court, the ministers, and several personages of the highest rank. It is superfluous to name the person who attracted the attention of every one from the moment the carriage-door was opened until the entrance into the apartments. No court was held that night, and all the company withdrew at an early hour. According to the etiquette observed at foreign courts, the emperor was no doubt married to the Archduchess Maria Louisa: not so, however, with reference to our civil code; nevertheless, it is said that he followed the example of Henry IV. on his marriage with Maria of Medicis. I am only repeating here the illiberal remarks made the next morning, because I am pledged to speak the truth. The world claimed the privilege of seeing and knowing every thing: as to myself, what I actually saw afforded me nothing to cavil at, notwithstanding the prevailing rumours. Had it, however, been my case, I should have followed the precedent of Henry IV. on this occasion. It happened to be my turn to sleep that night in the apartment of the officers in attendance. The emperor had left the palace and retired to the chancellor's residence; and if the report had been brought to me that all Paris was on fire, I should not have attempted to disturb his repose, under the apprehension that he might not be found at that residence. The next was a very fatiguing day for the young empress, because presentations were made of persons wholly unknown to her, by individuals with whom she was not much more acquainted. The emperor himself presented to her his aides-de-camp, who felt highly gratified at this condescending mark of his regard; the lady of honour presented the ladies of the palace and others who were to form her retinue. The emperor proceeded with the empress to St. Cloud on the day after the public presentation, the attendants of both households followed them in separate carriages. They did not pass through Paris, but took the road to St. Denis, the Bois de Boulogne, and St. Cloud: all the authorities of Paris had repaired to the boundary of the department of the Seine, in the direction of Compiègne, and were followed by a great part of the population, who gave themselves up to the joy and enthusiasm which the occasion naturally created. An immense crowd had collected at St. Cloud to greet her arrival; first, the princesses of the imperial family, amongst whom were the Vice-queen of Italy, who was then making her first appearance in Paris, the Princess of Baden, the dignitaries, the marshals of France, the senators, and the councillors of state. It was broad daylight when the imperial retinue reached St. Cloud. The ceremony of the civil marriage did not take place till two days afterwards, in the gallery of the palace at St. Cloud. A platform was raised at the extremity of the gallery, with a table and arm-chairs upon it for the imperial couple, as well as chairs and stools for the princes and princesses of his family: none were present at the ceremony except the persons attached to the respective courts. When all the preliminary arrangements had been gone through, the cortège moved forward from the apartments of the empress, and crossing the grand apartments and the saloon of Hercules, entered the gallery, where it was arranged on the platform in the order laid down by the NAPOLEON'S MARRIAGE WITH MARIA LOUISA. 119 rules of etiquette. The place of every one had been determined beforehand, so that in an instant the utmost order and silence pervaded the assembly. The arch-chancellor stood near a table with a rich velvet covering over it, upon which was a register held by Count Regnault de SaintJean-d'Angély, the secretary of the imperial family's household. After taking the emperor's orders, the prince arch-chancellor put the following question to him in a loud voice: "Sire, is it your Majesty's intention to take for your lawful wife her Imperial Highness the Archduchess Maria Louisa of Austria, here present?"-" Yes, sir," was the emperor's answer. The arch-chancellor then addressed the empress " Madam," he said, "does your Imperial Highness, of your own free consent, take the Emperor Napoleon, here present, for your lawful husband?"-" Yes, sir," she replied. The arch-chancellor proceeded then to declare, in the name of the law, and of the institutions of the empire, that his Majesty the Emperor Napoleon and her Imperial Highness the Archduchess Maria Louisa of Austria were duly united in marriage. Count Regnault de Saint-Jeand'Angély presented the act for signature, first to the emperor, afterwards to the empress, and lastly to all the members of the family, as well as to the different personages whose official ranks entitled them to this honourable privilege. Next morning, the imperial couple left St. Cloud in a carriage drawn by eight cream-coloured horses, preceded by an empty carriage drawn by eight gray horses, which was intended for the empress; thirty other carriages with a ground of gold, and drawn by superb horses, completed the cortège; these were filled with the ladies and officers of the household, and by those whose employments gave them the privilege of being admitted to the imperial presence. The train left St. Cloud between eight and nine o'clock in the morning, and was escorted by the whole of the cavalry; it passed through the Bois de Boulogne, the Gate of Maillot, the Champs Elysées, the Place de la Révolution, to the garden of the Tuileries, where all the carriages passed under the peristyle, and stopped, to enable the company to descend and enter the palace. From the iron railing of the court of the palace of St. Cloud, both sides of the road were lined with so dense a mass of people, that the population of the adjacent country must have flocked to St. Cloud and Paris on the occasion. The crowd increased on approaching Paris; from the barrier to the palace of the Tuileries it baffled all calculation. Orchestras were placed at stated distances along the Champs Elysées, and played a variety of airs. France appeared to revel in a delight bordering upon frenzy. Many were the protestations of fidelity and attachment made to the emperor; and whosoever had ventured to predict at that time what has since come to pass, would have been scouted as a madman. When all the carriages had arrived, the cortège resumed its order of etiquette in the gallery of Diana at the Tuileries, and proceeded through a passage expressly constructed for the occasion, and terminating at the gallery of the Museum, which it entered by the door near the Pavilion of Flora. Here began a new spectacle: both sides of that immense gallery were lined from one end to the other with a triple row of Parisian ladies of the middling class: nothing could be compared to the variegated scene presented by that assemblage of ladies, whose youthful bloom shone forth more dazzling than their elegant attire. A balustrade extended along both sides of the gallery, in order to prevent any one from passing beyond a certain line, and the middle of this fine edifice was thus free and unobstructed, so as to admit of a passage for the cortège which moved along, and afforded a feast to the eyes as far as the very altar. The vast saloon at the end of the gallery, where the exhibition of paintings generally took place, had been converted into a chapel. Its circuit was lined by a triple row of splendidly ornamented boxes, filled with the most elegant and distinguished ladies then in Paris. The grand master of the ceremonies assigned to the persons composing the cortège their proper places as they arrived in the chapel. The strictest order was observed during the whole of this ceremony. Mass was performed by his eminence Cardinal Fesch, after which the marriage ceremony took place.Memoirs of the Duke de Rovigo.* DECREE ANNEXING HOLLAND TO FRANCE. Palace of Rambouillet, July 9, 1810. We, Napoleon, Emperor of the French, King of Italy, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, Mediator of the Swiss Confederation, &c., have decreed, and hereby decree as follows: Title I.-Art. 1. Holland is united to France. 2. The city of Amsterdam shall be the third city of the empire. 3. Holland shall have six senators, six deputies to the Council of State, twenty-five deputies to the Legislative Body, and two judges in the Court of Cassation. 4. The officers by sea and land, of whatever rank, shall be confirmed in their employments. Commissions shall be delivered to them, signed with our hand. The Royal Guard shall be united to our Imperial Guard. Title II. Of the Administration for 1810.-5. The Duke of Placentia, Arch-treasurer of the Empire, shall repair to Amsterdam in the capacity of our Lieutenant-general. He shall preside in the Council of Ministers, and attend to the despatch of business. His functions shall cease the 1st of January, 1811, the period when the French Administration shall commence. 6. All the public, functionaries, of whatever rank, are confirmed in their employments. Title III. Of the Finances.-7. The present contributions shall continue to be levied until the 1st of January, 1811, at which period the country shall be put on the same footing as for the rest of the empire. 8. The budget of receipts and disbursements shall be submitted to our approbation before the 1st of August next. Only one * For many interesting details, most admirably written, respecting Bonaparte's divorce from Josephine, and the circumstances that immediately preceded the divorce, see the Memoirs of the Duchess d'Abrantes.-Editor. DECREE ANNEXING HOLLAND TO FRANCE. 121 third of the present amount of interest upon the public debt shall be carried to the account of expenditure for 1810. The interest of the debt for 1808 and 1809, not yet paid, shall be reduced to one-third, and charged on the budget of 1810. 9. The custom-houses on the frontier, other than those of France, shall be organized under the superintendence of our Director general of the Custom-houses. The Dutch custom-houses shall be incorporated therewith. The line of custom-houses now on the French frontier shall be kept up until the 1st of January, 1811, when it shall be removed, and the communication of Holland with the empire become free. 10. The colonial produce actually in Holland, shall remain in the hands of the owners upon paying a duty of 50 per cent. ad valorem. A declaration of the amount shall be made before the 1st of September, at furthest. The said merchandise, upon payment of the duties, may be imported into France, and circulated through the whole extent of the empire. Title IV.-11. There shall be at Amsterdam a special Administration, presided over by one of our Councillors of State, which shall have the superintendence of, and the necessary funds to provide for, the repairs of the dykes, polders, and other public works. Title V.-12. In the course of the present month there shall be nominated, by the Legislative Body of Holland, a Commission of fifteen members, to proceed to Paris, in order to constitute a council whose business shall be to regulate definitively all that relates to the public and local debts, and to conciliate the principles of the union with the localities and interests of the country. 13. Our ministers are charged with the execution of the present decree. (Signed) (Signed) By the EMPEROR NAPOLEON. CHAPTER XV. 1809-1810. Bernadotte elected Prince Royal of Sweden-Count Wrede's overtures to Bernadotte-Bernadotte's three days' visit to Hamburg-Particulars respecting the battle of Wagram-Secret order of the day-Last intercourse of the Prince Royal of Sweden with Napoleon-My advice to Bernadotte respecting the continental system. I Now come to one of the periods of my life to which I look back with most satisfaction:-I allude to the time when Bernadotte was with me in Hamburg. I will briefly relate the series of events which led the opposer of the 18th Brumaire to the throne of Sweden. On the 13th of March, 1809, Gustavus Adolphus was arrested, and his uncle, the Duke of Sudermania, provisionally took the reins of government. A few days afterwards, Gustavus published his act of abdication, which in the state of Sweden it was impossible for him to refuse. In May following, the Swedish Diet having been convoked at Stockholm, the Duke of Sudermania was elected king. Christian Augustus, the only son of that monarch, of course became prince royal on the accession of his father to the throne. He, however, died suddenly at the end of May, 1810, and Count Fersen, the same who at the court of Marie-Antoinette was distinguished by the appellation of le beau Fersen, was massacred by the populace, who suspected, perhaps unjustly, that he had been accessory to the prince's death. On the 20th of August following, Bernadotte was elected Prince Royal of Sweden. After the death of the prince royal, the Duke of Sudermania's son, Count Wrede, a Swede, made the first overtures to Bernadotte, and announced to him, the intention entertained at Stockholm of offering him the throne of Sweden. Bernadotte was at that time in Paris, and immediately after his first interview with Count Wrede, he waited on the emperor at Saint-Cloud; Napoleon coolly replied, that he could be of no service to him; that events must take their course; that he might accept or refuse the offer as he chose; that he (Bonaparte) would place no obstacles in his way, but that he could give him no advice. It was very evident that the choice of Sweden was not very agreeable to Bonaparte, and though he afterwards disavowed any opposition to it, he made overtures to Stockholm, proposing that the crown of Sweden should be added to that of Denmark. Bernadotte then went to the waters of Plombières, and on his return to Paris he sent me a letter announcing his elevation to the rank of Prince Royal of Sweden. On the 11th of October he arrived in Hamburg, where he stayed only three days. He passed nearly the whole of that time with me, and he communicated to me many curious facts connected with the secret history of the times, and among other things some particulars respecting the battle of Wagram. I was the first to mention to the new Prince Royal of Sweden the reports of the doubtful manner in which the troops, under his command, behaved. I reminded him of Bonaparte's dissatisfaction at these troops: for there was no doubt of the emperor being the author of the complaints contained in the bulletins, especially as he had withdrawn the troops from Bernadotte's command. Bernadotte assured me that Napoleon's censure was unjust during the battle he had complained of the little spirit manifested by the soldiers. "He refused to see me," added Bernadotte," and I was told, as a reason for his refusal, that he was astonished and displeased to find, that notwithstanding his complaints, of which I must have heard, I had boasted of having gained the battle; and had publicly complimented the Saxons, whom I commanded." |