Recollections of the Private Life of Napoleon - Volume 04 , livre ebook

Pub One Info - Constant Wairy Louis

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

49 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

pubOne.info present you this new edition. It was the 2d of January, 1805, exactly a month after the coronation, that I formed with the eldest daughter of M. Charvet a union which has been, and will I trust ever be, the greatest happiness of my life. I promised the reader to say very little of myself; and, in fact, how could he be interested in any details of my own private life which did not throw additional light upon the character of the great man about whom I have undertaken to write? Nevertheless, I will ask permission to return for a little while to this, the most interesting of all periods to me, and which exerted such an influence upon my whole life. Surely he who recalls and relates his souvenirs is not forbidden to attach some importance to those which most nearly concern himself. Moreover, even in the most personal events of my life, there were instances in which their Majesties took a part, and which, from that fact, are of importance in enabling the reader to form a correct estimate of the characters of both the Emperor and the Empress.

Informations

Publié par	Pub One Info
Date de parution	06 novembre 2010
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9782819949183
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0100€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON,V4
By CONSTANT
PREMIER VALET DE CHAMBRE
TRANSLATED BY WALTER CLARK
1895
CHAPTER XXIII.
It was the 2d of January, 1805, exactly a monthafter the coronation, that I formed with the eldest daughter of M.Charvet a union which has been, and will I trust ever be, thegreatest happiness of my life. I promised the reader to say verylittle of myself; and, in fact, how could he be interested in anydetails of my own private life which did not throw additional lightupon the character of the great man about whom I have undertaken towrite? Nevertheless, I will ask permission to return for a littlewhile to this, the most interesting of all periods to me, and whichexerted such an influence upon my whole life. Surely he who recallsand relates his souvenirs is not forbidden to attach someimportance to those which most nearly concern himself. Moreover,even in the most personal events of my life, there were instancesin which their Majesties took a part, and which, from that fact,are of importance in enabling the reader to form a correct estimateof the characters of both the Emperor and the Empress.
My wife's mother had been presented to MadameBonaparte during the first campaign in Italy, and she had beenpleased with her; for Madame Bonaparte, who was so perfectly good,had, in her own experience, also endured trials, and knew how tosympathize with the sorrows of others.
She promised to interest the General in the fate ofmy father-in-law, who had just lost his place in the treasury.During this time Madame Charvet was in correspondence with a friendof her husband, who was, I think, the courier of General Bonaparte;and the latter having opened and read these letters addressed tohis courier, inquired who was this young woman that wrote suchinteresting and intelligent letters, and Madame Charvet welldeserved this double praise. My father-in-law's friend, whilereplying to the question of the General-in-chief, took occasion torelate the misfortunes of the family, and the General remarkedthat, on his return to Paris, he wished to meet M. and MadameCharvet; in consequence of which they were presented to him, andMadame Bonaparte rejoiced to learn that her protegees had alsobecome those of her husband. It had been decided that M. Charvetshould follow the General to Egypt; but when my father-in-lawarrived at Toulon, Madame Bonaparte requested that he shouldaccompany her to the waters of Plombieres. I have previouslyrelated the accident which occurred at Plombieres, and that M.Charvet was sent to Saint-Germain to bring Mademoiselle Hortensefrom the boarding-school to her mother. On his return to Paris, M.Charvet searched through all the suburbs to find a country-seat, asthe General had charged his wife to purchase one during hisabsence.
When Madame Bonaparte decided on Malmaison, M.Charvet, his wife, and their three children were installed in thischarming residence.
My father-in-law was very faithful to the interestsof these benefactors of his family, and Madame Charvet often actedas private secretary to Madame Bonaparte.
Mademoiselle Louise, who became my wife, andMademoiselle Zoe, her younger sister, were favorites of MadameBonaparte, especially the latter, who passed more time than Louiseat Malmaison. The condescension of their noble protectress hadrendered this child so familiar, that she said thou habitually toMadame Bonaparte. One day she said to her, “Thou art happy. Thouhast no mamma to scold thee when thou tearest thy dresses. ”
During one of the campaigns that I made while in theservice of the Emperor, I wrote to my wife, inquiring about thelife that her sister led at Malmaison. In her answer, among otherthings, she said (I copy a passage from one of her letters):“Sometimes we take part in performances such as I had never dreamedof. For instance, one evening the saloon was divided in half by agauze curtain, behind which was a bed arranged in Greek style, onwhich a man lay asleep, clothed in long white drapery. Near thesleeper Madame Bonaparte and the other ladies beat in unison (notin perfect accord, however) on bronze vases, making, as you mayimagine, a terrible kind of music. During this charivari, one ofthe gentlemen held me around the waist, and raised me from theground, while I shook my arms and legs in time to the music. Theconcert of these ladies awoke the sleeper, who stared wildly at me,frightened at my gestures, then sprang up and ran with all hismight, followed by my brother, who crept on all fours, representinga dog, I think, which belonged to this strange person. As I wasthen a mere child, I have only a confused idea of all this; but thesociety of Madame Bonaparte seemed to be much occupied with similaramusements. ”
When the First Consul went to live at Saint-Cloud,he expressed his high opinion of my father-in-law in the mostflattering manner, and made him concierge of the chateau, which wasa confidential position, the duties and responsibilities of whichwere considerable.
M. Charvet was charged with organizing thehousehold; and, by orders of the First Consul, he selected fromamong the old servants of the queen those to whom he gave places asporters, scrubbers, and grooms of the chateau, and he gave pensionsto those unable to work.
When the chateau took fire in 1802, as I haverelated previously, Madame Charvet, being several months pregnant,was terribly frightened; and as it was not thought best to bleedher, she became very ill, and died at the age of thirty years.Louise had been at a boarding-school for several years; but herfather now brought her home to keep house for him, though she wasthen only twelve years old. One of her friends has kindly allowedme to see a letter which Louise addressed to her a short time afterour marriage, and from which I have made the followingextracts:
"On my return from boarding-school I went to see herMajesty the Empress (then Madame Bonaparte) at the Tuileries. I wasin deep mourning. She took me on her knee, and tried to console me,saying that she would be a mother to me, and would find me ahusband. I wept, and said that I did not wish to marry. Not atpresent, ' replied her Majesty, I but that will come; be sure ofit. I was, however, by no means persuaded that this would be thecase. She caressed me a while longer, and I withdrew. When theFirst Consul was at Saint-Cloud, all the chiefs of the differentdepartments of the household service assembled in the apartments ofmy father, who was the most popular, as well as the eldest, memberof the household. M. Constant, who had seen me as a child atMalmaison, found me sufficiently attractive at Saint-Cloud to askme of my father, subject to the approval of their Majesties; and itwas decided that we should be married after the coronation. I wasfourteen years old fifteen days after our marriage.
“Both my sister and I are always received withextreme kindness by her Majesty the Empress; and whenever, for fearof annoying her, we let some time pass without going to see her,she complains of it to my father. She sometimes admits us to hermorning toilet, which is conducted in our presence, and to whichare admitted in her apartments only her women; and a few persons ofher household, who, like us, count among their happiest momentsthose in which they can thus behold this adored princess. Theconversations are almost always delightful, and her Majestyfrequently relates anecdotes which a word from one or another of usrecalls to her. ”
Her Majesty the Empress had promised Louise a dowry;but the money which she intended for that she spent otherwise, andconsequently my wife had only a few jewels of little value and twoor three pieces of stuff.
M. Charvet was too refined to recall this promise toher Majesty's recollection. However, that was the only way to getanything from her; for she knew no better how to economize than howto refuse. The Emperor asked me a short time after my marriage whatthe Empress had given my wife, and on my reply showed the greatestpossible vexation; no doubt because the sum that had been demandedof him for Louise's dowry had been spent otherwise. His Majesty theEmperor had the goodness, while on this subject, to assure me thathe himself would hereafter look after my interests, and that he waswell satisfied with my services, and would prove it to me.
I have said above that my wife's younger sister wasthe favorite of her Majesty the Empress; and yet she received onher marriage no richer dowry than Louise, nevertheless, the Empressasked to have my sister-in-law's husband presented to her, and saidto him in the most maternal tone, “Monsieur, I recommend mydaughter to you, and I entreat you to make her happy. She deservesit, and I earnestly hope that you know how to appreciate her! ”When my sister-in-law, fleeing from Compiegne, in 1814, went withher husband's mother to Evreux for her confinement, the Empresssent by her first valet de chambre every thing necessary for ayoung woman in that condition, and, even reproached her with nothaving come to Navarre.
My sister-in-law had been reared in the sameboarding-school as Mademoiselle Josephine Tallien, god-daughter ofthe Empress, who has since married M. Pelet de la Lozere, andanother daughter of Madame Tallien, Mademoiselle Clemence Cabarus.The school was conducted by Madame Vigogne, widow of the colonel ofthat name, and an old friend of the Empress, who had advised her totake a boarding-school, and promised to procure for her as manypupils as she could. This institution prospered under the directionof this lady, who was distinguished for her intelligence andculture; and she frequently brought to the Empress these protegees,with other young persons who by good conduct had earned thisreward; and this was made a powerful means of exciting theemulation of these children, whom her Majesty overwhelmed withcaresses, and presented with little gifts.
One morning just as Madame Vigogne was about tovisit the Empress, and was d