Part 12 (1/2)
[Ill.u.s.tration: BOOK-PLATE OF THE MARQUIS DE PASTORET.]
The emperor did not possess a book-plate, but books with the imperial arms stamped on their bindings occasionally occur in French sales. More rare, and consequently more sought after, are the volumes which are stamped either with his monogram, or with the elegant little device of the Empress Eugenie.
Severely simple as is the monogram of Napoleon III., it is ingenious, and not without a certain air of grandeur, whilst the badge of the empress, though still preserving an imperial character, is more graceful and ornamental, as was appropriate to its owner, who was considered one of the most beautiful women of her time.
[Ill.u.s.tration: CIPHER ON BINDINGS OF NAPOLEON III.]
These two stamps were princ.i.p.ally used on the bindings of books which were either presented or dedicated to the emperor and empress, and the volumes on which they are found certainly belonged to their private library.
A characteristic example of the formal heraldic book-plate in vogue during the Second Empire is that of Amedee David, Marquis de Pastoret, a politician and litterateur, who was born in 1791, and died on May 19, 1857. His war cry, ”France! France!” recalls the fact, little to his credit, that he was one of the first to applaud the _Coup d'Etat_ of Napoleon III. and to profit by it. (See p. 144.)
[Ill.u.s.tration: CIPHER ON BINDINGS OF THE EMPRESS EUGeNIE.]
He was the son of M. Pastoret, a senator and member of the Inst.i.tute of France, created a Count of the Empire by the first Napoleon, with a grant of arms thus described in the _Armorial General de l'Empire Francais_: ”D'or a la bande de gueules chargee d'un berger paissant un mouton d'argent.”
This Count of the First Empire became a Peer of France under the Restoration, and figures as a brilliant instance of a successful turncoat in the _Dictionnaire des Girouettes_.
[Ill.u.s.tration: BOOK-PLATE OF LE COMTE DE GRANCEY.]
On page 143 is the modern armorial of the Comte Lanjuinais, probably that of the son of the first Comte Lanjuinais, who started in politics as a member of the National Convention, swore fidelity to the Republic and death to the King. This did not prevent him from accepting the t.i.tle of Count of the Empire from Napoleon, who also named him a knight commander in the Legion d'Honneur. On the return of Louis XVIII. he was named a Peer of France, but he again espoused the cause of Napoleon on his escape from Elba, whilst on the downfall of the Empire for the second time he obtained another appointment by the grace of the king.
His name and fame are immortalized in the ”Dictionary of Turncoats.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: BOOK-PLATE OF THE DUC DE MOUCHY.]
The Comte de Beugnot was a Councillor of State, and Officer of the Legion d'Honneur under Napoleon I., and he also served under Louis XVIII. The Vicomte, his son, on his modern book-plate (see p. 142) carries quarterly first and fourth, the Beugnot arms, ”argent, au chevron d'or, accompagne de trois grappes de raisin de gueules.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: BOOK-PLATE OF MONSIEUR BERRYER.]
Monsieur Pierre Antoine Berryer was the most famous advocate at the French bar during the Empire, his defence of the Count Montalembert in 1858 created some sensation at the time. He was elected a member of the Academie Francaise in 1855, and of the Corps Legislatif in 1863.
His book-plate is distinctly in the Louis XVI. style, but this is not so incongruous as it appears at first sight, for M. Berryer was born in 1790, and was first elected a deputy in 1830 when France was still under the Bourbons.
On page 148 is a reproduction of the plate of the Duc de Mouchy, another supporter of the Third Empire, bearing the Cross of the Legion of Honour. He and the d.u.c.h.ess for some time resided in Paris in a house which belonged to the empress, but after the downfall of the Empire, this house was bought by the late Baron Hirsch, who also bought Beauregard, near St. Cloud, which had formerly belonged to Mrs. Howard, a mistress of Napoleon.
[Ill.u.s.tration: BOOK-PLATE OF GENERAL DE LANCEY.]
What a curious comic opera court it was, this of the Second Empire, with the emperor's life-long friend Persigny at the head of it, and he the son of a pastrycook.
Persigny married the daughter of Marshal Ney, a rich, vulgar, violent woman. When Persigny was appointed Amba.s.sador to the Court of St.
James, he unfortunately brought his wife with him. At a _bal masque_, attended by the Queen and Prince Albert, the wife of Persigny suddenly slapped a lady in the face because she had copied her costume; consequently ”urgent private affairs” required the immediate return to Paris of Mons. de Persigny. The emperor, to console him, shortly afterwards created him a duke.
Then there were De Maupas, the Count Walewski (an illegitimate son of the first Napoleon), the Baron Haussmann, Prefet de la Seine, who rebuilt Paris, and enriched all his friends, De Lesseps, and crowds of political adventurers, feather-bed soldiers, and financial schemers, who thrived in this hot-bed of corruption, and ama.s.sed fabulous fortunes at the expense of France.
The festivities came to an end none too soon for the nation, but the bill was a terrible one to pay.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
CHAPTER IX.