Tom Burke Of Ours, Volume I
Page 25
CHAPTER XXII. THE TUILERIES IN 1803
The life of the cadet differed little from that of the schoolboy. Thesame routine of study, the same daily round of occupation and duty,were his. Until drafted to the particular corps to which he might beappointed, he only could absent himself from the college by specialleave; and the most rigid of all military discipline prevailed duringthe brief interval which was to fit him for the arduous life of asoldier. The evenings, however, were at our disposal; and what apleasure it was, the fatigue of the day over, to wander forth into thecity,--that brilliant Paris, near which I had lived so long, and yethad seen so little of!
At first the splendor of the shops, the unceasing flow of population,the might and grandeur of the public buildings, attracted all myattention; and when these wore off in novelty, I could still wanderwith delight through the gay gardens of the Tuileries, and watch thesparkling fountains as they splashed in the pale moonlight, and lookupon the happy children who played about them, their merry laughterringing through the water's plash. What a fairy scene it was towatch the groups as they passed and repassed--came and went anddisappeared--amid those dark alleys where the silent footstep did notmar the sounds of happy voices! and then, how have I turned fromthese to throw a wistful glance towards the palace windows, where somehalf-closed curtain from time to time would show the golden sparkle ofa brilliant lustre or the rich frame of a mirror,--mayhap an open sashwould for a moment display some fair form, the outline only seen as sheleaned on the balcony and drank in the balmy air of the mild evening,while the soft swell of music would float from the gorgeous saloon,and falling on my ear, set me a-dreaming of pleasures my life had neverknown!
My utter loneliness pressed deeper on me every day; for while each ofmy companions had friends and relatives, among whom their evenings werepassed, I was friendless and alone. The narrowness of my means--I hadnothing save my pay--prevented my frequenting the theatre, or evenaccepting such invitations as the other cadets pressed upon me; and thusfor hours long have I sat and watched the windows of the palace, weavingto myself stories of that ideal world from which my humble fortunedebarred me.
It had been years since the Tuileries exhibited anything resembling thestate that formerly prevailed in that splendid palace; but at the periodI speak of Bonaparte had just been chosen Consul for life, and alreadythe organization of his household had undergone a most considerablealteration. In the early years of the Consulate a confused assemblage ofaides-de-camp, whose heavy gait and loud speech betokened less the courtthan the camp, were the only attendants on his person; he lived in thecentre pavilion, as if in a tent in the midst of his army. But now heinhabited the splendid suite of rooms to the left of the pavilion,--_del'horloge_, as it is called,--which stretches away towards the river.The whole service of the palace was remodelled; and without woundingthose prejudices that attached to the times of the deposed Monarchyby adopting the titles of chamberlain, or gentlemen of the chamber,he gradually instituted the ceremonial of a Court by preferring to theposts about his person those whose air and manners savored most of thehigher habitudes of society, and whose families were distinguished amongthe noblesse of the kingdom.
Duroc, the chief aide-de-camp of the General, was appointed governorof the palace; and it was said that the Consul himself studied all theancient ceremonial of the old Court, and ordained that every etiquetteof royalty should be resumed with the most unerring accuracy. Thechamberlains were represented by prefects of the palace; and Josephinehad her ladies of honor, like any princess of the blood royal.
The Consul, still imitating the observances of the Bourbons, hadhis _petits levers_ and his grand receptions; and if the new-createdfunctionaries possessed little of the courteous ease and high-bredhabitudes of the old Court, there was in their hard-won honors--most ofthem promoted on the very field of battle--that which better suited theprejudices of the period, and scarcely less became the gilded saloons ofthe Tuileries.
Like all newly-organized societies, the machinery worked ill atfirst. Few if any of them had ever seen a Court; and the proud but yetrespectful obedience which characterized the French gentleman in thepresence of his sovereign was converted into an obsequious and vulgardeference towards Bonaparte, equally opposite to the true type, as itwas foreign to the habits, of the blunt soldier who proffered it.
But what, after all, signified these blemishes? There was beauty: neverin the brighter annals of France had more lovely women filled thosegorgeous saloons. There was genius, heroism: the highest chivalry ofthe great nation could scarce vie with the proud deeds of those groupedaround him,--the mighty one on whom each eye was fixed. And if, as M.Talleyrand remarked, there were those who knew not how to walk onthe waxed floor of a palace, few could tread more finely the field ofbattles, and step with firmer foot the path that led to glory. Yet,with all the First Consul's pride in those whose elevation to rank anddignity was his own work, his predilections leaned daily more and moretowards the high and polished circles of the Faubourg St. Germain. Thecourteous and easy politeness of Talleyrand, the chivalrous and courtlybearing of the Comte de Narbonne, and the graceful elegance of Segur'smanners, formed too striking a contrast with the soldierlike rudenessof the newly-promoted generals, not to make a profound impression onone who could, in the deepest and weightiest concerns of life, take intocalculation the most minute and trivial circumstances.
This disparity, remarkable as it was among the men, was still more so inthe ladies of the Court,--few of those newly elevated having tact enougheither to imitate successfully the polished usages of the old nobility,or resolution sufficient to maintain their original habits withoutblushing at their own want of breeding.
If I have been led somewhat from the current of my own story by thisdigression, it is merely that I may passingly note down some of thefeatures of the period,--one of the most remarkable in the history ofModern Europe, and one which already, to the far-seeing eye of some,betokened the speedy return to those very institutions of Monarchy touproot which cost the best blood of France, and a revolution the mostterrific the world has ever witnessed.
And now, looking back on the great career of that great man, no portionof his history can, perhaps, present anything to compare with thesplendor of the Consulate. A long succession of victories, the spoilsof half Europe, glory to very satiety, had intoxicated the nation.A country flourishing in every element of prosperity; social orderrestored; a high position amid surrounding nations; and everything thatcould gratify national ambition obtained,--France stood at the verypinnacle of her greatness. Even the splendor of those names whorepresented the various states of Europe at her Court seemed to attesther supremacy. The stately and polished Whitworth, conspicuous bythe elegance of his appearance and the perfection of his aristocraticbearing; the Russian Ambassador, Marcoff; the Chevalier Azara, theMinister of Spain, the courtier of Europe; Baron de Cetto, the Envoy ofSaxony, one of the most distinguished, both by manners and ability, mthe whole diplomatic circle, were among those who frequented the FirstConsul's levies, which already, in the splendor of costume and thegorgeous display of uniform, rivalled the most sumptuous days of theMonarchy.
All the long-forgotten ceremonial of a Court was restored. Dinners, mostsplendid in all the array of pomp and grandeur, were given every week;fetes, that vied with the luxurious era of Louis the Fourteenth himself,took place frequently; and Paris became the rendezvous for all Europe,curious to behold the rich trophies of successful wars, and mix in thedelight of a capital where pleasure reigned triumphant.
The theatre presented an array of genius and talent hitherto unequalled.Talma and Mademoiselle Mars were in the very zenith of their fame, andobtained a large share of Bonaparte's favor, whose tastes were eminentlydramatic. In a word, a new era had commenced, and every class and walk,every condition of man, seemed resolved to recompense itself, by thepursuit of pleasure, for the long and dark night of trouble throughwhich it had passed.
While, therefore, the Court of the First Consul partook of suchf
eatures as those, the circle of Josephine possessed attractionstotally different. There, amid her intimate friends, all the charm andfascination of French society held sway. Each evening saw assembledaround her the wittiest and most polished persons of the day,--the gayand spirited talkers who so pre-eminently gave the tone to Parisiansociety: the handsomest women, and the most distinguished of thelitterateurs of the period, found ready access to one whose own powersof pleasing have left an undying impression on some, who even still canrecall those delightful moments.
Such were, in brief, the leading features of the Court then held in theTuileries; and such the germ of that new order of things which was sosoon to burst forth upon astonished Europe under the proud title of TheEmpire.