PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
| CONTENTS | ||
| CHAP. | PAGE | |
| I. | IN GENERAL | [9] |
| II. | THE MAN HIMSELF | [17] |
| III. | SOME PALADINS | [25] |
| IV. | ONE WIFE | [35] |
| V. | THE DIVORCE | [42] |
| VI. | ANOTHER WIFE | [47] |
| VII. | SOME COURT DETAILS | [55] |
| VIII. | THE GREATEST PALADIN | [67] |
| IX. | MORE PALADINS | [80] |
| X. | BROTHERS | [95] |
| XI. | SISTERS | [114] |
| XII. | STARS OF LESSER MAGNITUDE | [133] |
| XIII. | WOMEN | [151] |
| XIV. | LIKES AND DISLIKES | [174] |
| XV. | WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN | [184] |
| XVI. | SPOTS IN THE SUN | [202] |
| XVII. | ST. HELENA | [223] |
| APPENDIX—INCIDENTS AND AUTHORITIES | [237] | |
| INDEX | [245] | |
| LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS | ||
| Page | ||
| EQUESTRIAN GROUP OF NAPOLEON AND HIS STAFF AT AUSTERLITZ | [front] | |
| GENERAL BONAPARTE | [16] | |
| PRINCE JOACHIM (MURAT, KING OF THE TWO SICILIES) | [34] | |
| MARIE LOUISE, EMPRESS OF THE FRENCH | [54] | |
| GRAF VON NEIPPERG | [66] | |
| EUGÈNE DE BEAUHARNAIS (VICEROY OF ITALY, PRINCE DE VENISE) | [79] | |
| AUGEREAU, DUC DE CASTIGLIONE | [94] | |
| JOSEPH NAPOLEON, KING OF NAPLES | [113] | |
| CAROLINE MURAT | [132] | |
| LETIZIA BONAPARTE (MADAME MÈRE) | [151] | |
| ELISE BACIOCCHI | [151] | |
| THE KING OF ROME | [173] | |
| PAULINE BORGHESE | [183] | |
| DAVOUT (PRINCE D’ECKMÜHL AND DUC D’AUERSTÄDT) | [201] | |
| MASSENA (PRINCE D’ESSLING AND DUC DE RIVOLI) | [222] | |
| LOUIS NAPOLEON, KING OF HOLLAND | [236] | |
| Note.—The illustrations are reproduced from prints in the collection of Canon Brook-Jackson, by kind permission. | ||
Napoleon and His Court
CHAPTER I
IN GENERAL
THERE was a time when France extended to the Baltic, the Ebro and the Tiber; when the term “Frenchmen” included Frenchmen, Spaniards, Italians, Belgians, Dutch, Germans and even a few stray Danes, Poles and Letts; when Rome was the second city of France, and Amsterdam the third; when the Emperor of the French was also King of Italy and Mediator of Switzerland; when one of his brothers was King of Spain, another, King of Westphalia, and one of his generals King of Naples; when all Germany was ruled by his vassals; when Poland was a French province in all but name; when Austria was the French Emperor’s subservient ally; and when one of his less successful generals had just been appointed ruler of Sweden.
Never, since the days of the Roman Empire, had one man held so much power, and never in all history has so much power been as rapidly acquired or as rapidly lost. In ten years Napoleon rose from the obscurity of a disgraced artillery officer to the dignity of the most powerful ruler in the world; in ten more he was a despised fugitive flying for his life from his enemies.