BOOK that mental power which in the inheritor of so high a fortune is a pledge of the most brilliant future career (à cette croissance de l'esprit qui chez l'héritier d'une si haute fortune est le gage du plus brillant avenir).'1 1 The MS. of this article, which appeared in the Dix Décembre, was found, in the Emperor's autograph, in the Tuileries after the fall of the Empire. CHAPTER IX. THE FIRST YEAR OF THE EMPIRE. WHEN the marriage rejoicings were fairly over, and the Senate and the Legislative Body had given their fête to the Imperial couple, the Emperor set resolutely to the labours of government. He was by nature a worker as well as a thinker. He never wearied of giving finishing touches and final revisions to the State papers which he put forth. Madame Cornu used to say that he delighted in the correction of proofs. This proceeded from his anxiety to think every subject thoroughly out, and be sure that he had approached and judged it from every point. He had watched the progress and effects of the Great Exhibition of 1851, and had seen that it had given a wholesome stimulus to the peaceful relations of civilised communities. After calculating well the probable effects of a similar exhibition in Paris, he issued a decree on March 8 summoning the agricultural, industrial, and art world to an Universal Exhibition, to be opened in the Champs Élysées on May 1, 1855. This was a fresh pledge of the peaceful intentions of the Imperial Government, and was a striking answer, by anticipation, to the deputations from London which waited upon the Emperor a few days later one bearing an address signed by 4,000 London citizens, in which a hope was expressed that the alliance between England and France might be maintained, and the peace of the world thereby secured; and the other asking the Imperial patronage for a society just formed CHAP. BOOK to carry out his old plan for the junction of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans via Nicaragua. The Emperor answered the London merchants: 2 I am touched by this manifestation. It fortifies me in the faith with which the good sense of the English nation has always inspired me. During my long stay in England I admired the liberty she enjoyed through the perfection of her institutions. There was a moment, however, last year, when I feared that public opinion in regard to the real condition of France and her sentiments towards Great Britain had been led astray; but the good faith of a great people cannot be long deceived, and the step you have taken towards me is a striking proof of it. Since I have been in power, my efforts have been constantly directed to the development of the prosperity of France. I understand her interests: they do not differ from those of all civilised nations. Like you, I wish for peace, and, in order to secure it, I also desire to draw closer the bonds between the two countries.' A further pledge of the cordial good feeling which was springing up between the English and French Governments throughout 1853-while the aspect of affairs was darkening in the East-was the transfer of the will of Napoleon I. from Doctors' Commons to the French judicial authorities. This was a return courtesy for the homage which the Emperor had paid to the memory of the Duke of Wellington on the occasion of the great captain's funeral in the previous November. Count Walewski, French ambassador in London, applied to the Prince President to know whether he should attend the State obsequies. The Prince replied: 'Certainly that he wished to forget the past; that he had 1 Sir Charles Fox was at the head of this deputation. 2 March 28, 1853. IX. always reason to be grateful for the friendly terms in CHAP. which the late Duke had spoken of him; and that he desired to continue on the best terms with England.'1 While these amenities were fostering an entente cordiale between the English and French nations, French industry, gaining confidence with each fresh pledge of peace, prospered apace. The decree which declared the prolongation of the Rue de Rivoli to be a useful public improvement, set on foot in earnest that mighty series of works in the capital which was destined to be an immortal monument to the memory of the sovereign, beyond the reach even of such paltry and immoral enemies as the ediles who have had sway in Paris since 1870. With the return of public confidence, and the resumption of work in every part of the Empire, speculation became rife; and the Bourse was thronged with men impatient to use the golden opportunity. A prodigious number of enterprises were floated. Men grew suddenly opulent. A new society sprang up. The nouveaux riches thronged the Bois, pressed around the new throne, and mingled with the notabilities of the State. It was a time of hope, a time of enjoyment. The country had awakened to peace and prosperity under the strong hand of a prince who was essentially of his time, and beyond compare the most capable reigning sovereign the world had seen for many days. In the excitement strange, fantastic 1 Speaking of the Duke of Wellington's funeral, Lord Derby exclaimed in the House of Lords: 'Honour to the friendly visitors— especially to France, the great and friendly nation, that testified by their representative their respect and veneration for his memory! They regarded him as a foe worthy of their steel.' Mr. Theodore Martin remarks that every first-class State in Europe except one sent its re- BOOK IX. bubbles were blown, and they burst later with warning sounds. But these extravagances of prosperity were not peculiar to the Second Empire; albeit the foes of the Bonapartes have laboured to present them to the contemplation of mankind as the peculiar product of a Napoleonic dynasty. We have seen similar extravagances followed by a general collapse in our own and other countries. In 1853, however, the Second Empire was in the bright and golden heyday of its youth, and the fascinating influence of the first lady in the land was beginning to be felt in the moulding of a brilliant polite society about the throne. This influence was first made apparent to the outer world by old scandals, anecdotes, and mots, re-turned and re-dyed, which began to float about the capital to the disadvantage of the Court. Even in 1853 were laid the false foundations of the cowardly lampoons of Rochefort of 1869-70. Two months after the foundation of the Empire the Moniteur' editor was busy answering the voice of calumny. While a commission was regulating the order of precedence at Court; while chamberlains were pondering the propriety of kneebreeches; while the Court was striving to put some curb upon the crowds of wearers of foreign orders and the nobility of doubtful title, the wicked tongues of Parisa formidable artillery-wagged apace, and managed, by sheer repetition and perseverance in malevolence, to fasten a series of scandals and ridiculous stories in the public mind. The bitter bread thus cast upon the waters was to be found after many days. The session of the Senate and Legislative Body was opened at the beginning of March, the Empress making her first appearance at a State ceremonial after her marriage, having the Princess Mathilde on her right and the Countess de Montijo on her left; the Emperor |