Napoleon (O'Connor 1896)

by T. P. O'Connor

For works with similar titles, see Napoleon.

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NAPOLEON.

NAPOLEON

 

BY

T. P. O'CONNOR,

AUTHOR OF "SOME OLD LOVE STORIES."

 

LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL, Ld.
1896.

 

F. M. EVANS AND CO., LIMITED, PRINTERS,

CRYSTAL PALACE, S.E.

 

PREFACE.

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I have thought of various methods for presenting these Essays in a collected form. The first and most natural suggestion was that I should, after a careful comparison of their conflicting points of view, and an assortment of their statements, present to the reader a final estimate and a finished picture. I found it impossible to adopt this course. Napoleon had so many sides; was not only so contradictory in himself, but produced such contradictory impressions on different people, that it lay far beyond my power to make one consistent picture of him, and to decide with anything like confidence between testimony at once so contradictory and so authoritative. The plan to which I have been driven, then, is to present these Essays pretty much as they originally appeared—which means that I have made myself the interpreter, and not the judge, of the witnesses and of the evidence. I am conscious of the disadvantages of such a plan; but, on the other hand, it has its compensations. The reader will have ample material for forming his own judgment: Napoleon, too, will be presented in his vast many-sidedness; and finally, there will probably be in the reader's mind, after hearing all these conflicting voices, a nearer approach to a just and accurate estimate of Napoleon than if he had read any one set of witnesses, or if he had been confronted with a self-confident judgment on the final merits of the evidence. No human character is mathematical in its lines; and historical characters especially are much less consistent, either in their goodness or their badness, than their admirers and their foes represent. The final picture of Napoleon which these Essays will leave in the minds of the reader will, I expect, be somewhat blurred, inconsistent—perhaps even chaotic. The picture, perhaps, will be for all this the nearer to reality.

CONTENTS.

 

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CHAPTER I.
		PAGE
TAINE'S PORTRAIT		1
I.	Napoleon an Italian	1
II.	His Italian temperament	3
III.	In déshabille	6
IV.	His Italian loquacity	8
V.	And his sensibility	9
VI.	His moments of cowardice	11
VII.	Napoleon's family	14
VIII.	Napoleon's beginnings	17
IX.	His power of command	20
X.	An early portrait	22
XI.	His power of work	24
XII.	The power of taking pains	26
XIII.	His mastery of detail	28
XIV.	His grasp of character	32
XV.	What his memory held	35
XVI.	His imaginativeness	38
XVII.	Dreams of a new religion	40
XVIII.	His Court	43
XIX.	His rudeness	47
XX.	His aggressiveness	49
XXI.	His treatment of his Ministers	50
XXII.	The dependence of the Marshals	52
XXIII.	His hatred of independence	54
XXIV.	His estimate of humanity	57
XXV.	His judgments on himself	60
XXVI.	The causes of his fall	62
XXVII.	The instability of his rule	64
XXVIII.	His obstinate egotism	66
CHAPTER II.
THE ESTIMATE OF A WORSHIPPER		70
I.	Méneval	70
II.	A hero worshipper	72
III.	Napoleon appears	73
IV.	Méneval starts work	75
V.	First dictation	77
VI.	A portrait of Napoleon	79
VII.	Napoleon at table	82
VIII.	Life at Malmaison	83
IX.	Josephine's occupations	85
X.	Méneval charmed	87
XI.	The shadow of a crime	88
XII.	Napoleon's power of work	89
XIII.	Napoleon in his study	92
XIV.	Napoleon as a man of letters	93
XV.	Napoleon's orthography	95
XVI.	Lapses	97
XVII.	Was Napoleon superstitious?	98
XVIII.	Curious characteristics	100
XIX.	Daily habits	102
XX.	Napoleon in the field	104
XXI.	The descent begun	107
XXII.	Napoleon's forlorn young heir	109
XXIII.	A doomed man	111
CHAPTER III.
THE ESTIMATE OF AN OFFICIAL		113
I.	The Pasquier dynasty	113
II.	The old régime	114
III.	Paris before the storm	117
IV.	The taking of the Bastille	119
V.	The Girondists	120
VI.	The advance of the storm	121
VII.	A narrow escape	123
VIII.	A terrible plan	125
IX.	The death of the King	125
X.	The Reign of Terror	127
XI.	Another narrow escape	129
XII.	A rescuing angel	132
XIII.	Still the Reign of Terror	134
XIV.	A prison scene	137
XV.	A prison terrorist	139
XVI.	Napoleon	141
XVII.	The return from Egypt	142
XVIII.	Napoleon's moment of fear	144
XIX.	Talleyrand	145
XX.	Talleyrand's treachery	146
XXI.	Humiliation of Germany	148
XXII.	The Talleyrand intrigue	150
XXIII.	Napoleon in a passion	152
XXIV.	A curious Bonaparte trait	154
XXV.	The female Bonapartes	156
CHAPTER IV.
AS NAPOLEON APPEARED TO A RELATIVE		159
I.	About the Bastille	160
II.	The hanging of Foulon	162
III.	"To Paris"	164
IV.	Paris during the massacre	166
V.	How a village was affected by the overturn	168
VI.	A first view of Napoleon	171
VII.	Napoleon and Josephine	172
VIII.	Labours and fatigues	173
IX.	The return from Elba	175
X.	A changed France	177
XI.	Waterloo	179
CHAPTER V.
NAPOLEON, AS HE APPEARED TO A SOLDIER		182
I.	Glimpses of the Terror	184
II.	The Revolution in the school	187
III.	First sight of Napoleon	189
IV.	Napoleon often deceived	195
V.	Napoleon's diplomatic methods	200
VI.	Austerlitz	203
VII.	The path of glory	207
VIII.	Napoleon and his troops	208
IX.	The rise of the house of Rothschild	209
X.	Napoleon and Queen Louise	212
XI.	Napoleon wounded	213
XII.	Napoleon and the Grenadier	215
XIII.	Detection of a spy	217
XIV.	Napoleon as Haroun-al-Raschid	219
XV.	Marbot in a tight place	222
XVI.	The end of the adventure	226
XVII.	After Moscow	229
XVIII.	The blood tax	230
XIX.	The defeat at Leipsic	233
XX.	Napoleon as a friend	234
CHAPTER VI.
NAPOLEON'S CHIEF DETRACTOR		237
I.	Nearly a great man	238
II.	Barras and Robespierre—a contrast	239
III.	The Incorruptible at home	240
IV.	A memorable interview	243
V.	Danton	246
VI.	Robespierre's lust for blood	248
VII.	Fouquier-Tinville	249
VIII.	Two notorious women	254
IX.	The symmetry of Barras's villainy	257
X.	Two portraits—Barras and Robespierre	258
XI.	Napoleon and Josephine	260
XII.	Josephine's tears	264
XIII.	Her story to Napoleon	268
XIV.	Barras's most deadly charge	272
CHAPTER VII.
JOSEPHINE		275
I.	Early years	280
II.	In the Artillery	283
III.	Early poverty	285
IV.	A youthful cynic	288
V.	Flight from Corsica	291
VI.	A first chance	294
VII.	He	298
VIII.	She	299
IX.	Bonaparte knocks	300
X.	The room	301
XI.	Enter Josephine	302
XII.	The fascination begins	303
XIII.	In the toils	305
XIV.	Venial mendacities	307
XV.	Dithyrambic love	310
XVI.	Suspicion	312
XVII.	Frivolous Josephine	313
XVIII.	The first quarrels	317
XIX.	Hippolyte Charles	322
XX.	In Egypt	323
XXI.	Hopeless Josephine	331
XXII.	Napoleon's infidelities	333
XXIII.	Madame Walewska	335
XXIV.	The divorce	338
XXV.	After the divorce	342
CHAPTER VIII.
MARIE LOUISE		344
I.	The Corsican ogre	344
II.	The rearing of Marie Louise	347
III.	Iphigenia	350
IV.	Everlasting peace	351
V.	The bridegroom	354
VI.	As a Western odalisque	355
VII.	The gilded cage	357
VIII.	The Nemesis of nature	359
IX.	The first meeting	361
X.	An escapade	363
XI.	A portrait	366
XII.	Self-distrust	368
XIII.	Napoleon's foibles	369
XIV.	Household changes	371
XV.	Horseplay	373
XVI.	Delicacy	375
XVII.	A son	377
XVIII.	Napoleon as a father	378
XIX.	Marie Louise's treason	379
XX.	Neipperg	380
XXI.	Il Serenissimo	381
CHAPTER IX.
NAPOLEON'S LAST VOYAGES		384
I.	An adventurous enterprise	384
II.	Marseilles after the abdication	387
III.	The fallen Emperor	389
IV.	Departure for Elba	391
V.	Napoleon's powers of observation	393
VI.	Ruler of Elba	394
VII.	The voyage to St. Helena	397
VIII.	A caged lion	398
IX.	Life in St. Helena	401
X.	Napoleon's selfishness	402
CHAPTER X.
A FINAL PICTURE		405
I.	Waterloo	406
II.	The battle	408
III.	Napoleon	410
IV.	Napoleon in retreat	414