It is the custom, said the Emperor, to talk of the influence of the tone and manners of the Court upon those of a nation; he was far from having brought about any such result; but it was the fault of circumstances and of several unperceived combinations: he had reflected much on the subject, and he thought that it would have been accomplished in time.
“The Court,” he continued, “taken collectively, does not exert this influence; it is only because its elements, those who compose it, go to communicate, each in his own sphere of action, that which they have collected from the common source; the tone of the Court, then, is not infused into a whole nation, but through intermediate societies. Now, we had no such societies, nor could we yet have them. Those delightful assemblies, where one enjoys so fully the advantages of civilization, suddenly disappear at the approach of revolutions, and are re-established but slowly, when the tempests dissipate. The indispensable bases of society are indolence and luxury; but we were all still in a state of agitation, and great fortunes were not yet firmly established. A great number of theatres, a multitude of public establishments, moreover, presented pleasures more ready, less constrained, and more exciting. The women of the day, taken collectively, were young; they liked better to be out, and to shew themselves in public, than to remain at home and compose a narrower circle. But they would have grown old, and with a little time and tranquillity, every[every] thing would have fallen into its natural course. And then again,” he observed, “it would perhaps be an error to judge of a modern Court by the remembrance of the old ones. The power certainly resided in the old Courts; they said, the Court and the City;—at the present day, if we desired to speak correctly, we were obliged to say the City and the Court. The feudal lords, since they have lost their power, seek to make themselves amends in their enjoyments. Sovereigns themselves seemed to be, for the future, subjected to this law: the throne, with our liberal ideas, insensibly ceased to be a signory, and became purely a magistracy; the Prince having only a simple practical character to sustain, always sufficiently dull and tedious in the long run, must seek to withdraw from it, to come as a mere citizen, and take his share in the pleasures of society.”
Among a great number of new measures projected by the Emperor for a more tranquil futurity, his favourite idea had been, peace being obtained and repose secured, to devote his life to purifying the administration and to local meliorations; to be occupied in perpetual tours in the departments: he would have visited, not hurried over; sojourned, not posted through: he would have used his own horses, would have been surrounded by the Empress, the King of Rome, his whole Court. At the same time he wished this great equipage not to be burdensome to any, but rather a benefit to all: a suite of tapestry hangings and all the other appendages, following the train, would have furnished and decorated his places of rest. The other persons of the Court, he said, would have been quartered on the citizens, who would have looked upon their guests as a benefit rather than a burden, because they would always have been the sure means of their acquiring some advantage or some favours. “It is thus,” he continued, “that I should have been able in every place to prevent frauds, punish misappropriations, direct edifices, bridges, roads; drain marshes, fertilize lands, &c.—If Heaven had then,” he continued, “granted me a few years, I would certainly have made Paris the capital of the world, and all France a real fairy-land.” He often repeated these last words: how many people have already said this, or will repeat it after him!
SET OF CHESSMEN FROM CHINA.—PRESENTATION OF
THE CAPTAINS OF THE CHINA FLEET.
6th.—The Emperor mounted his horse at seven o’clock: he told me to call my son to accompany us; this was a great favour. During our ride the Emperor dismounted five or six times to observe, with the help of a glass, some vessels that were in sight: he ascertained one to be a Dutchman; the three colours are always, with us, an object of lively emotion. On one of these occasions, the most mettlesome horse in the company got loose, and occasioned a long pursuit; my son came up with him, brought him back in triumph, and the Emperor observed that in a tournament this would be a victory.
On our return, the Emperor breakfasted within doors: he detained us all.
Before and after breakfast, the Emperor conversed with me in private on serious matters which I cannot trust to paper.
The heat was become excessive: he retired. It was half-past four when he sent for me again; he was finishing dressing. The Doctor brought him a set of chessmen, which he had been buying on board the vessels from China; the Emperor had wished to have one. For this he had paid thirty Napoleons: it was an object of great admiration with the worthy Doctor; and, at the same time, nothing seemed more ridiculous to the Emperor. All the pieces, instead of resembling ours, were coarse and clumsy images of the figures indicated by the names: thus, a knight was armed at all points, and the castle rested on an enormous elephant, &c. The Emperor could not make use of them, saying, pleasantly, that every piece would require a crane to move it.
In the mean time many officers and others employed in the China fleet were sauntering in the garden. Their curiosity had led them some hours before to our dwelling; we had been literally invaded in our chambers. One said, the pride of his life would be to have seen Napoleon: another, that he durst not appear in his wife’s presence in England, if he could not tell her that he had been fortunate enough to behold his features; another, that he would willingly forego all the profits of his voyage for a single glance, &c.
The Emperor caused them to be admitted: it would be difficult to describe their satisfaction and joy: they had not ventured to expect or to hope for so much. The Emperor, according to custom, proposed many questions to them concerning China, its commerce, its inhabitants: their revenues, their manners; the missionaries, &c. He detained them above half an hour, before he dismissed them. At their departure we described to him the enthusiasm we had witnessed in these officers, and repeated all that had fallen from them relative to him. “I believe it,” said he; “you do not perceive that they are our friends. All that you have observed in them belongs to the commonalty of England—the natural enemies, perhaps without giving themselves credit for it, of their old and insolent Aristocracy.”