Undercurrents of the Second Empire: notes and recollections

Front matter

UNDERCURRENTS OF THE SECOND EMPIRE By the same Author. MY PARIS NOTE-BOOK. In One Volume, cloth, price 6s. " Want of space forbids us to make quotations from the good things in which the book abounds. There is a delightfully written chapter on the Chamber of Deputies and its principal luminaries, while of Thiers, MacMahon, Grevy, and others the ' Englishman ' has many curious and diverting bits of gossip to tell us." — Galigiiani 's Messenger. " This is a volume of very amusing gossip about the two Napoleons, the principal men and women of the Third Empire, the Presidents of the French Republic, and the drama, literature, and society of the French capital during the last thirty years." — The Observer. " Mr. Vandam has had a long experience of Paris and is endowed with observation and retentiveness, and burdened with no superfluous discretion. . . .

He writes in an amusing, gossiping style, and brims over with anecdotes. His work is thus light and agreeable reading, and will not be easily laid down by those in search of amusement." — Notes and Queries. LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN. Undercurrents of The Second Empire Notes and Recollections BY ALBERT D. VANDAM AUTHOR OF " AN ENGLISHMAN IN PARIS," " MY PARIS NOTE-BOOK," Etc. LONDON WILLIAM HEINEMANN 1897 (All rights reserved) CONTENTS

Chapter I

How the Empire was restored. — The influence of the Napoleonic legend during the Restoration and the Monarchy of Louis Philippe. — The Bourbons and Cambronne. — The Due d'Angouleme and Drouot. — The Duchesse d'Angouleme at Avignon. — Her attempt to convert a veteran of Napoleon.— Charles X. and another veteran of la Grande Arme'e. — Louvel on his trial for the murder of the Due de Berri. — The propaganda of the Napoleonic legend by the poets. — Talleyrand's journey to Vienna in 1830 in quest of the Due de Reichstadt. — Louis Philippe's attitude. — Thiers' part in the removal of Napoleon's remains from St. Helena. — Prince Louis Napoleon's knowledge of all this. — The Bonaparte family. — Jerome, ex- King of Westphalia, and his son. — Jerome at Hesse-Cassel. — Louis Napoleon's one ally among the Bonaparte family. — Mathilde Bonaparte, Comtesse DemidofF. — The rest of Louis Napoleon's relations, legitimate and illegitimate. — A story of Louis Napoleon's impecuniosity. — Mathilde and her cousin. — Mathilde and Nicolas I. — Nicolas I. and Prince Louis Napoleon. — Mathilde keeps her cousin posted up. — Why Louis Napoleon's attempt at Strasburg was not more severely punished . Page 1

Chapter II

How the Empire was restored (continued). — A game of political bluff. — The players. — Lamartine, practically the only honest man among them. — Cavaignac, Thiers, Victor Hugo, and Changarnier. — Prince Louis Napoleon's opinion of them. — An estimate of his opponents, proving that Louis Napoleon was one of the most brilliant talkers of his time.— The game of bluff CONTENTS VI described.— The tactics of the players.— Louis Napoleon's luck throughout— Thiers and Changarnier keep in till the end of the game.— The Prince-President keeps shuffling the cards and defeats them.— The on-lookers at the game and the backers of the players.— The Prince-President gets "fours" . - Page 2$,

Chapter III

How the Empire was restored (continued). — Some silhouettes. — Dupin aine", President of the Chamber during part of the Second Republic. — His share in the restoration of the Empire (?). — Morny. — Persigny. — Prince Jerome Bonaparte, otherwise Plon- Plon. — Fleury. — Why Fleury rallied to the cause of the Prince- President. — His share in the Coup d'Etat. — The state of the Prince-President's exchequer on the eve of the Coup d'Etat. — The evidence of Baron James de Rothschild. — The supposed bribing of the army. — Did the army want bribing? — Why Fleury was sent to Algeria to find a Minister for War, and why Persigny was not sent. — Dr. Louis Veron, the proprietor of the Constitutionnel. — Thiers and VeVon. — Thiers, the irrepressible Thiers. — A glimpse of the minor collaborateurs, Maupas, Beville, Magnan Page 58

Chapter IV

The beginnings of the Empire. — The new Emperors real friends. — Their number according to the Emperor. — Mocquard, the Emperor's private secretary. — An absolutely unknown scene at ' the Elysee a few days after the Coup d'Etat. — Plon-Plon's and his father's attitude towards the new Emperor. — A dastardly insinuation on their part to prevent the Emperor marrying. — The result. — Fleury's suggestion for a comedy. — The Emperor determines to make the suggested comedy a reality. — A hasty marriage. — Louis Napoleon's ante-nuptial love affairs. — Mdlle. de Montijo's ante-nuptial flirtations. — Louis Napoleon's search for a wife. — A consultation between Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, Prince Hohenlohe, and Lord Palmerston. — Louis Napoleon's original intention with regard to Mdlle. de Montijo. — The announcement of his forthcoming union and the effect it produced in Paris and in France. — Dupin aine gives his views. — The Faubourg St. Germain and the Orleanists' salons. — The Faubourg St. Honore7, the Chaussee d'Antin and the Faubourg St. Antoine Page CONTENTS VII

Chapter V

The beginnings of the Empire (continued). — The Tuileries in the early part of '53. — A conversation between Vely Pasha, the then Turkish Ambassador and an English nobleman. — An attempt to poison the Queen's mind against Louis Napoleon. — Palmerston supported by the Duke of Wellington takes the Emperor's part. — France's naval resources at the beginning of the Empire. — The only question which the Emperor could take up in a hostile spirit then. — The problem proposed by the Turkish Ambassador and worked out by the author of these pages. — The real reason of the French support of England during the Crimean War. — The household of the new Imperial couple. — Adventurers and worse. — A sponsor wanted for the new Empress. — The Bonapartes in clover. — A suitor for the hand of Princess Mary of Cambridge (the present Duchess of Teck). — Palmerston nips the contemplated proposal in the bud. — The immediate entourage of the new Imperial couple. — The Emperor as a scapegoat. — The period immediately before and immediately after the outbreak of the Crimean War. — The news of the first victories arouses little or no enthusiasm. — The Imperial couple's disappointment at the failure of their combination. — Sudden and almost unexpected success by means of a cleverly enacted scene before Lord Cowley. — The invitation to visit England. — The visit itself. — The comedy enacted an hour after the 'arrival in London of the august visitors. — London applauds and England follows suit. — A reception at the French Embassy in London. — An American diplomatist and his awkward remarks. — The Queen's return visit to Paris. — Comments in the streets. — A few lines of criticism by a French officer Page 126

Chapter VI

The transformation of Paris. — The attempts in that direction of Napoleon 1 1 1.'s predecessors. — Louis XIV. and Mansart. — The origin of the idea. — The opposition to its realisation. — Not a single honest objection. — The objections being overruled, the erstwhile objectors fatten and batten on the scheme. — A chapter of dishonesty, jobbery, corruption and greed. — The story of the Quartier Marbœuf. — An unknown episode in the life of Balzac. — An unpublished page from the " Memoires " of Alexandre Dumas, the elder. — The probable origin of achapterof Dickens's Great Expectations — Birds of Prey in the Law Courts. — The late Jules Ferry's beginnings. — A historical pamphlet. — The CONTENTS VIII Emperor's opinion of it and its author. — Jules Ferry's likeness to Offenbach. — " Zampa's heir in custody of a gendarme." — Forgeries, fictitious leases, sham balance-sheets and stock books. — The Emperor's discouragement. — He proposes to take a stroll with Haussmann, in imitation of Napoleon I.'s strolls with Duroc Page 1 56

Chapter VII

The prologue to the Franco-Austrian War. — The attempt of 14th January, 185S. — The police at fault. — The Emperor's estimate of the police. — The miraculous escape of the Emperor and Empress. — Undercurrents of the police system. — The Emperor's connection with the Carbonaria. — Previous attempts on Louis Napoleon's life. — The Emperor's want of circumspection with regard to women. — A pseudo-fairytale published by the Belgian papers. — The Emperor's secret wish that the authors of the attempt should go scot-free. — The reason why. — The prospect of a united Italy and the Catholic priesthood. — The respite granted by the Carbonaria to the Emperor. — The Emperor's visit to Orsini. — Orsini's political testament. — The police once more. — Plon-Plon's marriage with the daughter of Victor Emmanuel. — The hand of Cavour. — Why he considered the marriage necessary. — A comparison between Cavour and Bismarck. — The betrothal of Plon-Plon and Princesse Clotilde. — A letter from Prince Albert to Leopold I. — The Franco-Austrian Campaign. — At the very outset of it the Emperor becomes aware of the rotten condition of the army. — Some instances of this rottenness. — The disaster of Sedan foreshadowed in the victory of Magenta. — A remark of the Empress on the promotion of Niel. — A narrow escape of the Emperor. — A narrow escape of MacMahon.— The battle of Magenta won by a fluke Page 183

Chapter VIII

The heyday of the Second Empire. — The prosperity. — Henri IV'.s "fowl in the pot."— The savings of the peasantry and the petite bourgeoisie.— The big-wig of the Third Republic and the big-wig of the Second Empire.— The Emperor as a bon-vivant. — Marivaux's definition of a bon-vivant. — The Emperor's attitude towards the Republicans in general and Thiers in particular. — A scene between the Emperor and Morny. — Life at the CONTENTS IX Tuileries. — Every one master except the master himself. — The twenty-three new deputies of the Opposition. — Buffooning at Court. — The Clergy. — The Abbe Bauer and Cremieux. — Monseigneur Dupanloup. — Warriors. — Count Tascher de la Pagerie. — General de Cotte's remarks at the outbreak of the Franco-Austrian War. — " As yet, however, the cloud is not bigger than a hand." — Theresa's " Rien n'est sacre pour un sapeur," and the lesson it conveyed. — Vivier, the Emperor's double. — Vivier at Mme. de Paiva's. — The jester in ordinary to the Court and the jester who performs " by command." — The corps de ballet. — The Paiva's, the Skittles, and the Cora Pearls. — Over-zealous officials. — Paiva, Skittles and Cora Pearl delighted. — " Les femmes comme il faut et les femmes comme il en faut." — Horseflesh and pigskin. — An afternoon in the Champs Elysees. — The Emperor, the Empress, the Prince Imperial, the Court beauties. — The beauties that were bred in alleys. — English Ambassadors. — Lord Cowley and afterwards Lord Lyons. — An important footnote about the Prince Imperial Page 212

Chapter IX

How Joshua, the Son of Nun, went to work. — The author adopts his method for the nonce. — The Rahabs of the Second Empire. — Alex. Dumas' preface to "Le Demi-Monde" quoted. — The Emperor largely responsible for the corrupted state of society. — Glimpses of Skittles and Cora Pearl. — The Vicomtesse de Paiva. — A bit of biography. — Her spitefulness. — Smart attaches make all this the subject of their correspondence. — The result of this correspondence and that of the documents and communications emanating from the Quai d'Orsay. — A glance at Compiegne. — Warriors bold. — A prologue to the Mexican Campaign Page 245

Chapter X

Undercurrents of the war in Mexico. — Jecker and his claim against the Mexican Government. — Did Napoleon III. engage in that war for the sake of a prospective share in the claim ? — " Distinctly not." — A suspected interview between Napoleon and Jecker. — Morny and Jecker. — The prologue to the war invented after the war itself had been decided on. — The deep-seated religious dissatisfaction in France at the probable sequel to the Franco-Austrian War as far as Rome was concerned. — CONTENTS X The enmity of Rome. — A glance into the past. — The Concordat. —Napoleon III. being the professed heir to his uncle's universal ideas, stood particularly committed to the latter's policy of con ciliation towards the Papacy. — This policy of conciliation not prompted by religious feeling on the part of Napoleon III. ; but by political feeling.— Napoleon III. and the Archbishop ot Paris. — The " eldest daughter " of the Church openly accused of abetting Cavour, Victor-Emmanuel, and Garibaldi in en deavouring to wrest the Papal States from the Papacy. — In order to counteract this feeling the Emperor allows his officials to bungle in their zeal. — The dress rehearsals of Gounod's "Faust." — A scarcely known letter from Napoleon III. to Pius IX. — It produces no effect in Rome. — What Napoleon I. would have done under the circumstances. — The spirit ot decision lacking in his nephew. — Weak-kneed Cæsarism and Prince Albert's opinion of it. — The French the spectators of their own Government. — The necessity for constant novelty at the political playhouse. — " Sire, you must do grandiose things." — Napoleon III. endeavours to act upon the advice. — Notes of well-informed eye-witnesses. — Jealousy of the growing influence of the United States. — Antagonism of some of her public men to the Second Empire. — President Buchanan and reference to a story already told. — Abraham Lincoln and Juarez. — " The English are not showing their usual and admirable common sense, &c." — The House of Commons and the Jecker claim. — The Jecker bonds and Moray's dealing with them. — Mexico practically bankrupt. — Lord John Russell and the Comte de Flahaut. — Napoleon III.'s knowledge of the iniquity of Jecker's claim. — Very many undercurrents in one. — The Jecker claim nothing better than a pretext. — The offer of the crown of Mexico to Maximilian practically a comedy. — Appendix . .

Page 275

Chapter XI

The news of the battle of Sadowa. — The Emperor, Metternich Fleury, and Randon. — A sentence of the Emperor. — A sentence of Fleury. — A sentence of Randon. — The three combined show Metternich the military nakedness of the Empire. — Four years later he will remember it and will secretly advise his sovereign not to contract an alliance with France. — The dearth of French diplomatists. — Competent and incompetent French generals.- Jealousy of each other. — Some stories in support. — The Emperor does not know his best men. — He confers promotion in a hap-hazard way. —Cleanliness and discipline. — The Cent CONTENTS XI Gardes take a bath before going on duty. — The other troops do not. — Pedantism. — The scheme for the thorough reorganisation of the French army. The Exhibition of 1867 prevents, or at any rate delays, its realisation. — I take a walk to see the preparations for the Exhibition. — France once more sacrificed to the interests of Paris. — The scenery for the third act of " Sardana palus." — Arbaces and Belesis. — Rejoicings in the Republican camp at the battle of Sadowa. — Opposition to the army scheme. — " That damnable Exhibition." — The invitations to the feast. — Joshua would have been equally glad to get such an invitation from the kings of the land of Canaan. — A parterre of kings at the Rue Le Peletier. — King Wilhelm, Bismarck, and Moltke in Paris. — King Wilhelm's recollections of a former visit long ago. - — An excursion to Montmartre. — Bismarck at the review at Longchamps. — A quotation from " Macbeth " . . . Page 315

Chapter XII

The outbreak of the war. — Diplomacy. — Moral opinion of Europe. — Is Prussia afraid ? — An interesting footnote. — The remodelling of Europe on the basis previous to 18 14. — A glance at the Quai d'Orsay. — Drouyn de Lhuys. — Duplicity of the Emperor. — The Emperor too certain of the support of Austria. — Story of the bandmasters. — Due Agenor de Gramont. — A heaven-born diplomatist. — Lord Granville on pseudo-heaven-born diplomatists. — The Hohenzollern embroglio. — The diplomatic path of France clearly mapped out. — Benedetti and the Prussian Minister for Foreign Affairs (Herr von Thile). — Gramont, Benedetti and Valette. — Desprets, the Permanent Secretary at the Quai d'Orsay. — The Emperor very ill. — Benedetti's claims to the title of a high-class diplomatist. — A story of Gouvion St. Cyr. — The moral of the story. — The Luxemburg Affair. — Lack of discipline at the Quai d'Orsay. — The Emperor's foreign policy. — An anecdote in a footnote. — Adolphe Thiers and my promised indictment against him Page 341 Conclusion Paris on the night of the 16th July, 1870.— My opinion about France's ability to hold her own in the forthcoming struggle undergoes a considerable change before bedtime.— My recollections of '59 in Paris and of '66 in Berlin.— A comparison forced upon me.— Germany on the eve of the war, from a French eye- CONTENTS XII witness. — The Cafe de la Paix and a group of Imperialists. — I sit still and listen. — Joseph Ferrari. — A bit of spy-mania. — There was, in my opinion, no need for employing spies. — France's supposed alliances. — Ferrari explains the situation. — Victor Emmanuel could not help if he were willing.— Francis-Joseph a broken reed. — A glance at the past in order to judge the present. — Gramont's overweening confidence. — Napoleon III.'s theory of nationalities illustrated practically. — My reception at the Faisan Dore. — My friend Korner and his troubles. — I tel' Ferrari. — He strikes the balance of goodwill between Austria and France. — The truth about the Emperor's illness. — His virtual ostracism by the Empress and her party. — Supposed ignorance of his critical state of health. — His departure. — Lebœuf and Lebrun at Saarbruck. — Lebœuf after Forbach and Woerth. — Pietri's telegram. — The Empress's reply. — Fleury the only man who could have saved the situation. — The Empress and Emile Ollivier. — The Empress's belief in tokens. — M. Richard at Metz. — His return to Paris. — The Emperor's second attempt to return to Paris. — The possible effect of his presence there. — The Empire might have been saved by one resolute man. — M. Estancelin in the Chamber. — Henpecked heroes. — Henri IV., Peter the Great. — Victor Emmanuel. — Mme. de Maintenon and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. — Napoleon's exit a theatrical one Page THE SECOND EMPIRE

Chapter I

Even before the fall of the Second Empire, historians of high attainments like Lanfrey and Taxile Delord were "whittling" the gigantic figure of Napoleon I. They were probably prompted by a desire similar to that which caused Jacob to pill white strakes in the rods of green poplar and hazel and chestnut tree in Laban's field. With this difference, though, that Lanfrey and Taine after him did not set the whittled Titan before the mentally strongest progenitors of the coming generations, but before the mentally weakest. Lanfrey and Taine have had a kind of reward, notably among French Republicans, who have brought forth a generation which keeps yelling that the Napoleonic gods are dead. They, the French Republicans, remind one of the early Christians who constantly cried out that the Pagan gods were dead, when, in fact, these gods were not dead at all, but simply made the r. propagators of the new faith quake with fear.

I, for one, do not believe that the Napoleonic gods are dead ; they are wrapt in a deep sleep ; whether we shall see the man with the power to awaken them is another question. Thus much concerning the present, let us look at the past, at the period between Waterloo and the overthrow of the dynasty of Louis Philippe, during which period the Napoleonic legend was to France in particular, but to Europe in general, what the stories of the Civil War and the Franco-German Campaign are still, first to Americans and Germans respectively, then to the whole of the civilized world ; namely, a living, breathing, romantic and heroic drama upon which the curtain had only fallen a short time since ; a drama most of the actors of which still walked the earth, while its chief hero, like Abraham Lincoln, was already numbered among the im mortals of history, by reason of his martyrdom ; a drama from the influence of which even those who had most cause to dread and dispel that influence could not escape.

I am quoting from memory, but the reader may rest his mind on that point ; my memory rarely attempts to deceive me without arousing my suspicions to that effect. We have lived for many years on the footing of a jealous husband and wife ; the slightest sign of such deception on its part breeds a correspondino- Avatchfulness on mine, and in this instance I feel absolutely convinced of its faithfulness. Both Generals Cambronne and Drouot had followed Napoleon during the Hundred Days ; the first is credited with having flung a more forcible than elegant monosyllable at his assailants at Waterloo in reply to their summons to surrender ; the second has had his name bestowed on one of the principal streets in Paris. On their return, the Bourbons after harassing Cambronne to no purpose, conferred a title on him, and finally, I believe, gave him the command of the Lille division ; a frontier post of trust if ever there was one.

Drouot retired to his native city, Nancy. Some time afterwards when the elder son of Charles X. that was to be — the Due d'Angouleme who in 1830 abdicated with his father in favour of his nephew the Due de Bordeaux, subsequently the Comte de Chambord — passed through the capital of Lorraine, he immediately inquired for the residence of Napoleon's favourite general, and called upon him. " Monsieur le General," said the Prince, " I have come to beg a favour — that of exchanging my sword for yours." Drouot acquiesced, and the son of the House of France carried away the sword as a relic, as a talisman, as a badge of honour. A few years later, the Due's wife and cousin, the daughter of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, the erstwhile prisoner of the Temple, spent a couple of days at Avignon, where at that time b there was a branch establishment of the Hotel des Invalides of Paris.

She stayed at the Pre fecture and on the Sunday, as a matter of course, went to Saint Agricol in semi-state. Scarcely had her foot touched the first step leading to the church when the air resounded with the stentorian cry of "Vive 1'Empereur!" Under the circum stances the cry was considered as nothing less than an outrage ; the offender was apprehended there and then, and would probably have been rent to death on the spot, for the masses are tigers when they are not apes, and frequently both in one. The offender would have been torn to pieces ; the men who seven years before had inaugurated a series of foul murders with that of Marechal Brune, would not have scrupled to crown the series with another but for the inter ference of the Duchesse herself and the Prefect. The offender turned out to be a former sersreant in the Imperial Guard named Jean Boucard.

An interview took place the same afternoon between the veteran of la Grande Armee and the presumptive Queen of France at which no one was present but the Prefect, who afterwards told the story to many of his friends among whom were some of my relatives.1 This story is, however, too long to be given in full here. For 1 For an account of those relatives and their influence upon me as a writer, I must refer my readers to My Paris Notebook London : Wm. Heinemann ; Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott Co. the first time in her life perhaps the daughter of the Bourbons found herself face to face with an eye-witness of that marvellous Napoleonic era and no considerations of courtly etiquette could prevent him from limning it in all its brilliant, glowing colours as well as in all its sombre and tragic incidents, for Jean Boucard had been rendered childless by the god he adored ; his eldest son had been killed at Leipzig, his younger at Waterloo.

"Ah, you see, M. Boucard," said the Princess when the veteran came to that part of his story; "we cause the death of no one." "Pardon me, Madame," interrupted Boucard, "you had some one killed who was dearer to me than both my sons ; you killed my general, my marshal, you killed Michel Ney." In spite of this rough reminder of the crime of her uncle (Louis XVI 1 1.), the Princess endeavoured to convert Jean Boucard to the existing rigime, nay, fancied she had con verted him, for he accepted a generous bounty for himself and his widowed sister. But Boucard was not converted, though he also construed his accept ance of the Princess's subsidy in that spirit, and felt remorse gnawing at his heart in consequence. He no longer held up his head, shunned his fellow veterans, and from an occasional tippler became a confirmed drunkard.

During these drunken fits he was silently arrogant, staring his former com rades in the face, evidently bent on provoking them. On one occasion he told the Prefect that he would like to earn the money that had been given to him by killing one of them. " The gold bears the bloodmarks of the murdered Michel Ney," he said ; " I have tried to wash it clean in wine ; only more blood will do it." Time went on, and the birthday of Louis XVI 1 1, came round. On that morning Boucard was more helplessly drunk and more defiant than usual. He loudly announced his intention of drinking the King's health at the dinner given on that occasion. He tried to be as good as his word, but the " Vive le Roi " stuck in his throat. Then with a supreme effort he gasped "Vive l'Empereur," and dropped to the floor. When they picked him up he was dead.

I might fill a book with stories of the unalter able devotion of these veterans to the memory of the leader for whom they had shed their blood. A few more must suffice. After his coronation, Charles X. was about to enter the archbishop's palace at Rheims when he noticed an old man, minus one arm, who stood quietly smoking his pipe, profoundly indifferent to the ceremony which had just concluded, and not bestowing as much as a glance on the newly-crowned king. Though the man wore no uniform, the martial air was unmistakable; it was moreover emphasized by the absence of the limb. The sovereign stopped on the threshold of the palace and sent an aide-de camp for the apathetic veteran who came immediately, with his pipe still alight in his hand. " That pipe seems a great comfort to you, friend," said the King, breaking the ice at once.

" It is a com fort," replied the old soldier pointedly ; " it com pensates for many things." " Which means," retorted the King, "that you are not too well pleased to-day ? " "I am aware, Sire," was the instantaneous rejoinder, " that in Rheims to-day every one is well pleased ; I, unfortunately, am unable to take any share in the rejoicings." "And why ?" queried the King. " Because I remember too well another coronation, in which I took my humble part." Charles X. was not easily discon certed ; he had a ready wit. " That's right," he said ; "we should never forget those who led us to victory. But why are you not at the Inva lides ? " "Because I prefer to eat my crust at home in my own country. I am satisfied to live on the pension my cross [of the Legion of Honour] brings me." "The Invalides is your home by right, it is not a question of charity," remarked the King, still bent on conciliating the old soldier, and bowing to him.

The veteran stood at the salute until Charles X. had disappeared, then went back quietly to his sunny spot to re sume his smoking, mumbling to himself as he went, " He is a good sort after all." An hour later, an aide-de-camp dispatched by the King found him there. " His Majesty has sent me to tell you that he has granted you a pension of 300 francs from his privy purse," said the officer. Jean Latapie (for that was his name) stood at the salute once more. "Very well," he remarked, with a somewhat sar donic smile. " Please to thank His Majesty for me, and to tell him that his kindness will enable me to buy two new ribbons instead of one ribbon per year for the cross given to me by the Emperor. Thousands of these veterans were scattered through the French provinces, for Jean Latapie was not singular in his preference for a crust at home to two good meals daily at the Invalides.

They propagated the Napoleonic faith and em bellished the Napoleonic legend, in spite of their being, some of them, at any rate, republicans at heart. " I weep," said one, " because Napoleon has taken the Republic from us to smother it in his imperial bed ; I weep because he who comforted us for the loss of the Republic, is chained to an English rock." They despised the dynasty that had been imposed upon France by the aid of alien bayonets. When Louvel stood arraigned for the murder of the Due de Berri, the Procurator-General flung the word " coward " repeatedly into his face. " Coward, coward," cried Louvel at last ; " you do not know, Monsieur, how much courage it implies to kill a man who has never done you any harm." And when asked to state the motives that had made him commit the deed, he exclaimed: "Since the i8t/i June, 1815, / have never ceased to hear the cannon of Waterloo!' I made a mistake just now when I said that these veterans embellished the Napoleonic legend; they did not embellish it, there was no need to do so : they had but to tell the unvar nished truth about that giant who in a few years transformed the whole of the political geography of the European continent ; who made a King of Sweden out of a lawyer's son like him self ; a King of Naples out of an innkeeper's son ; a score of dukes and marshals out of as many stable-lads, millers' boys, coopers' apprentices, and Heaven alone knows out of what else.