title: Napoleon and his adopted son: Eug̀ene de Beauharnais and his relations with the emperor,
text: :<w^^' ^.nc.^' A" - %.^* -'^^'t >^^^''' ••^^- "*-/ O » ' ^-^j "rift :'?^.. „^ _ ■» < -^°* .*'% * 4^ V^ .V .0 " " * "^ -V^ ^/,V *^ A*- * Eugene de Beauharnais &ycea!^'^-2^^ cie^ t.y^^&ixMA-a/b', Napoleon And His Adopted Son Eugene de Beauharnais and His Relations with the Emperor By V. M. Montagu Author of " Sophie Dawes, Queen of Chantilly " " The Abbe Edgeworth and His Friends," etc. With Photogravure and Sixteen other Portraits and Illustrations New York McBride, Nast & Company 1914 5C ^:< 3 TO GABRIELLE ANGELIQUE NEVEU She stood where two ways met, when youth all hidden things would know. Upon my brow the dawn of Life, on hers the sunset glow. — " Tell me, wise friend, which path to choose, for oh ! I long to learn The whence and whereunto of Life, how Fate her wheel doth turn ; The riddle of Eternity no mortal mind can guess. The why and wherefore of stern Death, the goal tow'rds which we press." — " The paths may part awhile," she said ; " one rough, one smooth appear, Yet rough and smooth some day will merge into one perfect sphere. Our fate is but the common fate, the End lies far away ; With tear-dimmed eyes we search for Light and groping lose our way ; Our greedy hands outstretched to grasp oft miss what we should prize ; Our fluttering wings we fain would spread, yet fail from earth to rise ; But take this book where men have read the riddle of the Sage. . . ." With eager eyes and trembling hand I conned each well-worn page. And read while Titan drove his steeds across the azure dome. The twilight found me reading still within that ponderous tome. . .. A mist before my eyes did pass, cool dew — or was it rain ? — The story of humanity was fraught with grief and pain ! Tho' fast I read, still fainter grew the words of Eastern Seers, And lo ! the last page of that book was blotted out with tears ! Preface GRATITUDE and ingratitude have inspired the world's greatest authors with some of their most beautiful thoughts. Dante, who imprisons in his literary pillory all the faults which mankind is prone to commit, reserves his worst punishments for those who have been guilty of that most unnatural crime ingratitude ; a sin peculiar to us, the superior creation, for ingratitude is seldom met with among animals. In the second sphere of the thirty-second and lowest circle of Hell, that place which Dante calls Antenora, " a place so horrible that words fail to describe it," where the souls of those who have been ungrateful to their country and betrayed it stand immersed in a frozen lake, their bodies black and blue with cold, tears of anguish gushing from their eyes and their teeth chattering so loudly that the poet and his guide are reminded of the croaking of frogs in the marshes at night or the noise made by storks opening and shutting their beaks in springtime, stands Buoso da Duera, a native of Cremona, who, for a bribe offered by Guy de Montfort, left the pass leading to his native town un- protected and thus enabled the army of Charles d'Anjou to take possession of Cremona and destroy it ; and in this fearful place Buoso da Duera is condemned to suffer eternal torments for having accepted French gold. We gladly turn from this scene of horror to contemplate the reward reserved for those who have shown themselves grateful towards their benefactors. In Paradise Dante places a certain Romeo, whose identity is somewhat obscure, some saying that he was a baron of Vence, a town near Nice, others declaring that he was a Spanish prince, while not a few assert that the name of Romeo in this case means a pellegrino a Roma, or pilgrim to Rome. Be this as it may, 9 10 EUGENE DE BEAUHARNAIS this Romeo was a steward in the house of Raimondo BerHnghieri, to whom Romeo, in return for kind treatment, gave wise counsel and, as the poet puts it in his quaint phraseology, " rendered his master twelve for every ten he had received from his hand." For Raimondo's four daughters Romeo found four royal husbands in the persons of Louis IX of France, Charles d'Anjou, Henry III of Eng- land and the latter's brother Richard. But jealous courtiers crept in between master and servitor and poisoned Rai- mondo's mind so that he had no peace until he had driven the faithful Romeo from his house. And thus Romeo, although old and worn with years of honourable service, was forced to beg his daily bread. "And if the world but knew what treasures in his heart he bore. Though he his daily bread with tears did beg from door to door. Much would it praise that faithful man and praise still more." ^ During Napoleon's eventful career he met with every form and variety of human character. It would seem as if he, the greatest man in modern history, had been fated to sound the depths of human meanness. How often did he not bestow his affection upon, and place his confidence in some unworthy person, one of those generals, perhaps, of whom he was so proud, or, worse still, a member of his own family ! And when Death at last came to quench his unconquerable spirit, he had learnt the height and depth of ingratitude. In the following pages I have endeavoured to show that he did not always throw his benefits away upon unworthy objects and that, notwithstanding Marmont and Fouche's assertions, Eugene de Beauharnais deserved the affection which his adoptive father always displayed for him and continued to do so until the last day of his life. The viceroy of Italy was not perfect ; he, too, had his moments of moral weakness, and I should be deceiving my readers were I to hide his faults. An Eastern saying, " He who would find a perfect friend must walk the world alone," also applies to the author who would hope to find a faultless character in history about which to write. But at least 1 " E se il mondo sapesse 11 cuor ch' egli ebbe, Mendicando sua vita a frusto a frusto, Assai lo lode, e pii lo loderebbe." PREFACE II Eugene did not plan the overthrow of his benefactor, as Murat did ; nor did he help to bring it about, as Marmont indubitably helped ; nor did he rejoice thereat, as Marie- Louise rejoiced in deeds if not in words. I have consulted all the works I could find concerning Eugene de Beauharnais ; and from this mass of evidence for and against the viceroy of Italy, I have endeavoured to sift the truth. Strange to say, a good biography of the adopted son of Napoleon does not exist in the French language. The ten volumes of his memoirs and correspondence edited by Baron du Casse are rather stiff reading for the general public, although admirers of Napoleon will revel in this veritable treasure-house of letters to and from the imperial mentor. Perhaps the chief interest in Eugene de Beauharnais' life lies in the fact that, as the step-son of General Bonaparte and the adopted son of the Emperor Napoleon, he witnessed and assisted at most of the important episodes in that wonderful man's career. Eugene only lived forty-three years, but those years were full of events. Born in the feverishly brilliant years before the first fall of the Bourbon dynasty, he saw the great Revolution spread over France ; he watched the rising of Napoleon's star, the blossoming of the Consulship for life, the fruition of the Empire, the Hundred Days' marvel, and the eclipse of a great man's star ; his own life closed in retirement a few years before the Revolution of July overthrew the Bourbon dynasty for the third time. These facts alone should make his life worth recounting. But there are other interesting points in his story. Napoleon and Eugene all unconsciously influenced each other's lives in no small degree. Those who, like Napoleon, are fatalists can find much to ponder over in the story of Eugene's first meeting with the man whose fate was to influence his own. And Eugene's influence over his adoptive father, until that adoptive father's divorce, was considerable and, as we shall see, was the means of postponing his mother's divorce on more than one occasion. Supposing Eugene had not gone to Italy but had continued to live near his adoptive father, perhaps that divorce would never have come about. 12 EUGENE DE BEAUHARNAIS Napoleon's divorce was the outcome of a crisis ; historians have shown us whose fault it was that such a question ever came on the tapis. But when once that idea had taken root in Napoleon's brain, no feelings of remorse or regret could prevent its accomplishment. True affection — ^the affection that does not need to express itself in words — is not a worthless object to be cast aside for the empty protestations of devotion uttered by obsequious friends. Napoleon would perhaps have been a happier man and been spared much mental suffering if he had been content with the successes won by his Grand Army in 1809 and if he had made Eugene his successor on the throne of France. In conclusion let us remark that to Eugene de Beau- harnais belongs the honour of having kept at his post until the very last, until his adoptive father's abdication at Fontainebleau took the burden from his shoulders and witk it the reward which should have been his. His reward, however, is to be found in the concluding sentence of this biography of a good man. VioLETTE M. Montagu. Paris, January, 191 3. I wish to express my deep gratitude to MM. Maurice Orange, Realier-Dumas and F. Schommer for allowing me to reproduce their pictures, and to Messrs. Walter Pulitzer, and Dodd, Mead and Co., of New York, for the permission to include in my book the three portraits which figure in the late Mr. Albert Pulitzer's invaluable work Le Roman du Prince Eugene. Contents CHAPTER I Birth and childhood of Eugdne de Beauharnais — Family dissensions — Mme. de Beauharnais prepares for the coming storm — M. de Beauharnais is thrown into prison — His wife shares his fate — • Execution of the beau danseur — Mme. de Beauharnais is released from prison — The pinch of poverty — Eugene is sent to school at Saint-Germain-en-Laye — General Hoche befriends him Page 21 CHAPTER II Eugene makes the acquaintance of his future step-father — General Bonaparte pays court to Mme. de Beauharnais — Eugene is again sent to college — 'General Bonaparte marries the widow Beau- harnais — Eugene becomes his step-father's aide-de-camp — He visits the Ionian Isles — He receives his baptism of fire in Rome — He is ordered to accompany General Bonaparte to Egypt — A strange and embarrassing visit — The taking of Jaffa — St. Jean d'Acre resists General Bonaparte — Return to France. 49 CHAPTER III Eugene obtains pardon for his mother — The i8th Brumaire — Eugene enjoys practical jokes — His portrait — His step-father and his mother take up their abode at the Tuileries — He pays his second visit to Italy — Returns to Paris via Geneva — His first love-affair — He meets an old friend from Rome — Third visit to Italy — 'Eugene is given the rank of colonel — Murder of the due d'Enghien .......... 83 CHAPTER IV Napoleon becomes Emperor of the French — Eugene accompanies his step-father and his mother to Aix-la-Chapelle — He refuses to abandon his mother — The Emperor is crowned — Eugene falls in love for the third time — He is sent to Italy for the fourth time — He is made a prince of the French Empire — Napoleon on being crowned in Italy makes Eugene viceroy of that country — Un- easy lies the head which wears a crown — He incurs his step- father's anger. .106 13 14 EUGENE DE BEAUHARNAIS CHAPTER V Eugdne works too hard — He makes the acquaintance of his future brother-in-law — More scolding — Austria begins to give trouble again — Eugene prepares for war — Napoleon's habits of secrecy — Eugene issues a proclamation to the Italian nation — He learns of his step-father's successes and regrets that he has no share in those successes — Ghiraldina ...... Page 122 CHAPTER VI Eugene is ordered to marry the princess Augusta- Amelia of Bavaria —He starts for Munich — Napoleon adopts him as his son — The marriage is celebrated — Some wedding guests — Napoleon's affection for his adopted daughter — The happy pair start for Italy — The welcome to the new home — Love of the Milanese for their vice-reine — ^Napoleon's opinion of the Catholic clergy — He pays a visit to his adopted son and his bride — Eugene conducts his Court on the lines of common sense. .142 CHAPTER VII Austria breaks her promises — Marmont earns for himself the title of due de Raguse — Eugene receives an invitation to take his bride to Paris — He pays a visit to Istria — Description of a miUtary hospital in the beginning of the nineteenth century — The armee d' Italic ordered to seize Civita-Vecchia — Birth of Eugene's first child — More trouble with the Pope — 'Birth of Eugene's second child ........... 162 CHAPTER VIII Eugene endeavours to pacify the Pope — Austria prepares for another war — Eugene receives command of the armee d' Italic — His defeat at Sacile is followed by several successes — The armee d' Italic joins the Grand Army — Eugene goes to Vienna and is then ordered to subdue Hungary — He does so and returns to the Austrian capital — Peace is signed between the two Emperors. .194 CHAPTER IX Eugene tries persuasion in the Tyrol — He issues a proclamation to the Tyrolese and thereby offends his father-in-law — He wishes to obtain an interview with Andreas Hofer — Return to Milan — Napoleon accords a strange reception to Eugene's cousin — Eugene is requested to come to Paris — The blow falls — A painful family meeting — The Bonapartes triumph over the de Beauharnais — The ex-Empress retires to La Malmaison — Eugene's opinion is asked — He returns home — The vice-regal couple assist at the Emperor's second marriage ....... 226 CONTENTS 15 CHAPTER X Napoleon's thoughtfulness for his late wife — An engagement with the English off Lissa — Eugene's eldest son is born — He devotes himself to his little family — Eugene has to come up to Paris for the birth of the King of Rome — He goes to stay with his mother — He returns to Italy— A new war appears upon the horizon — The Russian campaign — The Emperor abandons his post — Eugene accepts the post of commander-in-chief. Page 245 CHAPTER XI Eugene begins his difficult task — He saves the life of his orderly at the Battle of Mockern— The Battle of Liitzen — Eugene receives orders to return to Italy in order to raise more troops — Austria declares war — Wholesale desertion of ItaUan and Croatian soldiers — Eugene's father-in-law tries to persuade him to betray the Emperor's confidence — The Emperor receives false reports of Eugene's behaviour — A mysterious interview — Eugene is offered a very valuable bribe — -The King of Bavaria is discom- fited ........... 275 CHAPTER XII Joachim Murat shows his hand — Augusta pays her husband a flying visit — France is invaded — The Emperor at bay — Murat signs a treaty with Austria but hesitates to declare war against France — More attempts are made to bribe Eugene — Augusta's painful position — Eugene begs the Emperor to let him know his inten- tions concerning Italy — He issues another proclamation — He endeavours to influence Murat — The Battle of the Mincio — Napoleon sends the viceroy his instructions — Josephine and Hortense urge Eugene to keep faithful— Napoleon wins his last victories — Eugene writes to Marshal Bellegarde, begging him to protect Augusta — Napoleon's anger on hearing of Eugene's letter and the marshal's reply^ — Fouche pays Eugene another visit — Eugene's last victory — Murat writes to Napoleon. Napoleon at Boulogne in 1804 . . .. Maximilian-Joseph, King of Bavaria Augusta-Amelia, wife of Eugene de Beauharnais, from the portrait at Drottningholm ..... Charge of the Grenadiers de la Garde at Eylau. Eugene de Beauharnais, from the portrait at Arenenberg Napoleon I wounded outside Ratisbon The Children of Eugene de Beauharnais, from the picture at Arenenberg ...... EuGi:NE DE Beauharnais and Napoleon I in 1812 Queen Caroline, wife of Maximilian-Joseph of Bavaria. Napoleon's Arrival at the College of Brienne Napoleon Leaves Elba to Return to France (March, 1815) Schloss Berg, Bavaria ..... The Luitpold Palace, Munich .... The Tomb of EuGi:NE de Beauharnais The Church of Saint Michael, Munich 5° 124 142 148 172 194 198 226 252 286 304 342 356 360 372 372 17 Bibliography Memoir es et Correspondance du prince Eugene, lo volumes. Albert Pulitzer : Le Roman du prince Eugene. Planat de La Faye : Le prince Eugene en 1814. Frederic Masson : Napoleon et safamille. Josephine de Beauharnais. Due de Raguse : Memoires, 6 volumes. General de Vaudoncourt : Histoire politique du prince Eugene. Antoine Aubriet : Vie politique et militaire du prince Eugene. G : Histoire du prince Eugene de Beauharnais. Andre Duboscq : Louis Bonaparte en Hollande. Mme. de Remusat : Mimoires, 3 volumes. Joseph Turquan : Mme. Recamier. „ „ La generate Bonaparte. „ ,, L'imperatrice Josephine. ,, ,, La reine Hortense. ,, ,, Napoleon amour eux. Constant : Memoires sur la vie privee de Napoleon, 3 volumes. Mademoiselle Avrillon : Memoires, 4 volumes. Darnay, baron : Notes historiques sur le prince Eugine. Anon. : Memoires sur la cour du prince Eugene, par un Franfais. Georgette Ducrest : Memoires sur l'imperatrice Josephine. M. N. Bouillet : Dictionnaire universel. Dictionnaire Jal : Article sur Eugene de Beauharnais. J. Ouvrard : Memoires et revelations d'un page de la cour imperiale. Joseph Bonaparte : Memoires et correspondance. Emile de Saint-Hilaire : Les aides-de-camp de I'Empereur, 2 volumes. Comte de Lavalette : Memoires et souvenirs, 4 volumes. Anon. : Le due de Raguse devant I'histoire. General Rapp : Memoires. ^j Miot de Melito : Memoires, 2 volumes. G. B. Intra : Nuova guida illustrata di Mantova. Mademoiselle Cochelet : Memoires sur la reine Hortense. General Desire Chlapowski : Memoires des guerres de Napoleon. W. F. van Scheelten : Memoires. L'imperatrice Josephine : Memoires et correspondance. Charles Bernard-Derosne : Memoires sur la reine Hortense. A. V. Arnault : Souvenirs d'un sexagenaire, 4 volumes. Duchesse d'Abrantes : Memoires, 18 volumes. 19 20 EUGENE DE BEAUHARNAIS Jacques de La Faye : Princesse Charlotte de Rohan et le due d' Enghien. Grace Dalrymple Elliott : Journal of my Life during the Revolution. John G. Alger : Englishmen in the French Revolution. Fouch6 : Memoires. Dr. William Beattie : The Danube. Meneval : Memoires. Marshal Macdonald : Souvenirs. J. Erk : Liederschatz. Dr. Antommarchi : Les derniers moments de NapoUon. Correspondance de Napoleon, 36 volumes. Bourrienne : Memoires, 8 volumes. Due de Rovigo : Memoires. Anon. : La folie de Junot (article in Historia). Gilbert Stenger : Grandes dames du XIX""^ Siecle. F. H. Cheetham : Louis Napoleon and the Genesis of the Second Empire. Sir N. Wraxall : Posthumous Memoirs, 3 volumes. Armand Lefebvre : Histoire des cabinets de I'Europe, 2 volumes. Eugene de Beauharnais CHAPTER I Birth and childhood of Eugene de Beauharnais — Family dissensions — Mme. de Beauharnais prepares for the coming storm — M. de Beau- harnais is thrown into prison — His wife shares his fate — Execution of the beau danseur — Mme. de Beauharnais is released from prison — The pinch of poverty — Eugene is sent to school at Saint-Germain-en-Laye — General Hoche befriends him. THE last decade of the eighteenth century was dawn- ing heralded by blood-red clouds and moaning wind, sure signs of trouble in the near future. The reigns of the Roi Soleil and of Louis le Bien-Aime, that period of French history which may be likened to the oppressive heat of a midsummer day when a thunderstorm is brewing, one and a half centuries of ever-increasing extravagance, wasteful- ness and dissolute morals, had brought the fair land of France to the brink of a precipice from which neither the effete efforts of an amateur locksmith nor the pastoral follies of the Autrichienne could save her, but from which she was to emerge to enjoy such prosperity as she has never known before or since. The descendants of the toilers who had borne the heat and burden of the day and had been denied their hire had grown weary of obeying ; they, too, wished to take their turn at playing the master. The Bastille had fallen — or surrendered — and, in its fall, had released a mere handful of prisoners, one of whom had long ago forgotten his name and the crime, real or imaginary, for which he had been imprisoned. The attention of those who hoped for better things was fixed upon the Etats gene- raux and especially upon the Tiers Etat, which, far more numerous than the representatives of the clergy and of the nobility, had loudly declared its intention of giving France 22 EUGENE DE BEAUHARNAIS her much-needed constitution. On winning its first victory, the Tiers Etat changed the name of the Etats generaux to that of the Assemblee nationale constituante ; in future the Tiers Etat was to be all-powerful. Those who attended the seances of this ambitious assembly might frequently have noticed a little boy of about nine years of age seated close to the great stove placed in the middle of the salle, holding in his right hand the left hand of one of the most enthusi- astic supporters of the new ideas, while with the other he clasped the right hand of a member of that old French nobihty which had sworn to die rather than yield the least of its privileges. Politics had estranged these two deputies, brothers by ties of blood, but enemies by profession ; they seldom addressed one another. The deputy to the left of the juvenile politician was Francois de Beauhamais, the child's uncle ; while the deputy seated on his right was his father, the vicomte Alexandre de Beauharnais, represent- ing the department of Blois and one of that httle body of nobles who, like Jacques d'Aumont and Louis de Noailles, were already beginning to consider the advisability of getting rid of their titles — if not their fortunes — as savour- ing too much of the days when the king could do no wrong. Alexandre de Beauharnais, known as Beauharnais le beau danseur on account of his talent for dancing, and father of the little boy who was to become the adopted son of the greatest man of modern times, was born in Martinique in 1760. He entered the army while still almost a child, as was the fashion in those days ; when captain in the regiment of Royal Champagne, he married his cousin Josephine Tascher de La Pagerie, three years his junior and also a native of Martinique. Mile. Josephine must have been a terribly forward young person for her years, if we believe certain information contained in a volume published in Paris in 1820 under the title of Memoir es et Correspondance de rimperatrice Josephine and purporting to be written by the hand of the Empress herself ; supposing the assertions contained in one of these letters were true, they would account for many rumours which were circulated and be- lieved during her career as a girl, a wife, a widow, an Empress and a divorcee. Alexandre de Beauharnais was only seventeen years of age when he contracted this union, BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD 23 which seems to have been very distasteful to the famihes of both parties. The marriage once celebrated, the young couple settled in France, where they resided for some time with Alexandre's father, then a very old man living in retirement at the family seat, the chateau of La Ferte Beauharnais, in the department of Loir-et-Cher. Un- fortunately, the vicomte and the vicomtesse began to disagree very soon after their marriage. The young husband frequently chided his wife for her vanity and extravagance, two faults which only increased with years ; whereupon Mme. de Beauharnais would retort that he was jealous of the admiration which her beauty aroused, and then she would add in an injured tone that he was always finding fault with her. And he had another grievance against her : her manners were too provincial — or too colonial. After a few months of married life Alexandre, notwith- standing the fact that his wife was soon to make him a father, took himself off to Paris, where he passed his time dabbling with politics and amusing himself. It is probable that both were equally to blame for this sad state of affairs, which, as time went on, was to become still more painful. Mme. de Beauharnais decided to come up to Paris for the birth of this her first child, which event took place September 3rd, 1780, or '81, at a house in the rue Thevenot. On the morrow the baby, a boy, was baptized in the presence of his father, who had consented to stay with his wife during her illness, and numerous relations, at the church of Saint Sauveur in the rue Saint Denis, and received the names of Eugene Rose. Considerable doubt exists as to the exact year of Eugene's birth ; two or three of his biographers, and indeed he himself, gave the date as 1781, and yet it would seem an erroneous date from the following entry discovered a few years ago in the register of the church in which the baptism took place. " This day, Tuesday the 4th (Septem- ber, 1780) was baptized Eugene Rose, born yesterday, son of the very high-born and very puissant seigneur, messire Alexandre Fran9ois Marie, vicomte de Beauharnois {sic), captain of the regiment of La Ferre, knight, and of the high-born and puissant dame Madame Marie Josephine Rose de Tascher de La Pagerie, his wife, rue Thevenot ; god- father : high-born and puissant Seigneur Mi^e- Francois, 24 EUGENE DE BEAUHARNAIS marquis de Beauharnois, baron de Banville, knight of the Royal Order and knight of the Order of Saint Louis, vice- admiral in the Royal Navy, lieutenant-general and former governor of the island of Martinique and of the adjacent isles, paternal grandfather ; godmother, high - born and puissant dame Rose Claire Desvergers de Sanois, wife of high-born and puissant seigneur messire Joseph Gaspard Tascher de La Pagerie, knight of the Order of Saint Louis, captain of dragoons, maternal grandfather, present ; repre- sented by high-born and puissant dame Marie Euphemie Desiree Tascher de La Pagerie, dame Renaudin, maternal aunt. " Signatures : Tascher de Lapagerie, {sic) LE Marquis de Beauharnois, LE vicomte de Beauharnois, Tascher de Lapagerie, Begon, Jacquin, cure." Unfortunately the birth of the little Eugene did not produce a permanent reconciliation between the young parents ; for Alexandre, having conducted his wife after her recovery back to his father's house, returned to his semi-bachelor life in Paris. His wife's aunt, Mme. Renaudin, hoping that a prolonged absence abroad would make the erring husband regret the young wife and little child in the old family chateau, persuaded Alexandre to travel in Italy for a while. However, as he took care to provide himself with an amusing travelling-companion of the opposite sex, it is probable that he seldom gave a thought to his wife and little Eugene. During this journey, which lasted many months, Alexandre learnt that his wife had borne him a little daughter, Hortense by name, a piece of news which caused him to fly into a towering passion. The vicomte swore that he was not the father of the little Hortense, and declared that his wife must go into a convent. This Mme. de Beauharnais, to whom admiration and flattery were more necessary than her daily bread, was very unwilling to do ; she retorted that Alexandre was the father of her child and that he knew the fact as well as herself. Josephine, since the birth of her little daughter, had been staying at FAMILY DISSENSIONS 25 Noisy, near Paris, whither her husband now wrote announc- ing his return to France and recommending her either to pay a visit to her mother in Martinique, or else to go into a convent, and ending with the following instructions : "... As I hope to accomplish in five or six days the seventy leagues which still lie between me and the capital, and as, when once I am there, I shall require the use of my carriage in order to amuse myself and to prevent my legs getting too tired, you will oblige me by sending my horses and my carriage to Paris for next Sunday, the 26th inst. If Euphemie likes to take advantage of this opportunity in order to bring Eugene to see me, it will give me great pleasure to have him with me, a pleasure which I have not enjoyed for many a long day. ..." Josephine now moved up to Paris, where, partly in obedience to her husband's injunctions and partly in order to suit her own plans, she took up her abode at the celebrated convent of Panthemont, in the rue de Crenelle — not to spend her time in devotions and in doing penance for her sins, however, for Panthemont was the refuge of many grass-widows and wives under a cloud who each had their own apartment, went out into society and received their male and female friends just as if they were living in the world outside the convent walls. Matters became still more strained between the pair when Alexandre, as he had threatened to do, took legal pro- ceedings against his wife, demanding a separation and requiring her to give him the custody of his eldest child, Eugene, who was now four years of age. But Alexandre lost his case, much to his disgust, and it was decided that Mme. de Beauharnais was to live wherever she liked and to dispose of her own property. Alexandre was to obtain possession of Eugene Rose after his fifth birthday, until which time he was to reside with his mother wherever she might choose to live. The vicomte was to pay all expenses incurred for the support and education of his son, whose summer holidays were to be spent with his mother in the country. Mme. de Beauharnais remained for a few more months at Panthemont and then went to stay with her husband's 26 eug£ne de beauharnais father at Croissy-sur-Seine, where the de Beauharnais family had a property. Mme. de Beauharnais seems to have managed to win her father-in-law over to her side, for we hear of frequent visits made by the young mother to her husband's father ; in fact the old gentleman was much inclined to take her part against his son. A certain Mme. Hostein, who had two charming little children about the same age as Eugene and Hortense (or Eugenie, as she was called for the first few years of her life), resided on a property adjoining that of the de Beauharnais, and Mme. de Beauharnais made great friends with Mme. Hostein. At the latter's suggestion, the four children shared their games and learnt their lessons together, and thus was laid the foundation of a long friendship which lasted until Josephine became " more than queen." Although the vicomte and his wife corresponded frequently concerning Eugene's health and well-being during the next few months, Alexandre, beyond having Eugenie inoculated against smallpox at the tender age of two years, does not seem to have displayed much interest in his little daughter. In January, 1787, Alexandre announced his intention of taking Eugene away from his mother and of placing him at a school kept by a M. Verdiere in the rue de Seine, Paris. The news that the two children were to be separated was received by Eugenie with a wild burst of indignation and grief. They were both high-spirited, affectionate little things, and this separation was a very real sorrow to them. Who does not remember what a blank we experienced in our lives when we left home to go to school for the first time ? Alexandre witnessed a very sad little scene when he went down to Croissy to fetch his son. When Eugenie understood that the edict was irrevocable, that her small will was power- less to arrest this seemingly unjust and wicked measure, when she realized that her play-fellow was going to be taken from her, and when she saw his little trunk being packed with the well-known clothes and the toys they had played with together and perhaps quarrelled over at times, her grief knew no bounds. A vague idea that he was being sent away from home as a punishment for some childish fault crossed her mind. Alexandre, touched by the little girl's despair, tried to take her in his arms and to comfort her. (Photo: A. R. Montagu) HORTENSE DE BEAUHARNAIS From an old print To face page 26 FAMILY DISSENSIONS 27 "Papa!" cried she through her tears, "forgive poor Eugene ! I'm sure he'll never do it again if I tell him that he makes me unhappy." Her father assured her that he was not angry with Eugene for any fault of his. " Then you won't send him away, will you ? You'll let him stay here, won't you ? " " No, my dear, that cannot be. Your brother will soon grow into a man, and he must learn how to live and behave as a man should behave." " So he's going away — really going away ? " " Yes." Eugenie waited to hear no more. With a wail of despair, she tore herself away from the vicomte, rushed out into the garden and flung herself on the ground in some secluded corner, there to sob and cry over her first experience of the injustice of man. Eugene in his memoirs makes no mention of his experiences while under the care of M. Verdiere, so he was probably as happy at school as it is possible for a little boy, of such an affectionate disposition as he was, to be away from home. In the month of June, 1788, just as Eugene was about to start for Fontainebleau, where he was to spend his summer holidays, Mme. de Beauharnais declared her intention of going to visit her mother in Martinique — and thither she went, taking Eugenie, as she was still called, with her. She remained nearly two years in her native land until trouble broke out among the natives, who set fire one night to her mother's house, and Mme. de Beauharnais was forced to fly, still clad in her night attire, holding the little Hortense in her arms. The future Empress of the French and the queen of Holland were lucky enough to find shelter on board a boat which was about to start for France, where they arrived destitute except for the light clothes with which their fellow-passengers, in their compassion for their piteous plight, had provided them. Mme. de Beauharnais does not seem to have displayed much concern for the fate of her mother, who, however, managed to escape from the fury of her slaves and lived to see her daughter become Empress. Eugene, in the meantime, had been removed from M. 28 eug£ne de beauharnais Verdiere's establishment and sent to the College d'Harcourt, where he remained until July, 1790, which brings us to the opening scene of our story. Mme. de Beauharnais arrived in France towards the end of this year and put up at the Hotel des Asturies, in the rue d'Anjou, Paris. Although the breach between the vicomte and the vicomtesse de Beauharnais had widened considerably during the latter 's absence in Martinique, the old marquis was determined to make one more effort to reconcile the couple. Mme. de Beauharnais' chief grievance was that she was not allowed to see her son, who, she heard, had grown much during her absence and had made great progress in his studies. In order to bring about this reconciliation, the marquis de Beauharnais, together with the comte and comtesse de Montmorin, concocted the following plan : the comte de Montmorin was to give a dinner-party to which he was to invite Mme. de Beauharnais and her daughter and Alexandre and his son, without, however, letting either party know whom they were to meet. Mme. de Beauharnais and her little girl were already seated in Mme. de Montmorin's salon when Alexandre v appeared leading Eugene by the hand. On seeing his wife and daughter, Alexandre's face darkened ; angry words, bitter reproaches, burst from his lips. He was just going to rush out of the room when Eugenie, who was wearing a little costume such as was worn in those days by the natives in Martinique, recognized her father, notwithstanding her long absence abroad, and ran towards him with outstretched arms crying : " Papa ! papa ! " The vicomte, unable to withstand this invitation, took the little girl in his arms and kissed her over and over again. Eugene meanwhile had hidden his face on his mother's shoulder ; she, with tears in her eyes, was trying to recognize in this strong, sturdy little boy, the child — almost baby — whom she had not seen for so many long months. Mme. de Montmorin, thinking that a little good advice would not come amiss at such a moment, said : " Monsieur le vicomte, such a man as you are cannot possibly allow prejudices and old grievances to stand in the way of common sense and propriety." RECONCILIATION 29 The old marquis de Beauharnais, who had been watching the scene from his arm-chair, also put in a word : " My son, take my advice— be reconciled to your wife ! Josephine is my daughter ; and as she has never ceased to be worthy of that name, I shall continue to call her daughter." Alexandre had already begun to waver in his resolution not to address another word to his wife. Like all French- men, he was devoted to his children, and the little Eugenie's tearful rapture at seeing her beloved Eugene once more — Eugene whom she had mourned so bitterly and whom she had never expected to see again — broke down the last barriers of resentment. He turned towards his wife, who, with a cry of joy not unmingled perhaps with contrition, flung herself into his arms. The next few months were spent by Mme. de Beauharnais and her children in a house at Fontainebleau. We can imagine the delight of Eugene and Eugenie at being together once more. Alexandre still continued to spend much of his time in Paris, where, as a member of the Assemblee con- stituante, he was well known as a supporter of the new ideas. The flight of Louis XVI and his family to Varennes in 1791 was loudly blamed by the vicomte ; the latter soon became so influential that he was looked upon by his wife's friends and neighbours at Fontainebleau almost as a king ; indeed the inhabitants of that sleepy town used to point at Eugene when he walked along the streets and say : " There goes the Dauphin ! " During one of the vicomte's long sojourns in the capital, he took his son to see the preparations for that wonderful fete which was celebrated on the Champ de Mars, July 17th, 1791. In the following month Alexandre took a still more active part in the affairs of his country, for he joined the armee du Rhin with the title of lieutenant-general. Mme. de Beauharnais now moved up to Paris, where she resumed the life of frivolity for which she was so eminently suited. She, during her course through life, always seems to have taken good care to gather as many influential friends around her as possible — witness her extraordinary and very unseemly friendship with the Emperor Alexander of Russia when the Russian bear invaded the nest of the 30 eug£ne de beauharnais eagle. Among the friends whom she made about this time were Mathieu de Montmorency/ the prince de Salm- Kyrburg^ and the latter 's sister, the princess Amalia of HohenzoUern-Sigmaringen, who was to prove such a friend- in-need to Mme. de Beauharnais and her children a few months later. In January, 1792, Mme. de Beauharnais returned to Fontainebleau, where she and her children were the guests of her aunt, Mme. Renaudin. Here she remained until the following September, when she moved up to the de Beauharnais hotel in the rue Saint Dominique, Paris. As Eugene had been suffering from weak eyes for some time past he was unable to attend to his studies as dili- gently as he might have done. The month of May in the following year (1793) saw Alexander de Beauharnais, in consequence of Custine's^ departure, at the head of the armee du Rhin. The events of the previous summer had made Mme. de Beauharnais extremely nervous, and the stormy winter of 1792-3 had only aggravated this condition. Notwith- standing the fact that her husband's very advanced opinions, or rather his position as head of the armee du Rhin, ought to have shielded her from any fear of molestation, Mme. de Beauharnais took alarm and determined to leave the capital — at least for a time. As she knew that her friend the princess of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was also about to leave Paris in order to go and reside on an estate be- ^ Montmorency, Mathieu Jean Felicite : vicomte, then due de (1767- 1826) : first served in America, then returned to France, where he became a deputy at the Etafs generaux ; on August 4th, 1789, he made a cele- brated speech in which he proposed that all titles of nobiUty should be abolished. He left France when the Republic was proclaimed and went to Switzerland, where he remained until after the gth Thermidor. The Restoration saw a complete revolution in his political opinions, for he became aide-de-camp to the comte d'Artois, pair de France, Foreign Minister (1822), represented France at the Congress of Verona, and finished by becoming tutor to the due de Bordeaux. - Salm-Kyrburg, Frederick, prince of (i 746-1 794) : was born at Limburg, came to Paris, where he built himself a magnificent hotel, now the palace of the Legion d'honneur ; he took part in the revolt in Holland in 1787, where he pretended to be an agent sent by France. On allowing Utrecht to be taken by the king of Prussia he returned to Paris, where he espoused the cause of the Revolution, which, however, did not prevent his perishing upon the scaffold. ^ Custine, Pliihppe, comte de (1740-1793): a French general, com- manded a regiment of the armee du Rhin, was accused of having allowed Mayence to fall into the hands of the Prussians, and executed. THE COMING STORM 31 longing to her brother, the prince de Salm, at Saint Martin, in Valois, Mme. de Beauharnais begged that lady to take Eugene and Eugenie with her and to keep them until an escort could be found to take them over to England, which country was already being invaded by hordes of emigres and emigrettes, including the flower of the French nobility and not a few would-be nobles. The princess promised to take care of the children as if they were her own, and to keep them with her until matters had settled down. Poor blind women ! — they little thought how matters would settle down. We are not surprised to read that one of Mme. de Beauharnais' biographers accuses her of abandoning her children ; this was a most extraordinary step on her part ; surely her children would have been as safe, if not safer, with her than elsewhere ? No sooner did Alexandre get wind of this plan than he, in great wrath, despatched a messenger post - haste to Paris, ordering her to give up Eugene instantly. As the children had already gone to Saint Martin when Mme. de Beauharnais received this letter, she, much against her will, was obliged to write to the princess begging her to send Eugene and Eugenie back to Paris. The children were brought up to the capital by the prince de Salm in person, which act of kindness even- tually led to his being arrested, imprisoned, condemned and the rest. The ci-devant vicomte, delighted to have his son with him, now placed the boy at the College national in Strasburg. Alexandre frequently invited the boy to spend a day or two at his head-quarters at Weissenburg, upon which occasions Eugene probably acquired that taste for military subjects for which he was distinguished in after years. It was doubtless during the few months spent by Eugene at this college that he indulged in those boyish pranks for which some of his biographers are inclined to blame him ; these pranks, quite harmless in themselves and natural to a high-spirited boy, consisted of crowing, barking, bleating and braying. His tutors complained that he lacked application and industry ; his copy-books were un- tidy and his exercises full of mistakes. As for Latin and Greek, neither fines, nor birch-rod, nor that most odious of all punishments — being kept in after school-hours, could 32 eug£ne de beauharnais drive even the rudiments of these two languages into his curly head. When shut up by himself to finish his tasks, he, instead of setting to work, would yawn, sing or go through his repertoire of farmyard lays. 