DE iMOKN'V, HALF-BROTHER 'I<> N Al'< il.Kc >\ III.
(Front a lithograph)

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS 243
The Count had been the lover of Queen Hortense,
the mother of Napoleon III.; Morny was therefore
the half-brother of Louis Napoleon ; yet the brothers
by the mother's side had never met until a short time
before the Coup dEtal. The Prince made Morny
Minister of the Interior ; but he resigned that position
when his half-brother the Prince-President confiscated
the property of the Orleans family. Subsequently he
became President of the Chamber, where he was in his
element. He was not only a man of great natural
politeness, but there was also an indefinable charm in
his manner which disarmed faction. His personal
appearance was greatly in his favour ; he was distin
guished rather than handsome. He was succeeded as
President of the Chamber by Count Walewski, a natural
son of the first Napoleon by a Polish lady.
The experiment of the licence of speech permitted
under the constitutional regime evoked the dangers
which might have been anticipated. The session of
1 86 1 was marked by the violence of the active Parlia
mentary Opposition which the new prerogatives called
into existence. The Emperor was painfully impressed
by the uncompromising tone of the Opposition
speeches ; but, although disappointed, he was resolute
to persevere in the policy of Liberalism. Taking ac
count of an Opposition numerically insignificant but
formidable because of the distinguished men it in
cluded, the Emperor strengthened the hands of M.
Billault by creating in him a Minister of State who
should be in reality First Minister; in whom the policy
of the Government should be centralised, who should
be responsible for all the departments of the Adminis-

244 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
tration to the Emperor, and who should be able to
speak with full authority for the Sovereign and the
Government before the Senate and the Legislative
Body. At the same time M. Rouher was invested
with the functions of President of the Council of State.
This arrangement, in effect, was the beginning of a
system of Ministers responsible to the Chambers. But
M. Billault did not live to assume the new functions
confided to him. That strong and brilliant statesman
died suddenly on Oct. 13, 1863. He was succeeded by
M. Rouher, who thenceforth became the Emperor's
most powerful subject and supporter.
The powerful opposition of the new Chamber gave
the Government an immediate indication of its hostile
temper. In the opening speech of the session of 1865
the Emperor complained of the revolutionary harangues
in the Corps Legislatif and the agitation outside, by
which his advances had been met. He exhorted the
Senators and Deputies to oppose the supporters of
changes suggested with the sole object of sapping the
foundations of the edifice. In March, M. Ollivier
appealed to the Government, now that it was firmly
established, to grant to the people political liberty as
well as civil liberty. ' While,' said he, ' it was foolish
to yield to clamour, it was dangerous to postpone con
cessions until popular anger had been aroused. Now
was the right moment — neither too soon nor too late.
M. Thiers followed with a description of the liberties
requisite for true national freedom. For himself, he
required personal liberty, electoral liberty, free speech,
and a free Press ; these constituted his ' missionaries
of liberty.' Those phrases were caught up and bandied

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS 245
about. The time for the attack was ill-chosen ; for so
complete was the freedom of the working classes to
combine that Paris was without cabs owing to a strike
of the cabmen. This episode occurred when the
Emperor was making a tour in Algeria in 1865. The
Empress, who was acting as Regent, was implored to
interfere in order to compel the cabmen to resume
work; but she resolutely declined to meddle with the
liberty which had just been granted. In the session of
1866 MM. Buffet and Thiers were the chief spokes
men of the Opposition ; and they asked for nothing
that should not have been granted or which the Em
peror was not anxious to grant to loyal men. But the
six years of constitutional government had developed,
not reform, but the sinister purposes of a masked
revolutionary party. The result as a whole disap
pointed the Emperor, and he betrayed his chagrin
when in his reply to the address of 1866 he said signifi
cantly : ' We are in quest of that liberty which en
lightens and discusses the conduct of the Government,
and not that which becomes an arm to undermine and
destroy it.'
The part taken by France and England in the
negotiations preceding and following the invasion of
Denmark by the Austrians and Prussians was not
creditable to either. It was proposed that the two
Powers should offer mediation on the basis of the
treaty engagements of 1852. A declinature on the part
of Germany was to be met by a British squadron at
Copenhagen and a French army corps on the Rhine
frontier ; but to this proposal both France and Russia
declined to agree. The Emperor Napoleon was in no

246 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
mood to accept suggestions from the English Minis
ters, having in his mind the defeat of the Congress he
had proposed — a defeat which was in the main their
work. He met the proposal of England with cold
reserve, when she suddenly turned to him to co
operate with her. In June the British Government
applied to the French Emperor a second time to co
operate actively in defence of the Danes. The Em
peror again declined the terms offered by England,
but tendered his moral support. The comparatively
petty share of France in those transactions must be
attributed in great part to the state of the Emperor's
health, as well as to the condition of perplexity and
mistrust in which the failure of the Congress had left
him. When in June Lord Cowley pressed him to go
to war in alliance with England, the Emperor was
suffering acutely from the cruel disease the character
of which his physicians long misunderstood. He
hesitated to commit the fortunes of his country and
his dynasty to the issues of a great war, and the
English Government took advantage of his charac-
istic indecision to declare in Parliament that since
France would not fight for the treaty of 1852 England
must decline to enter single-handed into the fray.
The future of the Elbe Duchies was being played
pitch-and-toss with for the best part of a year ; but
the details of the nefarious game were too intricate to
be followed here. The Gastein Convention, signed on
Aug. 14, 1865, provided that Austria should sell to
Prussia the Duchy of Lauenburg for 2,500,000 thalers;
thus making market of rights of which she was but a
trustee for the German Confederation. The Confedera-

THE EUROPEAN EQUILIBRIUM 247
tion was naturally offended by this trafficking ; and the
Prussian Parliament denounced the transaction for
which it assumed that Prussia would have to find the
cash. But King William drew this sting from his
refractory Commons ; he paid Austria for Lauenburg
out of his own private purse.
The Convention of Gastein was but a truce. Mean
while since Bismarck was not yet certain of the
neutrality of France nor his alliance with Italy com
plete, he repaired to Biarritz to feel the pulse of the
French Emperor.
Mr. Jerrold, in this matter, is not so accurate as
usual. He says that ' the Emperor was in no mood to
enter into fresh complications ' ; that ' the Emperor
was favourable to the formation of a powerful Prussia ' ;
that 'above all, he desired to finish his work as the
emancipator of Italy ' ; and that ' it was on this desire
that Bismarck worked to obtain his alliance with
Victor Emanuel and to ensure the neutrality of France
in the event of a war between Prussia and Austria.'
He adds : ' The Emperor was sick in mind and body,
and he was served by negotiators who were pigmies
in the hands of the Minister of King William. He
was a dreamer, of benevolent intentions ; and he per
mitted an unscrupulous rival to outwit him, to use him,
to cheat him, and at length to overcome him.'
As a matter of fact, it is difficult to particularise the
dark, shifting, and tortuous policy pursued by the
Emperor Napoleon during all this momentous time.
The irritable jealousy of the French nation had been
aroused by the success of the Prussian arms against
Denmark; a Protestant Power was bidding fair to

248 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
rally all Germany round itself, and to contest the palm
of Continental supremacy with France. The speech
of May 3, 1866, delivered by Thiers in the Corps
Legislatif, betrayed an arrogant bitterness against the
designs and ambition of Prussia which excited a wild
c
hurricane of applause. \The Emperor himself was not
so effusive ; he even assumed a regard for the Power
whose expansion he desired to limit. \ His policy, ac
cording to Louis Napoleon himself, aimed at 'the
preservation of the European equilibrium and the
maintenance of the work which we have helped to
raise in Italy ' — ' Italy shall be free from the Alps
to the Adriatic ! ' 1 And how did Napoleon proceed to
attempt the preservation of the balance of power? ^By
setting Prussia and Austria at daggers drawn and by
attempting to reap the profits of their quarrel, in the
shape, for instance, of the left bank of the RhineJ
Should he aid Prussia to accomplish her purposes, that
might be the price of his assistance. Should Prussia
be beaten by Austria — and he sincerely hoped and
believed she would — then he might claim the same
or some such territory as the equivalent for his inter
vention in favour of the defeated. It was true that
Napoleon, like another Iago feigning horror at the
brawl between Cassio and Roderigo, made a show of
proposing that they should submit their quarrel to a
European Congress at Paris — a proposal which,
though accepted by Prussia, was virtually rejected by
her rival; but he had previously plied Bismarck with
offers of alliance against Austria, of which the main
objects were the cession of the Elbe Duchies to
1 Memorandum by the Emperor to M. Drouyn de Lhuys, June n, 1866.

THE EUROPEAN EQUILIBRIUM 249
Prussia, of Venetia to Italy, and of more than the left
bank of the Rhine to France.
] That there may be no question on this point, the
text of the proposed treaty is quoted from Bismarck's
famous Circular Despatch of July 29, 1870. Bismarck
wrote : ' In May, 1866, those pretensions (of Napoleon)
assumed the form of an offensive and defensive al-
e, of which the following extract has remained
my hands': (1) In the event of a Congress, to
arrange for the cession of Venetia to Italy and the
annexation of the Elbe Duchies by Prussia. (2) If
the Congress does not come off, an offensive and
defensive alliance. (3) The King of Prussia to com
mence hostilities within ten days after the breaking-
up of the Congress. (4) If the Congress does not
meet, Prussia shall attack within thirty days after sig
nature of the present treaty. (5) The Emperor of the
French to declare war asrainst Austria so soon as war
shall have begun between Austria and Prussia. (6)
No separate peace to be made with Austria. (7) Peace
to be made under the following conditions: — Venetia
to Italy ; to Prussia the following German territories,
seven or eight million souls, as agreed on, in addition
to federal reform in the Prussian sense ; to France
the territory between the Moselle and the Rhine with
out Coblentz or Mayence, comprising 500,000 Prus
sian souls ; to Bavaria the left bank of the Rhine,
Birkenfeld, Homburg, Darmstadt, 213,000 souls. (8)
Military and Naval Convention between France and
Prussia immediately on signature. (9) Adhesion of
the King of Italy. ~)
' The impossibility,' wrote Bismarck in the same

250 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
despatch, ' of accepting any proposal of the kind was
clear to me from the first ; but I thought it useful
and in the interest of peace to leave to the French
statesmen their favourite illusions as long as possible,
without giving them even my verbal assent. I as
sumed that the destruction of hopes entertained by
France would endanger peace, which it was the inter
est of Germany and Europe to maintain. ... I kept
silence regarding the demands made and pursued a
dilatory course, without making any promises.' In
denying charges brought against him by Benedetti
and La Marmora he continued : ' I never pledged or
promised anyone the cession of even so little as a
German hayfield; and I declare everything that has
been said on this subject to be lies invented to blacken
my character.'
It is a fact, although the thing seems incredible, that
while Napoleon was tempting Bismarck with offers of
an alliance against Austria he was simultaneously treat
ing secretly with Francis Joseph for the cession of
Venetia in return for Silesia, the province most prized
by the Prussian monarch and his subjects.1 And
while negotiating separately and secretly with the two
sworn enemies, he affected to prove his own disinterest
edness by suggesting the submission of their quarrel
to a European Congress. Bismarck, yielding to the
1 Professor von Sybel, Keeper of the Prussian State Archives, in his
pamphlet on Napoleon III., published 1873, says: 'While thus he
(Napoleon) spoke openly for Prussia at Auxerre, he was carrying on pro
foundly secret negotiations with Austria. . . . And thus it was that Napo
leon concluded with her (Austria, on June 9, 1866) a secret treaty, by
which, in the event of a successful war, the Emperor Francis Joseph was
to cede Venetia and receive for it Silesia, at the cost of Prussia.'

SADOWA 251
inclination of the King, accepted the proposal of
Napoleon ; but as he hoped and knew she would,
Austria rejected it and the Congress was a failure.
On the morrow of Sadowa (July 4, 1866) the ' Mon
iteur' contained the following announcement:
'An important event has occurred.
' After having vindicated the honour of his arms in
Italy the Emperor of Austria, acceding to the views of
the Emperor Napoleon as expressed in his letter to his
Minister of Foreign Affairs on June 11, cedes Venetia
to the Emperor of the French, and accepts his media
tion to arrange a peace between the belligerents. The
Emperor Napoleon has hastened to respond to his
appeal, and has immediately addressed himself to the
Kings of Prussia and Italy to arrange the terms of an
armistice.' After the battle of Sadowa, and onward to the
signature of the Treaty of Prague on August 23, the
hesitations and discussions in the Imperial Councils
were of the most lamentable kind. The Emperor was
very ill, and anxious to find relief at Vichy from ex
cruciating suffering. It was scarcely to be wondered
at that a ruler who was grossly ignorant of the true
state of his own army should have misjudged the mili
tary condition of his neighbour; and his errors on this
score had landed him in a most deplorable dilemma.
In reply to a telegram from Napoleon, King William
answered that ' we are prepared to accept your media
tion, but of an armistice there can be talk only when
we get from Austria the pledge of an acceptable peace.'
' What is your " pledge of an acceptable peace ? " ' asked
Napoleon, whose conception of the duty of a mediator

252 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
was peculiar; for he had undertaken to intervene on
behalf of fallen Austria, and yet was willing, for a solid
consideration, to mediate in favour of Prussia. The
answer from Bismarck was : ' Exclusion of Austria from
the German Confederation, erection of a new Federal
State under Prussia, and her acquisition of certain lands
previously interfering with her free and natural devel
opment.' Monsieur Benedetti, the French Ambassador to
Berlin, made his appearance at the Prussian head
quarters and made himself cheerfully fussy in the busi
ness of mediation. After much journeying to and fro
between the Prussian headquarters and Vienna he
brought out to Nikolsburg, where the King and Bis
marck were residing, the triumphant news that with
infinite pains he had prevailed on Francis Joseph to
accept the proposals of Napoleon as the basis of nego
tiations. With perfect frankness Bismarck declared
that while the King was willing to accept the Napole
onic suggestions as the base of a five days' armistice,
the main condition of a definite peace could only be
the cession to Prussia of Hanover, Saxony, and Hesse.
Benedetti affected to believe that in making such
' monstrous demands ' Bismarck was not in earnest.
Bismarck retorted that none of the European States
would seriously oppose the designs of Prussia. ' What
of France ? ' asked Benedetti. ' Your Emperor,' said
Bismarck, 'cannot dispute our right to annex the terri
tories specified. ' Perhaps not,' answered Benedetti,
slyly, ' on condition of your giving us Mayence and re
storing us the Rhine frontier of 1814.' Bismarck
quietly observed that the question of ' compensation' to

SADOWA 253
France could best be settled after the conclusion of
peace with Austria, which meanwhile was the most
pressing matter in hand. Benedetti assented ; and a
week later Bismarck coolly informed him that the pre
liminaries of peace had been duly signed by himself
and the two Austrian plenipotentiaries, without any
participation on the part of the French representative.
The following is an extract from a speech of Bismarck
in the Reichstag, May 2, 187 1 : 'On Aug. 6, 1S66, I
was treated to a visit from the French Ambassador, who
in brief language delivered the ultimatum — Cede May
ence to France, or expect an immediate declaration of
war. Of course I did not hesitate one second with my
answer, and it was, " Very well, then ; let there be war ! "
With this reply M. Benedetti went back to Paris, where
they thought over the matter and gave me to under
stand that his (Benedetti's) first instructions were ex
torted from the Emperor during his illness.' A letter
from Benedetti to Bismarck dated Aug. 5, 1866, en
closed the draft of a treaty in the handwriting of the
former, the terms of which are as follows : ' France to re
gain the territory, at present belonging to Prussia, which
was French in 1814; Prussia to obtain from the King
of Bavaria and the Grand Duke of Hesse the cession
of the territory which they possess on the left bank of
the Rhine, and to transfer the same to France : All
provisions which attached to the Germanic Confedera
tion the territories placed under the Sovereignty of the
King of the Netherlands, as well as those relative to
the right of garrison in the fortress of Luxemburg.'
The South German States had already agreed to sign
secret treaties conferring the command of their respeo-

254 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
tive armies on the King of Prussia in the event of
a national struggle. Those treaties were signed on
August 22, the very day before the signature of the
Treaty of Prague which secured to the Southern States
' an international and independent existence ' ; but the
fact was kept secret until the following year, when it
was divulged as a counter-stroke to the schemes of
Louis Napoleon.
On his return from Vichy early in August the French
Emperor found the situation very gloomy. Benedetti
had brought back to Paris the utter refusal on Bismarck's
part to take into consideration the claims of France to
obtain such an accession of territory as would redress
the balance of power, disturbed by the immense con
quests of Prussia. France had been used by the
Prussian statesman while he needed her help; but
now he required her no longer. When a negotiator
was sent him from Paris with a memorandum in which
the establishment of a neutral State on the Rhine
frontier was submitted, Bismarck declined to receive the
French envoy and referred him to an underling, who
told him that Prussia would listen neither to territorial
compensations nor to the neutralisation of German terri
tory. Even the clause which had been inserted in the
peace preliminaries at the instance of France in favour
of North Slesvig was on the point of having been
omitted from the definitive treaty, so defiant had the
Iron Count become between Nikolsburg and Prague
under the influence of victory. He bluntly declared
that he owed no wages to France ; he described her
proceedings as a policy of pour-boires ; and his country
men, emulating his spirit, laughed at caricatures in

LUXEMBURG 255
the shop-windows of Berlin which presented Napoleon
in ridiculous and abject attitudes. A Prussian member
of the Paris Jockey Club angered the young Frenchmen
of society by laying a heavy bet that Bismarck would
not let France have the smallest German village. He
won his bet.
It would seem that the role of Benedetti was to in
dite, ipsa manu, draft treaties of a more or less nefarious
character, which were cynically dictated by Bismarck
and then locked up until a time should come when
they might advantageously see the light. The most
memorable of those drafts was revealed to an indignant
Europe in the columns of ' The Times ' a few days after
the commencement of the Franco-German War. It
was pretended by Benedetti that this shameful abortive
treaty was the suggestion of Bismarck, who, he said,
offered Belgium and Luxemburg to France in return
for the latter's aid in 'crowning his work and extend
ing the domination of Prussia from the Baltic to the
Alps.' If Bismarck made such a proposal, it could
only have been with the object of befooling the simple
Benedetti, with whom he seems to have taken a cruel
pleasure in amusing himself.
Sadowa stuck in the throat of France ; and the
master-men of Prussia recognised from the hour of that
victory that as the outcome of it Prussia would either
have to fight France, or have to make some such con-
cession to France as would smooth her national van
ity ruffled by Sadowa. Less purposeful, less resolute,
less gifted with the power of concentration, France
foresaw war not less clearly than did Prussia. While
the latter accepted the inevitable, the former created

256 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
and maintained it. The French nation and its head
acted and reacted in a curious mutually detrimental
fashion. Napoleon might have preferred a quiet life;
but he had quite enough of acuteness to perceive how
dangerous it was, unprepared, to create or confront
serious contingencies. But if he would pursue an un
aggressive policy and let France enjoy quiet, then
France proceeded to give him trouble and endanger
his personal position by clamouring for the concession
of Liberal institutions. That kind of concession, he
perfectly realised, led straight up to the end of him.
But he could maintain his position only by diverting
the nation from hankering after liberty and by concen
trating its interest in a brilliant and flashy foreign
policy. So he was always, to use a military simile, sap
ping up to a great coup in the effort to keep France in
a state of excitement. But France did not find the
engineering process sufficiently interesting to lure her
from agitation for internal reforms ; and the Emperor
had to be making concessions most of his time.
A fine opportunity seemed to offer itself to Napoleon
in the beginning of 1867. The King of Holland was
also Grand Duke of Luxemburg. When the Ger
manic Confederation broke up, the King of Holland
acquired full sovereign rights over Luxemburg. It was
against the policy of the new Confederation to have
included in it possessions belonging to foreign rulers,
and no pressure was exerted to bring Luxemburg
within its pale. A Prussian garrison, however, still
continued to occupy its fortress, although that fortress
had been defederalised; and the right was not actively
challenged by the King of Holland. He had no par-

LUXEMBURG 257
ticular fondness for his Luxemburg possession, and he
was a man to whom money was always peculiarly ac
ceptable. He had no objection to enter into an ar
rangement with France whereby the latter was to
acquire the Grand Duchy by purchase. On the French
side there was anxiety that the negotiation should be
kept secret from Prussia till the bargain had been car
ried out ; but the King of Holland did not see his way
to this and formally notified Prussia of the transaction
in progress. Prussia withheld her assent and further
refused to withdraw the garrison. The Duchy was Ger
man soil and the public feeling of Germany ran high
against any alienation of it. On the other hand France
was in a state of acute excitement. Her national jeal
ousy of Prussia lowering luridly ever since Sadowa,
flashed out vehemently against the idea that an ar
rangement to which the Emperor of the French had
agreed was to be abandoned merely because Prussia
thought fit to forbid it.
War seemed imminent ; yet the guiding forces on
neither side really desired war. It has been said that
Bismarck had great difficulty in restraining King
William from responding actively to the fervid de
mands of his people ; but this apparently was only
gossip. Prussia would fight if need were ; but she
was not yet quite ready for war. On the other hand,
Napoleon was not eager for the fray. He would have
been the reverse of eager had he come to the knowl
edge of the condition in which his army was ; but he
was not a man who searched deeply into things. Both
nations were nevertheless arming when the interven
tion of the European Powers effected a settlement.
17

258 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
The Duchy became a neutral State under the guaran
tee of the Powers. Luxemburg was to cease to be a
fortified city and the Prussian garrison was withdrawn.
War, at least for the moment, was averted ; and there
were sanguine people who believed that an era of last
ing peace had dawned on Europe.
The ink of the treaty was scarcely dry when King
William, accompanied by his great Minister, arrived in
Paris on a visit to the Emperor Napoleon. It was
the summer of the Great Exhibition of 1867, when
Napoleon was on the summit of the great soap-bubble
he had blown and when he was able to vie with his
illustrious relative in the temporary possession of a
' parterre of Princes.' The Tzar had arrived in advance
of King William and was residing in the Elysee. The
Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia were already in
Paris before the King arrived on June 5. Bismarck
had fired his salute to France before leaving Berlin, in
the announcement that he had concluded with the
South German States a full understanding between
them and the North German Confederation. At the
railway station his Majesty was received by the Em
peror accompanied by the Ministers and Marshals of
the Empire, and was escorted to his quarters in the
Pavilion Marsan, one of the wings of the Tuileries.
After presenting his obeisance to the Empress his
hostess, the King went to visit the Tzar in the Elysee,
who returned the visit next morning. Later in the day
Napoleon and his guests drove to Longchamps to
witness on that field a review of 60,000 French soldiers.
It was not the first review that William had seen there,
nor was it to be the last. In 1814 he had witnessed the

LUXEMBURG 259
combined hosts of Prussia, Austria, and Russia march
past the saluting-point, at which a Russian, an Aus
trian, and a Prussian monarch sat on horseback.
Russian and Prussian monarchs were now again at the
same saluting-point ; the grandson of Francis was to
come later — for the moment he was being crowned
King of Hungary on the Kronungsberg of Pesth.
Four years later William was to look again on an
armed pageant on the Longchamps sward, when his
host of 1867 was to be his prisoner, and the troops
he was to review the conquerors of France.
Bismarck made himself visible to the Parisians in
his Landwehr cuirassier uniform crowned by the
spiked helmet; and it is recorded that the Parisians
'were getting reconciled to him on account of his
martial bearing in the field. Neither the Tzar nor
the King was very popular in Paris. Cries of ' Vive
la Prusse ! ' were few and far between ; and the angry
shouts of ' Vive la Pologne ! ' had been yelled at
Alexander ever since he had stepped out of the Gare
du Nord. But at all events nobody tried to shoot
William, whereas Berezovski interfered with the Tzar's
ability to boast of the same immunity. Kite? fete on
fete, on the 14th the King bade adieu to his host and
hostess and was back in his own capital next day.
His simplicity of manner was noted by the Parisians,
just as the English in 1814 had marked that charac
teristic of his father. To a fussy official he quietly
said: ' Pray make no bother on my account — regard
me as one visitor more to Paris.' When he went away
he simply thanked the Emperor very warmly for the
cordial reception he had met with, and left 40,000

260 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
francs to be distributed among the servants who had
attended on him.
Notwithstanding the courtesies which passed in
Paris in the course of the exhibition of 1867, there
was no love lost between France and Prussia ; and no
little jealousy was caused on the part of the German
people by the famous ' Salzburg Interview ' which made
no little stir throughout a great part of the Continent.
Accompanied by his consort, the Emperor Napoleon in
the course of the latter half of August, 1867, travelled
through South Germany on his way to meet their
Austrian Majesties at Salzburg. The ostensible reason
for this journey on the part of the French Imperial
couple was simply the desire to offer their personal
condolences to Francis Joseph on the tragic end of
his brother Maximilian of Mexico, who had fallen a
victim to that French propensity to interference with
the concerns of others which now roused the ill-feeling
of Germany. That State did not believe that Napo
leon's visit to Salzburg was so simple as was avowed ;
and he himself had considerable reason to recognise
this incredulity in the course of his courageous passage
through South Germany. Official courtesy, it is true,
was frigidly observed for the most part ; but at Augs
burg some hospitable cheers were instantly drowned
in angry hisses and yells. The press of Germany
raised its voice unanimously in no ambiguous tone
against the tortuous and time-seeking foreigner whom
it believed to be plotting against the unification of the
Fatherland.

FRANCO-GERMAN WAR 261

CHAPTER XIII
THE OUTBREAK OF THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR
Things were going wrong in France. Dear bread in
the rigorous winter of 1868 and a consequent scarcity
of work served the turn of an implacable Opposition.
Seditious cries had been heard in the streets : the
' Marseillaise ' had been sung with the result of arrests
and imprisonments. The Finance Minister had to
put forth a huge loan of twenty-eight millions sterling
in order to bring into system the resources of the
State. The Government had asked that the army,
with the reserve, should be increased to a strength of
750,000 men ; and that the Garde Mobile, which was
expected to afford some 300,000 men in the course of
a few years, should be instituted as a second reserve.
M. Thiers contended that the army was strong enough ;
that there would ahvays be time to organise the Garde
Mobile in rear of the 500,000 regular troops when war
should threaten ; and that M. Rouher had exaggerated
the military resources of the great European Powers.
MM. Rouher and Baroche, and above all Marshal Niel,
supported the Government measure. Its necessity
was manifested by the persistence with which the
Opposition described France as being at the mercy of
Germany; yet it was denounced by the enemies of the

262 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
Government as an additional burden wantonly cast
upon a suffering people.
f~How unpopular had become the Government towards
the close of 1868 was manifested curiously.^ The Day
of the Dead in November was turned by the Parisians
to a political account. The grave was casually dis
covered of Baudin, a leader of the Reds in the Coup
d'Etat, who had been shot on a barricade in that
bloody time. For seventeen years Baudin had lain in
his forgotten grave, when it was suddenly recollected
that he had fallen in resisting the myrmidons of
Napoleon, and that he perished in the defence of what
was then the law and the Constitution. The opportu
nity of gratifying dislike of the Emperor was promptly
seized. It was proposed to erect a monument to the
memory of this enemy of tyranny. The suggestion
was eagerly caught at, but probably it would have soon
faded out, and Baudin's name would have fallen back
into the oblivion from which it was temporarily ex
humed, had not the Emperor and his advisers resolved
to treat this petty matter as a case of sedition and to
prosecute those who had subscribed to the monument
as well as the newspapers which had published the
subscriptions. Such incidents, though comparatively
trivial in themselves, served to indicate the spirit of the
nation. ^ If anything was made clear, it was that the
Napoleonic dynasty was not taking firm root in France.
The masses were the reverse of conciliatory to the
Imperial Government. In every vacancy in the Legis
lative Chamber where there was a chance of independ
ent success the Imperialist candidate was defeated and
a candidate hostile to the dynasty was elected. The

FRANCO-GERMAN WAR 263
plebiscite of May, 1870, was little else than a gigantic
fraud, notwithstanding the boasted figures.)
In August, 1869, Marshal Niel died suddenly, and
was unfortunately succeeded by Lebceuf as War
Minister. Marshal Niel had been the soul of the
military reorganisation which was in progress when
he was lost to France. He left his task far from com
plete, and his successor was not the man to carry out
the undertaking. It is true that when Marshal Niel
died the Garde Mobile was little more than a project.
But he had pushed forward the manufacture of the
chassepots that were to carry farther than the Prussian
needle-guns, and it was under his superintendence that
the first experiments with the mitrailleuses were con
ducted. Niel was an engineer officer of the highest
capacity, who had served with distinction in Africa,
the Crimea, and in Italy; he was popular with the
people and enjoyed the entire confidence of the Em
peror. In the course of this year the life of Louis
Napoleon hung in the balance for weeks. The Oppo
sition journals bitterly assailed the sick man. Not
content with the exaggeration of every unfavourable
rumour and canard, the more venomous journals called
into their service medical writers of the baser sort to
inform their readers how soon the unfortunate Emperor
would probably die. The brutality of the articles on
the sufferer that appeared in the ' Rappel ' and the
'Reveil' would not have been tolerated in England
for a day. It was announced that the Emperor read
the medical articles in which he was sent to an almost
immediate death, and which informed his subjects how
the vital functions would soon fail to repair the waste

264 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
of force caused by his ailment. He was a brave man
— brave to stoicism ; and he endured with calmness
the perusal of the gutter literature. Rochefort, who
was supposed to be a gentleman, allowed himself to
speak of the Emperor as ' the lodger of the Tuileries '
— as it happened it was in St. Cloud where the
Emperor lay ill.
(The session of 1869 was closed in November with
a speech by the Emperor when he declared himself
responsible for order, which had the ominous aspect of
being seriously menaced./ On Jan. 2, 1870, the Em
peror called on M. Emile Ollivier to accept the Pre
miership, and in the same day the list of the Ollivier
Ministry appeared in the ' Moniteur.'j When the Em
peror confided the Government of France to the
responsible Ministry of which M. Emile Ollivier was
the head, he retired from the active direction of public
affairs and restricted himself entirely to the position
of a Constitutional Sovereign. With the appointment
of the Ollivier Admistration the role of the Emperor
as active ruler ended ; yet he must be held to have
been in a measure responsible for the policy of the
Cabinet which six months later led to the ruin of his
dynasty and to the most disastrous war of modern
times.7 There is no space here for detailing the scan
dal connected with the name of Prince Pierre Bona
parte — Louis Napoleon was constantly unfortunate
in regard to his relatives. May 8 was the day ap
pointed for the nation to vote on the new Constitution,
and on the transmission of the sovereign power from
father to son in the Imperial family. A heated and
turbulent discussion arose in the Corps Legislatif, in

FRANCO-GERMAN WAR 265
the course of which M. Pelletan shouted that the
Empire had given France eighteen years not of repose,
order, and security, but 'of shame and of crime.' The
result of the plebiscite — the last one of the career of
Napoleon — although it showed 7,257,379 ' Ayes ' and
but 1,530,000 'Noes,' indicated a settled hostility in
Paris and most of the other large cities of the Empire.
The circumstance that the army recorded nearly
50,000 votes against the Sovereign was a serious
matter ; and not less serious was the fact that during
the agitation of the plebiscite a plot to assassinate the
Emperor was discovered. On the nights of May 9
and 10 serious riots occurred and barricades were
thrown up.
The last ceremonial function of the reign of Louis
Napoleon was held on May 21, when the result of the
plebiscite was formally conveyed to the Emperor in
the Salle des Etats of the Louvre. Never had the
Empire worn an aspect seemingly more splendid and
prosperous than when Napoleon advanced surrounded
by his family amidst the acclamations of the assembled
Chambers and took his seat on the dais while M.
Schneider, President of the Corps Legislatif, addressed
the Head of the Nation. ' In supporting the Empire
by more than seven millions of suffrages,' said Presi
dent Schneider, ' France says to you, " Sire, the coun
try is with you ; advance confidently in the path of
progress, and establish liberty based on respect for the
laws and the Constitution. France places the cause
of liberty under the protection of your dynasty." ' The
Emperor thanked the nation for having given him, for
the fourth time, an overwhelming proof of its confi-

266 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
dence. He closed his speech with the words : ' Who
can be opposed to the progressive march of a dynasty
founded by a great people in the midst of political
disturbance and fortified by liberty ? ' Those were
brave words ; but in three and a half months from
their utterance that dynasty was in the dust and the
man who proudly spoke them was a prisoner of war
in a foreign land.
(There had been some sort of an intrigue in Paris
in the summer of 1869 for the promotion of the can
didature for the vacant throne of Spain of Prince
Frederic, a younger son of the old Prince of Hohenzol-
lern-Sigmaringen, the house of which King William of
Prussia was the nominal head. ( It was said that the
Empress Eugenie favoured the project and that Prince
Frederic might marry a relative of hers. Perhaps
such credentials hardly recommended him to the Span
iards, and no offer of the Throne of Spain was made to
Frederic. \ln the autumn of that year it was that
Marshal Prim's project of inviting the candidature of
Frederic's eldest brother, Prince Leopold, was first
mooted. In the summer of 1870 Prince Leopold
signified his readiness to accept the Spanish Crown if
the choice of the Cortes should fall upon hiim? The
tidings of this contingent acceptance reached Paris
from Madrid on July 3. It was stated that a deputa
tion had been despatched to Germany to offer Prince
Leopold the Spanish Crown. A communique in the
' Constitutionnel ' announced that the proffer had
actually been accepted, and astonishment was ex
pressed at the spectacle of the sceptre of Charles V.
being placed in the hands of a ' German Prince.' So

THE EMPRESS EUGENIE ABOUT 187O

FRANCO-GERMAN WAR 267
far as regarded blood it was a fact that Leopold had
closer affinity with the Imperial dynasty of France
than with the royal family of Prussia; for his paternal
grandmother was Princess Antoinette Murat, while
his mother was a daughter of the Grand Duchess Ste
phanie of Baden, sister of Hortense Beauharnais, the
mother of Napoleon III. His wjfe was a sister of the
King of Portugal. Dynastically, therefore, Prince
^Leopold actually stood nearer to the French than to
the Prussian Throne ; but there was no doubt that he
held himself more a German than a Frenchman. He
regarded King William as the head and patriarch of
his race; he was a colonel in the Prussian army; he
lived much at the Court of Berlin; and his political
sympathies were with the German movement of the
time. J
The political horizon of Europe in the beginning of
July, 1870, was so delusively clear that an English
statesman who certainly had strong claims to be con
sidered well informed affirmed publicly that it was
without a cloud. It is true that on the 4th the French
Charge d 'Affaires at Berlin went to the Foreign
Office ' to communicate the painful impression which
the acceptance of the candidature of Prince Leopold
had caused in Paris.' The Prussian Under-Secretary
in Bismarck's absence declared ' that this affair had no
existence for the Prussian Government, which, there
fore, was not in a position to afford any information.'
In truth, up to the end of the first week in July Prus
sia, and with it the whole of Germany, had full confi
dence in the continuance of peace ; while in France
M. Emile Ollivier, the Prime Minister, had on June

268 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
30 declared that ' the peace of Europe never rested on
a more secure basis.' In the Prussian army nothing
was doing beyond the common routine. The usual
preparations were being made for the autumn manoeu
vres. The draft of a new official text-book for infantry
exercise had just been submitted to the King; and
a new instruction on outpost duty had recently been
issued. A partial issue of improved needle-guns had
to be sent back into store when hostilities became
imminent, and the old weapons re-issued for the sake
of uniformity of pattern. A great number of officers
both of the staff and of the line had received leave of
absence during the interval between the regimental
inspections and the autumn manoeuvres ; and many
of those had gone to the camp of Chalons to witness
the operations there. The ironclad squadron of the
navy commanded by Prince Adalbert was away on
cruise. The King was at Ems; Bismarck was still
unwell at Varzin ; Moltke was residing on his Si
lesian estate; and most of the other Ministers were
abroad on tours of inspection or recreation. There
is no doubt that in France the prospect of sudden and
immediate war was equally remote ; for in June the
French War Minister had ordered a great number of
horses to be sold, as in consequence of the persistent
drought there were apprehensions of a failure of forage.
And further, on the 30th of that month the Legislative
Chamber had accepted the Bill for reducing the annual
contingent of recruits from its usual figure of 100,000
to 90,000, on which occasion Emile Ollivier made the
declaration as to the peaceable state of Europe already
mentioned.

FRANCO-GERMAN WAR 269
( On July 4, however, Baron Werther, the Ambas
sador to France of the North German Confederation,
had obtained leave of absence and was about to pay
his respects to King William at Ems ; and the Due
de Gramont, the French Minister for Foreign Affairs,
begged the Baron to describe to his Prussian Majesty
the excitement which was agitating the French nation
in regard to the Prusso-Spanish matter, and to en
treat the King to induce Prince Leopold to withdraw
his candidature on pain of a ' catastrophe.'/ ' Do you
mean by " catastrophe " a threat of war ? ' demanded
the astonished Ambassador. ' Oui,' replied M. Olli
vier, ' Oui, il y a menace de guerre' Baron Werther
promised to make the desired communication to the
King and departed for Ems on the following day.
On July 5 M. Cochery, a Deputy of the Left Centre,
made an interpellation to the Foreign Minister with
regard to the Spanish Throne succession ; ' put up '
intentionally, it was understood, in order to afford the
Minister an opportunity of making a sensational and
truculent reply. In the course of the 5th there were
two Ministerial councils, at neither of which did the
peaceful sentiments of the Cabinet undergo any change.
But after the evening conference the Empress was
said to have had a long conversation with her hus
band, the result of which, as rendered next day by the
Due de Gramont in the Corps Legislatif, was tanta
mount to a challenge to Germany. fWe declared that
he was not privy to the negotiations between Marshal
Prim and the Hohenzollern Prince ; he announced
emphatically that it was not the duty of France to
meddle with the internal affairs of the Spanish nation

270 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
in the exercise of its own sovereignty. ' But,' con
tinued he significantly, ' we do not believe that respect
for the rights of a neighbouring people imposes on
us the obligation of enduring that a foreign Power,
by placing one of its own Princes on the Throne
of Charles V., should disturb to our detriment the
existing balance of power in Europe and endanger
the interests and honour of France. We have a con
fident hope that such a circumstance will not occur,.
reckoning as we do on the prudence of the German
and the amity of the Spanish peoples. Should this,
however, turn out contrary to our expectations, we
shall, in reliance on your support and that of the
nation, know how to do our duty without hesitation
or weakness.' j
This declaration was received with rapturous ap
plause by the great majority of the House. Some
members insisted that the Budget which just then was
being debated must necessarily be fundamentally re
modelled in view of the imminence of warlike prep
arations ; but as a matter of fact those were already
in full train. Immense activity was known to exist
at the French War Ministry; and large quantities of
stores and warlike material were being transported by
rail by night and with the utmost secrecy through
Paris from the south and west towards the east. The
pourparlers were becoming ominously formal, and the
Prussian Charge d Affaires at Paris was on July 9
instructed once more to signify to the Due de Gra
mont that, ' the question of the succession to the
Spanish Throne was one which concerned Spain and
the candidate alone, and with which Prussia and

FRANCO-GERMAN WAR 271,
Germany had absolutely no concern.' Seeing that it
was impossible to fix a quarrel on the German di
plomatist, Gramont determined on the attempt to
involve the King personally. /From his cure at Wild-
bad Benedetti was curtly ordered by telegraph to
hasten to Ems, where he arrived on the gthj The
instructions awaiting him there from Paris were to
the effect \' that he should endeavour to persuade the
King to issue an order to the^Prince of Hohenzollern
to abandon the candidature.' ' Benedetti was received
most cordially by the Prussian monarch. When he
ventured to make the demand just mentioned his
Majesty replied, that in his quality of King of Prus
sia he knew absolutely nothing of this candidature ;
that as head of the Hohenzollern family it was true
that he was aware of it ; but that he had no right
to order Prince Hohenzollern, who was of full age,
either to accept or to refuse the Spanish Crown,
which he therefore declined doing. \ The Ambassador
went on to appeal to the King's wisdom by pronoun
cing a word that would ' restore peace to Europe ; '
to which enigmatic remark his Majesty replied that
the disquiet of Europe arose not because of any act
of the Prussian Government, but in consequence of
the declaration made by the Imperial Government to
tRe Legislative Chamber on July 6.
(Baron Werther returned to Paris on the nth, and
after his departure Benedetti had a second interview
with the King, with the same result as before : his
Majesty adding that he had no idea where the Hohen
zollern Prince was at that time. Hearing, however,
of the complications that had arisen, the Prince imme-

272 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
diately determined to abandon the candidature, and
thus, so far as he was concerned, remove every pretext
for dissatisfaction between France and Germany. He
informed the Spanish Ministry of his decision and
begged his father to announce it widely ; so that when
Baron Werther reached Paris on the evening of the
nth the Spanish Minister Olozaga had already re
ceived the intelligence from his Government. Wer
ther and 01ozaga/went)together/to the French Foreign
Office on the 1 2th, for the purpose of handing over
officially to the Due de Gramont the telegrams an-
nouncing the renunciation of Princ^_^_ohejniX)llern.
M. Emile Ollivier also appeared and took part in the
conversation. Up to midday of the 12th the Prime
Minister seemed to consider the affair as having been
definitely arranged by the Prince's renunciation ; and
he told several Deputies in the Salles des Pas Perdus
of the Palais Bourbon that there was no longer any
object of contention in existence. The Due de Gra
mont, however, used very different language, and, to the
great astonishment of Baron Werther, declared that
the renunciation was merely a subordinate incident, as
France would not have in any case permitted the Prince
to ascend the Spanish Throne. The main point still
remained to be settled, namely the asserted slight
offered to France by the King of Prussia having per
mitted the Hohenzollern Prince to accept the candi
dature without having first come to an understanding
with France. Gramont suggested as a satisfactory
means of atoning for this slight ' that King William
should address an autograph letter to the Emperor
Napoleon, stating that in granting that permission

FRANCO-GERMAN WAR 273
he never had thought of injuring the interests or
affecting the dignity of France, and that he cordially
accepted the renunciation of the Prince.' Such was
the sense of this letter, of which there are many
discrepant versions. A naif confession was inciden
tally made by the two French statesmen — that for
the sake of the Ministry they absolutely needed a
compromise in order to allay the popular excitement.
Baron Werther, who must have been greatly amused
by this droll frankness, remarked quietly that such a
measure had been rendered very difficult because of
the terms used by the Due de Gramont in the
Chamber on the 6th inst. The Prussian diplomatist
did not think it his duty to lay this insolent demand
for a letter of apology before his master by telegraph,
as the Due de Gramont had required him to do; he
did, however, communicate with Bismarck, who replied
characteristically ' that he could not take any notice of
this language unless the French Government thought
proper to address it through its Ambassador at Berlin.'
[Gramont was unappeasable, and his obdurate inso
lence recoiled on himself. On the evening of the
nth he telegraphed to Benedetti at Ems that he
(Benedetti) should exact from the King not only a
public approval of Prince Leopold's withdrawal, but
also an engagement that his Majesty would never
again allow the Prince to be a candidate for the
Throne of Spain. JOn the morning of the 13th the
King saw Benedetti hurrying to meet him on the Ems
promenade ; he handed the Ambassador a newspaper
containing the statement that the Prince had with
drawn from his candidature ; and he added that he
18

274 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
had not yet received direct tidings from Sigmaringen,
but would assuredly do so in the course of the day.
Benedetti stated that he, too, had received from Paris'
news of the renunciation, whereupon the King re
marked that he considered the affair now definitely
settled. Quite unexpectedly Benedetti brought for
ward a fresh demand — that the King should give a
positive assurance that he would never give his con
sent to the Prince's candidature should it ever again
be mooted. The King positively refused to undertake
any such engagement, and he remained steadfast in
his refusal to the demand which Benedetti repeated
with constantly increasing importunity; whereupon
they parted. At noon the King received a letter from
Prince Leopold's father in which was confirmed the
news of the Prince's renunciation already conveyed by
telegraph. Prince Radziwill was at once sent by the
King to Benedetti with this intelligence; and with
the statement by the King that he now sanctioned
the withdrawal of Prince Leopold ' in the same sense
and to the same extent ' as he had approved his ac
ceptance of the Spanish Crown, adding the remark
that he now looked upon the affair as finally settled.
The French Ambassador, urged on by repeated tele
grams from Paris, still insisted on an audience; but
he was several times in the course of the afternoon
informed by Prince Radziwill that his Majesty had
nothing to add to what he had already said. ' I have
just met the King at the railway station,' was Bene-
detti's final telegram to Paris on the 14th ; 'he simply
said he had nothing more to tell me, and that any
further negotiations would be conducted by his Gov-

FRANCO-GERMAN WAR 275
ernment.' Benedetti expressed a wish to take leave
of the King, who took the opportunity of courteously
recognising the Ambassador. From Ems Benedetti
left for Paris ; King William went to visit the Empress
at Coblentz, and from the moment of the parting of
the King and the Ambassador war between France
and Germany was in effect inevitable.
(On the evening of July 13 Roon and Moltke dined
with Bismarck in Berlin. During dinner came a tele
gram which King William had ordered his secretary
to despatch from Ems. It gave an account of the
demand made by Benedetti that the King should bind
himself for the future to forbid a Hohenzollern from
accepting the Crown of Spain, and stating also that
his Majesty had peremptorily refused to make any
such promise. In the concluding sentence of the tele
gram the King suggested to his Minister that the
latter should communicate its contents to the press,
and inform the representatives of Prussia at foreign
Courts of the new demands made by France and of
their rejection. There was no instruction to publish
the exact words of the telegram. Bismarck took a
pencil and composed a summary of it, which he de
scribed in terse and vigorous terms. He then ordered
this somewhat truculent summary to be inserted at
once in an extra edition of the ' Nord Allgemeine
Zeitung.' *3efore sending from the room this forceful
edition of the Ems telegram, he read it to his two
guests, whereupon Moltke exclaimed : ' Vorher wars
chamade, jetzt isi 's Fanfare!' The three great men
well understood the effect which the promulgation of
the telegram would have on public opinion.

276 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
During the night it was wired to the foreign repre
sentatives of Prussia, with instructions that they should
communicate its terms to the Governments to which
they were respectively accredited. On the morning of
the 14th, while the French Ministers in Paris were
congratulating themselves on their triumph over Bis
marck in the immediate future, the German Ambas
sador presented himself to announce that he had
received orders to demand his passports and to quit
France. They also presently received a telegram from
the French Charge d Affaires at Berlin, containing the
tidings of the communication which had been promul
gated there and which had appeared the night before
in the German official newspaper, as also its effect on
public opinion. Immediate war could not now be
averted ; but it is fair to recognise that Bismarck re
sorted to arms only in order that he might anticipate
an attack which he was aware to be in course of prep
aration against Germany. The recently-published
Memoirs of the late General Lebrun conclusively
prove that a coalition of the French Emperor and his
allies against Germany had actually been formed.
That General was deep in the confidence of Napoleon.
In June, 1870, he was sent to Vienna to settle a plan
of campaign against Germany in which France, Italy,
and Austria were to join. The political preliminaries
had been agreed upon. In case of success Italy was
to have Rome ; Austria was to have restored to her
the Silesia which Frederick the Great had rent from
her ; and France was to receive Belgium and the left
bank of the Rhine. The treaty was actually drawn
up — all it wanted was the signature of the three

FRANCO-GERMAN WAR 277
Powers; but it was not signed when war broke out in
July. This was not the fault of the Emperor Napo
leon. His cousin Prince Jerome (Plon-Plon) has
told us that the chief cause of the hesitation was the
intense feeling existing in the Clerical Party in France
against handing over Rome to the Italians. But the
difficulty as regarded Rome was, after all, not the
principal reason why the treaty was not ratified. The
Emperor Napoleon had calculated — he was no strate
gist — that by rapidity of concentration he might gain
some advantage over Germany and perhaps even win
an important battle. If so, he would offer peace to
the King of Prussia on terms of alliance against Eng
land, assistance for the conquest of Belgium and the
cession to France of the left bank of the Rhine;
Prussia in return to receive a perfectly free hand in
Germany. The governing idea of the Emperor was
the formation of a strong alliance against England.
This is proved in actual documents ; and the diary
of the Emperor Frederick II. shows conclusively that
Napoleon III. did not abandon it even after Sedan.
One might commiserate his downfall even if he had
been an unscrupulous man ; but to be plotting coolly
against the nation in the bosom of which he had found
cordial sympathy, friendship, and a free asylum, was a
baseness from which the most cynical of men might
recoil. [The King of Prussia journeyed to Berlin on July
15. At Brandenburg he was met by the Crown
Prince, Bismarck, Moltke, and Roon; and he imme
diately gave orders forthwith to mobilise the whole
army of the North German Confederation. His re-

278 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
ception in Berlin was most enthusiastic. After some
rest the King worked out with Bismarck, Moltke, and
Roon all the necessary dispositions, which were com
pleted early on the morning of the 16th, so thorough
was the state of Prussian preparedness ; nor was the
readiness for war in the South German States far be
hind. (On the 1 6th Bismarck explained to the Federal
Council the sequence of circumstances of which the
climax had been reached by the manifest determina
tion of France to force on Germany either humiliation
or war ; and on the 19th, during a sitting of the Reichs
tag, he entered with the announcement that he had
just received from the French Charge d' Affaires the
formal declaration of war ; ' the first and only com
munication received from the French Government on
the subject which had engrossed the attention of the
world during the previous fortnight.'
( The powers of the Emperor Napoleon, both mental
and physical, had been deteriorating during the later
troublous years of his reign. He had lost his grip as
well of men as of things ; and his domestic and social
influences warped him to his hurt. During the swift
and sudden events that led up to the actual outbreak
of the Franco-German War, Napoleon was more than
ordinarily enfeebled by his sufferings from the cruel
disorder which at intervals he had endured for years_~
The advocates of personal Government were con-'
stantly endeavouring to draw him back to the Con
stitution of 1852. The Clericals were for war, and for
the disintegration of the powerful Protestant State be
yond the Rhine. At home the populace yelled for
war on the pretext that France had to avenge Water-

FRANCO-GERMAN WAR 279
loo. The effect of the wild war-cries of Paris was the
gradual but natural estrangement from France on the
part of the Powers. As the negotiations ran their
swift course, the foreign Governments became con
vinced that France not only thirsted for war but was
wantonly inciting it. Public feeling had become al
most beyond the control of the Government. But the
Government, under pressure of events, was fast losing
the control of itself. Gramont wrote to Benedetti
that further delay in the King's answer would not be
endured, adding: ' We must begin; we only wish for
your despatch to call out the 300,000 men. If the
King will not counsel the Hohenzollern Prince to re
nounce — well, it is war at once, and in a few days we
shall be on the Rhine.'
It turned out that it was the Emperor Napoleon
himself who, at ten p.m. of the 12th, ordered Benedetti
to insist on an engagement on the part of the Prussian
King that Prince Leopold should not re-enter the
lists as candidate for the Spanish Throne. ' So long,'
said his Majesty, ' as we have not an official communi
cation from Ems, we have not received a reply to our
just demands ; so long as we have not received such
a reply, we shall continue our armaments.' A com
munication from Lord Lyons inclined the Ministry to
peace ; but the war-party would not yield. With the
one hand that party was precipitating the war ; with
the other it was putting off the adoption of the only
means of waging it with success. Meantime there
were hesitation and indecision in the French Cabinet.
At a meeting of the Cabinet on the afternoon of the
14th, after a protracted discussion it was resolved that

280 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
the reserves should be called out. The Emperor was
ailing, and he remained a silent listener until the Due
de Gramont suggested that the question might be
solved by an European Congress. That was the
Emperor's favourite expedient ; but this time it was to
fail him. Another council met the same evening.
When the Ministers had parted at six o'clock peace
appeared assured ; at ten it was war. The sudden
change was attributed to the communication to the
French Government of Bismarck's interview with
Lord Augustus Loftus in which the Prussian Chan
cellor formulated the demands he had determined to
make, and to the news of the movements of German
troops towards the Rhine.
In the Cabinet of the night of the 14th Napoleon
was the only person who had scruples and difficulties.
He repeatedly asked of his Ministers, ' what guaran
tees they could offer him.' Of course, it was guaran
tees of success that he required — a successful war
would have given him intense satisfaction, but he
did not believe in the prospect of it. The dilemma
presented itself — internal revolution with the fall of
the dynasty ; or war for the success of which he fain
would have guarantees. He might have found some
spurious comfort in Lebceuf the War Minister. That
valiant impostor declared in the council that the
French army was perfectly prepared for war. Asked
specifically what he meant by that, he replied boldly
and confidently, ' I mean that the army is perfectly
supplied in every respect ; and that it will not require
the purchase of a single gaiter-button for a year to
come — elle est archipretel The war-party was cer-

FRANCO-GERMAN WAR 281
tainly in force that night. It was in the ascendant in
the Palace and among the friends of the dynasty. It
had the sympathies of the Empress, who indeed was
the chief instigator of the war because she expected
that it would secure the Throne to her son. She also
approved the war because she believed that the honour
of France demanded it ; but no unbiassed person can
conceive that her share in its responsibilities was
traceable to other than patriotic motives.
On July 15 M. Emile Ollivier demanded a credit
of 500 million francs to carry on the war, announcing
at the same time that the reserves of the army had
been called out. I On the 19th the declaration of war
was presented at Berlin by M. Le Sourd, the same
Charge d' Affaires who had made the first verbal
inquiry with regard to the candidateship of Prince
Hohenzollern. j
Lebceuf's boast of the efficiency of the French army
was falsified within a fortnight after it had been uttered.
The French army was anything but prepared for war,
and the very mobilisation showed how defective were
the arrangements made by the War Ministry. The
main fortresses on the eastern frontier were not put
into a partial state of defence until it was almost too
late — some, indeed, were not restored at all. It was
not until the beginning of August that the corps on
the frontier could draw their rations out of the maga
zines, previous to which time the soldiers had to live
on an allowance of a franc per day. Neither in Metz
nor in Thionville were there any supplies. Horses had
to be bought at any price at the last moment. There
was an immense quantity of maps, but they were all

282 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
maps of Germany. General Douay, appointed to
command the 7th Corps, on July 27 was still doing
duty at Paris as aide-de-camp of the Emperor; while
on the same day the Minister of War was ordering
him to report from Belfort where his divisions were
and how far their organisation had progressed. Gen
eral Michel reached Belfort on July 21, and reporting
his arrival to Paris stated that he could find neither
his brigade nor the general of his division, nor could
he ascertain where his two regiments were.
In the last week of July there were on the eastern
frontier of France and somewhat in rear eight Army
Corps, as follows : the 7th Corps at Belfort and Col-
mar and the ist Corps at Strasburg, on the right
wing. The 5th Corps at Bitche and the 2nd at St.
Avoid, in the centre. The 4th Corps at Thionville,
on the left wing. As reserve to the 5th and 2nd
Corps the Imperial Guard and the 3rd Corps at Metz,
behind the centre. As general reserve for the whole
army the 6th Corps, at Chalons, Soissons, and Paris.
Those troops if complete in their full war establish
ment should have represented a total of 337,000 com
batants ; but the reserves not having joined promptly
and later only in deficient numbers, the infantry bat
talions were considerably below their proper strength.
The Emperor had reckoned on a field army 300,000
strong at the beginning of August, but probably there
were not above 220,000 combatants in the first line,
with some 50,000 reserves and 1,000 guns including
mitrailleuses. The Germans entered France 384,000
strong with double that number of reserves.
On July 28 the Emperor, accompanied by the

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THE PRINCE IMPERIAL ABOUT 1870
FRANCO-GERMAN WAR 283
Prince Imperial, departed to join the army in the
field. In a retired part of the park of St. Cloud a
level passage had been cut and a small platform pro
vided, enabling the Imperial family to join the rail
way without passing through Paris. Presently the
Emperor, along with the Empress and their son,
issued from the private apartments and walked
towards the park entrance, shaking hands with and
addressing kind words to those whom he met on his
way. Napoleon wore the dress of a General of Divi
sion; the Prince Imperial that of a Sub- Lieutenant.
While the generals were entering the carriages the
Emperor remarked that the suite and entourage
formed a corps d' armee of themselves. The train was
ready, and after one last embrace to husband and son
the Empress descended to the platform. The signal
was given and the whistle sounded ; and as the train
moved the Empress called out to her son, ' Do your
duty, Louis ! ' All present uncovered, and the train
moved forward amid shouts of ' Vive I'Empereur! '
Napoleon's health was very seriously impaired before
and during the war of 1870; possibly he had the pre
sentiment that he was looking for the last time on the
beautiful chateau which had been his favourite home.
On his arrival at Metz the Emperor was painfully
disappointed by the state of things he found in the
army. He could not but recognise that it was still
unable to take the field, and lamentations came pour
ing in from all quarters as to the innumerable and
serious deficiencies of the military administration,
which, as it seemed, no amount of exertion could
remedy. Napoleon must have had the sad realisation

284 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
that France, notwithstanding the repeated assurances
of the official authorities and the confidence of the
nation, was totally unprepared to carry on a great war.
Yet the proclamation which he issued when at Metz
he assumed the Command-in-Chief of ' the Army of the
Rhine ' contained expressions of proud hope, inter
mingled, however, with others which betrayed appre
hensions ; and it carefully refrained from representing
the enemy as likely to be easily vanquished, as the so-
called public opinion of France was freely assuming.
But the army had to be doing something for its
credit's sake ; and the Emperor determined on making
an advance against Saarbriicken, a small Prussian
town on the river Saar, about two miles inside the
frontier line between France and Germany. Saar
briicken was an open town totally destitute of de
fences ; it had been occupied since the declaration of
war by a battalion of the 40th Hohenzollern regiment
and three squadrons of the 7th Uhlans. The force
detailed to attack this little place with its insignificant
Prussian garrison consisted of three French Army
Corps or about 80,000 men. The 5th Corps (Failly)
was on the right; the 2nd (Frossard) in the centre;
and on the left the 3rd (Bazaine). The direct attack
on Saarbriicken was to be executed by Frossard's
Corps, which for some days previous had been in
bivouac on the Spicheren plateau about four miles
south-west of Saarbriicken. About ten a. m. of Au
gust 2, Frossard began the advance. Bataille's divi
sion of the 2nd Corps formed the first line. On
the right of the high-road Bastoul's brigade descended
the Spicheren heights, crossed the intervening valley,

FRANCO-GERMAN WAR 285
and moved on the ridges covering Saarbriicken ; on
the left Pouget's brigade moved forward towards the
drill-ground. Three squadrons of chasseurs scoured
the ground to the front. In rear of Frossard's right
wing followed Micheler's brigade of Laveaucoupet's
division ; in rear of the left Valaze's brigade belong-
ing to Verge's division. The remainder of the Corps
followed in reserve.
Meanwhile the two Prussian companies in front of
Saarbriicken moved out at once into the line of out
posts. The post of the Winterberg which was most
immediately threatened, was promptly strengthened.
The company in St. Johann doubled out to the ' Rothe
Haus' post. The Lowenburg was occupied and part
of a company went to St. Arnual. A skirmishing
division and two guns brought up from Raschpfiihl
under Lieutenant Meyer received with a brisk fire
the enemy debouching from the Stiftswald. General
Micheler on his side also brought up a battery ; but
Meyer maintained his position in spite of the French
skirmishers. The Prussian garrison had thus been
successful in maintaining timely opposition to the
French at all points. But it was impossible for a
force so scanty to resist for any length of time the
enveloping attack of a whole Army Corps. A steady
and deliberate retreat with frequent brisk rallies and
occasional conflicts with the French skirmishers at the
point of the bayonet was carried out with entire
absence of hurry. The Saar was crossed and the
gallant little garrison of Saarbriicken retired upon
Raschpfiihl. It was on this day, Aug. 2, 1870, that the Prince

286 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
Imperial, then a boy of fourteen, in the words of his
father ' received his baptism of fire.' I was watching
from the drill-ground above Saarbriicken the oncom
ing swarm-attack of Bataille's tirailleurs, firing as they
hurried across the plain. The tirailleurs had passed
the Galgenberg, a low ridge on the bosom of the
valley about midway between the Spicheren hill and
where I stood. Presently the Galgenberg was crowned
by two horsemen followed by a great staff. The tele
scope told me that without a doubt the senior of the
two foremost riders was the Emperor Napoleon, and
that the younger, shorter and slighter — mere lad he
seemed — was the Prince Imperial, whom we knew to
be with his father in the field. The exertion of the
day told cruelly on the Emperor. An eye-witness
wrote: 'After Saarbriicken, Lebrun and Lebceuf had
to lift him off his horse. The Prince was by his side
all the time and looked very distressed, for his father
had scarcely spoken to him during the engagement.
But after they got into the carriage the Emperor put
his arm round his son's neck and kissed him on the
cheeks, while two large tears rolled down his own. I
noticed that the Emperor had hardly strength to walk
from his horse to the carriage.' On August 4 ap
peared the following despatch in the ' Journal Officiel ' :
' To-day, August 2, at eleven a. m. the French troops
had a severe engagement with the Prussians. Our
army, assuming the offensive, crossed the frontier and
invaded the territory of Prussia. In spite of the
strength of the enemy's position a few of our battalions
sufficed to carry the heights which command Saar
briicken, and our artillery soon drove the enemy from

THE PRIXCF. I.MI'KRIAL AS A CADET

FRANCO-GERMAN WAR 287
the town. The elan of our soldiers was so great that
our losses have been slight. The engagement, which
began at eleven, was over at one. The Emperor was
with the Prince Imperial, who has received upon the
first battle-field of the campaign the baptism of fire.
His presence of mind and coolness in danger were
worthy of the name he bears.'
The Emperor addressed to the Empress the follow
ing private despatch : ' Louis has received his baptism
of fire. His coolness was admirable ; he was not in
the least degree excited. . . . We were in the front,
and the balls and bullets fell at our feet. Louis has
kept a ball that fell near him. Some of the soldiers
wept on seeing how calm he remained. We had only
one officer and ten men killed. — Napoleon.'
It is rare that a 'severe engagement' occurs in
which only one ofiicer and ten men are killed. As a
matter of fact, according to the official record the
French loss in the Saarbriicken skirmish amounted to
six officers and eighty men. The Prussian casualties
were four officers and seventy-nine men.

288 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III

CHAPTER XIV
FROM SAARBRUCKEN TO SEDAN
That four companies of Prussian infantry and three
squadrons of Prussian Uhlans should have made a
deliberate and orderly retreat before a French Army
Corps scarcely wore the aspect of a great triumph for
the Army Corps, but nevertheless the petty affair at
Saarbriicken was regarded in Paris as an important
success. Napoleon knew better ; he was not a great
commander, but he was quite aware that the loss of
' one officer and ten men killed ' could scarcely be said
to constitute a 'severe engagement.' After Saar
briicken on August 2, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th French
Army Corps remained inactive on the left bank of the
Saar until the 4th, when the defeat of General Abel
Douay's division at Weissenburg on that day became
known. The Emperor then gave orders to concentrate
the army and to recall it towards Metz ; and he gave
to Marshal Bazaine the command of the three Corps of
the Saar. The 2nd Corps, however, remained on the
Spicheren plateau until the 6th, from which position on
that day it was driven with heavy loss by bodies of
Prussian troops of about equal strength. On the same
day Marshal MacMahon, while holding the strong posi
tion of Worth on the eastern foot-hills of the northern

FROM SAARBRUCKEN TO SEDAN 289
Vosges with the ist Corps and a division of the 7th,
was assailed in greatly superior strength by the army
of the Prussian Crown Prince; and after a long, bloody,
and desperate battle, was utterly defeated and his army
shattered into headlong rout. The 5th Corps, which
had been ordered to join MacMahon's force, could not
reach the Marshal in time for the battle, but de Failly
¦ joined the retreat from the Bitche vicinity and the two
Corps hurried in disorder across the Vosges towards
Luneville. The defeats of Spicheren, Worth, and all
the early ruin, presage true of the wretched end, came
bickering and crumbling about the ears of the unhappy
Emperor. Bazaine in the real stress of things had got
the handling of those three Corps ' of the Saar,' one of
which, the 2nd, had already been badly mauled on the
6th in the Spicheren battle. Insubordination and con
fusion hampered him at every turn. All he could do
was to work out there in the front, conducting the re
treat, covering the ragged edges, trying to keep the
men in heart. At length, in a paroxysm of worry, the
Emperor came out from Metz to cousult with Bazaine,
the man to whom he turned when he found Lebceuf
and the others to be like the crackling of thorns under
a pot. The rendezvous was Faulquemont, a little dung
hill village to the south-east of Metz. Bazaine's advice
had a ring of soldierhood in it, but the Emperor, quiv
ering with nervousness because of the Paris mob, would
accept no suggestion that involved the uncoverment of
Paris even in appearance. So Bazaine was bidden to
take up a line of battle nearer Metz and ' give up this new
hope of being allowed to make an effective diversion.'
The blackness of the cloud overhanging the Empire
19

290 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
grew denser, and the plot began that was to ruin
Bazaine. Pietri telegraphed an urgent ' confidential '
from the Empress that it should be insisted on that
the Emperor must surrender the Command-in-Chief to
Bazaine. The message thus continued : ' If misfortune
should still pursue the army, Bazaine then would be
the subject of obloquy and so take the onus of the re
sponsibility off the Emperor's shoulders.' Bazaine did
not know of the plot, but he distrusted his own capacity
for the high duty of the Command-in-Chief. There
were two officers in the army who were his seniors. So
when he got the ' letter of service ' to take the com
mand, he betook himself to the Imperial headquarters
and urged that both MacMahon and Canrobert were
older and better officers than himself. MacMahon had
other work reserved for him ; Canrobert was equal to
his Crimean antecedent of shirking responsibility.
' You are the right man,' said the Emperor to Bazaine,
' and it is an order I give you to take the duties.' The
Emperor must have felt a thrill of compassion for the
man on whose shoulders was laid the cross which he
had let fall. In the letters which the Emperor wrote
to Bazaine, both after the capitulation of Metz and
while Bazaine lay under the sentence of death pro
nounced by the Trianon court-martial two years later,
there are expressions which have a note of genuine
tenderness. ' I find,' wrote Napoleon from his Wil-
helmshbhe captivity, 'one real consolation in the depths
of misfortune into which I am plunged, in knowing that
you have always been staunch to me.' He could say
no less to the man before whom loomed the fate of being
stripped of everything dearest to the soldier — of repu-

FROM SAARBRUCKEN TO SEDAN 291
tation, of decorations cut from out the hostile ranks,
because he had held himself bound to the allegiance to
which his soldier-oath had pledged him.
A Commander-in-Chief in name, a buffer and a
scapegoat in reality, Bazaine had toiled hard amidst
many discouragements to get the arm)' out of Metz
and forward on the march of retreat towards Verdun.
At that army's rear the masterful Prussians had struck
hard on the 14th and so brought about the battle of
Borny as the French call it, or Colombey as the Ger
mans name it, on the eastern face of Metz. No great
organiser, Bazaine was in his element the moment that
the war-music began to make the air throb. He turned
fiercely and skilfully at bay, and although the fight won
for the Prussians the delay for which they had made
it, Bazaine charged them a considerable effusion of
blood for the advantage which he had no alternative
but to concede. Bazaine was a man to whom fortune
was never stingy in the matter of wounds. In the
Borny fight a shell-fragment struck him on the left
shoulder ; but it had been almost spent and gave him
only a severe contusion. The fight over and the troops
now again beginning to move through Metz westward
towards Verdun, Bazaine bethought himself of his
master's anxiety to know the situation. That master
was the white elephant of Bazaine and the army ; but
in the countries where white elephants are, they live
objects of sanctity. The Imperial headquarters were
for the night in the Chateau of Longueville, a resi
dence on the left bank of the Moselle valley nestled
comfortably under the guns of Fort St. Quentin.
Thither in the dead of night, struggling his way

292 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
through the retreating army jammed in the narrow
streets of Metz, Bazaine betook himself, carrying his
bruised shoulder from the battlefield. Of what fol
lowed it seems best to let Bazaine tell in his blunt but
surely not ineffective way : — 'I found his Majesty un
well and in bed ' — the malady that killed Napoleon
a few years later had long previously been debilitating
him — ' and I was immediately admitted into his bed
room. The Emperor greeted me with his wonted
kind affability. I told him what had passed, about the
battle, etc., and I gave vent also to my anxieties in regard
to the next few days. I mentioned that I was suffer
ing physically, and adding my fear that I could not
endure the pain the contusion caused me when on
horseback, I begged that he would relieve me from the
command. His Majesty, touching my shoulder where
the torn epaulette showed the spot on which I had
been struck, answered me with that kind humour which
charmed all who came within its influence : " This is
nothing serious, dear Marshal ; it is a matter of but a
few days ; and the blow you have received to-day is
but the token that it is you who are destined to break
the spell of our ill-fortune." Those were the Emperor's
very words. He gave no hint that he had any other
thought than to remain with the army.'
' " I wait," ' continued Napoleon — seemingly still
nourishing his illusions — ' " I wait for answers from
the Emperor of Austria and the King of Italy, who at
the beginning of the war evinced a disposition to be
friend us ; for Heaven's sake risk nothing by rashness
and above everything avoid any fresh reverse. I am
leaning on you," were Napoleon's final words.' As

FROM SAARBRUCKEN TO SEDAN 293
Bazaine passed through the outer room the officers of
the Imperial entourage called out to him, ' You arc
going to fetch us out of this hole we have got into, are
you not, Marshal ? ' T am going to do my best, gen
tlemen,' answered Bazaine; ' tout mon possible ; none
of us can do more, and there are none of us who would
do less ! ' And so the sorely-troubled man went out
into the darkness and consoled his bruised shoulder
with a few short hours' sleep.
This was on the night between August 14 and 15.
What happened next morning was told me in Zulu-
land by the Prince Imperial. He was asleep in the
bedroom next to his father's. A crash awoke the lad,
and he was still bewildered when the Emperor rushed
into the room : ' Get up and dress ; quick, Louis —
quick! The German shells are falling through the
roof!' It was so; a Prussian battery had galloped up
on the opposite bank of the Moselle to within range
and the gunners had opened fire on the Chateau of
Longueville. As the Prince looked out of the window
while he hastily dressed he saw a shell fall on the table
in the garden at which some officers of the Guard were
breakfasting; and when the smoke of the explosion
blew aside three of the officers were dead men. The
carriages and baggage might follow — Gravelotte was
the rendezvous given ; but meanwhile the business in
hand was to get from under that shell-fire. There was
a hurried cup of coffee for Louis and his father; then
they and the suite went quickly to horse and the
abominable German shells were soon left behind.
Near the village of Lessy the highroad to Gravelotte,
cumbered with the impedimenta of a disorderly retreat,

294 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
presented an absolute block. An interminable delay
threatened to befall the Imperial party. But Prince
Louis during the early days at Metz, while as yet the
Germans were afar off, had done much riding about
the adjacent country. Quietly bidding some soldiers
to make a gap in the fence he called out, ' Follow
me, father ! ' and led the way across country by a vine
yard track the trend of which he knew. So the lad
conducted his seniors down into the valley by Chatel,
then up on to the ridge which three days later was to
be littered with corpses, past the auberge of St. Hubert
not yet battered into dust and blood, down into the
Mance ravine not then a ghastly shamble, and so up
the slope between the poplar-trees to the village of
Gravelotte, lying in the angle where bifurcate the upper
and the lower roads from Metz to Verdun.
Thither, at least as yet, came no German shells, and
the hunted Napoleons could draw breath. The Em
peror, after resting an hour, took to tramping to and
fro in front of the post-house which he had made his
quarters. It was his habit in trouble. I saw him
later doing just the same thing in the potato patch of
the weaver's garden on the Donchery road on the way
from Sedan, during the interval when Bismarck left
him. As Napoleon stalked up and down pondering
uneasily, he was unconsciously making history, and
just as unconsciously he was moving in the heart of a
scene waiting to be made historical ere many hours
had passed ; for over against him was the old church
of Gravelotte on the edge of the graveyard of which
the dead of the impending battle were to be utilised
for breastworks. To the Emperor, about one of the

FROM SAARBRUCKEN TO SEDAN 295
afternoon, came the harassed Bazaine. Like Martha,
the Marshal was 'careful and troubled about many
things.' He tells: 'I complimented his Majesty on
h\s/Ste day ' (a cheerful /*>/<? day truly ! ) ' by presenting
him with a little nosegay I had gathered in the garden
of my last night's quarters.' The Emperor gave thanks
for the courtesy ; and then, his trouble recurring on
him, he asked in a troubled voice, ' Must I quit the
army?' Bazaine, in surprise, bewilderment, and em
barrassment, begged of him at least to await events
yet a little longer. So Napoleon turned to his people
and said, ' We will remain, gentlemen, but do not have
the baggage unpacked.' ' During this colloquy,' says
Bazaine, 'the soldiers, melancholy and beaten out,
continued to defile along the road in front of the post-
house. Not a single cheer; not one " Vive I'Em
pereur ! " came from the broken and straggling ranks
at the sight of that Sovereign and his son so enthusi
astically acclaimed but a few days before. The moral
influence of the retreat had already so lowered the tone
of the army!' Is it not a sombre etching bitten in
deeply by a few strong strokes?
Those two men, Emperor and Marshal, parted on
the following morning, and for ever. Bazaine thus
abruptly pulls down the curtain : ' On the morning of
the 1 6th the Emperor sent a galloper to find me. I
lost not a moment, but rode alone at full speed to
the Imperial quarters. I found his Majesty in his
carriage along with the Prince Imperial and Prince
Napoleon. General de France's cavalry brigade was
already on horseback to escort the Emperor. I had
got no intimation in advance of those arrangements.

296 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
I rode up to the carriage without dismounting. The
Emperor seemed to be suffering, and he said to me
but a few words : " I have decided to leave for Verdun
and Chalons. Get you on for Verdun as best you
can. The gendarmes have left Briey because the
Prussian scouts are in that village." '
Bazaine recorded no farewell, so abrupt was the
parting. Napoleon whirled away out of bad into
worse, until what relief the very worst could bring
came to him after Sedan. The same afternoon
Bazaine was in the heart of the fierce melee of Vion-
ville, stemming with his own sword through the dust
of the hand-to-hand struggle a whirlwind charge of
the Brunswick Hussars.
Towards evening of the 16th the Emperor reached
the camp of Chalons, having ridden from Verdun in
a crowded third-class carriage. His arrival in the
camp was unheralded by drum or trumpet, and he
installed himself in his quarters with the knowledge
only of his staff. Marshal MacMahon had just
reached the camp with the ist Corps,, only partially
reorganised after the rout from Worth. The 12th
Corps, then in process of formation in the camp, was
originally intended to be given to General Trochu,
but its command ultimately was bestowed on General
Lebrun. Neither the 5th nor the 7th Corps had as
yet reached the camp. Disorder reigned supreme in
the camp, which seemed to be given over to pillage.
Instead of smart and peremptory generals there were
commanders in dirty uniforms who seemed afraid of
showing themselves to their men. Instead of the fine
regiments of other days there was a mass of beings

FROM SAARBRUCKEN TO SEDAN 297
without discipline, cohesion, or mark of rank — the
swarms of dirty, unarmed soldiers known as isol'cs.
Outside the tents and huts, squatting or lying around
the bivouac fires, without arms and their uniforms in
shreds, were the isoles of MacMahon, the fugitives
from Reichshoffen, the remnants of regiments over
whelmed and dispersed by defeat ; soldiers of the line
without rifles or ammunition-pouches, Zouaves in
drawers, Turcos without turbans, dragoons without
helmets, cuirassiers without cuirasses, hussars without
sabre-tasches. The Emperor's pavilion had been
looted by the ruffian ' Moblots ' ; his baggage plun
dered and his very shirts put up to auction.
The confusion was heightened by incursion after
incursion of drunk and reckless Mobiles from Paris.
Each contingent was moTWinsolent and unmanage
able than the one which had preceded it. Masses
of undisciplined blackguards surrounded the quarters
of the Emperor, heaping on him foul and brutal
insults which nevertheless the officers did not care
to resent. A council of war was held on the morning
of the 1 7th, which was attended by Marshal Mac
Mahon, Prince Napoleon, and several other generals,
including Trochu. It was resolved that the Emperor,
having resigned the Command-in-Chief of the army,
should return to Paris and there resume with vigour
the reins of Government. General Trochu was
appointed by the Emperor to the position of Gov
ernor of Paris, and also to the chief command of all
the troops available for the defence of the capital, in
clusive of the insubordinate levies of Mobiles who had
been sent to Chalons but who were forthwith to be

298 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
sent back to Paris. Trochu was to precede the Em
peror and prepare everything at Paris for his Majesty's
reception there. It was further decided on that Mac
Mahon's army, as soon as concentrated in the Chalons
camp, should march on Paris and accept a battle there
if necessary for the defence of the capital. In Paris,
however, the decisions of the Emperor were put aside
without scruple. The Empress-Regent and the Min
isters professed that the Emperor's return to the Tui
leries, having regard to the excitement existing in the
city, would involve serious danger to the Emperor's
life and to the dynasty ; and they conveyed to him
the most serious warnings against the project he had
favoured. The retreat of MacMahon's army to Paris
was also strongly opposed on the ground that such
a step would gravely w§nfld the national vanity.
The Emperor consequently abandoned the project
of returning to Paris and resuming the direction of
affairs ; he determined to remain with MacMahon's
army in the capacity of a private individual of dis
tinction. Virtually, indeed, he abdicated at this time,
in the height of a crisis when France was more than
ever in need of the determined and. energetic leader
ship of one man. To fill up the measure of France's
disasters, not only did Palikao's Ministry arrogate to
itself the right of interfering with military operations ;
but even the Privy Council and the Presidents of both
Chambers did the same under the aegis of the Em
press-Regent, instead of leaving the direction of mili
tary operations to professional soldiers.
It is impossible to describe in the space at command
the details of the battles of Vionville-Mars la Tour and

FROM SAARBRUCKEN TO SEDAN 299
St. Privat-Gravelotte, the former fought on August
16, the latter on the 18th. The hero of the first-
named battle was the Prussian General Alvensleben
II., commanding the 3rd Prussian Army Corps. With
this single corps, a force of about 30,000 men inclu
sive of two cavalry divisions, Alvensleben for five long
hours withstood the repeated attacks of the whole
French army of the Rhine. Bredow's cavalry charge
from Vionville up to the edge of the Roman road was
an exploit that will live for ever in the history of war.
Later in the day Prince Frederick Charles assumed
the command ; the Germans were reinforced and
fierce fighting continued until darkness set in. That
the Germans, notwithstanding their inferiority in num
bers, achieved a great strategical victory cannot be
questioned. The slaughter was immense. The losses
were about equal ; each side suffered to the amount
of 17,000 men.
The battle of St. Privat-Gravelotte was a yet more
stupendous struggle than the contest of Vionville-
Mars la Tour. The French army with a strength of
about 140,000 men occupied the long commanding
ridge in front of Metz, from the village of St. Privat
on the right to St. Ruffin on the left, a length of about
seven miles. On the part of the French the whole
disposition for the battle was purely defensive, and
could not well have been otherwise. On the German
right was the ist Army commanded by General Stein-
metz, consisting of the 7th and 8th Army Corps. The
2nd Army, commanded by Prince Frederick Charles,
occupied the German centre and left, confronting the
French centre and right. The 12th (Saxon) Army

300 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
Corps was detailed to make a wide turning movement
and strike in flank the French extreme right at St.
Privat, at the same time that the Guard Corps should
attack the hostile position in front. The operation
was ultimately successful, but with appalling blood
shed. As nightfall approached the whole French
front was driven back with the exception of the ex
treme left, which maintained its position until early
on the following morning. During the night between
the 1 8th and 19th the whole French army was with
drawn to the vicinity of Metz, where it was concen
trated under the protection of Forts Queuleu and
Plappeville. The German losses on the 18th reached
a total of over 20,000 ; the French losses were about
12,000. The French Army of the Rhine was invested in and
about Metz from the 19th and all direct communica
tion between that fortress and the outside world was
cut off: but Bazaine's latest despatches represented
his military position in the most favourable light. He
expressed the hope, after having devoted a few days to
the re-equipment of his army, of being able to reach
Chalons by St. Menehould. Should this route be
found blocked, he announced his intention of marching
by Sedan and Mezieres. By the Regency in Paris it
was insisted on that MacMahon should make an offen
sive advance in the direction of Verdun, with the
object of co-operating with Bazaine and effecting a
junction with him. The army of Chalons numbered
about 140,000 men, but its condition was far from
satisfactory. MacMahon could not dare to adventure
a pitched battle in the Chalons position with troops

FROM SAARBRUCKEN TO SEDAN 301
most of which had suffered in their morale. On the
other hand, he hesitated to carry out his plan of re
treating on Paris. As a compromise he determined
to march to Rheims, there to await events. On the
morning of the 21st the march on Rheims began.
After much hesitation MacMahon determined on
sacrificing his military convictions in favour of a move
ment having for its object the relief of the Army of
the Rhine. There came to him on the 22nd a tele
gram from the Minister of War to the Emperor, which
must have greatly influenced MacMahon's decision.
Palikao wrote : ' If you do not march to Bazaine's
assistance, the worst is to be feared here in Paris. It
would be at once concluded, in case of such a misfor
tune, that the capital could not defend itself.' Mac
Mahon telegraphed that he would commence his
march towards Metz on the 23rd. In diverging to
Rheims he had lost two precious days ; but at length
on the 23rd the army of Chalons marched from Rheims
to the Suippe. The shortcoming of supplies for his
army compelled the Marshal to move further to the
northward in order to avail himself of the resources
of the railway, with the result of the loss of another
day. The position on the 25th was from Rethel on
the left to Vouziers on the right. Defection and
insubordination were seriously manifested, especially
after the distribution of rations had become so irreg
ular and scanty that the soldiers resorted to requi
sitions on their own account. Bands of stragglers
followed the army and wandered over the country,
a terror to the peaceable inhabitants and a dangerous
symptom of growing indiscipline. Great mobs of

302 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
soldiers pillaged a railway train in the Rheims sta
tion and did not spare even the Emperor's private
property. After the battle of the 18th the 3rd and 4th German
armies advanced on the 21st towards the Meuse,
marching on a broad front. The Prussian King's
headquarters were on the 25th at Bar le Due, whither
came a telegram from London conveying the intelli
gence that MacMahon was assuredly moving to the
relief of Bazaine by a wide turning movement to the
north, beyond the right flank of the German armies.
The tidings were confirmed ; the next day those armies,
with extraordinary alacrity and deftness, changed front
to the right and moved northward with strenuous
swiftness to thwart MacMahon's enterprise.
On the 27th the Marshal's headquarters were at La
Chesne. The German cavalry were pressing on his
flank all along the space between the Aisne and the
Meuse — too well he knew that the German infantry
were swiftly following the German horse. He had the
clear consciousness that he was marching towards ' that
disaster which he wished to avoid.' He therefore took
the wise resolution to abandon an impossible under
taking and to retreat on Mezieres ; and he promptly
telegraphed to Paris his determination, giving his
sound and cogent reasons. The Ministry were obsti
nate in their ignorant and headstrong folly. To the
Emperor came the blunt message: 'If you leave Ba
zaine in the lurch there will be a revolution in Paris,
and you and the army will be attacked by the united
force of the enemy.' The message to the Marshal came
in the shape of a peremptory order from Palikao : ' I

FROM SAARBRUCKEN TO SEDAN 303
require you to march to the relief of Marshal Bazaine
by utilising the thirty hours' start you have over the
Crown Prince of Prussia ; the dynasty is lost and all
of us with it, unless you obey the demands of the
inhabitants of Paris.' The Emperor besought the
Marshal not to march on sure ruin, pointing out that
since the despatches of a Minister were not orders he
was free to act on his own judgment. But MacMahon
was what is known as a ' duty soldier,' and he held
himself bound to obey the requisition laid upon him.
The rearward march, already in progress, was counter
manded ; the troops had to retrace their steps along
roads sodden with deluges of rain ; and weary, foodless,
and disheartened, they did not reach their destination
until late on the 28th — some, indeed, not until the
following morning.
All MacMahon's energies were now concentrated
on reaching the right bank of the Meuse by the
bridges of Mouzon, Villers, and Remilly, and this he
actually accomplished by the evening of the 30th. His
personal exertions fought hard with the inertia into
which his army had fallen. He failed, however, to con
quer Failly's lassitude ; that feat remained for the Ger
mans. At noon of the 30th Failly's corps was taking
things easy in a valley near Beaumont, when a Prussian
division ' announced its proximity by its cannon-fire.'
The French sprang to arms and fought with great
impetuosity. In all the fierce war there were few
struggles more fierce than this ' Battle of Beaumont.'
Overpowered by numbers de Failly's corps, contesting
every step, was at length compelled, shattered, and
dispersed, to fly in rout across the Mouzon bridge, its

304 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
flight covered by the heroic devotion of a regiment of
Beville's cuirassiers. The French loss in the battle of
Beaumont was 1,800 killed and wounded besides 3,000
prisoners ; the Germans had won their victory at the
cost of 3,500 killed and wounded.
On the late afternoon of the 30th the Emperor and
the Marshal were on the heights of Mouzon with the
12th Corps. News came that the 5th Corps was re
tiring on Mouzon. The Marshal then said to the
Emperor that all the army would soon have crossed to
the right bank of the Meuse. He himself would not
leave Mouzon until the operation was completed, but
he suggested to the Emperor that since all was going
well he should repair to Carignan, where the ist Corps
must have already arrived, and where the headquarters
would be established. So little idea had the Emperor
of the dangerous plight of the army or of the magni
tude of the defeat of Beaumont, that he sent to the
Empress the following telegram, the last he despatched:
' An engagement took place to-day, but not of any
great moment.' Scarcely an hour later General Ducrot
brought him very alarming tidings. The 5th Corps
had been driven back in disorder and the enemy in
great force were close at hand. At Ducrot's pressing
solicitation the Emperor consented to go to Sedan by
railway, and he and his staff arrived at the station of
that town at about midnight. The Sedan station was
half a mile from the town and the Emperor had to
tramp through the mud to the Torcy Gate, where he
was delayed some time by civilian sentries before he
was allowed to enter the town. Finally, long after
midnight, he found his way to the sub-prefecture,

FROM SAARBRUCKEN TO SEDAN 305
weary, ill, and depressed. MacMahon urged Napoleon
to re-embark in the train and proceed to Mezieres;
the latter, however, refused to quit Sedan. The same
night General Vinoy with the advance of his corps
reached Mezieres. His movement was delayed for
some hours, because a train destined for Avesnes
carrying the Prince Imperial, ' his baggage, his escort
and his suite,' blocked the way of Vinoy and his
division to Mezieres.
MacMahon had been present throughout the fighting
of the 30th, always in the front as his manner was.
The defeat of the day and the attitude of the enemy
made it necessary to abandon finally a movement in
the direction of Metz. He might accept a battle in the
strong position of Mouzon ; yes, but he recognised that
if he fought and was beaten the only resource was a
retreat across the Belgian frontier and resultant dis
armament. He remained long in doubt. ' I do not
know what I shall do,' he said after sundown to
Ducrot's aide-de-camp; 'in any case the Emperor
should be sent at once to Sedan.' Sitting later by a
bivouac fire, he called to him General Lebrun com
manding the 12th Corps and bade him retreat with his
command on Sedan. ' We have had a bad time,' said
the Marshal, 'but the situation is not hopeless. The
German army before us cannot exceed 70,000 or 80,000
men. If they attack us, so much the better ; no doubt
we shall be able to throw them into the Meuse.' Then
the anxious sleepless man rode away, issuing to his
forces as he passed the order to concentrate on Sedan.
To Palikao he sent the laconic telegram, ' Marshal
MacMahon informs the Minister that he is compelled

306 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
to retreat on Sedan.' No further word — the Marshal's
temper had reached the end of its tether.
By the morning of the 31st three of MacMahon's
corps had reached the vicinity of Sedan after a strag
gling and chaotic night march ; the ist Corps did not
arrive until the afternoon, having been charged with
the duty of covering the retreat. MacMahon, had he
but realised the situation, had brought hir army into
a veritable trap, the only hope of extrica ion from
which was by a march towards Mezieres in the early
morning of the 31st along the narrow wooded space
between the Belgian frontier and the head of the great
bend of the Meuse below Sedan. But throughout the
31st the unfortunate commander still pondered and
hesitated. About midday he expressed his resolve to
march on Mezieres, and stated his belief that he could
crush any opposition in that direction ; yet 1 1 four
p. m. he informed Ducrot that he had ' no intention ' of
going to Mezieres at all. To Felix Douay command
ing the 7th Corps, who evinced anxiety about the key-
point of the defensive position, MacMahon expressed
himself : ' But I do not wish to shut myself up in lines ;
I desire to be free to manoeuvre.' ' M. le Marechal,' was
Douay's grim answer, ' to-morrow the enemy will not
leave you time to manoeuvre.' MacMahon spent hours
watching gloomily from the citadel the ominous con
centric advance of the enemy. Everything seemed to
go against him. In the Sedan railway station there
was a provision train containing 800,000 rations ; some
hostile shells fell close by and the station-master in a
flurry despatched the train to Mezieres. It carried a
company of engineers to blow up the bridge at Vilette ;

iliJtlfiA:r

ft chaitmomt'
A ^PorcieR
V H
SePoinrpitrt j!

SEDAN AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD

FROM SAARBRUCKEN TO SEDAN 307
the engineers were duly dropped, but the train carried
away with it the explosives and implements.
The situation was curiously bewildering. Mac
Mahon's army took up positions as for a defensive
battle, the ist and 12th Corps on the heights behind
the Givonne valley and facing eastward, the 7th Corps
fronting to the north-west from Illy to Floing, the
cavalry and the shattered 5th Corps in reserve in the
' old camp.' But no orders for the morrow were issued,
and the night passed without any expression of a deci
sion on the pait of the Commander-in-Chief. ' The
truth is,' said MacMahon before the Parliamentary
Commission of 1872, 'that I did not think of fighting
a battle on the ground we occupied . . . and I did not
yet know on which side I ought to effect my retreat.'
While he yet vacillated the enemy forced his hand.
Pit has been said that when the Emperor reached
Sedan at midnight of the 30th, it was suggested to him
that he should forthwith continue his journey by rail
to Mezieres, where he would find the 1 3th Corps with
which he might return to Paris. But Napoleon refused
this proposal, since his departure on the eve of a great
battle might tend to dispirit the troops. He declared
himself firmly resolved to share the dangers and des
tiny of the army, whatever they might be. On the
31st he issued the following proclamation to the army,
which, however, was but partially circulated :
' Soldiers ! As the commencement of the war was
not fortunate, I wished to hand over the chief com
mands of the armies to such of the Marshals as public
opinion might designate. Hitherto success has not
crowned your efforts ; nevertheless I understand that

308 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
Marshal Bazaine's army has re-established itself under
the walls of Metz, and that that of Marshal MacMahon
has suffered but comparatively little yesterday. There
is, therefore, no ground for despondency. We have
prevented the enemy from advancing on the capital
and the whole of France is rising in arms to hurl back
the invader. Under these difficult circumstances, see
ing that the Empress takes my place so worthily at
Paris, I have preferred the position of a soldier to that
of a Sovereign. No sacrifice shall be too great for me
in order to save our country. It still, thank God, pos
sesses brave men ; and if cowards should be found mili
tary law and public opinion will render justice on them.
' Soldiers ! prove yourselves worthy of your ancient
renown. God will not desert France if each of us only
does his duty ! ' y
f Those were the last words addressed by the Emperor
Napoleon to the French army ; their uncertain, con
tradictory, and dispirited tone was not calculated to
raise the self-confidence of the army, or to inflame the
fighting spirit of the soldiers.
General Wimpffen, who was the senior General of
the French army on active service, had been sum
moned from Algeria to Paris by the Minister of War
in order to supersede de Failly in the command of the
5 th Corps, and he reached the capital on August 28.
Wimpffen was a man of great self-confidence. Palikao
told him that ' MacMahon fell in too easily with the
suggestions of the Emperor ; that his Majesty was in
a false position and caused the greatest embarrass
ment.' ' Send me to the army,' replied Wimpffen.
' I shall impart the requisite boldness and decision.'

FROM SAARBRUCKEN TO SEDAN 309
With a letter in his pocket authorising him to succeed
MacMahon should any accident befall the Marshal, he
reached Sedan on the night of the 30th, to find the
troops in utter disorganisation. As evidence of the
disorder he found on the march three regiments be
longing to as many corps, some cavalry and several
hundred men of the ist Corps who were under the
command of a non-combatant officer. A similar con
fusion everywhere prevailed, and hungry and weary
soldiers fell asleep as they dropped on the sodden
ground. Wimpffen led them during the night to
Sedan. Presenting himself to the Marshal on the
morning of the 31st he was received by MacMahon
very coldly, and by the Emperor with tears in his eyes
and in great grief at the precarious position of the army;
but neither of the two told him how things actually
stood nor informed him regarding the plans for the
future. The orders for his assumption of command
not having been issued, he informally intimated to
General de Failly that he had come to succeed him in
the command of the 5th Corps, to which he presented
himself as its new Commander and bivouacked for the
night on the ground in its midst. Wimpffen's later
course of action will presently be detailed. In his
subsequent report to the War Minister he wrote very
tersely : ' I came, I saw, and I was beaten.'

3io LIFE OF NAPOLEON III

CHAPTER XV
THE CATASTROPHE OF SEDAN
Through the dense mist of the early morning of Sep
tember i the Bavarians advanced to the attack of
Bazeilles. The wakeful Lebrun aroused his soldiers
from their bivouacs and sent a message to MacMahon
that his troops were already in action, a message which
the Marshal received about five a.m. He mounted his
ready-saddled horse, rode out to Bazeilles, saw that the
defence there was being stoutly maintained, and then
bent leftward on to the high ground overlooking the
village of La Moncelle. As he sat on his horse there
about half-past six, trying to penetrate the haze which
enwrapped the valley, the fragment of a shell struck
him on the thigh. He dismounted, fainted for a few
moments, and then, rallying his strength, found the
wound severe. He nominated Ducrot as his successor
in the chief command, and was then carried in an am
bulance to the sub-prefecture in the town. On the
way the Emperor, riding out to the field of battle, met
the wounded Marshal and spoke to him some words of
earnest sympathy. Later in the disastrous day they
had a long interview, the Emperor seated by the
Marshal's pallet. After the capitulation of the army
of Chalons King William gave permission that the

THE CATASTROPHE OF SEDAN 311
wounded Marshal should be removed from the noise
and squalor of Sedan to the Chateau of Pouru-aux-
Bois in the Ardennes to the eastward of the town.
On his recovery MacMahon shared the captivity of his
army in Germany, and returned to Paris in time to
conduct the extermination of the Commune.
About eight o'clock, in virtue of the Marshal's nom
ination Ducrot was exercising command and ordering-
a retreat on Mezieres, which, if it had been promptly
and resolutely carried out, might have temporarily
saved at least a portion of the French army. The Em
peror, who had ridden from near Bazeilles to the height
of La Moncelle and had inspected the positions there
under a very heavy fire, returned from thence to Balan.
Here he remarked with great surprise the sudden re
trograde movement of the troops which he had seen
shortly before perfectly steady and occupying strong
positions. He sent a message to Ducrot desiring to
know what was meant by this retirement, adding that
he had no intention of interfering with the General's
dispositions in the chief command. Ducrot sent the
reply : ' The enemy is only amusing us at Bazeilles ;
the real battle will be fought about Illy. I am there
fore withdrawing the troops in good order, with the
object of concentrating the army for the march towards
Mezieres.' The Emperor, whether satisfied or not with
this explanation, remained faithful to his principle of
non-interference, and allowed General Ducrot to carry
out his own project. But presently General Wimpffen
produced his commission from Palikao; and Ducrot,
although for the moment indignant at his sudden su
persession, was probably not very sorry to be relieved

312 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
from a situation so complicated. Wimpffen counter
manded the movement in the Mezieres direction in
favour of a hopeless attempt to break out to the east
ward towards Carignan. Ducrot accepted the com
mands of the new Commander-in-Chief, and in ac
cordance with the orders of the latter the 12th and
ist Corps reoccupied their original positions on the
eastward front between nine and ten a.m. Shortly
afterwards Wimpffen casually met the Emperor at
Balan. His Majesty was by no means pleased at the
sudden unexpected change in the Command-in-Chief,
of which he had previously no intimation. He at
tempted to move Wimpffen from his purpose, but in
vain. ' Your Majesty may be quite at ease,' said
Wimpffen ; ' within two hours I shall have driven
your enemies into the Meuse.'
While the new Commander-in-Chief of the French
Army was thus abandoning himself to illusions, the
German troops were soon to surround the hapless
bodies which were becoming more and more disorgan
ised as the minutes passed. The Emperor had been
under heavy fire soon after quitting the fortress in the
early morning, but the heaviest fire was in the vicinity
qf Balan. He left his escort and most of his aides-de
camp with a battalion of chasseurs screened by a wall,
and went forward followed by four of his officers. Two
of those, General de Courson and Captain de Treces-
son, fell wounded close beside their master ; a third
officer, Captain Hendecourt, was killed while carrying
a message from the Emperor to General Ducrot. At
ten o'clock the Emperor dismounted, and slowly,
silently, and unmoved, walked to and fro under a hail

THE CATASTROPHE OF SEDAN 313
of fire. Shells burst close to him and covered him
with dirt and smoke. But he remained unhurt, and
after having maintained his situation for several hours
near the south-eastern angle of the defensive position,
he rode towards the heights of Givonne. Arrived
near the old entrenched camp he found it impossible
to advance farther, because of the roads crowded with
wounded and fugitives. Despairing of the possibility
of gaining the heights of Illy, he decided to enter the
town in order to confer with the wounded Marshal.
On his way to Sedan the Emperor was compelled to
force his way through bodies of fugitive troops who
were thronging towards the fortress in straggling
crowds. Shells were falling thus early in the streets
of the town ; just as the Emperor entered Sedan a
shell exploded within a few yards of him, killing two
horses. By this time he was much exhausted, and he
was racked with the pain of the ailment which con
stantly tortured him. He reached the sub-prefecture,
had a conversation with the Marshal, and would have
remounted and ridden out again, but found the block
in the streets so dense that he had to relinquish his
purpose and remain in the sub-prefecture.
When the Emperor returned into Sedan is not to
be precisely ascertained ; nor, except inferentially,
at what hour he first directed the white flag to be
hoisted. No person avowed himself executant of that
order, but the flag did not long fly ; it was indignantly
cut down according to common belief by General
Faure, MacMahon's Chief-of-Staff, who did not give
himself the trouble to communicate with Napoleon
either before or after taking this considerable liberty.

314 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
Soon after two o'clock Wimpffen communicated to
the Emperor his determination to force his way out,
and appealed to his Majesty in writing to 'place him
self in the midst of his troops, who could be relied
on to force a passage through the German lines.'
Wimpffen waited an hour in vain for an answer ; then,
with the utmost difficulty he got together some 5,000
men whom in the first instance he led towards the
heights of Givonne; but his attack was beaten off
after half an hour's sharp fighting, and the last resist
ance of the French on this' part of the field of battle
was thus completely broken.
How anxious was the Emperor that a capitulation
should be speedily effected ; how obstinate was
Wimpffen that there should be no capitulation, but
resistance to the bitter end, is shown in the testimony
of Lebrun and Ducrot. ' Why does this useless strug
gle still go on ? ' demanded Napoleon of Lebrun, who
a little before three p. m. entered his apartment in the
sub-prefecture ; ' an hour and more ago I bade the white
flag to be displayed as a request for an armistice.'
Lebrun explained that to sue for an armistice a letter
had to be signed by the Commander-in-Chief and
despatched by an officer with a trumpeter and a flag of
truce. Having duly procured the proper accessories
Lebrun went forth to where Wimpffen was gathering
troops for an attack on the Germans in Balan. As
Lebrun approached, the angry Wimpffen shouted:
' No capitulation ! Drop that rag ! I mean to fight
on ! ' and forthwith he sat out towards Balan carrying
Lebrun with him into the fight.
Ducrot had been fighting hard about Illy and the

THE CATASTROPHE OF SEDAN 315
upper part of the Bois de Garennes ; but recognising
that his efforts afforded no hope of success, he deter
mined to pass through Sedan and join in an attempt
to cut a way with Wimpffen towards Carignan and
Montmedy. He had not even a corporal's escort, but
he sent word to Wimpffen by the latter's orderly that he
would enter Sedan and attempt to collect some troops
in support of Wimpffen's efforts. What Ducrot saw
in Sedan may be told nearly in his own words. The
state of the interior of Sedan he characterised as in
describable. The streets, the open places, the gates,
were blocked up by waggons, guns, and the impedi
menta and debris of a routed army. Bands of soldiers
without arms, without packs, were rushing about,
throwing themselves into the churches, or breaking
into private houses. Many unfortunates were tram
pled under foot. The few soldiers still preserving a
remnant of energy were spending it in abuse and
curses. 'We have been betrayed!' they cried. 'We
have been sold by traitors and cowards ! ' There
was really nothing to be done with such men, and
Ducrot repaired to the Emperor in the sub-pre
fecture. Ducrot writes as follows:
' Napoleon no longer preserved that cold and im
penetrable countenance so familiar to the world. The
silence which reigned in the presence of the Sovereign
rendered the noise more startling. The air was on
fire. Shells fell on roofs and struck masses of masonry
which crashed down upon the pavements. " I do not
understand," said the bewildered Emperor, "why the
enemy continues his fire. I have ordered the white
flag to be hoisted. I hope to obtain an interview with

316 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
the King of Prussia and may succeed in obtaining ad
vantageous terms for the army." ' While the Emperor
and General Ducrot were conversing the cannonade
increased in violence from minute to minute. Women
were wounded and children were destroyed. The sub-
prefecture was struck ; shells exploded every minute in
garden and courtyard. ' It is absolutely necessary to
stop the firing ! ' exclaimed the Emperor. ' Here, write
this ! ' he commanded General Ducrot : " The flag of
truce having been displayed, negotiations are about
to be opened with the enemy. Firing must cease all
along the line." ' Then said the Emperor, ' Now sign
it ! ' ' Oh, no, Sire,' replied General Ducrot, ' I cannot
sign ; General Wimpffen *is General-in-Chief.' ' Yes,'
replied the Emperor, ' but I don't know where General
Wimpffen is to be found. Some one must sign.'
' Let his Chief-of-Staff sign,' suggested General Ducrot,
'or General Douay.' 'Yes,' replied the Emperor, 'let
the Chief-of-Staff sign the order ! '
The subsequent history of this order cannot be
traced, nor, indeed, whether it ever got signed at all.
Wimpffen had ridden back from the front on the
double errand of procuring reinforcements and of
trying to prevail on the Emperor to join him in his
forlorn-hope attempt to break out. ' About four
o'clock,' wrote Wimpffen, ' I reached the gate of
Sedan. There at last came to me M. Pierron of the
Imperial Staff, who handed me a letter from his
Majesty, telling me also that the white flag was flying
from the citadel of Sedan and that I was charged with
the task of negotiating with the enemy. . . . Not
recognising the Emperor's right to order the hoisting

THE CATASTROPHE OF SEDAN 317
of the flag, I replied, " I will not take cognisance of
this letter; I refuse to negotiate ! " . . . Having gath
ered in the town about 2,000 men, at the head of this
gallant handful I succeeded about five o'clock in pene
trating as far as the church of Balan ; but the rein
forcements I hoped for did not arrive and I then gave
the order to retire on Sedan.'
On his return to the fortress Wimpffen forwarded
his resignation to the Emperor, who then attempted
in vain to persuade first Ducrot and then Douay to
assume the command. Wimpffen was finally sent for;
and, in the presence of the Emperor, a violent alterca
tion occurred between him and Ducrot, in the course
of which blows were actually exchanged. Ducrot, who
was the more excited, withdrew ; and in the words of
the Emperor, ' General Wimpffen, after having twice
obstinately refused to obey the Emperor's command to
treat with the enemy, was brought to understand that
having commanded during the battle, his duty obliged
him not to desert his post in circumstances so critical.'
Wimpffen would have been quite justified in persist
ing in not resigning. The situation had been a purely
military one and he was Commander-in-Chief; yet the
Emperor, who had no military position whatsoever,
had overridden Wimpffen's powers while as yet that
officer was in supreme command.
From the hill-top of Marfee the Prussian monarch
and his staff had been watching the course of the
battle ever since the early morning. As the great
ring of German soldiers was gradually closing in upon
the environed French army, a last desperate effort was
made to arrest the progress of the Teuton adversaries

318 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
and to break their lines by a great charge of cavalry.
General Margueritte was ordered to advance with his
reserve cavalry division by echelons eastward of Floing,
crush everything in his front, and then, wheeling to
the right, roll up the enemy's line. The 2nd Reserve
Cavalry division, consisting of the four cuirassier regi
ments commanded by General Bonnemain, was to
follow up Margueritte's charge ; and several regiments
of divisional cavalry commanded by General Salignac
Fenelon were also brought forward to take part in this
great cavalry attack.
Margueritte having ridden forward to reconnoitre
the ground in his front was severely wounded and was
carried to the rear. Colonel Beaufremont was then
the senior officer, and therefore assumed the command
which Margueritte had perforce vacated. Gallifet's
claim to have succeeded Margueritte in the command
is wholly untenable ; he commanded in the charge
merely his own regiment. The whole of the French
cavalry, with Salignac Fenelon's lancers in the front,
swooped down upon the enemy like a hurricane and
broke through the line of Prussian skirmishers, but
were received by the deployed battalions with a point-
blank fire so murderous that the French squadrons
were actually mowed down. The divisions of Mar
gueritte and Bonnemain renewed their attacks thrice
with the greatest gallantry and devotion ; but they were
met with a fire so withering that heaps of killed and
wounded men and horses were actually piled up in
front of the Prussian lines.
As the afternoon drew on the French defeat was
decisively apparent, yet, although the fierceness of the

THE CATASTROPHE OF SEDAN 319
fighting waned, the now surrounded army remained
heroically stubborn in its resistance to inevitable fate ;
and so its final death-throe had to be artistically
quickened up. In the stern language of the German
'Official History' 'a powerful artillery fire directed
against the enemy's last point of refuge appeared the
most suitable method of convincing him of the hope
lessness of his situation and of inducing him to sur
render. With intent to hasten the capitulation and
thus spare the German army further sacrifices, the
King ordered the whole available artillery to concen
trate its fire on Sedan.' This command, so states the
'Staff History,' was issued at four p.m., and was
promptly acted on. Results of the reinforced and
concentrated shell fire were soon manifested. Sedan
seemed in flames. The French return fire, gallantly
maintained for a short time, was presently crushed
into silence. At this moment the white flag was
definitely displayed on the citadel flagstaff, and the
German fire at once ceased. As the bruit of impend
ing negotiations spread, hostilities ceased everywhere
save about Balan, where the contumacious Whimpffen
was still battling to no purpose. The white flag being
visible, the King directed two officers of his Staff,
Colonel Bronsart von Schellendorf and Captain von
Winterfeld, to proceed to Sedan under a flag of truce
and summon the French Commander-in-Chief to sur
render his army and the fortress. The Prussian officers
penetrated into the city and duly announced the char
acter of their mission ; but to Bronsart's surprise he was
ushered into the presence of the Emperor Napoleon,
of whose presence in Sedan the German headquarters

320 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
had not been aware. In reply to Bronsart's application
for a French officer of rank to be appointed to nego
tiate, the Emperor simply informed him that the
Commander-in-Chief of the French Army was General
Wimpffen. This answer his Majesty desired Bronsart
to take back to the King; and to intimate that he
would soon send out his aide-de-camp, General Count
Reille, with a letter from himself to the Prussian
monarch. Bronsart came back trotting hard up the hill to the
Prussian headquarters. As he approached he spurred
his horse into a gallop, and pointing backwards
towards Sedan exclaimed in a loud voice: ' Der Kaiser
ist da ' ; at which there was a loud outburst of cheer
ing. It was about half an hour later, the time a quar
ter to seven, when the French officer, Count Reille,
rode up the hill at a walking pace, with a trooper in
advance carrying a flag of truce and with an escort of
Prussian cuirassiers. He dismounted, approached the
King, and with a silent reverence handed to his Ma
jesty the Emperor's letter. While the King, Bis
marck, and Moltke conversed earnestly apart, the
Crown Prince, with that gracious tact which was one
of the most charming traits of his noble character,
entered into affable conversation with poor forlorn
Reille, standing out there among the stubbles. Bis
marck gave instructions to Count Hatzfeldt of the For
eign Office to draft the King's answer to the letter of
the French Emperor. Sitting on a chair, the King used
as his writing-desk the seat of another chair held up by
Major von Alten, while he indited his reply to Napoleon.
The following is the Emperor's letter to the King :

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THE LETl'ER OF SURRENDER

THE CATASTROPHE OF SEDAN 321
' Sire, my Brother, — Not having been able to die
in the midst of my troops, there is nothing left me but
to render my sword into the hands of your Majesty.
I am your Majesty's good brother, ' Napoleon.'
King William's reply was as follows :
1 My Brother, — While regretting the circumstances
in which we meet, I accept your Majesty's sword, and
request that you will appoint one of your officers
furnished with the necessary powers to treat for the
capitulation of the army which has fought so valiantly
under your command. I, for my part, have appointed
General von Moltke to this duty.
' Your loving brother, ' Wilhelm.'
Reille rode back into Sedan with the King's reply
to the Emperor's letter, and as he rode down the
Marfee hill the astounding purport of his visit ran
from lip to lip through the exulting army, which now
hoped that after this colossal success the days of
ceaseless marching and fighting would now promptly
end. Soon after seven p. m. his Prussian Majesty and
his suite started on the journey back to Vendresse,
where were the Royal headquarters. Bismarck and
Moltke rode into Donchery, there to take part in the
conference for settling the terms of the capitulation,
and the Marfee hill-top was deserted.
After supping in the Donchery hotel on a tough
beefsteak and a bottle of Donchery champagne, Bis
marck about midnight joined Moltke, whom the King
had designated to treat for the capitulation of the

322 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
French army. That was a strange conference which
was held in the still watches of the night in a salon of
a house on the outskirts of the little town. Wimpffen
verified his powers, and presented to Moltke the
French Generals Faure and Castelnau. Moltke intro
duced Count Bismarck and General Blumenthal to the
French Commander-in-Chief. On one side of the
table sat Moltke in the centre, with Bismarck on his
left and Blumenthal on his right. On the opposite side
was Wimpffen by himself; behind him, somewhat
in shadow, stood Faure, Castelnau (who specially
represented the Emperor), and a few other French
officers. Moltke sat silent and impassive ; and after
an embarrassing pause Wimpffen asked what were the
conditions vvhich the Prussian King was prepared to
accord. ' They are very simple,' replied Moltke, ' the
whole French army to surrender with arms and be
longings ; the officers to retain their arms but to be
prisoners of war along with their men.' Wimpffen
scouted those terms, and demanded for his army that
it should be permitted to withdraw with arms, equip
ment, and colours, on condition of not serving while
the war lasted. Moltke adhered inexorably to the
conditions which he had specified, and was adamant
to the pleading of the Frenchman. Losing temper
the latter exclaimed, ' I cannot accept the terms you
impose; I will appeal to the honour and heroism of
my army, and will cut my way out or stand on the
defence at Sedan.'
Moltke's reply was crushing. 'A sortie and the
defensive,' he quietly remarked, ' are equally impossi
ble. The mass of your infantry is demoralised; we

THE CATASTROPHE OF SEDAN 323
took to-day more than twenty thousand unwounded
prisoners, and your whole force is not now more than
eighty thousand strong. You cannot pierce our lines,
for I have surrounding you two hundred and forty
thousand men with five hundred guns in position to
fire on Sedan ; you cannot maintain your defensive
there because you have not provisions for forty-eight
hours and your ammunition is exhausted. If you de
sire I will send one of your officers round our posi
tions, who will satisfy you as to the accuracy of my
statements.' Wimpffen declined this offer; and when
assured that there could be no mitigation of the terms
he exclaimed, ' Then it is equally impossible for me to
sign such a stipulation ; we will renew the battle ! '
Moltke's quiet curt answer was: 'The armistice
expires at four a. m. At that hour to the moment, I
shall open fire.'
There was nothing more to be said. The French
officers sent for their horses. Meanwhile not a word
was spoken ; in the words of the reporter, ' Ce silence
etait glacial' It was broken by Bismarck, who urged
Wimpffen not to break off the conference in a moment
of pique. The French General represented that he
alone could not incur the responsibility of a decision ;
that it was necessary that he should consult his col
leagues ; that the final answer could not be made by
four a. m. ; and that a prolongation of the armistice
was indispensable. After a short colloquy in low tones
between Bismarck and Moltke, the latter gave his con
sent that the truce should be extended to nine a. m. ;
whereupon Wimpffen quitted Donchery and rode back
to Sedan. He went straight to the bedside of the

324 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
Emperor, who, having been informed of the German
conditions, said, ' I shall start at five o'clock for the
King's headquarters and entreat him to grant more
favourable conditions.'
Napoleon acted on his resolution. Expecting that
he would be allowed to return to Sedan, he bade no
farewells. As he passed through the Torcy gate be
fore six o'clock the Zouaves on duty there cried ' Vive
I'Empereur! ' ' the last adieu which fell upon his ears
from the voices of French soldiers.' The open carriage
in which, with two officers with him and three more
on horseback behind him, the Emperor sat in the un
dress uniform of a general officer and smoking a cigar
ette, travelled towards Donchery at a leisurely pace.
At a hamlet about a mile from Donchery there was a
halt of considerable length while General Reille went
on to Donchery, to intimate to Bismarck that the
Emperor had left Sedan and was desirous of meeting
him. Reille had scarcely turned his horse away from
Bismarck's quarters in the little square of Donchery,
when the Chancellor, in cap and undress uniform, his
long cuirassier boots stained and dusty, came out,
swung himself on to his big bay horse, and rode away
on Reille's track. He crossed the bridge at a walk
and kept that pace for a little distance on the road to
Sedan, but presently broke into a sharp canter. About
a mile short of Sedan, near the village of Frenois, he
met an open carriage, on the right hand of the princi
pal seat of which there leant back a man of impassive
features. Bismarck dismounted, letting his horse go,
and drawing near on foot uncovered his head and
bowed low. The man to whom he spoke — the man

THE CATASTROPHE OF SEDAN 325
with the leaden-coloured face, the gaunt-eyed man
with the dishevelled moustache and the weary stoop
of the shoulders — was none other than Napoleon the
Third and last.
The Emperor wore a dark-blue cloak with scarlet
lining thrown back and disclosing the decorations on
the breast of his coat. The cortege moved on a few
hundred yards in the direction of Donchery, when the
Emperor, who seemed to be suffering, desired of Bis
marck that he should be allowed to remain in the
adjacent wayside cottage until he should have an in
terview with the King. A few minutes after seven
the Emperor and Bismarck ascended to the upper
floor of the cottage. They remained there until twenty
minutes past seven. Bismarck, remarking that the
room was not clean, ordered two chairs to be brought
out to the front of the cottage : the two then sat down
facing the road, the Emperor on the right, and an
outdoor conversation began which lasted about three-
quarters of an hour. As they sat, Napoleon occa
sionally smiled faintly and made a remark ; but clearly
Bismarck was doing most of the talking. Soon after
eight o'clock Bismarck quitted the Emperor for a time,
going to his Donchery quarters for breakfast and to
dress. Madame Fournaise, the wife of the weaver whose
cottage was occupied for a short time by the two most
conspicuous men in Europe, has left — she died sev
eral years ago — some interesting recollections of this
eventful morning. The Emperor, she said, alighted,
and came up her narrow staircase. To reach the inner
room he had to pass through her bedroom, where she

326 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
had just risen. The furniture of the inner room con
sisted of two straw-bottomed chairs, a round table, and
a press. Bismarck, ' in a rough dress,' presently joined
the Emperor, and for a quarter of an hour, said Madame
Fournaise, they talked in low tones, of which she, re
maining in the outer room, occasionally caught a
word. Then Bismarck came clattering out — ' II avait
une tres mauvaise mine.' She warned him of the
breakneck stairs, but he ' sprang down them like a
man of twenty,' mounted his horse and rode away
towards Donchery. When she entered the room in
which the Emperor remained, she found him seated
at the little table with his face buried in his hands.
'Can I do anything for your Majesty?' she asked.
' Only to pull down the blinds,' was Napoleon's reply,
without lifting his head. In about an hour Bismarck
returned in full uniform ; he preceded the Emperor
down the stairs, facing towards him as if to ' usher
him with a certain honour.' On the threshold the
Emperor gave Madame Fournaise four twenty-franc
pieces — ' he put them into my own hand ' ; and he
said plaintively, ' This probably is the last hospitality
which I shall receive in France.' With a kindly word
of farewell, ' which I shall never forget,' the Emperor
quitted the poor house in which he had suffered so
much unhappiness. The Emperor's gift of the four
twenty-franc pieces, Madame Fournaise, poor though
she was, would never part with. Three of the coins
bore the visage of Louis Philippe ; the fourth was a
Napoleon. When near her end she directed the three
' Louis Philippes ' to be expended in defraying her
funeral expenses ; the ' Napoleon ' was interred with

THE CATASTROPHE OF SEDAN 327
her as her last behest, in the grave of the woman who
had given to the unfortunate Emperor ' the last hospi
tality he received in France.'
Napoleon remained alone in the upstairs room of
the weaver's cottage for about half an hour after Bis
marck had left him ; then, with a face of mortal pallor,
he came out and betook himself to sauntering moodily
by himself along the path in the potato garden on the
right of the cottage, his white-gloved hands clasped
behind his back and smoking cigarette after cigarette.
His gait was curious. He limped slightly on one leg,
and he waddled in a sideways fashion, the left shoulder
forward, and his whole motion crab-like and dodder
ing. Later, he came and sat down among his officers
in front of the cottage, maintaining an almost un
broken silence while they spoke and gesticulated with
great animation.
At a quarter past nine there came from the Don
chery vicinity at a trot a troop of Prussian cuirassiers,
who promptly formed a cordon around the rear of the
cottage. The lieutenant dismounted two troopers, and
without recognising the French group or making any
semblance of salute, marched them up to behind the
Emperor's chair, halted them, shouted the order ' Draw
swords ! ' and then gave the men their orders in an
undertone. Napoleon started abruptly, glanced back
wards with a gesture of surprise, and the blood rushed
into his face — the first evidence of emotion he had
evinced. At a quarter to ten Bismarck returned, now in full
uniform. Moltke accompanied him ; but whereas Bis
marck strode forward to where the Emperor was now

328 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
standing, Moltke remained in the group gathered on
the road. Half-way to Vendresse Moltke had met the
King, who approved of the proposed terms of capitula
tion but intimated that he could not meet the Emperor
until they should have been accepted by the French
Commander-in-Chief. After speaking with the Emperor for a few moments
Bismarck ordered up the carriage, which Napoleon
presently entered; and the cortege, escorted by the
cuirassier 'guard of honour,' moved off at a walk
towards the Chateau Bellevue, which lies somewhat
nearer to Sedan than does the weaver's cottage. The
pretty residence looks out through its trees on the
broad Meuse and the plain on which stands Sedan.
The garden entrance on the first floor is reached by
a broad flight of stone steps. The Emperor was
ushered into the drawing-room in the central block,
where he remained alone after Bismarck left him. He
seemed ill and broken as he slowly ascended the steps
with drooping head and dragging limbs.
After the departure of the Emperor from Sedan
Wimpffen had summoned to a council of war the
general officers of the army of Chalons, who listened
to the unfortunate chief as in a voice broken by sobs
he recounted the terms insisted on by Moltke. Ulti
mately the council became unanimous in favour of
acceptance of the conditions. But Wimpffen, never
theless, procrastinated unaccountably hour after hour,
notwithstanding that the hostile batteries were every
where taking up menacing positions. At length an
officer whom Moltke had sent with the ultimatum
that at ten o'clock hostilities would certainly be re-

THE CATASTROPHE OF SEDAN 329
newed unless by that hour negotiations should have
been resumed, bluntly informed General Wimpffen
that he had instructions to give the order as he rode
back that the German batteries would open fire
promptly at the hour named. Under stress of this
argument Wimpffen accompanied Captain von Zingler
to the Chateau Bellevue, in the dining-room of which
soon after eleven o'clock the capitulation was signed
by Generals Moltke and Wimpffen. Then the latter
had a brief interview with his Imperial master, whom
he informed with great emotion that 'all was finished.'
' The Emperor,' in Wimpffen's own words, ' with tears
in his eyes, approached me, pressed my hand, and
embraced me. My sad and painful duty accomplished,
I rode back to Sedan, la mort dans lame'
Meanwhile the Prussian King with his son and their
respective staffs awaited on the hill above Frenois the
tidings of the completion of the capitulation. Moltke
carried the convention to his Majesty, who com
manded the momentous document to be read aloud ;
and then he himself added a few words of thanks and
acknowledgment to the German Princes and to the
army by whose valour and exertions results of so great
magnitude had been achieved. Then the great caval
cade rode down to the Chateau Bellevue. As William
alighted Napoleon came down the steps to meet him.
The contrast between the two Sovereigns was strange
and painful ; the German, tall, upright, square-shoul
dered, with the flash of success from the keen blue
eyes from under the helmet and the glow of triumph
on the fresh cheek ; the Frenchman with weary stoop
of the shoulders, his eyes drooping, his lips quivering,

330 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
bare-headed and dishevelled. As the two clasped
hands silently Napoleon's handkerchief was at his eyes,
and William's face became full of concern. Their
interview in the drawing-room of the Chateau lasted
for about twenty minutes. Then the Prussian King
rode away to greet and congratulate his victorious
soldiers. Napoleon remained in the Chateau Bellevue
until the following morning.
Sir William Fraser mentions in his 'Napoleon III.'
that he possesses the volume of ' Essais de Montaigne '
which the Emperor was reading when the Prussian
King arrived at the Chateau Bellevue. The following
passage was deeply scored by Napoleon — the previous
passage is on the immortality of the soul :
' Deux choses rendoient cette opinion plausible :
l'une, que sans l'immortalite des ames il n'y auroit plus
de quoy asservir les vaines esperances de la gloire, qui
est une consideration de merveilleux credit au monde ;
l'aultre, que c'est une tres utile impression, come diet
Platon, que les vices, quand ils se desroberont de la
veue et cognoissance de l'humaine justice, demeurent
toujours en butte a la divine, qui les poursuivra; voire
aprez la mort des coupables.'
Sir William has fallen into some errors in regard to
the Sedan period. Napoleon did not sleep in the
Chateau Bellevue on the night after the battle, but in
the bedroom in the sub-prefecture which he had occu
pied on the two previous nights. Wimpffen found
him there in the early morning of the 2nd on his return
from the Donchery conference. It was on the night
of that day that he slept in the Chateau Bellevue ; and
it was on that night, and not on the night of the ist,

THE CATASTROPHE OF SEDAN 331
that he selected from a bookcase in his bedroom Lord
Lytton's novel ' The Last of the Barons,' and read it
in bed for several hours. The book lay face down
wards on the commode at the bed-head, presumably
where the Emperor had left off reading; and it
remained there untouched for hours after Napoleon
had crossed the frontier and reached Bouillon. Not
three but four gold pieces were over the chimney-piece
in the inner room of the weaver's cottage; three were
' Louis ' and only the fourth was a ' Napoleon.' ' What
about the four twenty-franc pieces ? ' asked of Madame
Fournaise a pilgrim to Sedan — ' No doubt you have
sold them over and over again ? ' ' Oh, my God, no ! '
she exclaimed. 'Never — never! Did he not give
them to me with his own hand ? See ! the original four
are in that locked case with the glass top on the mantel
yonder. Over and over again I could have had 500
francs for the four pieces; but no money would tempt
me to sell them ! '
On the afternoon of the 2nd Napoleon was again
visible; he had come out into the little park of the
Chateau to superintend the reorganization of his train,
which had come out from Sedan in the course of the
morning. He looked very wan and weary, but still
maintained his impassive aspect. The Imperial equi
page in its magnificence, the numerous glittering and
massive fourgons, the splendid teams of draught ani
mals and the squadron of led horses, presented an
extraordinary contrast to the plain simplicity of the
King of Prussia's campaigning outfit. In gold and
scarlet the coachmen and outriders of Napoleon glit
tered profusely. He of Prussia had his postilions in

332 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
plain blue cloth, with oil-cloth covers on their hats to
keep the rain and dust off the nap. Zola, in his vivid
but often grotesquely erroneous ' Debacle,' has fallen
into strange blundering in regard to the Imperial equi
page. He thus refers to it : ' The Imperial baggage-
train had been left behind in Sedan, where it rested in
hiding behind the Sous-Prefet's lilac bushes. It puz
zled the authorities to rid themselves of what was to
them a bete noire by getting it out of the city unseen
by the famishing multitude, on which its flaunting
splendour would have produced the effect of a red rag
to a mad bull. There came at length an unusually
dark night, when horses, carriages, and baggage-wag
gons, with their silver stewpans, plate, linen, and bas
kets of fine wines, trooped out of Sedan in deepest
mystery, and shaped their course for Belgium without
beat of drum, over the least-frequented roads, like a thief
stealing away in the night.'
The Imperial train, as has been said, was massed in
the park of the Chateau Bellevue on the afternoon of
September 2. By the evening of September 3 the
capitulated French army was disarmed and enclosed
under guard on the peninsula of Iges. There remained
then in Sedan only its normal or less than normal
population, far too crushed to attempt any irregularity.
A German governor had been installed, German troops
were in garrison, and Sedan would not have dared to
remonstrate if the Imperial train had perambulated the
city in face of the population all day long.
On the morning of September 3 the Emperor and
his suite and cortege left the Chateau Bellevue in a
heavy downpour of rain, driving through- Donchery

THE CATASTROPHE OF SEDAN 333
and by Floing and Illy and across the battlefield of the
ist, and past the frontier to Bouillon in Belgium, en
route for Wilhelmshbhe in Cassel. At Verviers on the
morning of the 5th Napoleon learned from a news
paper sold to him by a newsboy on the railway plat
form that he was no longer a Sovereign. Accompanied
by General Boyer, an aide-de-camp of King William,
he reached Wilhelmshbhe the same afternoon.

334 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III

CHAPTER XVI
THE ENDING OF THE CAREER
The Prussian King during his interview with Napo
leon in the Chateau Bellevue on September 2 gave
permission to the latter to despatch to the Empress in
Paris a telegram in cypher. It was very brief. ' The
army of Chalons has surrendered en masse' so it ran ;
' and I am a prisoner of war.' This was the earliest
authentic message which reached Paris. The Palace
of Wilhelmshbhe, which was to be Napoleon's luxuri
ous place of detention for several months after his
ruin on the field of Sedan, had belonged to King
Jerome, the uncle of the Emperor, who when quite
an infant had visited it with his mother Queen Hor
tense. It had now become the property of the Grand
Duke of Hesse. In the picture gallery of the Palace
Napoleon recognised the portrait of Hortense, painted
when in full glow of her youth and beauty.
The first public act of the Emperor during his cap
tivity was to write the following letter to General
Wimpffen in reference to his official report on the
battle of Sedan. It was as follows.
' General, — I have read your official report on the
battle of Sedan. It contains two assertions which I
contradict. If I did not accede to your appeal to cut
our way out towards Carignan, it was because it was

THE ENDING OF THE CAREER 335
impracticable, as experience proved to you ; and be
cause the attempt, as I foresaw, would only sacrifice
the lives of many soldiers. I consented to hoist the
white flag only when in the opinion of all the com
manders of Army Corps further resistance had become
impossible. I cannot, therefore, have impeded your
means of action. Believe, General, in my sentiments.
' Napoleon.'
In a letter written by the Emperor to the Commis
sion of Enquiry on the conduct of the war issued in
May, 1872, he dealt as follows with questions relating
to Sedan. ' The honour of the army,' he wrote,
'having been saved by the bravery which had been
shown, I then exercised my sovereign right and gave
orders to hoist a flag of truce. I claim the entire
responsibility of that act.' No doubt, in acting as he
did on the afternoon of Sedan Napoleon was actuated
by humane motives ; but it is more than questionable
whether, when he ordered the display of the white flag,
he had any ' sovereign right ' which gave him that
power. His attribution to himself of 'sovereign right'
on that fateful afternoon was incompatible with his
statement to Bronsart that the French army was
under the command of General Wimpffen.
The monotony of the life at Wilhelmshbhe was
broken but once, when the Empress in the end of
October came to make a short visit to her suffering
husband. Her own experiences had been tragic. On
the afternoon of September 4, the day of the Revolu
tion and of the decheance, she quitted the Tuileries in
a fiacre, accompanied by Madame Lebreton, and was

336 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
driven to the house in the Avenue de I'imperatrice of
the American dentist, Dr. Evans, where she spent
the night. On the morning of the 5th the Empress
quitted Paris. After many delays Deauville was
reached the same evening. Dr. Evans prevailed on
Sir John Burgoyne to carry the Empress across the
Channel in his yacht the Gazelle, and the little vessel,
barely forty-five feet long, put out to sea in very heavy
weather at six o'clock on the morning of the 7th. In
its dog-hole of a cabin were crowded the Empress,
Madame Lebreton, Dr. Evans, and Sir John Bur
goyne, while a tempest raged for three-and- twenty
hours. At daybreak on the 8th the wind fell and the
yacht entered the harbour of Ryde. After having
rested for a short time there the Empress proceeded
to Hastings and arrived in the afternoon at the
Marine Hotel in that town, where she remained a fort
night, and where she was joined by the Prince Impe
rial, who had come from Belgium. At Hastings, a
busy watering-place, the Empress found herself in
volved in a stir and bustle which annoyed and dis
turbed her. An English friend who had known the
Emperor in other times was willing to let his mansion
of Camden House at Chislehurst, and about Septem
ber 20 the Empress took up her residence with her
son in that abode where in the years to come she was
to endure so many sorrows.
From Wilhelmshbhe Napoleon addressed his last
proclamation to the French people. It is too long for
insertion, nor is it of great interest. Referring to the
defence maintained so long and so bravely by the
Government of National Defence, he wrote : ' I found

THE ENDING OF THE CAREER 337
the Empire, which the whole nation had just acclaimed
for the third time, upset and deserted by those who
were bound to defend it. Giving truce to my natural
and just resentment, I exclaimed, " What matters the
dynasty if the country can be saved ? " And instead of
protesting against the violation of the law my prayers
were given to the national defence, and I have ad
mired the patriotic devotion which the sons of all
classes and all parties have shown.' ) The Emperor
adhered to the conviction that his favourite nostrum
of universal suffrage would redress his misfortunes and
restore the Empire. He was confident that the mil
lions of Frenchmen who had voted in his favour in
the plebiscite of May, 1870, were still the staunch sup
porters of himself and of his dynasty. But that illu
sion vanished when the tidings reached him of the
result of the Bordeaux elections during the armistice
of February-March, 1871. He uttered no complaint;
but he was overwhelmed with grief and struck to the
heart; for he truly loved the people from which the
shattering blow proceeded and which he had believed
to be true to him."? He had grown old, grey, and worn
when, his long dreary imprisonment ended, he landed
at Dover on March 20, 1871, and was warmly greeted
by a crowd of old adherents and of Britons with whom
he had always been popular. The Empress and the
Prince Imperial were there to receive him, and they
threw themselves into his arms as he stepped ashore.
He was visibly cheered by the warmth of his English
welcome. On April 15, the Queen drove to Chisle
hurst and paid him and the Empress a visit of friendly
cordiality. On August 15, his birthday — in marked

338 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
contrast to his sombre birthday of the preceding year,
Chislehurst was alive with visitors from France and
bright with floral offerings and tokens of the loyalty
of officers of the Imperial Guard. In September the
Emperor went to Torquay with his son, while the
Empress paid her mother a visit in Spain. Dem
onstrations of sympathy and regard were manifested
wherever he appeared in public, as, for instance, at a
review of the Woolwich garrison, and when he watched
the thanksgiving progress of the Prince of Wales to St.
Paul's Cathedral on his recovery from his recent illness.
This cordial welcome to the land of his old-time
exile soothed but failed to cure, the melancholy of the
life at Chislehurst. His long-standing deep-seated
ailment, which, curiously enough, he shared with old
Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, had been exacerbated by
the physical exertions of the campaign and in especial
by the long hours in the saddle which he endured in
agony on the day of Sedan. During the period of his
residence at Chislehurst he was on horseback only
three times, and on the last occasion the effect was so
deleterious that he never again mounted a horse. He
moved but seldom beyond the boundaries of the park
surrounding Camden Place. In the summer of 1872
he made some stay in the Isle of Wight, but the ben
efit was merely temporary. An intimate writes : ' The
Emperor would walk up and down the long corridor
of Camden Place with his arm on the young Prince's
shoulder, while he talked to the lad of men and things.
After the midday breakfast, at which the little Court
met for the first time in the day, he would sit in the
morning-room in his arm-chair by the wood fire and

THE ENDING OF THE CAREER 339
talk cheerfully with the Empress or with any visitors
who had come. It was but a small circle in which the
Imperial couple moved, but it was one of steadfast
friends. The Emperor talked willingly and freely of
the remote past, but he was only a listener when con
temporary politics were under discussion. If he inter
fered, it was to counsel moderation of speech or to
protest against reprisals.'
\Aboutthe beginning of July, 1870, the Emperor, at
the instance of Dr. See, had been prevailed upon to
call a consultation of the leading surgeons of Paris.
A telegram was sent to London requesting that Mr.'
Prescott- He wett, the eminent English specialist, should
come to Paris and make an examination in consultation
with the French surgeons. Mr. Prescott-Hewett, how
ever, did not see the Emperor until after the commence
ment of the campaign, either at Metz or at Chalons ;
and although the Emperor was much more fit for
an operation than a campaign he took the field. | The
mischief was progressing gradually, and at the close of
1872 the Emperor's surgical advisers agreed that opera
tive measures had become necessary. The series be
gan on Jan. 2, 1873. Two operations were performed
with a certain success, but the patient's condition was
not satisfactory, although the physicians were far from
regarding his case as hopeless. J After the second
operation performed by Sir Henry Thompson, during
which he was under the influence of an anaesthetic,
the trouble seemed of a purely local character and the
inflammation promised soon to subside. As the pain,
however, continued extremely violent, it was considered
advisable to resort to a powerful narcotic, and the Em-

340 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
peror passed the last night of his existence in a calm
ness which seemed to permit strong hopes of his
ultimate recovery. Sir Henry Thompson, Sir William
Gull, Baron Corvisart, and Dr. Conneau were to hold a
consultation on the following day (9th) at eleven a. m.;
and it was understood that a third, and probably
final, operation was to follow the consultation. At
ten twenty-five o'clock of that morning, however, Sir
Henry Thompson found that the pulse, which until
then had beat with great regularity — 80 to 84 — sud
denly became weak. He immediately discerned that
Napoleon III. had but a few minutes to live; he
apprised his colleagues, who agreed with his opinion,
and the Empress was immediately informed of the
sudden sinking. She was at once by her husband's
bedside ; but he did not seem to recognise her — he
was rapidly sinking, notwithstanding the small doses of
brandy which produced a momentary reaction. The
Empress promptly telegraphed to Woolwich for the
Prince Imperial to come with all speed, and also sent
for the Abbe Goddard, the parish priest of Chislehurst.
He arrived in a few minutes, and administered the last
sacrament to the dying man. The Empress, the Due
de Bassano, Vicomte Clary, M. Pietri, and Madame
Lebreton were kneeling by the bedside, and nothing
could be heard but the prayers of the priest and the
sobbing of those present. The religious ceremony
ended, during which the Emperor seemed to evince
some signs of consciousness, the Empress approached
the bedside and embraced her husband. The dying
Napoleon made signs that he wished to give his last
kiss to his devoted wife, heaved two faint sighs, and

THE MAUSOLEUM AT CHISLEHURST

THE ENDING OF THE CAREER 341
expired at 10.45 A-M- The young prince did not reach
Chislehurst in time to see his father before his death :
his despair at being too late was pitiable. The Em
press conducted him to the bedside of his dead father ;
he kissed the dead repeatedly, and placed on his
breast (as the Empress and the Abbe" Goddard had
previously done) a small spray of box. (The medical
men present were agreed that the death they witnessed
was the result either of a rapid failure of heart-action
or from arrest of circulation by a blood-clot.
(^The Emperor Napoleon expired at a quarter of
eleven on Jan. 9, 1873, at the age of sixty-five*/ His
last words, faintly addressed to his life-long and devoted
adherent Dr. Conneau were, ' Etiez-vous a Sedan ? '
The vicissitudes which Louis Napoleon experi
enced almost from the cradle to the grave were prob
ably all but unexampled. He was a fugitive before he
could speak articulately. In the interval between his
twentieth and his fortieth year he was a prisoner in
Strasburg, Lorient, Ham, and the Conciergerie. He
was an outlaw for more than half of his life. There
were incidents, at Strasburg and later at Boulogne,
which brought upon him the mock and jeer of
Europe. He carried a baton as a special constable
in Park Lane on Chartists' Day. Then, by a sudden
turn of fortune, he became President of the French
Republic. The Coup dEtat made him Emperor of
the French ; and thenceforth for some fifteen years
he was perhaps the most-considered man of Europe.
It was said of him that on being asked whether he
should not find it difficult to rule the French nation

342 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
he replied, ' Oh, no ! nothing is more easy. // leur
faut une guerre tous les quatre ans' This policy held
good in a modified degree. The Crimean War was
for him a success, although not precisely a triumph ;
the Italian campaign, in spite of its hard-fought vic
tories, ended abruptly in approximation to a failure.
The Mexican expedition was an utter fiasco. Yet
Napoleon might have gone on with his programme of
a war every four years but for the circumstance that
there happened to be in Europe in the middle 'Sixties
an infinitely stronger, more masterful and more ruse
man than the dreamy and decaying Napoleon. When
he and Bismarck walked along the Biarritz beach in
October, 1865, Bismarck expounding his political spec
ulations as they strolled — ' Is he mad ? ' the Emperor
whispered to Prosper Merimee on whose arm he
leant. Napoleon had very soon to recognise that
madness had no part in the character of Otto von
Bismarck. The Prussian Premier was his superior
in energy, in determination, and in finesse, and he
foiled the French Emperor at every turn. After
Sadowa Napoleon could not but have felt assured
that war between France and Prussia was inevitable
sooner or later. Yet the French army was gradually
deteriorating and its discipline and readiness for war
were becoming more and more impaired. Looseness
on the part of the higher officers occasioned careless
ness and irregularities in the lower grades and in the
rank and file. Yet the reduction of the contingent
of the year 1870 by 10,000 conscripts was held to be
justified by the Prime Minister, who said : ' The Gov
ernment has no uneasiness whatsoever; at no epoch

THE ENDING OF THE CAREER 343
was the peace of Europe more assured. Irritating
questions there are none. We have developed liberty,
in order to assure peace ; and the accord between the
nation and the Sovereign has produced a French
Sadowa — the plebiscite.' Those complacent expres
sions were uttered on July 2, 1870; before the month
was ended France and Germany were at war with
each other, and soldiers of both nations had already
fallen on the frontier.
(~ From his accession to the Throne up to the autumn
of i860 Napoleon ruled, in effect, an absolute mon
arch ; and he would have acted wisely if he had never
communicated his resolution to liberalise the Par
liamentary ground-work of the Empire. After he
made this concession to a nation which was quite
content to live under a regime of benevolent abso
lutism, he was always more or less involved in politi
cal troubles. ' Constitutional Reforms ' were simply
the vestibule to the arena of heated and venomous
political conflicts ; and the Emperor was frequently
compelled to express disappointment at the manner
in which his acts were misinterpreted. The view of
the wise and shrewd Prince Consort was that in giv
ing Constitutional Government to France the Em
peror was but turning from dreams of conquest to
visions of nationalities rehabilitated by revolutions.
While Napoleon remained physically capable, Con
stitutional Government was tempered in a measure
by the supreme sway of the Sovereign ; but about
1862 the germs of the ailment which tortured him
for the remainder of his life began to rack him.' He
was a most temperate man, but he allowed himself

344 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
freedoms in a certain way. A list of his affairs, from
La Belle Sabotiere of Ham down to and beyond
Margot Bellanger, need not be given here. During
his frequent and lengthened visits to watering-places
for the sake of his health, Constitutional Government
had a good deal its own way; and, as has been
already said, when he confided the government of
France to the responsible Ministry of which M.
Emile Ollivier was the head, he finally retired from
the direction of public affairs and resolutely restricted
himself to the duties of a Constitutional Sovereign.
With the appointment of the Ollivier Administration
the role of the Emperor as active ruler ended.
Mr. Jerrold has well remarked that to) Napoleon III.
Paris owes a great debt. ' The slums,' he states, ' lying
between the Palais Royal and the Tuileries and the
unfinished Louvre ; the unkempt and unlighted Champs
Elysees ; the waste place bordered by guinguettes about
the Arch of Triumph — such were the plague-spots
which Napoleon and Haussmann stamped out; sub
stituting for them wide boulevards and spacious streets,
flower-decked squares, markets, baths, a system of
drainage, an abundant water-supply, and paths and
gardens in every quarter. A great highway from the
Tuileries to the Place de la Bastille, was hewn through
one of the most tortuous and swarming quarters of the
capital. The Louvre was joined to the Tuileries —
alas, no longer extant; and the Place du Carrousel
was levelled and laid out. The great boulevards were
extended to the Madeleine. The Champs Elysees
were decked with shrubs and flower-beds. The Palais
de I'lndustrie was built. The Bois de Boulogne was

THE ENDING OF THE CAREER 345
made a paragon of landscape gardening, brightened
by a broad expanse of ornamental water ; and the
Tour du Lac became the fashionable ride and drive
of Paris. The Malesherbes quarter of Paris, with the
Pare Monceaux and that region of palaces round the
Arch of Triumph and flanking the beautiful avenue
now no longer named " de I'imperatrice," was laid out
and its stately structures were built over the waste
ground of the evil days of the Revolution of February.
The Tour St. Jacques springs now from the bosom of
a garden. The Hotel Dieu is no longer a disgrace to
the capital. Nor was it only in Paris that the hand
of the Imperial reformer was visible. Every city in
France became eager to follow the example of Paris.
In Marseilles, Lyons, Rouen, Amiens, Bordeaux, Tours,
considerable improvements were effected. In short,
there is not a provincial town in France which cannot
show marked amelioration, the result of the initiative
of the Imperial Government.' /
Sir William Fraser in his 'Napoleon III.' writes
with great truth that the Emperor made no imputation
of misconduct against the commanders of the army
which was defeated at Sedan, in marked contrast to
the accusations made by his great uncle after Water
loo. Even in his letter to General Wimpffen contra
dicting briefly two assertions of the latter, there is no
trace of irritation. He wrote a kindly letter to Bazaine
while the ' Army of the Rhine ' was still maintaining
itself in the Metz position, a letter which it may be
worth while to quote : —
<P My dear Marshal, — It is a real consolation to me
in my misfortunes to learn that you are near me. I

346 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
should be glad were I able by word of mouth to express
the sentiments which I feel for you and the heroic
army which under your orders has fought so many
bloody fights, and endured with constancy unheard-of
privations. Believe, my dear Marshal, in my sincere
friendship. ' Napoleon.
'Cassel, Wilhelmshohe, Oct. 13, 1870.'
Earl Cowper, reviewing the Memoirs of the Due de
Persigny in the 'Nineteenth Century,' remarks that
Persigny lays great stress upon the evils of duality in
the Imperial Council, the existence of two opposite
parties, the difficulties which time-serving Ministers
felt in choosing between the Emperor and the Empress,
and the vacillating, uncertain policy which was the
result. Persigny strongly urges that at all events the
difficulties between the Sovereign and his Consort
might be adjusted beforehand. This paper, continues
Lord Cowper, is valuable for the light it incidentally
throws upon the scenes that must have occurred, the
undignified contentions between man and wife which
scandalised the Council and brought contempt on the
Emperor and the unmixed harm which was done by a
brilliant and accomplished lady who, acting as Regent
with a full sense of responsibility and surrounded by
Ministers of her own choice, might have played a
considerable part.
Sir William Fraser avers that there can be no doubt
that the Emperor Napoleon while in exile fully intended
to make a final effort to regain the Throne which he
lost on Sept. 4, 1870. It was not merely to obtain
relief from suffering that he underwent the painful

THE ENDING OF THE CAREER 347
operations which caused his death. Resolute to return
to France, he knew that it was necessary that he should
ride into Paris on horseback at the head of an army;
and this he could do only as a favourable result of the
series of operations. In his own words: 'I cannot
walk on foot at the head of troops; it would have a
still worse effect to enter Paris in a carriage; it is
necessary that I should ride ' ; and it was with the
object of doing so that he submitted to the operations
under which he succumbed. Sir William adds on
later information : ' Not only was the Emperor's return
to Paris intended, but every detail had been arranged.
A private yacht was to be available for landing the
Emperor at some undetermined port on the northern
corner of France, or perhaps in Belgium. Landing
secretly, the arrangement was that the Emperor should
proceed through France to the camp at Chalons, where
forty or fifty thousand men should be assembled for
the purpose of manoeuvres ; declaring himself, he was
to head this army and march at once on Paris.' Sir
William adds that his information was from the pro
prietor of the yacht, the late James Ashbury, who
repeated the circumstances to him (Sir W. Fraser) the
evening before his death. He states further that he
had information to the same effect from a person who
was to have supplied for the enterprise a large sum of
money; and another informant, holding a very high
official position in a distant country, corroborated the
statement with the remark, ' I was to have played a
somewhat conspicuous part in the drama.'
The father who lost his life in the hope of being
able to return to France, and the gallant young son

348 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
who fell slain by savages in an obscure corner J of
South Africa, now sleep together in the mausoleum \at
Farnborough, each in his sarcophagus. They m^y
rest there indefinitely; but the burial-place of thie
Napoleons from Charles Bonaparte downwards, the
father of the Great Emperor and the grand-uncle of
Napoleon III., is in the crypt under the high altar of
the Church of Napoleon at St. Leu, a pretty village or.
the northern verge of the forest of Montmorency.
The following is the will of Napoleon III.:
'April 24, 1865.
'This is My Will.
' I commend my son and my wife to the high con
stituted authorities of the State, to the people, and to
the army. The Empress Eugenie possesses all the
qualities requisite for conducting the Regency well,
and my son displays a disposition and judgment
which will render him worthy of his high destinies.
Let him never forget the motto of the head of our
family, " Everything for the French people." Let him
fix in his mind the writings of the prisoner of St.
Helena ; let him study the Emperor's deeds and corre
spondence ; finally, let him remember when circum
stances so permit, that the cause of the peoples is the
cause of France.
P Power is a heavy burden, because one cannot al
ways do all the good one could wish, and because your
contemporaries seldom render you justice; so that, in
order to fulfil one's mission, one must have faith in,
and consciousness of, one's duty./ It is necessary to
consider that from Heaven on high those whom you

THE ENDING OF THE CAREER 349
have loved regard and protect you ; it is the soul of my
illustrious uncle that has always inspired and sustained
me. The like will apply to my son, for he will always
be worthy of his name.
' I leave to the Empress Eugenie all my private
property. It is my desire that on the majority of my
son she shall inhabit the Elyse"e and Biarritz.
' I trust that my memory will be dear to her, and
that after my death she will forget the griefs I may
have caused her.
' With regard to my son, let him keep as a talisman
the seal I used to wear attached to my watch, and
which belonged to my mother ; let him carefully pre
serve everything which comes to me from the Emperor
my uncle, and let him be convinced that my heart and
soul remain with him.
' I make no mention of my faithful servants — I am
convinced that the Empress and my son will never
abandon them.
' I shall die in the Catholic Apostolic and Roman
religion, which my son will always honour by his
piety. ' (Signed) Napoleon.
' Done, written, and signed with my hand at the
Palace of the Tuileries, April 24, 1865.
' (Signed) Napoleon.'
This will was published in the English papers with
the following explanatory letter from the solicitors of
the Empress : —
'Sir, — Incorrect statements having repeatedly ap
peared in both English and foreign newspapers regard-

350 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
ing the will of the late Emperor Napoleon, we think
it right, as solicitors to the administratrix, to state that
all such rumours as have hitherto been published are
without authority and inaccurate. Unavoidable cir
cumstances have occasioned some delay in the publi
cation of the will, but letters of administration cum
testamento annexo have now been applied for; and in
order to avoid the possibility of further misrepresenta
tions, we are authorised to transmit to you a copy of
the will for publication.
'The estate has been sworn under 120,000/., but
it is right to state that this sum is subject to claims
which will reduce the amount actually received by the
administratrix to about one-half of the sum named.
' Your obedient servants,
'(Signed) Markby, Tarry, and Stewart.
' 57 Coleman Street, E.C., April 29, 1873.'
Among the papers found in the Tuileries after the
fall of the Second Empire, there was discovered a docu
ment which was a bank statement from the House of
Baring Brothers of London, with whom Napoleon III.
had an account. According to this statement, it ap
peared that the Emperor in 1866 possessed 150,000/.
in Russian stocks; 100,000/. Turks; 132,000/. Peru
vians, new and old ; 50,000/. Canadians ; 50,000/. Brazil
ians; 50,000/. Egyptians ; 100,000/ Americans ; 25,000/.
Mississippis ; Diamonds, 200,000/. ; and other items
amounting to 75,000/. ; in all, 882,000/
This ' statement,' no doubt, may be spurious ; yet it
does not appear that anyone should have been inter
ested in regarding it as such. Assuming it to be gen
uine, with his Civil List on a great scale unimpaired,

THE ENDING OF THE CAREER 351
Napoleon could have had no motive in dissipating this
huge total of assets. Between nearly a million sterling,
and the modest 60,000/ specified by the solicitors of
the Empress as the estate of the deceased Emperor
after the liquidation of the claims upon it, there is a
great gulf fixed.
The foreboding and pathetic will of the poor young
Prince Imperial, written on the night before his depar
ture for Africa, there to meet his sad and premature
death, is as follows :
' This is my testament : —
'1. I die in the Catholic Apostolic and Roman
religion, in which I was born.
' 2. I desire that my body may be laid near that of my
father until the time when both may be transferred to
the spot where the founder of our House reposes among
the French people, whom we, like him, dearly loved.
' 3. My latest thought will be for my country, for
which I should wish to die.
1 4. I hope that my mother, when I shall be no more,
will maintain for me that affectionate remembrance
which I shall cherish for her to the last moment of my life.
' 5. Let my private friends, my servants, and the
partisans of the cause which I represent, be assured that
my gratitude to them will cease only with my life.
' 6. I shall die with a sentiment of profound grati
tude towards the Queen of England, the entire Royal
Family, and the country in which during eight years I
have received such cordial hospitality. I constitute
my mother my universal legatee, subject to the pay
ment of the following legacies :

352 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
' I bequeath 20,000 francs to my cousin, Prince I. N.
Murat. I bequeath 100,000 francs to M. F. Pietri, in
recognition of his good services. I bequeath 100,000
francs to M. le Baron Corvisart, in recognition of his
devotion. I bequeath 100,000 francs to Mdlle. de Lar-
minat, who has always shown herself so much attached
to my mother. I bequeath 100,000 francs to M. A.
Filon, my tutor; 100,000 francs to M. L. N. Conneau,
100,000 francs to M. N. Espinasse, 100,000 francs to
Capt. A. Bigot — three of my oldest friends. I desire
that my dear mother should constitute an annuity of
10,000 francs for Prince Lucien Buonaparte; an an
nuity of 50,000 francs for M. Bachon, my former
equerry, and of 2,500 francs each to Madame Thierry
and to Uhlman. I desire that all my other servants
shall never be deprived of their salaries. I desire to
leave to Prince N. Charles Buonaparte, to the Duke
of Bassano, and to M. Rouher, three of the most beau
tiful souvenirs that my testamentary executors may
select. I desire also to leave to General Simmonds,
to M. Strode, and to Mgr. Goddard three souvenirs
which my testamentary executors may select from the
valuables which belong to me. I bequeath to M. Pietri
my pin surmounted by a stone (cat's-eye) ; to M.
Corvisart my pin with the rose pearl ; to Mdlle. Lar-
minat a medallion containing the portraits of my father
and mother ; to Madame le Breton my watch in enamel
mounted with my monogram in diamonds ; to MM.
Conneau, Espinasse, Bizot, I. N. Murat, A. Henri, P.
de Bourgoyne, S. Corvisart my arms and uniforms,
except those I may last have worn, which I leave to
my mother. I leave to M. d'Entroujues a pin sur-

THE ENDING OF THE CAREER 353
mounted with a fine pearl, round in shape, which was
given me by the Empress. I beg my mother to be
good enough to distribute to the persons who during
my life have shown attachment to me the trinkets or
less valuable objects which may recall me to their rec
ollection. I bequeath to the Comtesse Clary my pin
surmounted by a beautiful fine pearl, and to the Duke
of Huescar, my cousin, my Spanish swords. ' Napoleon.
* All written by my own hand.
' I need not recommend my mother to defend the
memory of my great-uncle and father. I beg her to
remember that so long as a Buonaparte lives, the
Imperial cause will be represented. The duties of our
House towards the country will not be extinct with my
life. When I die the work of Napoleon III. will fall
to the eldest son of Prince Napoleon (Prince Victor),
and I hope my beloved mother, in supporting him
with all her power, will give to us who shall be no
more this last and crowning proof of affection. ' Napoleon.
'At Chislehurst : Feb. 26, 1879.'
The following letter, addressed to the newspapers
of the day by the private secretary of the Emperor
Napoleon in reply to some of the calumnies published
against his Majesty, may be read with interest : —
' Wilhelmshohe, Sept. 15, 1870.
' Sir, — Since the occurrence of the recent sad events
in France, the Emperor Napoleon has been the object
of the most violent attacks and of calumnies of all
kinds, which he will doubtless only treat with con
tempt ; but if it is right in him to remain silent under
23

354 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III
such circumstances, it is impossible that those persons
who are attached to him should permit the daily publi
cation of these reports in French and other foreign
newspapers to pass without contradiction. Among
the most odious of them it is necessary to point out
one in an English journal which has not hesitated to
rank among the causes of the war an embarrassment
of the Civil List, and the necessity resulting therefrom
of borrowing yearly fifty millions from the Budget of
the Minister of War — loans all traces of which were
made to disappear by merging them in the expenses
of a great war. So absurd an imputation convicts the
writer either of an ignorance the most profound as to
the laws which in France regulate the finances of the
State, or of extraordinary bad faith. Malversations
are hardly possible in France, for the auditing of the
Civil List involves a strict examination, under the
supervision of the Legislative Body and the Court of
Accounts. * Another journal asserts that it is known to all the
world that the Emperor Napoleon has invested in
Amsterdam a sum of ten millions in Dutch railway
shares. I positively contradict the assertion ; and
what is more, I affirm that the Emperor Napoleon has
not a centime invested in foreign funds.
' A German journal has represented the state of the
Emperor in quite another light, for it alleges that so
destitute was he of resources that the Prussian staff at
Sedan had to advance him 2,000 thalers. This story,
like the rest, is totally unfounded.
' I have limited myself to pointing to these asser
tions, so entirely contrary to the truth, not in the hope

THE ENDING OF THE CAREER 355
of putting an end to attacks upon a Sovereign who,
under the misfortunes which have befallen him, ought
to be safe from attack, but in order that all may know
how very slender their foundations arc, and to how
small an amount of faith they are entitled.
' I trust, sir, that you will give this letter insertion in
your journal, and in thanking you by anticipation I
beg you to receive the assurance, etc.
'G. Pietri,
1 Private Secretary to the Emperor Napoleon?

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