The "lion couchant" had been suggested as the heraldic device of the
new Empire, but Napoleon scorned it. In all his preparations he
carefully distinguished between the "State," which was of course
France with its natural boundaries, and the "Empire," which was
evidently something more; the resting lion might typify the former,
the soaring eagle was clearly a device for the other, which, like the
realm of Charles the Great, was to know no "natural" obstacles in its
extension.
The most immediate sign of the new order was a changed life at the
Tuileries. The palace was thronged no longer with powerful but
maladroit persons who did not know how to advance, bow, and recede,
and who could not wear their elegant clothes with dignity; nor with
others who, more refined in their training, smiled condescendingly at
the imperfect manners of the former. A thorough court was organized
with careful supervision and rigid etiquette. Soon everybody could
behave with sufficient grace and dignity. Fesch was the Grand Almoner;
Duroc was Grand Marshal of the Palace; Talleyrand, Grand Chamberlain;
Berthier, Master of the Hounds; and Caulaincourt, Master of the Horse.
Many of the returned emigrants filled minor places of imperial
dignity. The perfection of ceremonial was assured by the appointment,
to regulate all etiquette, of Ségur, once minister of Louis XVI to
Russia. Everybody was expected to study the rules and be present at
numerous rehearsals. Mme. Campan, formerly a lady in waiting to Marie
Antoinette, was summoned to lend her assistance.
Finally the now traditional formality of seeking the popular approval
was not forgotten. To be sure, the question put was merely whether the
imperial succession should remain in the Emperor's family. The reply
was a thunderous yes; there being, out of three and a half million
votes all told, only two and a half thousand in the negative. It was a
sign of the times that among the latter were those of all but three of
the Paris lawyers.
CHAPTER XXIX
THE DESCENT INTO ENGLAND[30]
[Footnote 30: References: the memoirs of Barante, Rémusat,
Ségur, Macdonald, Thiébault, Marbot, Bigarré, the works of
Roederer, the Memorial of Norvins, the volumes of Fauriel,
Masson, d'Haussonville, and Welschinger, the Correspondence
of Davout. Also, Fontaine et Percier: Sacre de Napoléon;
Artaud de Montor: Vie et Pontificat du pape Pie VII; Nicolay:
Napoleon at the Boulogne Camp; Wheeler and Broadley: Napoleon
and the Invasion of England. Rose and Broadley: Dumouriez and
the Defence of England; Rose: Napoleonic studies; Desbrière:
Projets et tentatives de débarquement aux Îles Britanniques.]