Napoleon's Letters to Josephine, 1796-1812
"My dear Auguste, the Emperor came on Sunday to see the Empress.
Yesterday she went to Trianon to see him, and stayed to dinner. The
Emperor was very kind and amiable to her, and she seemed to be much
better. Everything points to the Empress being more happy in her new
position, and we also." On this Christmas Day Napoleon had his last
meal with Josephine.
No. 7.
_Tuileries._--His return from Trianon to this, his official residence,
made the divorce more apparent to every one.
No. 8.
_A house vacant in Paris._--This seems a hint for Josephine. She
wishes to come to Paris, to the Elysee, and to try a little diplomacy
of her own in favour of the Austrian match, and she sends secretly to
Madame de Metternich--whose husband was absent. Eugene more officially
is approaching Prince Schwartzenberg, the ambassador. Josephine, like
Talleyrand, wished to heal the schism with Rome by an Austrian
alliance; while Cambaceres, foreseeing a war with the power not allied
by marriage, would have preferred the Russian match.
No. 9.
Thursday, January 4th.
_Hortense._--Louis had tried to obtain a divorce. Cambaceres was
ordered on December 22nd to summon a family council (_New Letters of
Napoleon I._, No. 234); but the wish of the King was refused
(verbally, says Louis in his _Historical Documents of Holland_),
whereupon he refused to agree to Josephine's divorce, but had to give
way, and was present at what he calls the farewell festival given by
the city of Paris to the Empress Josephine on January 1st. The
ecclesiastical divorce was pronounced on January 12th.
No. 10.
January 5th. He duly visits Josephine the next day.
No. 11.
January 7th is the date.
_What charms your society has._--Her repertoire of small talk and
scandal. He had also lost in her his Agenda, his Journal of Paris.
Still the visits are growing rarer. This long kind letter was
doubtless intended to be specially so, for two days later the clergy
of Paris pronounced the annulment of her marriage. This was far worse
than the pronouncement by the Senate in December, as it meant to her
that she and Napoleon had never been properly married at all. The
Emperor, who hated divorces, and especially _divorcees_, had found
great difficulty in breaking down the barriers he had helped to build,
for which purpose _he_ had to be subordinated to his own Senate, _the
Pope_ to his own bishops. Seven of them allowed the annulment of the
marriage of 1804 on account of (1) its secrecy, (2) the insufficiency
of consent of the contracting parties, and (3) the absence of the
local parish priest at the ceremony. The last reason was merely a
technical one; but with respect to the first two it is only fair to
admit that Napoleon had undoubtedly, and perhaps for the only time in
his life, been completely "rushed," _i.e._ by the Pope and Josephine.
The coronation ceremony was waiting, and the Pope, secretly solicited
by Josephine, insisted on a religious marriage first and foremost. The
Pope suffered forthwith, but the other bill of costs was not exacted
till five years after date.
No. 12.
Wednesday, January 12th.
_King of Westphalia._--Madame Durand (_Napoleon and Marie Louise_)
says that, forced to abandon his wife (the beautiful and energetic
Miss Paterson) and child, Jerome "had vowed he would never have any
relations with a wife who had been thus forced upon him." For three
years he lavished his attentions upon almost all the beauties of the
Westphalian court. The queen, an eye-witness of this conduct, bore it
with mild and forbearing dignity; she seemed to see and hear nothing;
in short, her demeanour was perfect. The king, touched by her
goodness, weary of his conquests, and repentant of his behaviour, was
only anxious for an opportunity of altering the state of things.
Happily the propitious moment presented itself. The right wing of the
palace of Cassel, in which the queen's apartments were situated, took
fire; alarmed by the screams of her women the queen awoke and sprang
out of her bed, to be caught in the arms of the king and carried to a
place of safety. From that time forth the royal couple were united and
happy.
No. 13.
Saturday, January 13th.
_Sensible._--This was now possible after a month's mourning. In the
early days, according to Madame Remusat, her mind often wandered, But
Napoleon himself encouraged the Court to visit her, and the road to
Malmaison was soon a crowded one. As the days passed, however, life
became sadly monotonous. Reading palled on Josephine, as did whist and
the daily feeding of her golden pheasants and guinea-fowls. Remained
"Patience"! Was it the "General" she played or the "Emperor," or did
she find distraction in the "Demon"?
No. 14.
_D'Audenarde._--Napoleon's handsome equerry, whom Mlle. d'Avrillon
calls "un homme superbe." His mother was Josephine's favourite _dame
du palais_. Madame Lalaing, Viscountess d'Audenarde, _nee_ Peyrac, was
one of the old regime who had been ruined by the Revolution.
No. 16.
Tuesday, January 23rd.
On January 21st a Privy Council was summoned to approve of Marie
Louise as their "choice of a consort, who may give an heir to the
throne" (Thiers). Cambaceres, Fouche, and Murat wished for the Russian
princess; Lebrun, Cardinal Fesch, and King Louis for a Saxon one; but
Talleyrand, Champagny, Maret, Berthier, Fontanes were for Austria.
No. 17.
Sunday, January 28th.
No. 18.
Josephine had heard she was to be banished from Paris, and so had
asked to come to the Elysee to prove the truth or otherwise of the
rumour.
_L'Elysee._--St. Amand gives the following interesting _precis_:
"Built by the Count d'Evreux in 1718, it had belonged in succession to
the Marchioness de Pompadour, to the financier Beaujon, a Croesus of
the eighteenth century, and to the Duchesse de Bourbon. Having, under
the Revolution, become national property, it had been hired by the
caterers of public entertainments, who gave it the name of L'Elysee.
In 1803 it became the property of Murat, who, becoming King of Naples,
ceded it to Napoleon in 1808. Here Napoleon signed his second
abdication, here resided Alexander I. in 1815, and here Josephine's
grandson effected the _Coup d'Etat_ (1851). When the Senatus-Consultus
fixed the revenue of Josephine, Napoleon not only gave her whatever
rights he had in Malmaison, viz., at least 90 per cent. of the total
cost, but the palace of the Elysee, its gardens and dependencies, with
the furniture then in use." The latter residence was, however, for her
life only.
No. 19.
February 3rd is the date.
_L'Elysee._--After the first receptions the place is far worse than
Malmaison. Schwartzenberg, Talleyrand, the Princess Pauline, Berthier,
even her old friend Cambaceres are giving balls,[86] while the Emperor
goes nearly every night to a theatre. The carriages pass by the
Elysee, but do not stop. "It is as if the palace were in quarantine,
with the yellow flag floating."
No. 20.
_Bessieres' country-house._--M. Masson says Grignon, but unless this
house is called after the chateau of that name in Provence, he must be
mistaken.
No. 21.
_Rambouillet._--He had taken the Court with him, and was there from
February 19th to the 23rd, the date of this letter. While there he had
been in the best of humours. On his return he finds it necessary to
write his future wife and to her father--and to pen a legible letter
to the latter gives him far more trouble than winning a battle against
the Austrians, if not assisted by General Danube.
_Adieu._--Sick and weary, Josephine returns to Malmaison, Friday,
March 9th, and even this is not long to be hers, for the new Empress
is almost already on her way. The marriage at Vienna took place on
March 11th, with her uncle Charles,[87] the hero of Essling, for
Napoleon's proxy; on the 13th she leaves Vienna, and on the 23rd
reaches Strasbourg. On the 27th she meets Napoleon at Compiegne,
spends three days with him in the chateau there, and arrives at St.
Cloud on April 1st, where the civil marriage is renewed, followed by
the triumphal entry into Paris, and the religious ceremony on April
2nd. This day Josephine reaches the chateau of Navarre.
FOOTNOTES
[78] By here subordinating himself to the Senate, the Emperor was
preparing a rod for his own back hereafter.
[79] This clause gives considerable trouble to Lacepede and Regnauld.
They cannot even find a precedent whether, if they met,
Josephine or Marie Louise would take precedence of the other.
[80] In addition to this, Napoleon gives her L40,000 a year from his
privy purse, but keeps most of it back for the first two years
to pay her 120 creditors. (For interesting details see Masson,
_Josephine Repudiee_.)
[81] Which agrees with Madame d'Avrillon, who says they left the
Tuileries at 2.30. Meneval says Napoleon left for Trianon a few
hours later. Savary writes erroneously that they left the
following morning.
[82] M. Masson seems to indicate a visit on December 16th, but does
not give his authority (_Josephine Repudiee_, 114).
[83] _Correspondence of Napoleon I._, No. 15,952.
[84] _New Letters of Napoleon_, 1898.
[85] Canon Ainger's comparison.
[86] See Baron Lejeune for an interesting account of a chess quadrille
at a dance given by the Italian Minister, Marescalchi.
SERIES N
_Navarre_, on the site of an old dwelling of Rollo the Sea-King, was
built by Jeanne of France, Queen of Navarre, Countess of Evreux. At
the time of the Revolution it belonged to the Dukes of Bouillon, and
was confiscated. In February 1810, Napoleon determined to purchase it,
and on March 10th instructed his secretary of state, Maret, to confer
the Duchy of Navarre, purchased by letters patent, on Josephine and
her heirs male. The old square building was, however, utterly unfit to
be inhabited: not a window would shut, there was neither paper nor
tapestry, all the wainscoting was rotten, draughts and damp
everywhere, and no heating apparatus.[88] What solace to know its
beautiful situation, its capabilities? No wonder if her household,
banished to such a place, sixty-five miles from the "capital of
capitals," should rebel, and secessions headed by Madame Ney become
for a time general. Whist and piquet soon grow stale in such a house
and with such surroundings, and even _trictrac_ with the old bishop of
Evreux becomes tedious. Eugene as usual brings sunshine in his path,
and helps to dispel the gloom caused by the idle gossip imported from
Paris--that Josephine is not to return to Malmaison, and the like.
No. 1.
This was Josephine's second letter, says D'Avrillon, the first being
answered _viva voce_ by Eugene.
_To Malmaison._--Napoleon had promised Josephine permission to return
to Malmaison, and would not recant: his new wife was, however, very
jealous of Josephine, and very much hurt at her presence at Malmaison.
Napoleon managed to be away from Paris for six weeks after Josephine's
arrival at Malmaison.
No. 1A.
_It is written in a bad style._--M. Masson, however, is loud in
its praises, and adds, "Voila donc le protocol du tutoiement"
re-established between them in spite of the second marriage, and
their correspondence re-established on the old terms.
No. 2.
This letter seems to have been taken by Eugene to Paris, and thence
forwarded to the Emperor with a letter from that Prince in which he
enumerates Josephine's suggestions and wishes--(1) that she will not
go to Aix-la-Chapelle if other waters are suggested by Corvisart;
(2) that after stopping a few days at Malmaison she will go in June
for three months to the baths, and afterwards to the south of