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with the mist, in which everything was more or less enveloped, gave
a soft, mysterious charm to the surrounding objects, producing a
most beautiful picture. Lit up by the sunshine, thousands of long
icicles, such as those which sometimes droop from our fountains and
water-wheels, hung like shining lustres from the trees. Never did
ball-room shine with so many diamonds; the long branches of the
oaks, pines, and other forest trees were weighed down by the
masses of hoar-frost, while the snow converted their summits into
rounded roofs, forming beneath them grottoes resembling those of the
Pyrenean mountains, with their shining stalactites and graceful
columns" (vol. i. 24).
_My enemies._--Later in the day Napoleon writes from Lambach to the
Emperor of Austria a pacific letter, which contains the paragraph, "My
ambition is wholly concentrated on the re-establishment of my commerce
and of my marine, and England grievously opposes itself to both."
No. 11.
Written from Lintz, the capital of Upper Austria, where Napoleon was
on the 4th.
No. 12.
Napoleon took up his abode at the palace of Schoenbrunn on the 14th,
and proves his "two-o'clock-in-the-morning courage" by passing through
Vienna at that time the following morning.
No. 13.
_They owe everything to you._--Aubenas quotes this, and remarks (vol.
ii. 326): "No one had pride in France more than Napoleon, stronger
even than his conviction of her superiority in the presence of other
contemporary sovereigns and courts. He wishes that in Germany, where
she will meet families with all the pride and sometimes all the
haughtiness of their ancestry, Josephine will not forget that she is
Empress of the French, superior to those who are about to receive her,
and who owe full respect and homage to her."
No. 14.
_Austerlitz._--Never was a victory more needful; but never was the
Emperor more confident. Savary says that it would take a volume to
contain all that emanated from his mind during that twenty-four hours
(December 1-2). Nor was it confined to military considerations.
General Segur describes how he spent his evening meal with his
marshals, discussing with Junot the last new tragedy (_Les Templiers_,
by Raynouard), and from it to Racine, Corneille, and the fatalism of
our ancestors.
_December 2nd_ was a veritable Black Monday for the Coalition in
general, and for Russia in particular, where Monday is always looked
upon as an unlucky day. Their forebodings increased when, on the eve
of the battle, the Emperor Alexander was thrown from his horse
(Czartoriski, vol. ii. 106).
No. 17.
_A long time since I had news of you._--Josephine was always a bad
correspondent, but at this juncture was reading that stilted but
sensational romance--"Caleb Williams;" or hearing the "Achilles" of
Paer, or the "Romeo and Juliet" of Zingarelli in the intervals of her
imperial progress through Germany. M. Masson, not often too indulgent
to Josephine, thinks her conduct excusable at this period--paying and
receiving visits, dressing and redressing, always in gala costume, and
without a moment's solitude.
No. 19.
_I await events._--A phrase usually attributed to Talleyrand in
1815. However, the Treaty of Presburg was soon signed (December
2nd), and the same day Napoleon met the Archduke Charles at
Stamersdorf, a meeting arranged from mutual esteem. Napoleon had
an unswerving admiration for this past and future foe, and said to
Madame d'Abrantes, "That man has a soul, a golden heart."[59]
Napoleon, however, did not wish to discuss politics, and only
arranged for an interview of two hours, "one of which," he wrote
Talleyrand, "will be employed in dining, the other in talking war and
in mutual protestations."
_I, for my part, am sufficiently busy._--No part of Napoleon's career
is more wonderful than the way in which he conducts the affairs of
France and of Europe from a hostile capital. This was his first
experience of the kind, and perhaps the easiest, although Prussian
diplomacy had needed very delicate and astute handling. But when
Napoleon determined, without even consulting his wife, to cement
political alliances by matrimonial ones with his and her relatives, he
was treading on somewhat new and difficult ground. First and foremost,
he wanted a princess for his ideal young man, Josephine's son Eugene,
and he preferred Auguste, the daughter of the King of Bavaria, to the
offered Austrian Archduchess. But the young Hereditary Prince of Baden
was in love and accepted by his beautiful cousin Auguste; so, to
compensate him for his loss, the handsome and vivacious Stephanie
Beauharnais, fresh from Madame Campan's finishing touches, was sent
for. For his brother Jerome a bride is found by Napoleon in the
daughter of the King of Wurtemberg. Baden, Bavaria, and Wurtemberg
were too much indebted to France for the spoils they were getting from
Austria to object, provided the ladies and their mammas were
agreeable; but the conqueror of Austerlitz found this part the most
difficult, and had to be so attentive to the Queen of Bavaria that
Josephine was jealous. However, all the matches came off, and still
more remarkable, all turned out happily, a fact which certainly
redounds to Napoleon's credit as a match-maker.
On December 31st, at 1.45 A.M., he entered Munich by torchlight and
under a triumphal arch. His chamberlain, M. de Thiard, assured him
that if he left Munich the marriage with Eugene would fall through,
and he agrees to stay, although he declared that his absence, which
accentuated the Bank crisis, is costing him 1,500,000 francs a day.
The marriage took place on January 14th, four days after Eugene
arrived at Munich and three days after that young Bayard had been
bereft of his cherished moustache. Henceforth the bridegroom is called
"Mon fils" in Napoleon's correspondence, and in the contract of
marriage Napoleon-Eugene de France. The Emperor and Empress reached
the Tuileries on January 27th. The marriage of Stephanie was even more
difficult to manage, for, as St. Amand points out, the Prince of Baden
had for brothers-in-law the Emperor of Russia, the King of Sweden, and
the King of Bavaria--two of whom at least were friends of England.
Josephine had once an uncle-in-law, the Count Beauharnais, whose wife
Fanny was a well-known literary character of the time, but of whom the
poet Lebrun made the epigram--
"Elle fait son visage, et ne fait pas ses vers."
Stephanie was the grand-daughter of this couple, and as Grand-Duchess
of Baden was beloved and respected, and lived on until 1860.
FOOTNOTES
[58] The first month of the Republican calendar.
[59] Memoirs, vol. ii. 165.
SERIES G
No. 1.
Napoleon left St. Cloud with Josephine on September 25th, and had
reached Mayence on the 28th, where his Foot Guard were awaiting him.
He left Mayence on October 1st, and reached Wuerzburg the next day,
whence this letter was written, just before starting for Bamberg.
Josephine was installed in the Teutonic palace at Mayence.
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