THE STJXDAT 0!EEG02sIA2v POBODAXD; FEBBrAUT 10, . 1S93
15
NAPOLEON THE GREAT
JJf IXTERESTIXG ACCOUNT OP HIS
EARLY CAMPAIGNS.
"Written Expressly tor tue Sunday
Oresroxxlan iy Montcom-
ery B. GIIl)s.
XXn-EXILE TO ELBA.
The armies of the allies had gradually
pushed forward from. Paris and now near
ly surrounded Fontalnebleau. "When the
last of the marshals had quitted Napo
leon's presence for the night, after im
periously demanding: bts resignation, he
revolted at the humiliations he had to
undergo, and, disgusted at their cowardice,
rxclalmed: These men have neither
hearts nor entrails. I am conquered less
ly fortune than by the selfishness and in
jrratitude of my brothers-In-arms!" The
same night in a fit of despair he swallowed
a strong poison contained In a bag that
he had worn around his neck since 1E0S. ;
The palace was aroused by his cries, and
Dr. Yvan was hastily summoned by his
valet. An antidote was administered and
liis life was saved.
The emperor remained long enough at
Fontalnebleau to hear of the restoration
of the Bourbon monarchy, and on the 20th
of April, the commissioners of the allied
aovereigns having arrived, he once more
called his loyal officers about him and sig
nified that they were summoned to re
ceive his last adieu. A few of the mar
shals and others who had sworn fealty to
the new monarch were also present.
"Louis" (the king), Napoleon said, "has
talents and means; he is old and infirm,
and v. ill not, I think, choose to give a
bad name to his reign. If he is wise he
will occupy my bed, and only change the
sheets. He must treat the army well, and
take care not to look back on the past,
or his time will be brief. For you. gentle
men, I am no longer to be with you you
have another government and it will be
come you to attach yourselves to It
frankly, and serve It faithfully as you
have served mc."
Napoleon now hurried through the
group that surrounded him stepped into
2iis carriage, and instantly drove off. The
carriage took the road to Lyons. Four
commissioners, one each from the great
allied powers Austria, Russia, Prussia
and England accompanied him on his
journey. He was attended by the cver
falthful Bertrand, grand-master of the
palace, and some other attached friends
and servants. "While fourteen carriages
"were conveying him and his immediate
suite toward Elba, 700 infantry and about
150 cavalry of the Imperial Guard all
picked men and volunteers marched in
the same direction to take on them the
military duties of the exiled court.
During the early part of his progress
the exile was received respectfully by the
civil functionaries of the different towns
and departments and many tokens of sym
pathy on the part of the people were
expressed. As he increased the distance
"between himself and his capital, and was
arrled into the provinces wherein his
name had never been extremely popular,
ihe was once or twice subjected to pergonal
insult and danger of violence when the
horses were changing.
At length Napoleon disguised himself,
and sometimes appearing in an Austrian
uniform, at others riding on before the
carriages in the garb of a courier, reached
in safety the place of embarkation. A
French vessel had been sent around from
Toulon to Cannes for the purpose of con
veying him to Elba, but there happened
to be an English frigate also in the roads,
and he preferred sailing under any flag
rather than the Bourbon. The voyage to
Elba was uneventful.
The emperor of the little island came in
view of his new dominions on the after
,, ncKutof4Mprt;rKU,,,and went ashore in
disguise the same evening, in order to
ascertain for himself whether the feelings
of the Elbans were favorable or other
wise. He found the people considered his
residence as likely to increase in every
way the importance and prosperity of
their Island, and returned on board the
fahlp. At noon the following day he made
his public entry into the town of Porto
Ferrajo, amid many popular demonstra
tions of welcome and respect.
The Island, mountainous and rocky, for
the most part barren, and of a circumfer
ence not exceeding CO miles, was his. He
forthwith devoted to It the same anxious
care and industry that had sufficed for
the whole afTairs of France and a large
portion of Europe besides. In less than
three weeks he had thoroughly acquainted
himself with its history, resources and
the character of Its people, had explored
every corner of the Island, and "projected
more Improvements of all sorts," accord
ing to one historian, "than would have
occupied a lifetime to complete." He even
extended his "empire" by sending some
soldiers to take possession of a small ad
jacent islet, hitherto unoccpuled for fear
of corsairs. He established residences In
four different corners of Elba, and was
continually in motion from one to the
other of them. All the etiquette of the
Tuilerles was adhered to as far as pos
sible, and Napoleon's E00 or 900 veterans
were reviewed as frequently and formally
as If they had been the army of Austerlltz
or Friodland. and over which hung the flag
of Elba, which the emperor hud adopted,
and which was that of the Island white,
striped with purple and studded with
fctars. Some time later he adopted a new
flag as king of Elba silver, with a red
band, the latter having bees of gold on it.
The emperor wore the uniform of the
colonel of the Horse Chasseurs of the
quard. He had substituted on his chapeau
the red and white cockade of the island
for the trl-colored cockade. His presence
gave a new stimulus to the trade and in
dustry of the island, and the port of Fer
rajo was crowded with vessels from the
opposite coast of Italy.
Napoleon received no money whatever
from the Bourbon court, his pension hav
ing been entirely forgotten by his suc
ceysors at the capital. His complaints on
this head were not even, considered, and
the exchequer of the exile being rapidly
depleted by his generous expenditures, he
soon became in need of many necessaries.
These new troubles embittered the spirit
of the fallen chief, and but for the course
of events at Paris, of which he was kept
fully advised, he would have become over
powered by a listlessness which at one
time affected him seriously.
Louis XVIII had made his public entry
into Paris on the Cist cf April, He was
advanced in years, gross and Infirm in
person, yet ho was, perhaps, less unpop
ular than the rest of his family; but it
was his fatal misfortune to continue to
increas-iday by day the bitterness of those
who had never been sincerely his friends.
The- king had been called to the throne
by the French senate In a. decree which
provided that he should preserve the pol
itical system "which Napoleon had vio
lated." and which, declared the legislative
constitution as composed of a hereditary
sovereign and two houses of assembly,
to be fixed and unchangeable. Louis,
however, thought he proceeded to France
on this invitation, did not hesitate to date
lus first act in the 20th year of his reign.
The senete saw In such assumptions the
traces, of those old doctrines of the "di
vine right of kings" of which Louis was
a shlningexample. and although they con
sented to his call, they asked, themselves
why, if all their privileges were but the
gifts -of the king, they might not. on any
tempting opportunity, be withdrawn by
the same authority. They, whose titles
had all been won since the death of Louis
XIV. were startled when they found that
according to the royal doctrine there had
been no legitimate government all that
time in France.
The first tumult of the restoration be
ing over, and the troops of the allies
withdrawn, things began to so shape
themselves that there were many ele
ments of discontent among all classes, one
of the most powerful of which was in the
army itself.
The Empress Marie was at Blols at the
time Napoleon signed his abdication, and
Savary has described her grief as very
great, but her own reverses -were sufficient
ly severe to account for this without any
strong feeling for Napoleon. By direction
of Napoleon she applied for protection to
the Emperor of Austria, and went to
Ramboulllet to meet him, where be ex
plained to her that she was to be separ
ated from her husband "for a time." The
Emperor Alexander visited her also, very
much against her -will, and a few days
afterward she departed for Vienna. Alex
ander also visited Josephine and found her
distress at Napoleon's abdication very
great. She appears never to have recov
ered from the shock, for she survived it
only about six weeks. She died on May
29. 1814, at Malm&Ison, and was buried in
the church of JtueL
Napoleon's mother and sister Pauline, as
"well as a number of ancient and attached
servants of his civil government and of
his army, visited him during the summer
of 18H. Xot the least of these was Paul
ine, who made repeated voyages to Italy
and returned again as mysteriously. In
the circles of Ferrajo new and busy faces
now appeared and disappeared. No one
knew whence they had come or whither
they went, and an air of bustle and mys
tery pervaded the atmosphere of the
place.
It was evident that something was pre
paring, but the commissioners who
watched over Napoleon were unable to
fathom it. They repeatedly remarked on
the absurdity of the allied powers In with
holding his pension, which they had sol
emnly pledged should be paid every quar
ter, thereby tempting him to release him
self, but their reports were left unnoticed
by those in who hands they fell. This
obliged the empero:to sell every luxury
and comfort arounA him to raise the
means of paying hiV current expenses.
Then it was that he began to forecast the
future and to contemplate a bold stroke,
not only for liberty, but to regain his lost
throne before he could be transported to
St. Helena, which, he had been Informed
privately, was being discussed at Vienna.
Ere autumn closed Napoleon granted
furloughs on various pretexts to about 200
of his guard, and these at once scattered
themselves over France, singing his
praises. It now began to be whispered
that the exile would return to the soil of
France in the spring of the coming year.
Among the soldiery and elsewhere he was
toasted under the sobriquet of "Corporal
Violet," a flower or a ribbon of its color,
being the symbol of rebellion and worn
openly in the sight of the unsuspecting
Bourbons. It was by this secret symbol
that Napoleon's friends knew each other.
Rings of a violet color with the device,
"It will reappear in the spring," became
fashionable; women wore violet-colored
silks, and the men displayed watch strings
of the same color, while the mutual ques
tion when these friends met was gener
ally, "Are you fond of the violet?" to
which Ihe answer of a confederate was,
"Ah! well."
The representatives of all the European
princes had met in Vienna to settle finally
a. number of questions loft undecided at
the termination of the war, including a
division of the "spoils." Talleyrand was
there for France, Wellington for England.
Mettcrnlch for Austria. On the 11th of
March these representatives, who were
then discussing among other things "how
to get rid of the man of Elba," were
thrown Into a panic by the news that
Napoleon Bonaparte had reared his stand
ard once more in France and was march
ing on Paris.
Of the state of affairs in France Na
poleon had been fully advised as well as
of the sessions of the ministers at the
congress of Vienna, who had suggested
that, as the French government would
not honestly pay his pension, he should
be taken to some place of greater saf ley.
and St. Helena was even mentioned at
this time. This determined Napoleon to
act. especially as he was fully convinced
that.hc had a good -chance of being well
received by 20.000,000 or 30.000,000 of peo
ple who were being treated with contempt
by Louis XVIII and his followers.
Eleven hundred soldiers were collected.
of whom 800 belonged to the guard and
300 to the Thirty-fifth light infantry that
Napoleon had found in the island. None
of these men had any idea of the pro
jected enterprise. Colonnl Campbell, who
was watching proceedings in Elba for
the English, had left Ferrajo and gone to
Leghorn. There remained then only the
cruisers, that were easily deceived or
avoided. In order to Tieep his prepara
tions a profound secret. Napoleon, two
days before embarking, laid an embargo
on all the vessels in the harbors of Elba,
and cut off all communication with the
sea. He then ordered his ordnance officer,
Vantlnl, to seize one of the large vessels
lying In the port, and thus, with the In
constant, of 26 cannon, and six other
smaller craft, making In all seven vessels,
he secured the means of embarking his
1100 men and four pieces of field artillery.
He had decided to commence his romantic
enterprise on the 26th of February, 1815.
On this day he allowed his soldiers to
remain at their usual employment until
the middle of the day. They were sud
denly summoned In the afternoon, and
after being lightly fed were assembled
with amis and baggage on the pier, where
they were Informed that they were to go
on board the vessels. The Inhabitants of
the Island regretted the exile's departure,
as they feared its prosperity would go
with him. Napoleon's staff and about
300 men embarked on the Inconstant, the
others being distributed in other vessels
of the flotilla.
The discharge of n single cannon at
about 7 o'clock in the evening was the
signal agreed upon for weighing anchor,
and when the sails were unfurled and the
little fleet st?ered its course, reiterated
cries of "Paris or death!" were heard
from tho exultant troops. The emperor
had said to them: "Grenadiers, we are
going to Frapi:c; we must march to
Paris!"
The emperor having left Elba on the
26th of February, arrived oft Cannes, near
Frejus, on March 1 the very spot he had
touched when he arrived from Egypt,
and from which he had embarked 10
months before. He landed without opposi
tion, and his handful of men, 503 grena
diers of the guard, 200 dragoons and 100
Polish lancer?, these last without horses
and carrying their suddles on their backs,
were reviewed and immediately began
their march on Paris. He bivouacked that
night in a plantation of olives, with all
his men about him.
Early in ths morning they passed
through the town of Qrasse. and halted
on the height beyond it. There the whole
population of the place surrounded them,
some cheering and many others main
taining perfect silence; but none offered
any show of opposition. The peasants
blessed his return; but, on viewing his
little band, looked upon him with pity and
entertained no hope of his ultimate suc
cess. The roads were so bad that the
pieces of connon which they had with
them were abandoned i the course of
the day. but they marched full 20 leagues
ere they halted for the night at Seranon.
On the 5th of March the emperor reached
Gap. where he published his first procla
mations one to the army and another to
the French people.
Between Mure and Vizele, Cambronne,
who commanded Napoleon's advance
guard of 40 grenadiers, met suddenly a
battalion sent forward from Grenoble to
arrest the march. The colonel refused to
parley with Cambronne, and either party
halted until the emperor came up. Na
poleon did not hesitate a moment, but
dismounted and advanced alone; some
paces behind him came about a hundred of
his guard with their arms reversed. There
was silence on both sides until the re
turned xile was within a few yards of the
men. He then halted, threw open his eur
tout, so as to show the star of the Le
gion of Honor, and exclaimed: "If there
be among you a soldier who desires to kill
his generalhis emperor let him do it
now. Here I am!"
The old err of "Vive remoereur!" burst
instantly from every lip. Napoleon threw
himself among them, and, taking a vet-
eran private, covered with scars and mec
als. by his beard, said; "Speak honestly,
old Moustache, could'st thou have the
heart to kill thy emperor?"
The old soldier dropped his ramrod into
his piece to show that it was not loaded,
and answered: "Judge if I could have
done thee much harm all the rest are
the same!'
Napoleon now gave the word, and the
old adherents and the new began the
march together toward Grenoble. Ere they
reached that town. Cciohel Labedoycre, an
officer of noble family, and who had been
promoted by Louis XVIII, appeared on
the road before them at the head of his
regiment, the seventh of the line. These
men and the emperor's little column, on
coming within view of each other, rushed
simultaneously from their ranks and
embraced with mutual shouts of "Live Na
poleon! Live the guard! Live the Sev
enth!" Labtdoyere now produced an eagle,
which he had kept concealed about his
person, and broke open a drum which
was found to be filled with tri-colored
cockades. As these ancient ensigns were
exhibited by the first officer of superior
rank, who voluntarily espoused the side
of the returned exile, renewed enthusiasm
was apparent on all sides.
This act of Labedoyere was most de
cisive, for in spite of all the efforts of
General Marchand, commandant at Gren
oble, the whole of that garrison, when
he approached the walls, shouted, "Vive
1'Empereur!" Though welcoming Napo
leon with their voices and shaking hands
with his followers through the wicket be
low, they would not so far disobey the
governor as to throw open the gates.
Neither could any argument prevail upon
them to open Are on the advancing party,
and in the very teeth of all their batteries
Napoleon calmly planted a howitzer or
two and blew the gates optn. Then, as if
the spell of discipline was at once dis
solved, the garrison broke from their
lines, and, dragging the emperor from his
horse, bore him aloft on their shoulders
toward the principal inn of the place amid
the clamors of enthusiastic and delirious
joy. The inhabitants of Grenoble, being
unable to bring Jiim the keys of the city.
brought him with acclamations the shat
tered gates instead, exclaiming: "For
want of keys of the good city of Grenoble
here are the gates for you!" Next morn
ing reviewed his troops, now amounting
to about 7000, and en the Sth recommenced
his march.
On the 10th of March Napoleon came
within sight of Lyons, and was informed
that Marshal Macdonald had arrived to
take the command, had barricaded the
bridge at Guillotlerre and posted himself
at the head of a large force to dispute the
entrance of the town. Nothing daunted
with this intelligence, tho column moved
on, and at the bridge of Lyons, as at the
gates of Grenoble, all opposition vanished
when the person of the emperor was rec
ognized by the soldiery. Macdonald was
forced to retire, and Napoleon entered
the second city of France In triumph.
Macdonald would have been taken pris
oner by hi3 troops, had not some of them,
mora honorable than the rest, insisted on
his escape being unobstructed. He there
upon returned to Paris, where he once
more hoped to make a stand.
A guard of mounted citizens who had
been formed to attend on the person of
Count d'Artois, the heir of the empire,
and who had accompanied Macdonald,
were the foremost to offer their services
to the emperor after he reached the hotel,
but he rejected their assistance and dis
missed them with contempt. Finding that
one of their number had followed the
prince until his person was out of all dan
ger. Napoleon immediately sent to that
individual the cross of the Legion of
Honor.
Meanwhile, during the week that the em
peror had continued his march Parisward
without opposition, the newspapers of the
capital were silent, and none ventured
to -make i.ny allusion whatever 'to' Ills
successes. There then appeared a royal
decree declaring Napoleon Bonaparte "an
outlaw." and convoking on the instant the
two chambers.
The partisans of Napoleon at Paris were
far more active than the royalists. They
gave out everywhere that, as the procla
mation to the people from Gap had
stated. Napoleon came back thoroughly
cured of that ambition which had armed
Europe against his throne; that he con
sidered his act of abdication void, because
the Bourbons had not accepted the crown
on the terms which it was offered, and
had used their authority in a spirit and
for purposes at variance with the feelings
and the interests of the French people;
that he was come to be no longer the dic
tator of a military despotism, but the first
citizen of a nation which he had resolved
to make the freest of the free; that the
royal government wished to extinguish by
degrees all memories of the revolution;
that he was returning to consecrate once
more the principles of liberty and equal
ity, ever haterul to the eyes of the old
nobility of France, and to secure the pro
prietors of forfeited estates against all
machinations of the dominant faction In
a word, that he was fully sensible of the
extent of his past errors, both of domes
tic administration and of military ambi
tion, and desirous of nothing but the op
portunity of devoting to the true welfare
of peaceful France those unrivaled tal
ents and energies which he had been rash
enough to abuse In former days.
Napoleon remained at Lyons from the
10th to the 13th of March. Here he for
mally resumed the functions of civil gov
ernment, published various decrees, one
of which commanded that justice be ad
ministered everywhere in hjs name after
the 35th; another abolishing the chambers
of peers and the deputies, and summon
ing all the electoral colleges to meet in
Paris to witness the coronation of Marie
Louise and her son, and settle definitely
the constitution of the state; a third, or
dering into banishment all those whose
names had not been erased from the list
of emigrants prior to the abdication of
Fontalnebleau; a fourth, depriving all
strangers and emigrants of their commis
sions in the army; a fifth, abolishing the
order of St. Louis, and bestowing all Its
revenues on the Legion of Honor, and a
sixth, restoring to their authority all mag
istrates who had been displaced by the
Bourbon government.
These publications soon reached Paris,
and caused much alarm among the ad
herents of the king.
Marshal Ney now received orders from
the minister of war to take command of
a large body of troops, whose fidelity was
considered sure, and who were about to
be sent to Lons-le-Saunier to intercept
and arrest the returning exile before he
could make further progress. Ney imme
diately rode to Paris from his retired
country seat, and there, for the first time,
learned of the disembarkation of Napo
leon from Elba. He Is even said to have
declared that he would bring his former
chief "to Paris In a cage, like a wild beast,
in the course of a week. On reaching
Lons-le-Saunler, he received a letter from
Napoleon, reminding him of their former
campaigns, and summoning him to join
his standard as the "bravest of the
brave."
Ney had a secret Interview with a
courier who brought this letter, with one
from Bertrand. Generals Lecourbe and
Bourmont, by whom the marshal was
attended, advised him not to oppose a
torrent which was too powerful for any
resistance he could bring against it.
"While in this state of doubt and Inde
cision, sorely perplexed as to his exact
duty, he received the intelligence that
his vanguard, posted at Bourg. had gone
over to Napoleon, and that the inhabit
ants of Chalons-sur-Saone had seized the
park of artillery. All this confirming what
Ney had just been told by the courier, he
exclaimed: "It is impossible for me to
stop the incoming water of the ocean with
the palm of my hand!" Accordingly, on
tho following morning, he published an
order of the day. declaring that "the
cause of the Bourbons was lost forever,
and that the legitimate dynasty which
the French nation had adopted was about
1 to rascend the throne." This order was
read to the troops, and was received by
them with rapture; some of the officers,
however, remonstrated and left their com
mand. One, before he went away,' broke
hi3 sword in two and threw the pieces at
Neys feet, saying. "It is easier for a
man of honor to break iron than to In
fringe his word."
Ney put his soldiery in motion forth
with and joined the march, of the em
peror on the 17th of March at Auxerre,
being received by Napoleon with open
arms. Ney avowed later that he had
chosen the part of Napoleon long ere he
pledged his oath to Louis, adding that
the greater number of the marshals were
like himself, originally members of the
Elban conspiracy to again place him on
the throne.
In and about the capital there still re
mained troops sufficient In numbers to
overwhelm the advancing column, and
Louis entrusted the command of these
battalions to Marshal McDonald, who
proceeded to establish himself at Melun
with the king's army in the hope of
being supported by bis soldiers in the dis
charge of his commission.
On the 19th Napoleon slept once more
in the chateau of Fontalnebleau, and on
the morning of the 20th he advanced
through the forest alone .and with the full
knowledge of Macdonald's arrangements.
About noon the marshal's troops, who
had been for some time under arms, on an
eminence beyond the wood, perceived
suddenly a single open carriage coming
at full speed toward them from among the
trees. A harfdful of Polish horsemen.
with their lances strrersed, followed the?
equipage. The llttle'flat cocked hat, the
gray surtout,-then the person of Napoleon
was recognized. In an instant the men
burst from their ranks, surrounded him
with the cries of "Vive rEmpereur!" and
trampled their white cockades in the dust.
Macdonald escaped to Paris, but Louis
had not awaited his last stand. He bad
set off from the Tuilerles in the middle of
the preceding night, amid the tears and
lamentations of several courtiers, taking
the road to Lisle. Macdonald soon over
took him and accompanied him to the
frontier of the Netherlands, which he
reached in safety.
Napoleon once more entered Paris on
the evening of the "20th of March. He
came preceded and followed by the sol
diery on horseback, and on whom alone
he had relied. At the Tuilerles he was
received with every possible demonstra
tion of joy. and was almost stifled by the
pressure of those enthusiastic adherents,
who, the moment he stopped in the court
yard of the palace, mounted him on their
shoulders and carried him In trjumph
up the great staircase of the palace. The
emperor, during this dramatic proceeding,
continued to exclaim, "Be steady, my
gopd children; be steady, I entreat you."
A piece of his coat being either1 purposely
or by accident torn off,-was instantly di
vided into hundreds of scraps, Xor the pro
curement of each remnant .of which, by
way of relic, there was as "much strug
gling as if the effort had been made to be
come possessed of so many irigbts of gold.
He found In the apartments which the
king had so lately vacated a brilliant as
semblage or those who had In former
times filled the most prominent places in
his own councils and cqurt.
"Gentlemen." said Napoleon, as he walk
ed around the circle, "jt Is disinterested
people who have brought me back to my
capital. It Is the subalterns; and the sol
diers who have done it "all. ' I owe! every
thing to the people and the army,"
All night long the cannon Qf Marengo
and Austerlitz pealed forth their joyous
sounds, the city was brilliantly illumin
ated, and all except the Bourbons were,
rejoicing at the return of the exile. Na
poleon had now Rrovted that he was not
only emperor of the army, but of the cit
izens, the people, the peasantry and the
masses. With a handful of men he had
marched from one end of the kingdom to.
the other, entered the capital and taken
possession of the throne, and that with
out shedding even one" drop of blood. He
assigned among other -reasons" for leaving
Elba, that in addition to the violation of
the treaty of Fontalnebleau in failing to
pay his pension, that his wife and child
had been seized, detained, and never per
mitted to join him; that the pensions to
his mother and brothers were alike re
fused, and that assassins had been sent
over to Elba for the express purpose of
murdering htm. This last charge has also
been made by Savary with much posi
tiveness. "Last year," said Napoleon, "it
was said that I recalled the Bourbons;
this year they recall me; so we are even!"
The emperor had between the 1st and
the 20th of March fulfilled that strange
prophecy In which he said victory would
march with a charging step, and that the
Imperial eagle would fly, without pause,
from steeple to steeple even to the towers
of Notre Dame even to the dome of the
palace of the Tuileries.
(To be continued.)
"IF HE SHOULD DIE?"
"If he should die?" should die!
I had not thought of that.
Why there would be
Xo baby In the world. To-cry,
Tou say, ana trouble me?
Xo baby In the world that's all I &ay
One. baby qui of it. Bqt hush, I pray.
Blue flowers ond white and red, -
Would bloom? I know, but would I care?
They would bo sweet? Above the dead
Some birds would fly, somewhere?
Only la lonesome leaves that, green or brown.
Would shadow one baby's ETave and waver
down.
Mrs. Sarah Piatt In Windsor Hasazme.
A butterfly, supposed to be thousands of years
old, was found dormant under a rock' in Cali
fornia, aad removed to the Smithsonian Institu
tion. When discovered, lis Vines irere grow
ing hrlveled aad there wetu wrinkles la its an-
ilfiil ISR JSsBiw illl III lli
MwMfm wA vwN HSIS ill
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"TRILBY."
LIFE OF DU IADR1ER.
HOW HE CAME TO "WRITE XOVCLS
LATE IX LIFE.
He Was Educated for a Clieiulst, Be
came au Artist by Personal Choice
and Xovellst by Persuasion.
(Copyright, 1S95, by S. S. McClure, Limited)
Du Maurier's house is" i'n a quiet little
street that leads from the open heath
down to the township of Hampstead, a
street of few houses and of high walls,
with trees everywhere and an air of se
clusion and quiet over all. As one enters
the house one notices on the wall to the
left, just after the threshold is crossed,
the original of one of Du Maurier's draw
ings in Punch, a drawing concerning two
"millionairesses" wltli the text written
beneath the nicture in careful, almost
lithographic penmahship.
"That was where I received my training
in literature," said Du Maurier. "So An
stey pointed out to me the other day when
I told him how surprised I was at the
success of my books, considering that I
1 had never written before. 'Never writ
ten!' he cried out. Why. my dear Du
Maurier, you have been writing all your
life, and the best of writing practice at
that. Those little dialogues of yours
which week after week you have fitted to
your drawings in Punch have prepared,
you admirably. It was precise writing,
and gave you conciseness and repartee
and appositiveness, and the best quali
ties of the writer of Action.' " "And,"
added Du Maurier, "I believe Anstey was
qulto right, now that I come to think of
It."
It was in his study that Du Maurier re
ceived me, a large room on the first floor
with a square bay window overlooking
the quiet .street on the right and a large
window almost reaching to tho ceiling,
and looking In the direction of the heath,
facing the door. It Is under this window,
the light from which was toned down by
brown curtains, that Du Maurier's table
stands, comfortably equipped and tidy.
On a large blotting pad lay a thin copy
book- open, and one could see that the
right page was covered with large round
hand writing, whilst on the left page
there were. In smaller, more precise pen
manship, corrections, emendations, ad
denda. In a frame stood a large photo
graph of Du Maurier, and on the other
side of the inkstand wa3 a pile of thin
copy books, blue and red. "A fortnight's
work on my new novel' said Du Maurier.
A luxurious room it was, with thick
carpets and inviting armchairs, the walls
covered with stamped leather and hung
with many of the masters' drawings In
quiet frames. In one corner a water
color portrait by du Maurier of Canon
Ainger, and from the same brush the
picture of a lady with a violin on the wall
to the left of the decorative fireplace,
from over which, in the place of honor,
another, smaller model of the armless
Venus looks down. To the right is a
grand piano, and elsewhere other furni
ture of noticeable style, and curtains,
screens and ornaments. A beautiful room.
In fact, and within it 13 none of the litter
of the man of lettera or of the painter.
It was here that I first saw du Maurier,
a quiet man of no great stature, who,
at the flrst sight of him, impresses one as
a man who has suffered greatly, haunted
by some evil dream or disturbing appre
hension. Hls'welcome Is gentle and kind
ly, but he does not smile, even when he
is saying a clever and smlle-provokln
r thing.
"My full name is George Louis Pamela
Busson du Maurier, but we were of very
small nobility. My name Pamela was
given to me in souvenir of the great
friendship between my father's sister and
the Duchess de Pamela, who was the
wife of the Portuguese ambassador to
France. Our real family name Is Busson,
the 'du Maurier' comes from the chateau
Le Maurier, built sometime in the 13th
century, and still standing in Anjou or
Maine, but a brewery today. It belongs to
our cousins the Auberys, and in the 17th
century It was the Auberys who wore the
title du Maurier, and an Aubery du Mau
rier who distinguished himself in that
century was Louis of that name, who wa3
French ambassador to Holland, and was
weli liked of the great king. The Au
berys and the Bussons married and Inter
married, and I cannot quite say, without
referring to family papers at present at
my bank when the Bussons assumed the
territorial name of du Maurier, but my
grandfather's name was Robert Mathurin
Busson du Maurier, and his name is al
ways followed In the papers which refer
to him by the title "Gentilhomme Ver
rler." gentleman glassblower. For, under
the revolution, glassblowlng was a mo
nopoly of the "gentllhommes," that Is to
say that no commoner might engage In
this industry, at that time considered an
art.
It may be added that the Busson gene
alogy dates from the 12th century, and
again that du Maurier cares nothing
about descent or noblesse. "One Is never
quite sure.I' he says with the shadow of a
smile, "about one's descent. So maqy ac
cidents occur. I made use of many of the
names which occur In the papers concern
ing my family history in 'Peter Ibbet
son.' "My father was a small rentier, whose
income was derived from from, our glass
works In Anjou. He was born In Eng
land, for his father had fled to England
to escape me gumoune waeu wie revolu
tion broke out, and they returned to
1 France in IS16, My crandmother was a
bourgeoisc Her name was Bruaire. and
she descended from Jean Bart, the ad
mlraL My grandfather was not a rich
man. Indeed, whilst he was in England,
he had mainly to depend on the llberaiity
of tho British government, which allowed
him a pension of 20 a year for each mem
ber of his family. He died in the post of
schoolmaster at Tours.
"My mother was an Englishwoman,
and was married to my falher at the
British embassy In Paris, and I was born
in Paris on March 6, 1SW, in a little house
in the Champs Elyseees. I only lived
in the house of my birth for two years,
for in 1S36 my parents removed to Bel
glum. "We stayed three years in Belgium, and
when was 5 years old I w'ent with my pa
rents to London, where my father took a
house, the house which a year lator was
taken by Charles Dickens, 1 Devonshire
terrace, Marylebone road.
"We only stayed a year in Devonshire
terrace, for my father grew very poor.
He was a man of scientific tastes, and lost
his money in inventions which never came
to anything. So we bad to wander forth
again, and this time went to Boulogne,
and there we lived In a beautiful house at
the top of the Grande Rue. I had sunny
hours there, and was very happy. It is a
part of my life which I shall describe In
one of my books.
"Much of my childhood Is related in
'Peter Ibbetson. My favorite book
was the 'Swiss .Family Robinson.' and
next 'Robinson Crusoe. I used to devour
these books.
"From Boulogne we went to Paris. I
went to school at the age of 13, to the
Pension Froussard in the Avenue du Bold
de Boulogne. I am ashamed to say that
I did not distinguish myself at school.
I shall write my school life in my new
novel, 'The Martian.' At the age of 17
I went up to my 'bachot,' my baccalau
reat degre?, at the Sorbonne, and was
plucked for tny written Latin version.
It is true 'that my nose began tb bleed
during the examination and' that upset
me and, besides, the professor who was
In charge of the room had got an" idea in
to his head that I had smuggled a- 'crib'
In, apd kept watching, me "so carefully
that I got nervous and flurred. My poor
mother was very: vexed with me for my
failure, for we". were' Very poor at that
time and it was important that I should
do well. My father was then m Engiand
and shortly after my discomfiture he
wrote for me to join him there. e had
not informed him of my failure, and I
felt very miserable as I crossed because
I thought that he would be very angry
with me. He met me at the landing at
London Bridge and at the sight of my
utterly woe-begone face, guessed the
truth and burst out into a roar of laugh
ter. I think that this roar of laughter
gave me the greatest pleasure I ever ex
perienced in all my life.
"My father, then, never-reproached me
for my failure in the bachot examination;
indeed never once alluded to it. Hp had
made up his mind that I was intended for
a scienntist and determined to make me
one. So he put mc as a pupil at the Birk
beck chemical laboratory of University
college, where I studied chemistry under
Dr. Williamson. I am afraid that I was
a most unsatisfactory pupil, for I took no
interest at all in the work and spent al
most all my time In drawing caricatures.
I drew all my life, I may say, it was my
favorite occupation and pastime. Dr.
"Williamson thought me a very unsatis
factory student at chemistry, but he w.ts
greatly amused with my caricatures and
we got on very well together.
"My ambition at that time was to go in
for music and singing, but my father ob
jected very strongly to this wish of mine,
and invariably discouraged it. My father,
I must tell you, possessed himself the
sweetset, most beautiful voice that I have
ever heard, and if he had taken up sing
ing as a profession would most certainly
have been the greatest singer of his time,
indeed. In his youth he had studied musl(
for some time at the Paris conservatoire,
buf his family objected to his following
the profession, for they were legitimists
and strong Catholics, and you know in
what contempt the stage was held at the
beginning of the century. It Is a pity, for
there were millions In his throat. We
were all musical in our family, my father.
my sister, the sister who married Clement
Scott, a most gifted pianlste, and then
myself I was at that time crazy about
music and used to practice my voice
wherever and whenever I could, even on
the tops of omnibuses. But my father
always discouraged me. I won him over
by showing him a drawing which I had
produced in Williamson's class room, in
which I was represented bowing grace
fully In acknowledgement of the applause
of an audience whom I had electrified
with my musical talents. Music has al
ways been a great delight to me, and tmtil
recently I could sing well. But I have
spoiled my voice by cigarette smoking.
My poor father, I may add, as I am
speaking of his musical powers, died in
my arms as he was singing one of Count
de Segur's drinking songs. He left this
world with music on his lips.
"My poor father died in 1S56, and at the
age of 22 I returned to Paris and went to
live with my mother in the Rue Paradis-
Poisonnlere. We were very poor, and very
dull and dismal It was. However, It was
not long before I entered upon what was
the best time of my life. That is, when
having decided to follow art as a profes
sion. I entered Gleyre's studio to study
drawing and painting. Those were my
joyous Quartier Latin days, spent in the
charming society of Poynter, Whistler,
Armstrong, Lamont and others. I have
described Gleyre's studio In Trilby. For
Gleyre I had a great admiration and at
that time thought his 'Illusions Perdue' a
veritable masterpiece, though I hardly
think so now. My happy Quartier Latin
life only lasted one year, for In IS37 we
went to Antwerp, and here I worked at
the Antwerp academy under De Keyser
and Van Lerius. And it was on a day In
Van Lerius's studio that the great trag
edy of my life occurred."
The voice of du Maurier, who till then
had been chatting with animation, sud
denly fell and over the face came an in
definable expression of mingled terror and
anger and sorrow.
"I was drawing from a model, when
suddenly the girl's head seemed to me
to dwindle to the size of a walnut. I
clapped my hand over my left eye. Had
I been mistaken? I could see as well as
ever. But when in its turn I covered my
right eye, I learned what had happened.
My left eye had failed roe, it might be al
together lost. It was so sudden a blow
that I was as thunderstruck. Seeing my
dismay. Van Lerius came up and asked
me what might be the matter, and when
I told him he said that it was nothing,
that he had had that himself and so on.
I And tho doctor whom I anxiously con-
sulted that same day, comforted me and
said that the accident was a passing one.
Howevar, my eye grew worse and worse
and the fear of total blindness beset me
constantly."
"That was the most tragic event of my
life. It has poisoned all my existence."
Du Maurier, as though to shake off &
troubling obsession, rose- from his chair
and walked about he room, cigarette in
hand.
"In the spring of 1S59 we heard of a
great specialist, who lived in Dusseldorf.
and we went to see him. He examined,
my eyes, and said that though the left eye
was certainly lost. I had no reason to feao
losing the other, but that I must be very
careful and not drink beer and not eat
cheese and so on. It was comforting to
know that I was not to be blind, but I
have never quite shaken oft the terror of
that apprehension.
"In the following year I felt that the
time had come for me to earn my own
living, and so one day I asked my mother
to give me 10 to enable me to go to Lon
don, and. told har that I should never ask
her for any more money. She did not
want to let me go, and as to never asking"
for money, she begged me not to make
any such resolution. Poor vvoniap, she
would have given me her last penny. Bun
it happened that I never had occasion to
ask her assistance, on the contrary, the
time came when I was able to add to tho
comforts of her existence.
"My first lodging in London was in
Newmanstreet, where I shared rooms with
Whistler. I afterwards moved to rooms
In Earl's terrace, In the house whore
Walter Pater died. I began contributing
to Once a Week and to Punch very soon
after my arrival in London, and shock
ingly bad my drawings was at the time.
My first drawing in Punch appeared In
June, I860, and represented Whistler and
myself going into a photographer's studio.
where one smokes and is disorderly.
"My life was a very prosperous one
from the very outset of my debut in Lon
don. I was married in 1S63, and my wife
and I never knew financial troubles. My
only trouble has been my fear about my
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GEORGE DU JTAUR1ES.
eyes. Apart from that I have been .very
happy."
"Most of the jokes in Punch arc of my
own, but a good many ar sent to me,
which I twist and turn Into form. But
Postlethwalte, Bunthorne, Mrs. Ponsonby
Tomkyns, Sir Gorgeous Midas and the
other characters associated with, my
drawings are all my own creations.
"I have made many Interesting friends
during my life in London, and the lectures
which I have delivered all over England
contains many anecdotes about them. I
never met, Charles Dickens to speak to
him and only saw him once; that was at
Leech's funeral. Thackeray I also only
met once," at the house of Mrs. Sartorls.
Mrs. Sartorls, who was Adelaide Xembal
and Hamilton Aide, who knew of my
immense admiration for Thackeray,
wanted to introduce me to him, but I re
fused. I was so little and he was so
great. But all that evening I remained
as close to him as possible, greedily list
ening to his words.
"Leech was, of course, one of my inti
mates, my master, I may say, for to soma
extent my work was modeled on his. I
spent the autumn of the year which pre
ceded his death with, him at Whitby. Ho
was not very funny, but was kind, ami
able and genial, a delightful man."
Then, going on to speak of hi3 literary
work, du Maurier said: "Nobody more
than myself was surprised at the great
success of my novels. I never expected
anything of the sort. I did not know that
I could write. I had no idea that I had
any experiences worth recording. The cir
cumstances under which I came to write
are curious. I was walking one evening
with Henry James up and down the
HIght street in Bayswater I had made
James acquaintance much in the same
w:ay as I have made yours James said
that he had great difficulty in findingr
plots for his stories. MJlots,' I exclaimed.
'I am full of plots,' and I went on to tell
him the plot of 'Trilby.' 'But you ought
to write that story, cried James. 'I can't
write,' I said. 'I have never written. If
you 'like the plot so much you may toko
It.' But James would not take it; he said
it was too valuable a present, and that I
must write the story myself.
"Well, on reaching home that night I
set to work, and by the next morning I
had written the two first numbers of
'Peter Ibbetson.' It seemed to flow from
my pen. without effort. In a full stream.
But I thought it must be poor stuff, and I
determined to look for an omen to learn
whether any success would attend this
new departure. So I walked out Into the
garden and the very first thing that I
saw was a large wheelbarrow and that
comforted me and reassured me for, a3
you will remember, there is a wheelbar
row in the first chapter of 'Peter Ibbet
son." "Some time later I was dining with Os
good and "he said: 'I hear, du Maurier,
that you are writing stories,' and asked
me to let him see something. So 'Peter
Ibbetson' was sent over to America and
was accepted at once. Then .Trilby "fol
lowed and the 'boom' came, a boom which
surprised me immensely, for I never book
myself au sericux as a novelist. Indeed,
this 'boom rather distresses me when I
reflect that Thackeray never had a
'boom.' And I hold that a 'boom means
nothing as a sign of the literary excel
lence, nothing but money.
Du Maurier. speaks willingly and en
thusiastically about literature. He is an
ardont admirer of Stevenson, and quoted
with gusto the passage in "Kidnaped,"
where the scene between David Balfour
and Cluny is described. "One would have
to look at one's guests," he said, "before
inviting them, if not precisely satisfied
with one's hospitality, to step outside, ana
take their measure. Imagine mc propos
ing such an arrangement to a giant like
Val Prlnsep."
The next day on which he is able to de
vote most time to writing is Thursday.
"C'est mon grand jour." On Wednesdays
he is engaged with a model; a female
comes every Friday.
It is characteristic of the man that he
snould work with suoh renewed appli
cation at his old craft. In spite of the
fact that circumstances have- thrown wide
open to him the gates of a new career.
He reminds one as to physique and In
certain manifestations of a very nervous
temperament of another giant worker,
whose name Is Emlle Zola. But he is al
together original and himself, a strong
and strlklrig individuality, a man alto
gether worthy of respect, a man alto
gether deserving of his past and present
good fortune.
ROBERT H. SHERARD.
A physician reports a case of rutpure of mus
cular Sbers in the thigh of a powerful athletia
man while playing golf. AU sports 'ara danger
ous. as4 some are brutal
i
3
ans