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Page 11
About this time I had the pleasure of again seeing the son of the
reigning Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, whose arrival in the Hanse Towns
was speedily followed by that of his sister, Princess Frederica Charlotte
of Mecklenburg, married to the Prince Royal of Denmark, Christian
Frederick. In November the Princess arrived at Altana from Copenhagen,
the reports circulated respecting her having compelled her husband to
separate from her. The history of this Princess, who, though perhaps
blamable, was nevertheless much pitied, was the general subject of
conversation in the north of Germany at the time I was at Hamburg. The
King of Denmark, grieved at the publicity of the separation, wrote a
letter on the subject to the Duke of Mecklenburg. In this letter, which
I had an opportunity of seeing, the King expressed his regret at not
having been able to prevent the scandal; for, on his return from a
journey to Kiel, the affair had become so notorious that all attempts at
reconciliation were vain. In the meantime it was settled that the
Princess was to remain at Altona until something should be decided
respecting her future condition.
It was Baron Plessen, the Duke of Mecklenburg's Minister of State, who
favoured me with a sight of the King of Denmark's letters. M. Plessen
told me, likewise, at the time that the Duke had formed the irrevocable
determination of not receiving his daughter. A few days after her
arrival the Princess visited Madame de Bourrienne. She invited us to her
parties, which were very brilliant, and several times did us the honour
of being present at ours. But; unfortunately, the extravagance of her
conduct, which was very unsuitable to her situation, soon became the
subject of general animadversion.
I mentioned at the close of the last chapter how the promptitude of M. de
Champagny brought about the conclusion of the treaty known by the name of
the Treaty of Schoenbrunn. Under this the ancient edifice of the German
Empire was overthrown, and Francis II. of Germany became Francis I.,
Emperor of Austria. He, however, could not say, like his namesake of
France, 'Tout est perdu fors l'honneur'; for honour was somewhat
committed, even had nothing else been lost. But the sacrifices Austria
was compelled, to make were great. The territories ceded to France were
immediately united into a new general government, under the collective
denomination of the Illyrian Provinces. Napoleon thus became master of
both sides of the Adriatic, by virtue of his twofold title of Emperor of
France and King of Italy. Austria, whose external commerce thus received
a check, had no longer any direct communication with the sea. The loss
of Fiume, Trieste, and the sea-coast appeared so vast a sacrifice that it
was impossible to look forward to the duration of a peace so dearly
purchased.
The affair of Staps, perhaps, made Napoleon anxious to hurry away from
Schoenbrunn, for he set off before he had ratified the preliminaries of
the peace, announcing that he would ratify them at Munich. He proceeded
in great haste to Nymphenburg, where he was expected on a visit to the
Court of Bavaria. He next visited the King of Wurtemberg, whom he
pronounced to be the cleverest sovereign in Europe, and at the end of
October he arrived at Fontainebleau. From thence he proceeded on
horseback to Paris, and he rode so rapidly that only a single chasseur of
his escort could keep up with him, and, attended by this one guard, he
entered the court of the Tuileries. While Napoleon was at Fontainebleau,
before his return to Paris, Josephine for the first time heard the
divorce mentioned; the idea had occurred to the Emperor's mind while he
was at Schoenbrunn. It was also while at Fontainebleau that Napoleon
appointed M. de Montalivet to be Minister of the Interior. The letters
which we received from Paris at this period brought intelligence of the
brilliant state of the capital during the winter of 1809, and especially
of the splendour of the Imperial Court, where the Emperor's levees were
attended by the Kings of Saxony, Bavaria, and Wurtemberg, all eager to
evince their gratitude to the hero who had raised them to the sovereign
rank.
I was the first person in Hamburg who received intelligence of Napoleon's
projected marriage with the Archduchess Maria Louisa. The news was
brought to me from Vienna by two estafettes. It is impossible to
describe the effect produced by the anticipation of this event throughout
the north of Germany.
--["Napoleon often reflected on the best mode of making this
communication to the Empress; still he was reluctant to speak to
her. He was apprehensive of the consequences of her susceptibility
of feeling; his heart was never proof against the shedding of tears.
Ho thought, however, that a favourable opportunity offered for
breaking the subject previously to his quitting Fontainebleau. He
hinted at it in a few words which be had addressed to the Empress,
but he did not explain himself until the arrival of the viceroy,
whom he had ordered to join him. He was the first person who spoke
openly to his mother and obtained her consent for that bitter
sacrifice. He acted on the occasion like a kind son and a man
grateful to his benefactor and devoted to his service, by sparing
him the necessity of unpleasant explanations towards a partner whose
removal was a sacrifice as painful to him as it was affecting: The
Emperor, having arranged whatever related to the future condition of
the Empress, upon whom he made a liberal settlement, urged the
moment of the dissolution of the marriage, no doubt because he felt
grieved at the condition of the Empress herself, who dined every day
and passed her evenings in the presence of persons who were
witnessing her descent from the throne. There existed between him
and the Empress Josephine no other bond than a civil act, according
to the custom which prevailed at the time of this marriage. Now the
law had foreseen the dissolution of such marriage oontracts. A
particular day having therefore been fixed upon, the Emperor brought
together into his apartments those persons whose ministry was
required in this case; amongst others, the Arch-Chancellor and M.
Regnault de St. Jean d'Angely. The Emperor then declared in a loud
voice his intention of annulling the marriage he had contracted with
Josephine, who was present; the Empress also made the same
declaration, which was interrupted by her repeated sobs. The Prince
Arch-Chancellor having caused the article of the law to be read, he
applied it to the cam before him, and declared the marriage to be
dissolved." (Memoirs of ad Due de Rovigo).]--
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