The court of Napoleon

Front matter

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Preface

ALTHOUGH numerous volumes have been wtten Xl_ upon Napoleon in this country, there is none whose pm-pose is to give a general view of his influence upon society. His career has been regarded as exclusively military and political, and to these topics historians and essayists have principally directed their labors. Nor has there been, even in France, a methodical treatise, presenting a delineation of manners and morals under the Empire, at the same time tracing their connection with the court, and noting the effect produced by the Emperor and his system upon the society he had created. It is the object, therefore, of this volume to fill an obvious void, and thus to supply a practical test of the character and influence of Napoleon I.

IV PREFACE.

The name and fame of Napoleon have long since ceased in America to be connected with party interests or associations. Even the romance with which an inherent hero-worship has led us to invest his career, is visibly yielding to a scrutinizing cmiosity which demands unadorned reality in place of sentimental fiction. This tendency is aided and accelerated by the contemplation of events now passing in France, where we see a new empire founded upon the souvenirs of the preceding one, and professing to be conceived in its image. To appreciate the present, it is essential to miderstand the past.

In giving to the public, therefore, the present volume, though it forms a part of the design of the publishers to offer a tasteful example of art, in the various departments cooperating in the production of books, it is still the purpose, or at least the hope, of the author, to contiibute something to the philosophy of history, in that portion of it which he has ti'cated. It does not enter into his plan to record the battles and the conquests of the Emperor, nor to describe his foreign policy or his domestic administration. It has been his simple pm-pose to represent him at home, in his court, and amongst his people ; to chi'onicle his influence upon morals, manners, religion, art, science, literature — the fountains of public life and the basis of national character.

TREFAUE. V

Impartiality is the first requisite in a work of this description, and the author has acted throughout under this conviction. That he has always fulfilled his design can hardly be assimied, though it is believed that every assertion of sufficient importance to require it, has been substantiated by adequate reference. The critical reader will thus be able to test the accuracy of the representations made. This has been deemed the more necessary, as many topics are presented in a light somewhat different from that thrown upon them by popular opinion in this country.

The author may be permitted to add, that while he has thus carefully based his work upon authority, he has still further verified the views therein expressed, by personal observations made during a residence of eight years in France, and that under circumstances which permitted him to become acquainted with the opinions entertained by the French people themselves upon the subjects referred to. This experience has been in many cases of more value than a library of biographies.

The engravings accompanying these pages are offered as representatives, both in drawing and color, of the best existing portraits of the celebrated women whose features they perpetuate. The originals, the greater part by Gerard, vi PEEFACE.

the others by David, Ary Scheffer, &c., belong principally to the Historical Gallery of Versailles, and offer, therefore, indisputable guarantees of authenticity. It is hoped, consequently, that the illustrations may be regarded as possessing a certain historical value in addition to the mechanical beauty which the laborious and skillful artist has sought to bestow upon them.

"With these remarks the author and publishers submit " The Court of Fapoleon " to the candid judgment of the American public.

NEW YORK, October, 1856.

CONTENTS,

Chapter I

The Women of the Revolution — The Girondines and the Scaffold— Theroigne de Merieourt and the Mountain — Madame Tallien and Josephine — Napoleon as the Reformer of Society, . 11

Chapter II

Lucile Duplessis and Camille Desmoulins — Jesus Christ the Sans-culotte — Lucile's Prayer — Her Death and Character— Charlotte Corday — Her Journey to Paris — Her Arrest, Trial, and Execution — Her fifteen Portraits — Her Character as judged by History, . . . .21

Chapter III

The Furies of the Guillotine — The first Sans-culottes — Theroigne de Merieourt — An Amazon at the Invalides — Her Address to the Club des CordeUers — A RoyaUst Caricature — Olympe de Gouges — Madame Roland — Her Precocity — ^Her Marriage and Removal to Paris — Her Association with the Girondins — ^Her Arrest and Condemnation, 34

Chapter IV

Society under the Directory — Divorce — Burial of the Dead — Dancing Gardens — Frascati and Xivoli — Supremacy of Matter — National Bankruptcy — Famine — Two Milhon Francs for a Waistcoat — The Cascade of Discredit — Voltaire's God-daughter in Danger of Starving — Pamphlets, Caricatures and Fans, 50

Chapter V

Fashions of the Terror and Directory — Classic Nudities — Iphigenia and the Vestal Virgins in Paris — Fatal Consequences — Cravats, Smallclothes, and a new Pronunciation — Magazines of Fashion, .62

•viii CONTENTS.

Chapter VI

Theresia Cabarrus — Her Marriage •with JI. de Fontenay — Tallien at Bordeaux — The Pro-Consul exercises Clemency — Theresia and Josephine in Prison together — Their Signatures still visible upon the Walls — The Fall of Kobespierre — Josephine's Letter to Madame Tallien — Barras and Josephine — The Anecdote of Sempronia — The Green Dominos — Rose Thermidor — PubUe Disapprobation, ............... 68

Chapter VII

France prepared for a social Change — Bonaparte lands at Frejus — Is hailed as a Dehrerer from Anarchy — A Deputy dies of sudden Joy — Bonaparte arrives at Paris — The Purpose of this Volume, 81

Chapter VIII

The Revival of Manners — Bonaparte urges his Officers to Marry — An Invasion of new Faces — The first Ladies of Honor — ^The Households of Josephine, of Bonaparte, his Mother and Sisters — The First Reception at the Tuileries — The consular Court estabhshed — The Fashions of the Period, 85

Chapter IX

ReUgion during the Revolution — Napoleon a Mahometan in Egypt, a Catholic in France — The Concordat and the Te Deum — Eighty Ladies present at the Ceremony — A disrespectful Audience — Epigrams — The Curate of St. Roch and the Danseuse — The Clergy are refractory — Mass at St. Cloud — The Restoration of the Saints to the Calendar, 95

CHAPTER S.

A Courtship and Marriage under Bonaparte — General Junot and M'lle de Permon — The Offer — Consultation with Bonaparte — A singular Obstacle — The Trousseau and CorbeiUe — The Bride's Toilet — The Ceremony — Bonaparte wagers with Josephine upon the sex of the First-Born — The Baptism of M'Ue Junot 106

Chapter XI

An Evening at Madame Recamier s — The Company — The Programme — Talma as Othello — A Gavotte rehearsed — The Wild Boy of the Aveyron — A rustic Wedding — An amateur Performance by Madame de Stael — A Midnight Supper — A Sentiment by the Prussian Ambassador, 117

Chapter XII

Bonaparte projects the Legion of Honor — The first Conversation concerning it — The Argument and the A'ote — Epigrams and counterfeit Decorations— The Artists, Scientific and Literary Men admitted — Lafayette — The Grand Eagle— Goethe — Young Lafayette — Picard, Talma and Crescentini — Madame de GenUs — Hubert Goffin — Caricatures — The Effisct of the Order upon Society, 123

CONTEISTS.

Chapter XIII

The Empire proclaimed — Attitude of the People— Jests upon the rapid Fortunes of the Bonapartes — The Clamor for Office — Bonapartists, Bourbons and Jacobins — Mock Receptions — Napoleon's Irritation — Brunei and Napoleon's Bust — The Court Journal — Extravagance, 1 38

Chapter XIV

Madame Recamier — Description of her Personal Appearance — Her Character — Fouohe's Proposal — CaroUne Bonaparte an Accomplice — Madame Recaraier's Banishment — Her Wanderings in England, Italy and Switzerland — The Prince of Prussia and the Duke of Wellington in love with her — Canova's Bust of Dante's Beatrice — The Inconsistencies in her Character- Napoleon's Rejection of the Cooperation of Women, 144

Chapter XV

The Code of Etiquette — The Grand Marshal — Governors of the Palaces — Prefects — Chamberlains — Grand Master of the Horse — The Pages — The Aids-de-Camp — Grand Master of Ceremonies — The Palace of the Tuileries — Its Divisions and Apartments — Meals — Punctilio at Table — ^Napoleon's Opinion on Eating in Public, . ISY

Chapter XVI

The Members of Napoleon's Imperial Household — The Almoners; Chamberlains; Marshals; Masters of the Horse and Hounds ; Intendants ; Physicians ; Surgeons — The Subordinate Service — ^Napoleon's Fondness for Etiquette — Its Consequences, 168

Chapter XVII

The Household of the Empress Josephine — Prmce Ferdinand de Rohan — General Nansouty — The Duchess d'Aiguillon — Madame de Larochefoucauld — Madame de Ijavalette — Madame Gazani — M'lle Avrillon — Georgette Ducrest — The Pages, Ushers, Valets, Footmen — Josephine's Extravagance and consequent Quarrels with Napoleon — Talleyrand and Bourrienne the Mediators between them — The Beauties of the Court — The Household of Madame Mere, IVS

Chapter XVIII

Pauline Bonaparte — Her early Loves — Her Marriage with General Leclerc — ^The Expedition to St. Domingo — The Widow's Weeds — Don Camillo Borghese — Extraordinary Scene at St. Cloud — The Statue of Venus Victorious — Pauline's Household at Neuilly — Her Receptions — Her Sedan Chair — Her Taste in Dress — M. Jules de Canouville — Pauline's Impertinence to Marie Louise — Her Banishment — Her Visit to Napoleon at Elba — Her Appeal to Lord Liverpool — Her Death at Florence, 187

Chapter XIX

Literature under Napoleon — Oriani and Corneille — Bernardin de St. Pierre — Chenier — Delille — Chateaubriand — Madame de Stael — The Institute — Napoleon's farorite Authors — His Treatment of Literary Men — The Censorship — Ducis — Lemercier — Encouragement extended to Literature and the Sciences — Non-bestowal of the Awards — Liberty of the Press — An Apology for the Penury of Letters under Napoleon — Literature under Napoleon III., . . 208

Chapter XX

Madame de Stael — Hor Infancy and Education — Her M.arriage — Her Personal Appearance — The Revolution — Her First Meeting and Conyersation with Bonaparte — Interview with Josephine — Her Portrait and Character — Her Repartees — Exile — Delphine — Auguste de Stael and Napoleon — Private Theatricals — Corinne — Police Interference — Travels in Foreign Countries — Her Illness and Death — Effect of Napoleon's Persecution upon the Literary Position of Madame de Stael, 224

Chapter XXI

Liberty of the Press — The Moniteur — Official Bulletins — Registry of Marriages — Suppression of Newspapers — The British Press — Control of Pubhc Opinion — Mutilated Editions of the Classics — Dramatic Censorship — Edward in Scotland— La.x Criticism — Josephine and Cadet-Roussel — Violation of the Mails — The Dark Closet — Napoleon's Correspondents — Napoleon and Public Opinion, ... .......... 243

CHAPTER XXn.

Elisa Bonaparte — Her Marriage and Residence at Paris — Her Government of Lucca — Baron Capelle — Paganini — Elisa in Tuscany — Her Exile and Death — Caroline Bonaparte — Her Marriage with Murat — Her Portrait — Intrigue with General Junot — Murat's Military Dress — The Throne of Naples — Carohne's Exile and Death, 259

Chapter XXIII

Science under Napoleon — Tlie Institute — Speculation and Theory — Progress of Physical Science — Mathematics — Chemistry applied to the Arts — Chaptal, Cuvier, Jussieu, GeofFro}' St. Hilaire, Volta, Fulton — The Gregorian Calendar restored — The RepubUcan Tear — The Decimal System — Dr. Gall — Slaelzel's Automaton — The Comet of 1811 — ^Napoleon's Influence upon Science, , . 2*72

Chapter XXIV

Hortense de Beauharnais — Her Education — Talent for Amateur Theatricals — Calumny — A Maniac Lover — Duroc — Louis Bonaparte — OfiBcial Poetry — The Throne of Holland — Death of Napoleon-Charles — Birtli of Louis Napoleon and de Morny — Hortense at Aix ; at Malmaison; at the Court of Louis XTIII. — The Return of Napoleon— The Necklace — Chateau of Arenenberg — ^Death and Will of Queen Hortense — Education and Life of de Morny — Modern French Biography, 282

CONTENTS. xi

Chapter XXV

Tlie Art of Painting under Louis XIV. — Watteau — Painting under Louis XV. — Bouclier — Napoleon and David — Tlie Picture of tlie Coronation — Cardinal Caprara and his ^V''ig — Tlie Portrait of Napoleon and the Marquis of Douglas — David's Coat of Arms — Gerard — Girodet — Guerin — Isabey— Gros— The Plague of Jaffa— Napoleon and Desgenottes — Gericault — Tlie Spoliation of Italy — Foreign Works of Art at the Louvre — Their Restoration by the Allies — Sculpture under Napoleon — Canova at Paris — His Interview with Napoleon — Houdon — Chaudet — Music during the Empire — Mehul — Lesueur — Boieldieu — Spontini — Cherubini-- Napoleon's Influence upon Art, 297

Chapter XXVI

Astrology during the Empire — M'lle Lenormand — Her first Prophecy — Her Education and Choice of Studies — Predictions made to Mirabeau, M'lle Montansier, Bernadotte, Murat, Robespierre, St. Just — The Horoscope of Josephine — Napoleon — M'lle Lenormand's Cabinet of Consultation — Her Prediction to Madame de Stael — Her Arrest, Interrogatory and Release — Predictions to Horace Vernet, Potier, Alexander and Von Malchus — Her Adventures in Brussels — Her Works — Her Death and Character — Her Faith in her own Powers — The Processes to which she had Recourse — Hermann the Soothsayer — An Intrigue at the Tuileries, . . .318

Chapter XXVII

Napoleon's Early Loves — M'lle du Colombier — M'lle Eugenie Clary — Madame de Permon — Josephine — Her Education and First Marriage — Separation from her Husband — Josephine and Barras — Josephine's Marriage with Napoleon^The Honeymoon at Milan — M. Charles — Bonaparte's return from Egypt — His quarrel and reconciliation with Josephine — The conduct of the latter during the Consulate — Her Jealousies — Her proposal to resort to a Political Fraud — The Divorce — Josephine at Malmaison and Navarre — Her Death — Misapprehensions in regard to her Character — Reasons for this Misapprehension — French views of Private Character — Marie Louise — Her Youth and Education — The Overtures of Napoleon — A Marriage by proxy — Journey to Paris — Proceedings upon the Bavarian Frontier — The first interview of Napoleon and Marie Louise — The Marriage — Organization of the Household — Adventures of M. Biennais, M. Paer, and M. Leroy — Birth of the King of Rome — The Russian Campaign — The Treaty of Fontainebleau — Marie Louise at Blois — Her life at Parma — The Count de Neipperg — Death of Marie Louise — Napoleon's Ignorance of her Conduct, .... 334

Chapter XXVIII

Napoleon's Manners towards Women — Grace IngersoU, the Belle of New Haven — Her Marriage and Transfer to the Court of the Tuileries — Her Presentation to Napoleon — His Amiable Speech — Death of Grace IngersoU — Her Two Daughters — Madame de Chevreuse — Her Epigrams and Smart Speeches — Her Persecution by Napoleon — Her Exile and Death — The Journey to Cythera — Napoleon appointed Doorkeeper — Madame Charpentier — A Scene in the Gallery of Diana — Madame Foures — Her Connection with Napoleon — Her Divorce and Second Marriage — Napoleon's Estimate of Women — His Opinions upon Love — " How many Children have you?" — Perpetual Vows — Madame Regnault de St. Jean d'Angely — Napoleon's Speech to her — Her Reply — Napoleon expresses Regret at St. Helena, . . . 366

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER X5IX.

The Drama under Napoleon — Imperial Patronage of Actors — The Decree of Moscow — Epigrams upon this Decree — Talma — His Education and early Tastes — His First Appearance — Charles IX.— Talma a Girondin— Talma and Napoleon— Character of Talma's Genius— Criticisms of the Emperor — Talma at Erfurth — His Letter to John Kemble— His two Marriages — His

Death Lafon — Fleury — St. Pri.\— M'Ue Mars — Character of her Talent— The Mysterious

Ring Political Constancy of M'Ue Mars — M'Ue Duchesnois — M'lle Georges — Circumstances

attending her Birth — Her Infant Performances — Her First Appearance — Stage Riots — M'lle Georges and Lucien Bonaparte— M'lle Georges and Napoleon— She Visits St. Petersburg, Stockholm and Dresden — The Romantic School of Modern Dramatic Literature, . . 883

Chapter XXX

Features of Society under Napoleon — My.itification : the Princess Dolgoroucky and the Institute Cafes under the Empire — Gastronomy — Conversation- Effect of Official Eulogy upon

the French Language— Afi'ectation and Exaggeration— The Soldier in Society — Epigrams, Jests and Libels— Moreau and the Legion of Honor — Napoleon's Mother and the Pope nicknamed — ^Napoleon and the Beet-root — Puns at the expense of Marie Louise — Desertion

of Napoleon The Race of Apostasy — Adhesion and Renunciation — The allied Sovereigns

at the Theatre — Defection in the Army — Napoleon's Fall hailed as a Deliverance — Conelusion, *05

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

JOSEPHINE, . FEONTISriEOE.

MAEIE LOUISE, t ■ • ""tle.

CHARLOTTE COKDAY, to face page 30

MADAME ROLAND, 47

MADAME TALLIEN, 79

MADAME JUNOT, 114

MADAME REOAMIER, 145

PAULINE BONAPARTE, 190

MADAME DE STAEL, 233

CAROLINE BONAPARTE, 266

HORTENSE, 283

M'LLE LENORMAND, 320

M'LLE DU COLOMBIER, 338

GRACE INGERSOLL, 867

MADAME REGNAULT, 381

M'LLE GEORGES, 402

THE COURT OF lAPOLEON.

THE

COURT OF NAPOLEON ;

SOCIETY IWDER THE FIRST EMPmE.

Chapter I

The Women of the Revolution — The Girondines and the Scaft'old — Theroigne de Mericourt and the Mountain — Madame Tallien and Josephine — Napoleon as the Reformer of Society.

THE women of the episodic period in French history, which reaches from the destruction of the Bastille, in 1789, to the landing of Bonaparte at Prejus, in 1799, were, beyond aU controversy, the most extraordinary race since Cornelia and the Spartan mother, on the one hand, or since the Amazons and the Eumenides on the other. The annals of no nation, certainly not those of any other period of anarchy and dismemberment, present such a pictui-e of female influence, heroism, and virtue, and at the same time, of female excess, violence, and infamy, as those of the Revolution, Terror, and Directory.

Marie Antoinette and the Duchess de Polignac had introduced and commenced the era of feminine ascendency : they controlled the court, the camp, and the city. Lafayette, on his return from the War of American Independence, received a more enthusiastic welcome from the ladies of Paris than from the soldiers of the Champ de Mars. The miUiners composed caps a la Lafayette, and tunics a la d'Estaing, to occupy and satisfy this feminine revolutionary effervescence. Madame Helvetius, vfho was "so happy with three acres of land," and at whose house Frankhn had been so intimate, Madame de Genlis and the Marquise de Condorcet made their parlors the rendezvous of the disaffected and the enthusiasts of the epoch, guiding their speech, moulding their opinions, directing their acts. The F@te of the Federation, the preparations for which 12,000 workmen could not accomplish in time, was successful only through the eager cooperation of the women of Paris : danseuse and dairymaid, bayadere and benedictine, labored together with wheelbarrow and spade. Necker, the Minister of Finance, was so openly assisted by his wife that he was popularly called Necker the Hermaphrodite.

Then, a year or two later, what lustre was lent to martyrdom, what grace was shed upon the pillory and the scaffold, what glory was derived even from ignominy by the modest heroism of the subhme, yet unconscious Girondines ! Charlotte Corday — illumined, if not inspired — the protest and the vengeance of outraged humanity ; Madame Roland, the sententious philosopher and discreet lawgiver of the Revolution ; Lucile DesmouUns, amiable, lovely, and yet undaunted: three women, rare, even had they been isolated and consecutive, and trebly admirable in their joint and contemporaneous glories ! From the upas and cypress which encompassed their death and shadowed their graves, history has woven them a crown of laurel and a wreath of amaranth.

Theroigne de Mericourt, acting under a poignant sense of personal wrong, did as much to exasperate and embitter the hostihty of the plebeians to the aristocracy, as did Danton : her eloquence was as persuasive as that of Mirabeau. Olympe de Gouges had no rival in either sex for club oratory or pamphlet satire. Then, altogether at the other extreme, were the Women of the Mountain, who, with grotesque and hideous energy, with

MADAME TALLIEN AND JOSEPHINE. 19

squalid and ruthless turbulence, spread menace and consternation from Yincennes to Versailles. They made the Mountain a French Sinai, which issued its decrees of eternal justice amid the thunders of their applause, and the reverberations of their riotous vivats.-'

Later still : To whom does France owe the fall of Robespierre and the cessation of the Terror ? To a woman, Madame Tallien, the voluptuous and enchanting Andalusian. To whom does history owe the first link in the chain of events that led to Napoleon Bonaparte ? To a woman, Josephine de Beauharnais, the gentle and seductive Creole. Upon another field, and in another sphere, other women were at the same moment acquiring humbler fame, by courage in battle or devotion in the ambulance. Local chronicle still cherishes, however national history may have forgotten it, the intrepidity of Liberte Barreau, the charity of Rose Bouillon, and the patriotism of F^licit^ and Theophile Fernig.

A late writer thus speaks of this singular inversion of society, referring in the passage quoted to the state of things under the Directory, just previous to Napoleon : " No age can show a more conspicuous example of the fall and annihilation of man, and of the triumph, the publicity, and influence of woman. Never did woman so occupy the pubhc gaze ; never did she so openly mix in the conduct of the nation's affairs. Women controlled the choice of generals ; they bespoke for them success or reverse, and had their reputation made to order. Not only was public opinion submissive to their behests^ — not only was their written recommendation virtually a patent of impunity — but they pilfered the keys of the treasury from the girdle of the sleeping guardians, and they guided the pens of those who awarded plethoric contracts, and who fingered sealed proposals."^

It is essential to study and understand this period, before it is possible to present an intelligible view of Napoleon as the reformer of society, and, if not the regenerator of morals, at

i Les Femmes CH^bres, i. 9. 2 Soc. Pranp. sous le Directoire, 299.

least the restorer of appearances and the reviver of opinion. It was Napoleon's mission — for we are not to consider him hei-e as a soldier or a legislator — to repress the abuses which crept or strode into society during the interregnum between '89 and '99. It is indispensable to expose, in some detail, the situation of the mind and heart of France throughout the three episodes which separate Louis XVI. from Bonaparte — the Revolution, Terror, and Directory. This can be attained in no better manner, within the limits and according to the purpose of this volume, than by concisely narrating the experience of the most conspicuous women of the epoch, though some may have been heroines and some harlots. The Women of the Revolution will thus naturally provoke a comparison with the Women of the Empire : the latter being as remarkable for their deprivation of influence as were the former for its enjoyment and exercise.

The Women of the Empire who attained to fame were few : without exception, they suffered persecution. Madame de Stael was exiled for her opinions ; Madame Recamier was banished for her unrelenting beauty and her sturdy virtue ; Madame de Chevreuse, the embodiment of the Legitimist protestation against Napoleon, was exQed for an epigram ; Madame Talhen underwent exclusion from the TuUeries, because she had been divorced ; Josephine suffered repudiation, because, being a wife without a child, the throne was without an heir. Historically and socially, these five women were the first of their time. Properly to appreciate a period in which women were so subjected to op^Dression, and so denuded of influence, it is well to understand the previous period, in which example was of their setting, and when laws were of their making.

Chapter II

Lucile Duplessis and Camille Desmoulins — Jesus Christ the Sans-culotte — Lucile's Prayer — Her Death and Character — Charlotte Corday — Her Journey to Paris — Her Arrest, Trial, and Execution — Her fifteen Portraits — Her Character as judged by History.

THE sketches which follow, and which precede the advent of Napoleon, will prepare the reader, by the insight they give him into the state of France during the Republic, for a proper comparison of the two periods. Considering Napoleon as the reconstructor of society, it is important to know what elements he drew from the ruins and dismemberment of the edifice which the Revolution had overthrown, for that which, in its turn, the Restoration was to destroy.

Lucile Duplessis, young, lovely, and thoughtless, was the type of that class of women who, without reproach or complaint, marched to the scaffold from the nursery of their children. Being the daughter of rich parents, she seemed unlikely to wed her penniless lover, Camille Desmoulins. But she waited from the age of twelve till the age of twenty : she waited till Camille, overcoming a hesitation in his speech, became a vehement and impassioned orator. She waited till the 12th of July, 1789, when, mounted upon a table in the Palais Royal, he pronounced the brief and celebrated harangue which gave the first impulse to the Revolution. "Citizens," he cried, "let us wear rosettes, by which to know friends from foes. What color do you choose ? Green, the color of hope, or the blue of Cincinnatus, the color of American liberty ? Green, is it ? Let the rallying signal, then, be a green leaf plucked from the garden and worn upon the hat as a cockade." The trees were denuded of their foliage, and dense masses of men — Macbeth's Birnam wood animated and in march — strode at the heels of the impetuous Camille. Two days afterwards, the Bastille was in the hands of the insurgents, and the people danced among its smoking ruins.

Lucile Duplessis now became Lucile Desmoulins. She soon shared the revolutionary zeal of her husband. As he wrote the successive numbers of his pamphlet, " Les Revolutions de France et de Brabant," she listened to them in manuscript, expressing ^jk lier disapprobation of passages by dancing her cat upon the keys

of a piano. She received from a society of patriots the bust of Lafayette, then as much beloved in France as in America. She gave to her first son the Roman name of Horace : his father offered him to the country, upon an altar erected for the purpose. Danton, who now became Minister of Justice, made his friend Camille secretary-general of his department. This rapid promotion overcame his better reason, and for a brief period he indulged the instincts of a reflected, not native, ferocity. Repentance and remorse followed. " Would that I were as obscure as I am infamously famous !" he wrote at this period to his father. " Where is the asylum or the cavern which may conceal me from every eye, with my infant and my books ?"

He now established the since famous journal, entitled " Le Vieux Cordelier." Disguisedly at first, openly in the sequel, he pleaded the cause of humanity, and begged a suspension of the Reign of Terror. His friends besought him not to compromise himself out of season and without possible fruit. But his resolution was taken : he could only redeem the errors he had committed and the excesses he had shared, by a bold disavowal of the past. "Let Camille fulfill his mission," said Lucile, on one of these occasions, as she was preparing the morning's meal ; " he is destined to save his country. Ko one who opposes him shall

LUGILE DESMOUHNS. 23

taste my chocolate for breakfast." Camille Desmoulins was speedily denounced, arrested, and brouglat before the bar of the Convention.

Danton and Camille were tried on the same day. The replies of both to the first questions asked them, are brilliant examples of French epigrammatic repartee. Danton was told to give his home and his name. "My home will soon be in chaos," he replied, " my name will forever live in history." Camille was summoned to tell his age. "Thirty-three years," he returned, " exactly the age of Jesus Christ the sans-culotte." French sentiment as well as the French language permits such an allusion without intended profanity. On their way to the scaffold, Danton contemplated the howling multitude with tranquillity and disdain, while Camille gave vent to his feelings in detached fragments of vehement imprecation. On passing the residence of Robespierre, he uttered the famous philippic : " Thou shalt follow us, Robespierre : thy house shall be razed, and salt shall be sown upon the soil which it cumbers." He perished holding a lock of Lucile's hair in his clenched and trembling hand.

Such was the train of circumstances which was to transform Lucile DesmouUns from the gay and thoughtless woman, unknown to history, into the heroine destined to grace the portrait gallery of France. She had written a touching appeal to Robespierre — but lately her suitor — in behalf of Camille : she had sent letters, her portrait and her hair, to her husband in prison. She had watched days and nights at the dungeon windows : and the chronicles of the time accuse her of having plotted an attack upon the prison and the deliverance of the captives. It was upon this charge that she was arrested and brought to trial. She arrayed herself in her most elegant toilet ; her black hair was tressed in a gauze handkerchief of snowy whiteness. Her complicity in the alleged plot was not proved, but her guilt was pronounced. She arose and thus addressed her judges : " So, in a few moments, I shall have the delight of meeting my dear Camille.