Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. XXVII, August 1852, Vol. VVarious
History
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. XXVII, August 1852, Vol. V
Various
American literature -- Periodicals; Civilization -- Periodicals; Culture -- Periodicals
We entered the house, and walked from room to room through all its
apartments. Here was the library of Napoleon, for he loved books.
Christina has converted it into a billiard-room, for she loves play.
Here was the little boudoir where Napoleon and Josephine met in
their hours of sacred confidence, and the tapestry and the window
curtains, in their simplicity, remain as arranged by Josephine's own
hands. Here is the chamber in which Josephine died, and the very bed
upon which she breathed her last. The afternoon sun was shining
brilliantly in through the windows, which we had thrown open, as it
shone forty years ago upon the wasted form and pallid cheek of the
dying Josephine. The forest, so secluded and beautiful, waved
brightly in the sun and in the breeze then as now; the birds then
filled the air with the same plaintive melody. The scene of nature
and of art--house, lawn, shrubbery, grove, cascade, grotto--remains
unchanged; but the billows of revolution and death have rolled over
the world-renowned inmates of Malmaison, and they are all swept
away.
An old-serving man, eighty years of age, conducted us through the
silent and deserted apartments. The affection with which he spoke of
Napoleon and of Josephine amounted almost to adoration. He was in
their service when the Emperor and Empress, arm-in-arm, sauntered
through these apartments and these shady walks. There must have been
some most extraordinary fascination in Napoleon, by which he bound
to him so tenaciously all those who were brought near his person.
His history in that respect is without a parallel. No mortal man,
before or since, has been so enthusiastically loved. The column in
the Place Vendome is still hung with garlands of flowers by the hand
of affection. It is hardly too much to say, that the spirit of
Napoleon, emerging from his monumental tomb under the dome of the
Invalids, still reigns in France. Louis Napoleon is nothing in
himself. His power is but the reflected power of the Emperor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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