DESCRIPTION OF THE EMPEROR’S APARTMENTS.—MINUTE DETAILS OF HIS TOILET AND DRESS.—ABSURD REPORTS RESPECTING HIM.—CONSPIRACIES OF GEORGES AND CERACHI.—ATTEMPT OF THE FANATIC OF SCHÖNBRUNN.
April 1st—2nd. All that is in any way connected with the Emperor Napoleon must be worthy of observation, and will be held valuable by thousands. With this conviction, I shall proceed minutely to describe his apartment, its furniture, the details of his toilet, &c. And, in course of time, may not his son one day take pleasure in re-producing these details, picturing to himself the appearance of distant objects, and seizing fleeting shadows, which to him will perhaps supply the place of reality?
The Emperor’s own apartments consist of two chambers A and B,[[6]] each 45 feet long and 42 broad, and about 7 feet high. A very indifferent carpet covers the floor, and pieces of nankin, instead of paper, line the walls of both rooms.
The bed-chamber A contains the little camp-bed a, in which the Emperor sleeps, and the couch b, on which he reclines the greater part of the day. This couch is covered with books, which seem to dispute with the Emperor the right of possession to it. Beside this couch stands a small table c, on which the Emperor breakfasts and dines, when he takes his meals in his own chamber, and which, in the evening, bears a candlestick with three branches, surmounted by a large ornament. Between the two windows, and opposite to the door, stands a chest of drawers d, containing the Emperor’s linen, and on the top of which is his large dressing-case.
Over the fire-place e, hangs a very small glass, together with several pictures. On the right is a portrait of the King of Rome sitting on a sheep, by Aimée Thiebault—and on the left hangs, as a pendant to it, another portrait of the young Prince, sitting on a cushion and putting on a slipper. This picture is also the production of Thiebault. Lower down is a small marble bust of the King of Rome. Two candlesticks, two scent-bottles, and two cups of silver gilt, taken from the Emperor’s cabinet, complete the arrangement and decoration of the chimney-piece. Lastly, at the foot of the couch, and directly in view of the Emperor when he reposes on it, which he does the greater part of the day, hangs Isabey’s portrait of Maria Louisa, holding her son in her arms. This wretched little closet has thus become a family sanctuary. I must not omit to mention Frederick the Great’s large silver watch, which is a sort of alarum. It was taken at Potsdam and it hangs on the left of the chimney-piece, beyond the portraits. The Emperor’s own watch, which hangs on the right of the chimney, is the same that he used in the Campaigns of Italy; it is enclosed in a gold case, marked with his cipher B:[[7]] These are the contents of the first chamber.
In the second room B, which serves as a sort of study, along the walls next the windows are several rough boards, supported by trestles, on which are scattered a great number of books, and the manuscripts that have been written from the Emperor’s dictation. Between the two windows is a book-case g; and on the opposite side stands another camp-bedstead h, similar to the one already mentioned. On this bed the Emperor sometimes reposes in the day-time; and he occasionally lies down on it, when he rises from the other bed during his frequent sleepless nights, or when fatigued with dictating, or walking about alone in his chamber. Lastly, in the middle of the room stands the writing-table i, with marks indicating the places usually occupied by the Emperor and each of us during his dictations.
The Emperor dresses in his bed-room. When he takes off his clothes, which he does without assistance, he throws them all upon the floor if one of his valets happens not to be at hand to take them from him. How many times have I stooped to pick up the cordon of the Legion of Honour, when I have seen it thrown carelessly on the ground!
Shaving, which is almost the last business of the Emperor’s toilet, is not commenced until he has put on his stockings, shoes, &c. He shaves himself: first taking off his shirt, and retaining only his flannel waistcoat, which he had laid aside during the excessive heat we experienced in crossing the Line, but which he was obliged to resume at Longwood, in consequence of a severe attack of the cholic; from this, however, the use of his flannel waistcoat speedily relieved him.
The Emperor shaves in the recess of the window nearest to the fire-place. His first valet de chambre hands him the soap and razor: and the second holds before him the looking-glass of his dressing-case, so that the Emperor may turn to the light the side that he is shaving. It is the business of the second valet de chambre to tell him whether or not he shaves clean. Having shaved one side, he turns completely round to shave the other, and the valets change sides.
The Emperor then washes his face, and very frequently his head, in a large silver basin f, which is fixed in a corner of the room, and which was brought from the Elysée. The Emperor is very lusty; his skin is white, with but few hairs; and he has a certain plumpness which is unusual in the male sex, and to which he sometimes jokingly alludes. He rubs his chest and arms with a tolerably hard brush. He afterwards gives the brush to his valet de chambre, who rubs his back and shoulders, and when in good humour he often says, “Come, brush hard—as hard as if you were scrubbing an ass.”
He used almost to drown himself in eau de Cologne, at least, so long as he had any at his disposal: but his store of this article was speedily exhausted, and as none could be procured on the island, he was reduced to the necessity of using lavender water; the want of eau de Cologne he felt as a severe privation.
After he has had his back rubbed, or after he has finished shaving each side of his beard, he sometimes good-humouredly looks his valet in the face for a few seconds, and then gives him a smart box on the ear, accompanied by some jocular expressions. This has been construed by libelists and pamphleteers into the habit of cruelly beating those who were about him. We all in our turns occasionally received a pinch or a box on the ear; but from the expressions which always accompanied the action, we thought ourselves very happy in receiving such favours during the period of his power.
This calls to my recollection, and explains to me certain observations which I once heard from the Duke Decrès, one of the Emperor’s ministers. The Duke, when in the height of his glory and power, wished to obtain a certain favour from the Emperor. He was conversing with me on the subject, and after adverting to all his chances of success, he said: “I shall have it after all, the first time I get roughly treated.” And, remarking that my countenance expressed surprise, he added with a significant smile: "But, my dear fellow, after all ’tis not so terrible a thing as you imagine; many would be happy to receive such usage, I assure you." ...
The Emperor does not leave his chamber until he is completely dressed. He wears shoes in the morning, and does not put on his boots until he rides out on horseback. When he first came to Longwood, he laid aside his green uniform of the Guard, and wore a hunting coat the lace of which had been taken off. This coat soon began to look shabby, and his attendants were at a loss what to substitute for it. This, however, was not the only inconvenience of the kind to which he was exposed. For instance, we were much distressed to see him reduced to the necessity of wearing one pair of silk stockings for several days in succession; but he laughed whenever we expressed our regret on this subject, or remarked that it was easy to count the number of days the stockings had been worn, by the marks which the shoes had left on them. In other respects he retained his usual dress; namely, waistcoat and small clothes of white kerseymere, and a black cravat. When he was going out, any one of the gentlemen who happened to be in the room handed to him his hat; that little hat which has in some measure become identified with his person. Several of the Emperor’s hats have been carried off since we have been on the island; for every individual who approaches him is anxious to obtain some token of remembrance of him. How often have we been tormented even by persons of distinguished rank, to procure for them even a button of his coat or any other trifle belonging to him.
I was almost always present at the Emperor’s toilet: sometimes I remained after having finished my writing, and sometimes the Emperor desired me to come and chat with him. One day I was looking steadfastly at him as he put on his flannel waistcoat. My countenance I suppose expressed something particular, for he said in his good humoured way of addressing me: “Well, what does your Excellency smile at? What are you thinking of at this moment.”—"Sire, in a pamphlet which I lately read, I found it stated that your Majesty was shielded by a coat of mail for the security of your person. A report of the same kind was circulated among certain classes in Paris; and in support of the assertion, allusion was made to your Majesty’s sudden embonpoint, which was said to be quite unnatural. I was just now thinking that I could bear positive evidence to the contrary, and that at St. Helena, at least, all precautions for personal safety have been laid aside."—"This is one of the thousand absurdities that have been published respecting me," said he. "But the story you have just mentioned is the more ridiculous, since every person about me well knows how careless I am in regard to self-preservation. Accustomed from the age of eighteen to be exposed to cannon-balls, and knowing the inutility of precautions, I abandoned myself to my fate. When I came to the head of affairs, I might still have fancied myself surrounded by the danger of the field of battle: and I might have regarded the conspiracies that were formed against me as so many bomb-shells. But I followed my old course; I trusted to my lucky star; and left all precautions to the police. I was perhaps the only sovereign in Europe who dispensed with a body guard. Every one could freely approach me without having, as it were, to pass through military barracks; the sentinels at the outer gates being passed, all had free access to every part of my palace. Maria Louisa was much astonished to see me so poorly guarded; and she often remarked that her father was surrounded by bayonets. For my part, I had no better defence at the Tuileries than I have here: I don’t even know where to find my sword; do you see it?" said he, looking about for it.... “I have, to be sure,” he continued, "incurred great dangers. Upwards of thirty plots were formed against me: these have been proved by authentic testimony, without mentioning many that never came to light. Some sovereigns invent conspiracies against themselves; for my part, I made it a rule carefully to conceal them whenever I could. The crisis most serious to me was during the interval between the battle of Marengo and the attempt of Georges, and the affair of the Duke d’Enghien."
Napoleon related that about a week before the arrest of Georges, a petition had been delivered into his own hands, on the parade, by one of the most determined of the conspirators. Others insinuated themselves among the household at St. Cloud or Malmaison; finally Georges himself seems to have been so near his person as to have been in the same apartment with him.
Independently of good luck, the Emperor attributes his safety, in a great measure, to certain circumstances which were peculiar to himself. That which had doubtless, he said, contributed to preserve him was his having lived after his own fancy; without any regular habits or fixed plan. His close occupations kept him much at home, and almost constantly confined him to his closet. He never dined abroad, seldom visited the theatres, and never appeared but at those times and places at which he was not expected.
As we were descending to the garden after the Emperor had finished dressing, he observed to me that the two designs on his life which had placed him in the most imminent danger were those of Cerachi the sculptor, and the fanatic of Schönbrunn. Cerachi, and some other desperate wretches, had laid a plan for assassinating the First Consul. They agreed to carry their design into execution at the moment of his withdrawing from his box at the theatre. Napoleon, who received intimation of the plot nevertheless proceeded to the theatre, and fearlessly passed by the conspirators, who had shown themselves most eager to occupy their respective stations. They were not arrested until about the middle or near the close of the performance.
Cerachi, said the Emperor, had formerly adored the First Consul; but he vowed to sacrifice him, when, as he pretended, he proved himself a tyrant. This artist had been loaded with favours by General Bonaparte, whose bust he had executed; and, when he entered into the plot against his benefactor, he endeavoured by every possible means to procure another sitting, under pretence of making an essential improvement on the bust. Fortunately, at that time, the Consul had not a single moment’s leisure, and, thinking that want was the real cause of the urgent solicitations of the sculptor, he sent him six thousand francs. But how was he mistaken! Cerachi’s real motive was to stab him during the sitting.
The conspiracy was disclosed by a captain of the line, who was himself an accomplice. “This,” said Napoleon, “was a proof of the strange modifications of which the human mind is susceptible, and shows to what lengths the combinations of folly and stupidity may be carried! This officer regarded me with horror as First Consul, though he had adored me as a General. He wished to see me driven from my post, but he rejected the idea of any attempt upon my life. He wished that I should be secured, but would not have me injured in any way; and he proposed that I should be sent back to the army to face the enemy and defend the glory of France. The rest of the conspirators laughed at these notions; but, when he found that they were distributing poniards and going far beyond his intentions, he then came and disclosed the whole to the Consul.”
As we were discoursing on this subject, some one present mentioned having witnessed at the Theatre Feydeau, a circumstance which threw a part of the audience into the greatest consternation. The Emperor entered the Empress Josephine’s box, and had scarcely taken his seat, when a young man hastily jumped upon the bench immediately below the Box, and placed his hand on the Emperor’s breast. The spectators on the opposite side were filled with alarm. Fortunately, however, the young man was merely presenting a petition, which the Emperor received and read with the utmost coolness.
The Emperor described the Fanatic of Schönbrunn, as the son of a protestant minister of Erfurt, who, about the time of the battle of Wagram, had laid a plan for the assassination of Napoleon, with all due parade. He had passed the sentinels at some distance from the Emperor, and had twice or thrice been driven back, when General Rapp, in the act of pushing him aside with his hand, felt something concealed under his coat. This proved to be a knife about a foot and a half long, pointed, and sharp at both edges. “I shuddered to look at it,” said the Emperor; “it was merely rolled up in a piece of newspaper.”
Napoleon ordered the assassin to be brought into his closet. He called Corvisart, and directed him to feel the criminal’s pulse while he spoke to him. The assassin stood unmoved, confessing his intended crime, and frequently making quotations from the Bible. “What was your purpose here?” enquired the Emperor. “To kill you.” “What have I done to offend you? By whose authority do you constitute yourself my Judge?”—"I wish to put an end to the war." “And why not address yourself to the Emperor Francis?” “To him!” said the assassin, “and wherefore? he is a mere cipher. And besides, if he were dead, another would succeed him; but, when you are gone, the French will immediately retire from Germany.” The Emperor vainly endeavoured to move him. “Do you repent?” said he. “No.” “Would you again attempt the perpetration of your intended crime?” “Yes.” “What, if I were to pardon you?” Here, said the Emperor, nature for an instant resumed her sway; the man’s countenance and voice underwent a momentary change. “Even though you do,” said he, “God will not forgive me.” But he immediately resumed his ferocious expression. He was kept in solitary confinement and without food for four-and-twenty hours. The Doctor examined him once more. He was again questioned, but all was unavailing; he still remained the same man, or, to speak more properly, the same ferocious brute. He was at length abandoned to his fate.
MEASURES THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN ADOPTED AFTER
THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO.
3rd.—In the morning the Emperor dictated in the shady part of the garden. The day was delightfully clear and serene. He had been reading the account of Alexander’s expedition in Rollin’s History; and had several maps spread out before him. He complained that the narrative was destitute of taste, and without any proper plan. He observed that it afforded no just idea of the grand views of Alexander; and he expressed a wish himself to write an account of the expedition.
About five o’clock, I joined him in the garden, where he was walking, attended by all the gentlemen. As soon as he perceived me, he said: “Come, we must have your opinion on a point which we have been discussing for the last hour. On my return from Waterloo, do you think I could have dismissed the Legislative Body, and have saved France without it?”—"No," I replied, “it would not have been dissolved voluntarily. You would have found it necessary to employ force; which would have excited protestations, and would have been regarded as scandalous. The dissatisfaction excited in the Legislative Body would have spread through the whole nation. Meanwhile the enemy would have arrived; and your Majesty must have succumbed, accused by all Europe, accused by foreigners, and even by Frenchmen; perhaps loaded with universal maledictions, regarded merely as an adventurer carrying every thing by violence. But as it was, your Majesty issued pure and unsullied from the conflict, and your memory will be everlastingly cherished in the hearts of those who respect the cause of the people. Your Majesty has, by your moderation, ensured to yourself the brightest character in history, while, by a different line of conduct, you might have incurred the risk of reprobation. You have lost your power, it is true; but you have attained the summit of your glory.”
“Well, this is partly my own opinion,” said the Emperor. "But after all, am I certain that the French people will do me justice? Will they not accuse me of having abandoned them? History will decide! Instead of dreading, I invoke, its decree!—I have often asked myself whether I have done for the French people all that they could expect of me; for that people did much for me. Will they ever know all that I suffered during the night that preceded my final decision?
"In that night of anguish and uncertainty, I had to choose between two great courses: the one was to endeavour to save France by violence; and the other was to yield to the general impulse. The measure which I pursued was, I think, most advisable. Friends and enemies, the good and the evil disposed, all were against me, and I stood alone. I could not but yield, and my decision being once adopted, could not be revoked. I am not one who takes half measures; and, besides, sovereignty is not to be thrown off and on like one’s cloak. The other course demanded extraordinary severity. It would have been necessary to arraign great criminals and to decree great punishments. Blood must have been shed; and then who can tell where we should have stopped! What scenes of horror might not have been renewed! By pursuing this line of conduct, should I not have drowned my memory in the deluge of blood, crimes, and abominations of every kind, with which libellers have already overwhelmed me? Should I not thereby have seemed to justify all that they have been pleased to invent? Posterity and History would have viewed me as a second Nero or Tiberius. If, after all, I could have saved France at such a price!... I had energy sufficient to carry me through every difficulty!... But, is it certain that I should have succeeded? All our dangers did not come from without; the worst existed in our internal discord. Did not a party of mad fools dispute about shades, before they had ensured the triumph of the colour? How would it have been possible to persuade them that I was not labouring for myself alone, for my own personal advantage? How could I convince them of my disinterestedness, or prove that all my efforts were directed to save the country? To whom could I point out the dangers and miseries from which I sought to rescue the French people? They were evident to me, but the vulgar mass will ever remain in ignorance of them until they are crushed beneath their weight.
“What answer could be given to those who exclaimed: Behold the despot, the tyrant! again violating the oaths which he took but yesterday! and who knows whether amidst this tumult, this inextricable complication of difficulties, I might not have perished by the hand of a Frenchman, in the civil conflict! Then how would France have appeared in the eyes of the universe, in the estimation of future generations? The glory of France is to identify herself with me. I could not have achieved so many great deeds for her honour and glory without the nation, and in spite of the nation. France was inclined to elevate me to too high a point!... As I said before, History will decide!...”
He then adverted to the plan and details of the Campaign, dwelling with pleasure on its glorious commencement, and with regret on the terrible disaster that marked its close.
“Still,” continued he, "I should have considered the state of affairs as by no means desperate, had I obtained the aid I expected. All our resources rested in the Chambers. I hastened to convince them of this; but they immediately rose against me, under pretence that I was come to dissolve them. What an absurdity! From that moment all was lost.[[8]]
“It would perhaps be unjust,” added the Emperor, "to accuse the majority of the Members of the Chambers; but such is the nature of all numerous bodies that they must perish, if disunited. Like armies, they must have leaders. The chiefs of armies are appointed; but, in constituted bodies, men of eminent talent and genius rise up and rule them. We wanted all this, and, therefore[therefore], in spite of the good spirit which might have animated the majority, all were, in an instant, plunged into confusion and tumult[tumult]. The Legislative Body had perfidy and corruption stationed at its doors, while incapacity, disorder, and perversity prevailed in its bosom; and thus France became the prey of foreigners.
"For a moment, I entertained the idea of resistance. I was on the point of declaring myself permanently at the Tuileries, along with my Ministers and Councillors of State. I had thoughts of rallying round me the six thousand guards who were in Paris, augmenting them with the best disposed portion of the National Guard, who were very numerous, and the federate troops of the Faubourgs; of adjourning the Legislative Body to Tours or Blois; re-organizing before the walls of Paris, the wrecks of the army, and thus exerting my efforts singly, as a Dictator, for the welfare of the country. But would the Legislative Body have obeyed? I might have enforced obedience, it is true; but this would have been a new cause of scandal, and a fresh source of difficulties. Would the people have made common cause with me? Would even the army have continued constantly faithful to me? In the succession of events, might not both the people and the army have been separated from me? Might not plans have been arranged to my prejudice? The idea that so many dangers were caused by me alone might have served as a plausible pretext, and the facilities which every one had experienced during the preceding year in gaining favour with the Bourbons, might to many have become decisive inducements.
“Yes,” continued the Emperor, "I hesitated long, I weighed every argument on both sides; and I at length concluded that I could not make head against the coalition without and the royalists within: that I should be unable to oppose the numerous sects which would have been created by the violence committed on the Legislative Body, to control that portion of the multitude which must be driven by force, or to resist that moral condemnation which imputes to him who is unfortunate every evil that ensues. Abdication was therefore absolutely the only step I could adopt. All was lost in spite of me. I foresaw and foretold this: but still I had no other alternative.
“The Allies always pursued the same system against me. They began it at Prague, continued it at Frankfort, at Chatillon, at Paris, and at Fontainbleau. Their conduct displayed considerable judgment. The French might have been duped in 1814; but it is difficult to conceive how they could have been deceived in 1815. History will for ever tarnish the memory of those who suffered themselves to be misled. I foretold their fate when I was departing to join the army: Let us not resemble, I said, the Greeks of the Lower Empire, who amused themselves in debating while the battering-ram was levelling the walls of their city. And, when forced to abdicate, I said, Our enemies wish to separate me from the army; when they shall have succeeded, they will separate the army from you. You will then be merely a wretched flock, the prey of wild beasts.”
We asked the Emperor whether he thought that, with the concurrence of the Legislative Body, he could have saved France? He replied, without hesitation, that he would confidently have undertaken to do so, and that he would have answered for his success.
“In less than a fortnight,” continued he, "that is to say, before any considerable mass of the allied force could have assembled before Paris, I should have completed my fortifications, and have collected before the walls of the city, and out of the wrecks of the army, upwards of eighty thousand good troops, and three hundred pieces of horse artillery. After a few days’ firing, the national guard, the federal troops, and the inhabitants of Paris, would have sufficed to defend the entrenchments. I should have had eighty thousand disposable troops at my command. It is well known how advantageously I was capable of employing this force.—The achievements of 1814 were still fresh in remembrance. Champaubert, Montmirail, Craon, Montereau, were still present in the imagination of our enemies; the same scenes would have revived the recollection of the prodigies of the preceding year. I was then surnamed the hundred thousand men.
"The rapidity and decision of our successes gave rise to this name. The conduct of the French troops was most admirable. Never did a handful of brave men accomplish so many miracles. If their high achievements have never been publicly known, owing to the circumstances which attended our disasters, they have at least been duly appreciated by our enemies, who counted the number of our attacks by our victories. We were truly the heroes of fable!
“Paris,” said he, "would in a few days have become impregnable. The appeal to the nation, the magnitude of the danger, the excitement of the public mind, the grandeur of the spectacle, would have drawn multitudes to the capital. I could undoubtedly have assembled upwards of four hundred thousand men, and I imagine the allied force did not exceed five hundred thousand. Thus the affair would have been brought to a single combat, in which the enemy would have had as much to fear as ourselves. He would have hesitated, and thus I should have regained the confidence of the majority.
“Meanwhile I should have surrounded myself with a national senate or junta selected from among the members of the Legislative Body—men distinguished by national names, and worthy of general confidence. I should have fortified my military Dictatorship with all the strength of civil opinion. I should have had my tribune, which would have promulgated the talisman of my principles through Europe. The Sovereigns would have trembled to behold the contagion spread among their subjects. They must have treated with me, or have surrendered....”
“But, Sire,” we exclaimed, “why did you not attempt what would infallibly have succeeded?—Why are we here?”
“Now,” resumed the Emperor, “you are blaming and condemning me! But, if you were to take a view of the contrary chances, you would change your tone. Besides, you forget that we reasoned on the hypothesis that the Legislative Body would have joined me; but you know what line of conduct it pursued. I might have dissolved it, to be sure. France and Europe perhaps blame me, and posterity will doubtless censure my weakness, in not breaking up the Legislative Body after its insurrection. It will be said, that I ought not to have separated myself from the destinies of a people who had done all for me. But by dissolving the Assembly, I could at most have obtained only a capitulation from the enemy. In that case, I again repeat, blood must have been shed, and I must have proved myself a tyrant. I had however arranged a plan on the night of the 20th, and on the 21st measures of the most rigid severity were to have been adopted; but before the return of day, the dictates of humanity and prudence warned me that such a course was not to be thought of, that I should miss my aim, and that every one was merely seeking blindly to accommodate himself to circumstances. But I must not begin again. I have already said too much on a subject which always revives painful recollections. I repeat once more that History will decide.”—The Emperor returned to his chamber desiring me to follow him. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4th. At 5 o’clock I went to meet the Emperor in the garden. He had taken too warm a bath, and in consequence found himself ill. We rode out in the calash, the weather was delightful: for several days it had been very warm and dry. Before dinner the Emperor dictated to the Grand Marshal. Madame Bertrand dined at the Admiral’s. The Emperor withdrew to his chamber immediately after dinner.