EX LEGATO
Sororis Napoleonis
Paullinæ Burghesiæ
A.D. MDCCCXXV.
Charles Ambroise Caffarelli, whose plate is in what has been called le style panaché de l’Empire, was Canon of Toul in 1789, but took the oath to the Constitution on the outbreak of the Revolution. He suffered imprisonment in 1793, gained favour under Napoleon, who created him a préfet. He afterwards devoted himself to the study of political economy, and died in 1826 (after seeing many changes of government), under the rule of the Bourbons, his first patrons.
Jean Baptiste Jourdan, who was one of the most famous marshals of Napoleon’s army, began life as a private soldier; under the First Republic he obtained promotion, and swore that his sword should always be drawn in defence of the rights of the people, and against all kings. Yet he afterwards accepted titles and honours from Napoleon, whom he deserted to serve under Louis XVIII., and issued a manifesto to his soldiers asking their fidelity to the restored Bourbons. For this he was rewarded by being created a Chevalier of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis. When Napoleon returned to Paris from Elba the Maréchal Jourdan was again ready to do him service, and his fidelity was rewarded by an imperial decree dated 4 June, 1815, creating him a Count and Peer of France. Jourdan was born at Limoges in 1762; he died in 1833.
The Baron de Marbot was one of the soldiers ennobled by Napoleon I. He left some memoirs which have points of resemblance to those written by the more celebrated Baron Münchausen.
THE FIRST EMPIRE.
The short and troubled reign of the Emperor Napoleon left little lasting impression upon the heraldry of France. It is true he introduced some system, and a few innovations, but at the Restoration his innovations were rescinded, and with the Bourbons in power it need hardly be said that no kind of useful system could long exist.
For the heraldry of the First Empire a student cannot do better than consult the fine folios entitled “Armorial Général de l’Empire Français. Contenant les Armes de sa Majesté l’Empereur et Roi, des Princes de sa famille, des Grands Dignitaires, Princes, Ducs, Comtes, Barons, Chevaliers, et celles des Villes de 1ere 2me et 3me Classe, avec les planches des Ornemens exterieurs, des Signes intérieurs et l’explication des Couleurs et des Figures du Blason, pour faciliter l’Etude de cette Science. Présenté à sa Majesté l’Empereur et Roi par Henry Simon, Graveur du Cabinet de sa Majesté l’Empereur et Roi, et du Conseil du Sceau des Titres. Chez l’Auteur, Palais Royal, No. 29 à Paris. MDCCCXII.” The title-page is quoted in full; it is a curiosity in its way, the whole being beautifully engraved on a plate measuring 11½ inches by 8½ inches; all the other plates are of the same size and many hundreds of armorial bearings are accurately engraved and described. The work is a monument of patience and skill, and serves as a record of many princes, nobles, marshals, and generals, whose names and deeds were, during the Napoleonic period, as familiar as household words, but the majority of whom are now almost forgotten.