Reminiscences of a Literary Life
CHAP. XIX
QUEEN HORTENSE
QUEEN HORTENSE: A MOTHER’S PREDICTION
In 1846, old Mr. B. being at Constance, made
acquaintance with Hortense, ex-Queen of Holland, wife
of Louis Bonaparte, and daughter of Josephine Beauharnais, first wife of Napoleon I. The lady talked a great deal about her son,
Louis Napoleon, now Emperor of the French.
“The world,” said she, “does not know my son. He is silent
and retiring, more like an Englishman than a Frenchman; but he thinks—he is always thinking. I know him to possess extraordinary abilities,
and a perseverance à toute épreuve. His past
failures go for nothing. If he live, he will yet be Emperor of the French. I am sure of
it.” At that time no prediction could seem wilder than this. Old
Mr. B. did not live quite long enough to witness its fulfilment;
but he lived to see Louis Napoleon President of the French Republic,
and that that Republic must very soon end in an Imperial despotism.
For a very long time, and down to the Revolution of 1848, and his recall to
France, a very mean opinion was certainly entertained in London society of Louis Napoleon; but even then there were some who spoke very
highly of his abilities. Among these were Lord Brougham
and Count D’Orsay. I do not know that either
predicted, years before the ![]()
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event, that he would be Emperor, but they
both thought that his talents would carry him on, and that his career would be a very
extraordinary one.
Henry Peter Brougham, first baron Brougham and Vaux (1778-1868)
Educated at Edinburgh University, he was a founder of the
Edinburgh
Review in which he chastised Byron's
Hours of Idleness; he
defended Queen Caroline in her trial for adultery (1820), established the London University
(1828), and was appointed lord chancellor (1830).
Count Alfred Guillaume Gabriel D'Orsay (1801-1852)
The son of Albert, Count D'Orsay, of one of Napoleon's generals; he was a celebrated
dandy and artist whose attachment to the Countess of Blessington aroused scandal.
Hortense de Beauharnais, queen of Holland (1783-1837)
The daughter of Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais and Joséphine Tascher de la Pagerie,
afterwards the empress Josephine; in 1802 she married Louis Bonaparte.
Empress Joséphine (1763-1814)
Consort of Napoleon, whom she married in 1796 after her first husband was guillotined;
she was divorced in 1809.
Emperor Napoleon I (1769-1821)
Military leader, First Consul (1799), and Emperor of the French (1804), after his
abdication he was exiled to Elba (1814); after his defeat at Waterloo he was exiled to St.
Helena (1815).
Emperor Louis Napoleon (1808-1873)
Son of Louis Bonaparte, king of Holland; he was emperor of France (1852-70).
