with the signal triumphs of the campaign of Wagram, the terms on which Napoleon signed the peace were universally looked upon as remarkable for moderation; and he claimed merit with the emperor of Russia on the score of having spared Austria in deference to his personal intercession.

Buonaparte quitted Vienna on the 16th of October; was congratulated by the public bodies of Paris, on the 14th of November, as "the greatest of heroes, who never achieved victories but for the happiness of the world;" and soon after, by one of the most extraordinary steps of his personal history, furnished abundant explanation of the motives which had guided his diplomacy at Schoenbrunn.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Napoleon divorces Josephine-Marries the Archduchess Maria Louisa -Deposes Louis Buonaparte-Annexes Holland and the whole Coast of Germany to France-Revolution in Sweden-Bernadotte elected Crown Prince of Sweden-Progress of the War in the Peninsula-Relations with Russia-License System of Napoleon-Fruitless Attempts to negotiate with England-Discontents in FranceDismissal of Fouché.

THE treacherous invasion of Spain, and the imprisonment of the pope, were but the first of a series of grand political errors, destined to sap the foundations of this apparently irresistible power. On his return to Paris, Napoleon proudly proclaimed to his senate, that no enemy opposed him throughout the continent of Europe-except only a few fugitive bands of Spanish rebels, and "the English leopard"* in Portugal, whom ere long he would

*The leopards had been changed into lions in the English shield five hundred years ere this! To such small matters could Buonaparte's rancour stoop.

cause to be chased into the sea. In the meantime, the peninsula was too insignificant an object to demand either his own presence, or much of their concern the general welfare of the empire called on them to fix their attention on a subject of a very different nature: namely, the situation of the imperial family. "I and my house," said Napoleon, "will ever be found ready to sacrifice every thing, even our own dearest ties and feelings, to the welfare of the French people."

This was the first public intimation of a measure which had for a considerable period occupied much of Napoleon's thoughts, and which, regarded at the time (almost universally) as the very master-stroke of his policy, proved in the issue no mean element of his ruin.

Josephine had loved Napoleon, and been beloved passionately by him in his youth. She had shared his humbler fortune; by her connexions in Paris, and especially by her skilful conduct during his Egyptian expedition, she had most materially assisted him in the attainment of the sovereign dignity; she had subsequently adorned his court, and gratified his pride by the elegance of her manners, and won to herself the attachment of his people, by her sincere good nature and active benevolence. Her power over her husband was known to be great, and no one ever doubted but that it had uniformly been exerted on the side of mercy. She was considered as the good angel who, more frequently and effectually than any influence besides, interfered to sooth the fierce passions, and temper the violent acts of her lord. Her devotion to him was perfect: she partook his labours as far as he would permit her to do so, submitted to all his caprices, and, with a dark presentiment that his ambition would one day cast her aside, continued to centre the whole of her existence in the contemplation of his glory.

Long ere Napoleon assumed the imperial title, his

hopes of offspring from this union were at an end; and, at least from the hour in which his authority was declared to be hereditary, Josephine must have begun to suspect that, in his case also, the ties of domestic life might be sacrificed to those views of political advantage, which had so often dissolved the marriages of princes. For a moment she seems to have flattered herself that Napoleon would be contented to adopt her son: and Eugene, as we have seen, was indeed announced, at the period of his alliance with the royal family of Wirtemberg, as the successor to the throne of Italy, in case his father-in-law should leave no second son to inherit it. Louis Buonaparte afterward wedded Hortense de Beauharnois, and an infant son, the only pledge of their ill-assorted union, became so much the favourite of Napoleon, that Josephine, as well as others, regarded this boy as the heir of France. But the child died early; and the emperor began to familiarize himself with the idea of dissolving his own marriage.

There is now no doubt that, as early as the conferences of Tilsit, the scheme of such a connexion with the imperial family of Russia was broached; and as little that Alexander treated the proposal with coldness, in consequence of the insuperable aversion with which the empress-mother (a princess whose influence was always commanding) persisted in regarding the character of Napoleon. At Erfurt this matter was once more touched upon; and a second rejection of his personal alliance was probably the chief of not a few incidents at that meeting, which satisfied Napoleon as to the uncertain condition of his relations with the Russian court. Then, however, he had abundant reasons for dissembling his displeasure; and the pretext of difficulties arising from the difference of religion was permitted to pass.

Fouché was one of the first to penetrate the secret

thoughts of Buonaparte; and he, with audacity equal to his cunning, ventured to take on himself the dangerous office of sounding the empress as to this most delicate of all subjects. One evening, before Napoleon left Paris on his unhallowed expedition to Spain, the minister of police drew Josephine aside into a corner of her saloon, and, after a preface of abundant commonplaces, touching the necessities of the empire, and the painful position of the emperor, asked her in plain terms whether she were not capable of sacrificing all private feelings to these? Josephine heard him with at least the appearance of utter surprise, ordered him to quit her presence, and went immediately to demand of Napoleon whether the minister had any authority for this proceeding. The emperor answered in the negative, and with high demonstrations of displeasure: but when Josephine went on to ask the dismissal of Fouché, as the only fit punishment for so great an outrage, he refused to comply. He remained steadfast in spite of the urgencies and lamentations of an insulted woman; and from that hour Josephine must have felt that her fate was fixed.

The apartments of Napoleon and those of his wife, which were immediately over them, at the Tuilleries, had communication by means of a private staircase; and it was the custom of the emperor himself to signify, by a tap on the door of Josephine's sitting-room, his desire to converse with her in his cabinet below. In the days of their cordial union the signal was often made, most commonly in the evening, and it was not unusual for them to remain shut up together in conversation for hours. Soon after his return from Schoenbrunn, the ladies in attendance began to remark that the emperor's knock was heard more frequently than it had ever used to be, that their mistress seemed to listen for it at certain hours with a new and painful anxiety, and

that she did not obey the signal with her accustomed alacrity. One evening Napoleon surprised them by carrying Josephine in the midst of them, pale, apparently lifeless. She was awaking from a long swoon, into which she had fallen on hearing him at last pronounce the decree which terminated their connexion.

This was on the 5th of December. On the 15th the emperor summoned his council, and announced to them, that at the expense of all his personal feelings, he, devoted wholly to the welfare of the state, had resolved to separate himself from his most dear consort. Josephine then appeared among them, and, not without tears, expressed. her acquiescence in the decree. The council, after haranguing the imperial spouses on the nobleness of their mutual sacrifice, accepted and ratified the dissolution of the marriage. The title of empress was to continue with Josephine for life, and a pension of two millions of francs (to which Napoleon afterward added a third million from his privy purse), was allotted to her. She retired from the Tuilleries, residing thenceforth mostly at the villa of Malmaison; and in the course of a few weeks it was signified that Napoleon had demanded the hand of the archduchess Maria Louisa, daughter to the emperor Francis, the same youthful princess who has been mentioned as remaining in Vienna, on account of illness, during the second occupation of that capital. This intelligence explained sufficiently the moderation of the French diplomatists in the treaty of Schoenbrunn.

Having given her hand, at Vienna, to Berthier, who had the honour to represent the person of his master, the young archduchess came into France in March, 1810. Ön the 28th, as her carriage was proceeding towards Soissons, Napoleon rode up to it, in a plain dress, altogether unattended: and, at once breaking through all the etiquettes of such occasions, introduced himself to his bride. She had