Books: The Private Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, v7

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RECOLLECTIONS OF THE PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON, V7

By CONSTANT

PREMIER VALET DE CHAMBRE

TRANSLATED BY WALTER CLARK

1895

CHAPTER XIII.

His Majesty remained only ten days at Saint-Cloud, passed two or three of
these in Paris at the opening of the session of the Corps Legislatif, and
at noon on the 29th set out a second time for Bayonne.

The Empress, who to her great chagrin could not accompany the Emperor,
sent for me on the morning of his departure, and renewed in most touching
accents the same recommendations which she made on all his journeys, for
the character of the Spaniards made her timid and fearful as to his
safety.

Their parting was sad and painful; for the Empress was exceedingly
anxious to accompany him, and the Emperor had the greatest difficulty in
satisfying her, and making her understand that this was impossible. Just
as he was setting out he returned to his dressing-room a moment, and told
me to unbutton his coat and vest; and I saw the Emperor pass around his
neck between his vest and shirt a black silk ribbon on which was hung a
kind of little bag about the size of a large hazel-nut, covered with
black silk. Though I did not then know what this bag contained, when he
returned to Paris he gave it to me to keep; and I found that this bag had
a pleasant feeling, as under the silk covering was another of skin. I
shall hereafter tell for what purpose the Emperor wore this bag.

I set out with a sad heart. The recommendations of her Majesty the
Empress, and fears which I could not throw off, added to the fatigue of
these repeated journeys, all conspired to produce feelings of intense
sadness, which was reflected on almost all the countenances of the
Imperial household; while the officers said among themselves that the
combats in the North were trifling compared with those which awaited us
in Spain.

We arrived on the 3d of November at the chateau of Marrac, and four days
after were at Vittoria in the midst of the French army, where the Emperor
found his brother and a few grandees of Spain who had not yet deserted
his cause.

The arrival of his Majesty electrified the troops; and a part of the
enthusiasm manifested, a very small part it is true, penetrated into the
heart of the king, and somewhat renewed his courage. They set out almost
immediately, in order to at once establish themselves temporarily at
Burgos, which had been seized by main force and pillaged in a few hours,
since the inhabitants had abandoned it, and left to the garrison the task
of stopping the French as long as possible.

The Emperor occupied the archiepiscopal palace, a magnificent building
situated in a large square on which the grenadiers of the Imperial Guard
bivouacked. This bivouac presented a singular scene. Immense kettles,
which had been found in the convents, hung, full of mutton, poultry,
rabbits, etc., above a fire which was replenished from time to time with
furniture, guitars, or mandolins, and around which grenadiers, with pipes
in their mouths, were gravely seated in gilded chairs covered with
crimson damask, while they intently watched the kettles as they simmered,
and communicated to each other their conjectures on the campaign which
had just opened.

The Emperor remained ten or twelve days at Burgos, and then gave orders
to march on Madrid, which place could have been reached by way of
Valladolid, and the road was indeed safer and better; but the Emperor
wished to seize the Pass of Somo-Sierra, an imposing position with
natural fortifications which had always been regarded as impregnable.
This pass, between two mountain peaks, defended the capital, and was
guarded by twelve thousand insurgents, and twelve pieces of cannon placed
so advantageously that they could do as much injury as thirty or forty
elsewhere, and were, in fact, a sufficient obstacle to delay even the
most formidable army; but who could then oppose any hindrance to the
march of the Emperor?

On the evening of the 29th of November we arrived within three leagues of
this formidable defile, at a village called Basaguillas; and though the
weather was very cold, the Emperor did not lie down, but passed the night
in his tent, writing, wrapped in the pelisse which the Emperor Alexander
had given him. About three o'clock in the morning he came to warm
himself by the bivouac fire where I had seated myself, as I could no
longer endure the cold and dampness of a cellar which had been assigned
as my lodging, and where my bed was only a few handfuls of straw, filled
with manure.

At eight o'clock in the morning the position was attacked and carried,
and the next day we arrived before Madrid.

The Emperor established his headquarters at the chateau of Champ-Martin,
a pleasure house situated a quarter of a league from the town, and
belonging to the mother of the Duke of Infantado; and the army camped
around this house. The day after our arrival, the owner came in tears to
entreat of his Majesty a revocation of the fatal decree which put her son
outside the protection of the law; the Emperor did all he could to
reassure her, but he could promise her nothing, as the order was general.

We had some trouble in capturing this town; in the first place, because
his Majesty recommended the greatest moderation in making the attack, not
wishing, as he said, to present to his brother a burned-up city; in the
second place, because the Grand Duke of Berg during his stay at Madrid
had fortified the palace of Retiro, and the Spanish insurgents had
intrenched themselves there, and defended it most courageously. The town
had no other defense, and was surrounded only by an old wall, almost
exactly similar to that of Paris, consequently at the end of three days
it was taken; but the Emperor preferred not to enter, and still resided
at Champ-Martin, with the exception of one day when he came incognito and
in disguise, to visit the queen's palace and the principal districts.

One striking peculiarity of the Spaniards is the respect they have always
shown for everything relating to royalty, whether they regard it as
legitimate or not. When King Joseph left Madrid the palace was closed,
and the government established itself in a passably good building which
had been used as the post-office. From this time no one entered the
palace except the servants, who had orders to clean it from time to time;
not a piece of furniture even, not a book, was moved. The portrait of
Napoleon on Mont St. Bernard, David's masterpiece, remained hanging in
the grand reception hall, and the queen's portrait opposite, exactly as
the king had placed them; and even the cellars were religiously
respected. The apartments of King Charles had also remained untouched,
and not one of the watches in his immense collection had been removed.

The act of clemency which his Majesty showed toward the Marquis of Saint-
Simon, a grandee of Spain, marked in an especial manner the entrance of
the French troops into Madrid. The Marquis of Saint-Simon, a French
emigrant, had been in the service of Spain since the emigration, and had
the command of a part of the capital. The post which he defended was
exactly in front of that which the Emperor commanded at the gates of
Madrid, and he had held out long after all the other leaders had
surrendered.

The Emperor, impatient at being so long withstood at this point, gave
orders to make a still more vigorous charge; and in this the marquis was
taken prisoner. In his extreme anger the Emperor sent him to be tried
before a military commission, who ordered him to be shot; and this order
was on the point of being executed, when Mademoiselle de Saint-Simon, a
charming young person, threw herself at his Majesty's feet, and her
father's pardon was quickly granted.

The king immediately re-entered his capital; and with him returned the
noble families of Madrid, who had withdrawn from the stirring scenes
enacted at the center of the insurrection; and soon balls, fetes,
festivities, and plays were resumed as of yore.

The Emperor left Champ-Martin on the 22d of December, and directed his
march towards Astorga, with the intention of meeting the English, who had
just landed at Corunna; but dispatches sent to Astorga by a courier from
Paris decided him to return to France, and he consequently gave orders to
set out for Valladolid.

We found the road from Benavente to Astorga covered with corpses, slain
horses, artillery carriages, and broken wagons, and at every step met
detachments of soldiers with torn clothing, without shoes, and, indeed,
in a most deplorable condition. These unfortunates were all fleeing
towards Astorga, which they regarded as a port of safety, but which soon
could not contain them all. It was terrible weather, the snow falling so
fast that it was almost blinding; and, added to this, I was ill, and
suffered greatly during this painful journey.

The Emperor while at Tordesillas had established his headquarters in the
buildings outside the convent of Saint-Claire, and the abbess of this
convent was presented to his Majesty. She was then more than sixty-five
years old, and from the age of ten years back never left this place. Her
intelligent and refined conversation made a most agreeable impression on
the Emperor, who inquired what were her wishes, and granted each one.

We arrived at Valladolid the 6th of January, 1809, and found it in a
state of great disorder. Two or three days after our arrival, a cavalry
officer was assassinated by Dominican monks; and as Hubert, one of our
comrades, was passing in the evening through a secluded street, three men
threw themselves on him and wounded him severely; and he would doubtless
have been killed if the grenadiers of the guard had not hastened to his
assistance, and delivered him from their hands. It was the monks again.
At length the Emperor, much incensed, gave orders that the convent of the
Dominicans should be searched; and in a well was found the corpse of the
aforesaid officer, in the midst of a considerable mass of bones, and the
convent was immediately suppressed by his Majesty's orders; he even
thought at one time of issuing the same rigorous orders against all the
convents of the city. He took time for reflection, however, and
contented himself by appointing an audience, at which all the monks of
Valladolid were to appear before him. On the appointed day they came;
not all, however, but deputations from each convent, who prostrated
themselves at the Emperor's feet, while he showered reproaches upon them,
called them assassins and brigands, and said they all deserved to be
hung. These poor men listened in silence and humility to the terrible
language of the irritated conqueror whom their patience alone could
appease; and finally, the Emperor's anger having exhausted itself, he
grew calmer, and at last, struck by the reflection that it was hardly
just to heap abuse on men thus prostrate on their knees and uttering not
a word in their own defense, he left the group of officers who surrounded
him, and advanced into the midst of the monks, making them a sign to rise
from their supplicating posture; and as these good men obeyed him, they
kissed the skirts of his coat, and pressed around him with an eagerness
most alarming to the persons of his Majesty's suite; for had there been
among these devotees any Dominican, nothing surely could have been easier
than an assassination.

During the Emperor's stay at Valladolid, I had with the grand marshal a
disagreement of which I retain most vivid recollections, as also of the
Emperor's intervention wherein he displayed both justice and good-will
towards me. These are the facts of the case: one morning the Duke de
Frioul, encountering me in his Majesty's apartments, inquired in a very
brusque tone (he was very much excited) if I had ordered the carriage to
be ready, to which I replied in a most respectful manner that they were
always ready. Three times the duke repeated the same question, raising
his voice still more each time; and three times I made him the same
reply, always in the same respectful manner. "Oh, you fool!" said he at
last, "you do not understand, then."--"That arises evidently,
Monseigneur, from your Excellency's imperfect explanations!" Upon which
he explained that he was speaking of a new carriage which had come from
Paris that very day, a fact of which I was entirely ignorant. I was on
the point of explaining this to his Excellency; but without deigning to
listen, the grand marshal rushed out of the room exclaiming, swearing,
and addressing me in terms to which I was totally unaccustomed. I
followed him as far as his own room in order to make an explanation; but
when he reached his door he entered, and slammed it in my face.

In spite of all this I entered a few moments later; but his Excellency
had forbidden his valet de chambre to introduce me, saying that he had
nothing to say to me, nor to hear from me, all of which was repeated to
me in a very harsh and contemptuous manner.

Little accustomed to such experiences, and entirely unnerved, I went to
the Emperor's room; and when his Majesty entered I was still so agitated
that my face was wet with tears. His Majesty wished to know what had
happened, and I related to him the attack which had just been made upon
me by the grand marshal. "You are very foolish to cry," said the
Emperor; "calm yourself, and say to the grand marshal that I wish to
speak to him."

His Excellency came at once in response to the Emperor's invitation, and
I announced him. "See," said he, pointing to me, "see into what a state
you have thrown this fellow! What has he done to be thus treated?" The
grand marshal bowed without replying, but with a very dissatisfied air;
and the Emperor went on to say that he should have given me his orders
more clearly, and that any one was excusable for not executing an order
not plainly given. Then turning toward me, his Majesty said, "Monsieur
Constant, you may be certain this will not occur again."

This simple affair furnishes a reply to many false accusations against
the Emperor. There was an immense distance between the grand marshal of
the palace and the simple valet de chambre of his Majesty, and yet the
marshal was reprimanded for a wrong done to the valet de chambre.

The Emperor showed the utmost impartiality in meting out justice in his
domestic affairs; and never was the interior of a palace better governed
than his, owing to the fact that in his household he alone was master.

The grand marshal felt unkindly toward me for sometime after; but, as I
have already said, he was an excellent man, his bad humor soon passed
away, and so completely, that on my return to Paris he requested me to
stand for him at the baptism of the child of my father-in-law, who had
begged him to be its godfather; the godmother was Josephine, who was kind
enough to choose my wife to represent her. M. le Duke de Frioul did
things with as much nobility and magnanimity as grace; and afterwards I
am glad to be able to state in justice to his memory, he eagerly seized
every occasion to be useful to me, and to make me forget the discomfort
his temporary excitement had caused me.

I fell ill at Valladolid with a violent fever a few days before his
Majesty's departure. On the day appointed for leaving, my illness was at
its height; aid as the Emperor feared that the journey might increase, or
at any rate prolong, my illness, he forbade my going, and set out without
me, recommending to the persons whom he left at Valladolid to take care
of my health. When I had gotten somewhat better I was told that his
Majesty had left, whereupon I could no longer be controlled, and against
my physician's orders, and in spite of my feebleness, in spite of
everything, in fact, had myself placed in a carriage and set out. This
was wise; for hardly had I put Valladolid two leagues behind me, than I
felt better, and the fever left me. I arrived at Paris five or six days
after the Emperor, just after his Majesty had appointed the Count
Montesquiou grand chamberlain in place of Prince Talleyrand, whom I met
that very day, and who seemed in no wise affected by this disgrace,
perhaps he was consoled by the dignity of vice-grand elector which was
bestowed on him in exchange.

CHAPTER XIV.

The Emperor arrived at Paris on the 23d of January, and passed the
remainder of the winter there, with the exception of a few days spent at
Rambouillet and Saint-Cloud.

On the very day of his arrival in Paris, although he must have been much
fatigued by an almost uninterrupted ride from Valladolid, the Emperor
visited the buildings of the Louvre and the rue de Rivoli.

His mind was full of what he had seen at Madrid, and repeated suggestions
to M. Fontaine and the other architects showed plainly his desire to make
the Louvre the finest palace in the world. His Majesty then had a report
made him as to the chateau of Chambord, which he wished to present to the
Prince of Neuchatel. M. Fontaine found that repairs sufficient to make
this place a comfortable residence would amount to 1,700,000 francs, as
the buildings were in a state of decay, and it had hardly been touched
since the death of Marshal Sage.

His Majesty passed the two months and a half of his stay working in his
cabinet, which he rarely left, and always unwillingly; his amusements
being, as always, the theater and concerts. He loved music passionately,
especially Italian music, and like all great amateurs was hard to please.
He would have much liked to sing had he been able, but he had no voice,
though this did not prevent his humming now and then pieces which struck
his fancy; and as these little reminiscences usually recurred to him in
the mornings, he regaled me with them while he was being dressed. The
air that I have heard him thus mutilate most frequently was that of The
Marseillaise. The Emperor also whistled sometimes, but very rarely; and
the air, 'Malbrook s'en va-t-en guerre', whistled by his Majesty was an
unerring announcement to me of his approaching departure for the army.
I remember that he never whistled so much, and was never so gay, as just
before he set out for the Russian campaign.

His Majesty's, favorite singer were Crescentini and Madame Grassini.
I saw Crescentini's debut at Paris in the role of Romeo, in Romeo and
Juliet. He came preceded by a reputation as the first singer of Italy;
and this reputation was found to be well deserved, notwithstanding all
the prejudices he had to overcome, for I remember well the disparaging
statements made concerning him before his debut at the court theater.
According to these self-appointed connoisseurs, he was a bawler without
taste, without method, a maker of absurd trills, an unimpassioned actor
of little intelligence, and many other things besides. He knew, when he
appeared on the stage, how little disposed in his favor his audience
were, yet he showed not the slightest embarrassment; this, and his noble,
dignified mien, agreeably surprised those who expected from what they had
been told to behold an awkward man with an ungainly figure. A murmur of
approbation ran through the hall on his appearance; and electrified by
this welcome, he gained all hearts from the first act. His movements
were full of grace and dignity; he had a perfect knowledge of the scene,
modest gestures perfectly in harmony with the dialogue, and a countenance
on which all shades of passion were depicted with the most astonishing
accuracy; and all these rare and precious qualities combined to give to
the enchanting accents of this artist a charm of which it is impossible
to give an idea.

At each scene the interest he inspired became more marked, until in the
third act the emotion and delight of the spectator were carried almost to
frenzy. In this act, played almost solely by Crescentini, this admirable
singer communicated to the hearts of his audience all that is touching
and, pathetic in a love expressed by means of delicious melody, and by
all that grief and despair can find sublime in song.

The Emperor was enraptured, and sent Crescentini a considerable
compensation, accompanied by most flattering testimonials of the pleasure
he had felt in hearing him.

On this day, as always when they played together afterwards, Crescentini
was admirably supported by Madame Grassini, a woman of superior talent,
and who possessed the most astonishing voice ever heard in the theater.
She and Madame Barilli then divided the admiration of the public.

The very evening or the day after the debut of Crescentini, the French
stage suffered an irreparable loss in the death of Dazincourt, only sixty
years of age. The illness of which he died had begun on his return from
Erfurt, and was long and painful; and yet the public, to whom this great
comedian had so long given such pleasure, took no notice of him after it
was found his sickness was incurable and his death certain. Formerly
when a highly esteemed actor was kept from his place for some time by
illness (and who deserved more esteem than Dazincourt?), the pit was
accustomed to testify its regret by inquiring every day as to the
condition of the afflicted one, and at the end of each representation the
actor whose duty it was to announce the play for the next day gave the
audience news of his comrade. This was not done for Dazincourt, and the
pit thus showed ingratitude to him.

I liked and esteemed sincerely Dazincourt, whose acquaintance I had made
several years before his death; and few men better deserved or so well
knew how to gain esteem and affection. I will not speak of his genius,
which rendered him a worthy successor of Preville, whose pupil and
friend he was, for all his contemporaries remember Figaro as played by
Dazincourt; but I will speak of the nobility of his character, of his
generosity, and his well-tested honor. It would seem that his birth and
education should have kept him from the theater, where circumstances
alone placed him; but he was able to protect himself against the
seductions of his situation, and in the greenroom, and in the midst of
domestic intrigues, remained a man of good character and pure manners.
He was welcomed in the best society, where he soon became a favorite by
his piquant sallies, as much as by his good manners and urbanity, for he
amused without reminding that he was a comedian.

At the end of February his Majesty went to stay for some time at the
palace of the Elysee; and there I think was signed the marriage contract
of one of his best lieutenants, Marshal Augereau, recently made Duke of
Castiglione, with Mademoiselle Bourlon de Chavanges, the daughter of an
old superior officer; and there also was rendered the imperial decree
which gave to the Princess Eliza the grand duchy of Tuscany, with the
title of grand duchess.

About the middle of March, the Emperor passed several days at
Rambouillet; there were held some exciting hunts, in one of which his
Majesty himself brought to bay and killed a stag near the pool of Saint-
Hubert. There was also a ball and concert, in which appeared
Crescentini, Mesdames Grassini, Barelli, and several celebrated
virtuosos, and lastly Talma recited.

On the 13th of April, at four o'clock in the morning, the Emperor having
received news of another invasion of Bavaria by the Austrians, set out
for Strasburg with the Empress, whom he left in that city; and on the
15th, at eleven o'clock in the morning, he passed the Rhine at the head
of his army. The Empress did not long remain alone, as the Queen of
Holland and her sons, the Grand Duchess of Baden and her husband, soon
joined her.

The splendid campaign of 1809 at once began. It is known how glorious it
was, and that one of its least glorious victories was the capture of
Vienna.

At Ratisbon, on the 23d of April, the Emperor received in his right foot
a spent ball, which gave him quite a severe bruise. I was with the
service when several grenadiers hastened to tell me that his Majesty was
wounded, upon which I hastened to him, and arrived while M. Yvan was
dressing the contusion. The Emperor's boot was cut open, and laced up,
and he remounted his horse immediately; and, though several of the
generals insisted on his resting, he only replied: "My friends, do you
not know that it is necessary for me to see everything?" The enthusiasm
of the soldiers cannot be expressed when they learned that their chief
had been wounded, though his wound was not dangerous. "The Emperor is
exposed like us," they said; "he is not a coward, not he." The papers
did not mention this occurrence.

Before entering a battle, the Emperor always ordered that, in case he was
wounded, every possible measure should be taken to conceal it from his
troops. "Who knows," said he, "what terrible confusion might be produced
by such news? To my life is attached the destiny of a great Empire.
Remember this, gentlemen; and if I am wounded, let no one know it, if
possible. If I am slain, try to win the battle without me; there will be
time enough to tell it afterwards."

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