Memoirs of the Empress Josephine, Volume 1P. F. Collier & Son, 1910 - France |
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affairs afterward amused appeared army arrived asked Beauharnais became began believe Berthier Bona Bonaparte's Bourbons brother Caulaincourt ceremony Chouans confidence Consul Corps Législatif Court death Duc d'Enghien Duroc effect Emperor Empress endeavored English Eugène Eugène de Beauharnais event father favor feelings felt fortune Fouché France French gave Georges Cadoudal give Government heard honor house of Bourbon husband Imperial interest Jacobins Joseph Bonaparte kind King knew letters liberty Louis Bonaparte Lucien Madame Maret marriage matter ment military mind Minister Moniteur Moreau morning mother Murat Napoleon natural never obliged occasion opinion palace Paris party passed passion persons Pichegru Polignac political Pope position Prefect present princes received Rémusat replied Revolution Royalists Saint Cloud secret seemed Senate silence sovereign talked Talleyrand tears things thought tion told took Tuileries utter vanity Vergennes wife woman women words
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Page 198 - Des dieux que nous servons connais la différence : Les tiens t'ont commandé le meurtre et la vengeance ; Et le mien , quand ton bras vient de m'assassiner , M'ordonne de te plaindre et de te pardonner.
Page 192 - Paris frightens me just now." Shortly afterward we set out; Bonaparte was in his own carriage, Mme. Bonaparte and myself in hers. I observed that she was very silent and sad for a part of the way, and I let her see that I was uneasy about her. At first she seemed reluctant to give me any explanation, but at length she said, " I am going to trust you with a great secret. This morning Bonaparte told me that he had sent M. de Caulaincourt to the frontier to seize the Due d'Enghien. He is to be brought...
Page 229 - Marshals were Berthier, Murat, Moncey, Jourdan, Masse'na, Augereau, Bernadotte, Soult, Brune, Lannes, Mortier, Ney, Davoust, Bessieres ; the four Senators were Kellerman, Lefebvre, Perignon, and Serrurier.
Page 233 - I can understand how it was that men, worn out by the turmoil of the Revolution, and afraid of that liberty which had been so long associated with death, looked for repose under the dominion of an able ruler, on whom fortune was seemingly resolved to smile. I can conceive that they regarded his elevation as a decree of destiny, and fondly believed that in the irrevocable they should find peace. I may confidently assert that those persons believed quite sincerely that Bonaparte, whether as Consul...
Page 209 - I may have to shed more, but not out of anger—simply because blood-letting is one of the remedies in political medicine. I am the man of the State; I am the French Revolution. I say it, and I will uphold it." After this last declaration, Bonaparte dismissed us all. We dispersed without daring to interchange our ideas, and thus ended this fatal day.* * The murder of the Due d'Enghien is an inexhaustible subject of controversy between the opponents of the Empire and the supporters of Napoleon.
Page 234 - France believed it, too ; and he even succeeded in persuading foreign sovereigns that he constituted a barrier against republican influences, which, but for him, might spread widely. At the moment when Bonaparte placed the imperial crown upon his head there was not a king in Europe who did not believe that he wore his own crown more securely because of that event. Had the new emperor granted a liberal constitution, the peace of nations and of kings might really have been forever secured.
Page 234 - France lying on the ground," said he, "and I took it up on the point of my sword." He was the product of an inevitable revolution ; but he had no share in its disasters, and I sincerely believe that, until the death of the Due d'Enghien, it would have been possible for him to legitimize his power by conferring upon France benefits of a kind which would have pledged the nation to him and his for ever. His despotic ambition misled him ; but, I say it again, he was not the only one who went astray....
Page 47 - Empire, but neither his parents nor he, although still a little suspicious of the new order of things, were seriously opposed to it. Neither the personal vexations, which resulted from it, such as the deprivation of employment, the necessity of selling to great disadvantage a library which was the delight of my grandfather, and which lives in the recollection of lovers of books, nor a thousand other annoyances could prevent their experiencing a sense of relief. They almost verified a celebrated saying...
Page 237 - ... shall win" was the basis of all his calculations, and his obstinate repetition of the phrase helped him to realize the prediction. At length his own good fortune grew into a superstition with him, and his worship of it made every sacrifice which was to be imposed upon us fair and lawful in his eyes.
Page 44 - ... remarks, and our opinions on everything and everybody quite frankly, without fear of vexing one another ; in fact, with all that sincere and intimate friendship which, I believe, may perfectly well exist between a mother and a son. There are not so many years between us as to prevent me from sympathizing with your youth, or sharing some of your feelings. Women's shoulders wear young heads for a long time, and in the head of a mother one side is always just the same age as her child's. " Madame...