From Henry VIII To Lola Montez Page 3

  The great emperor was also quite receptive to feminine charms, but he did not allow sentimental feelings to affect his actions. It was said of him “his smile never rose above his eyes.”

  Outwardly, Napoleon appeared to care for the women in his life and he was very extravagant in his affections. However, to Napoleon, women were just creatures of the moment. As for Mme. de Stael, it is said that she bored him by her assumption of wisdom, which Napoleon did not care for. He preferred that a woman should be womanly, and not the sort sit and talk with him about the theory of government.

  Napoleon was also interested in married women only because of the children they might bear to grow up as recruits for his armies. At the public balls given at the Tuileries in Paris, he would walk about the gorgeous drawing-rooms, and when a lady was presented to him he would snap out, sharply:

  “How many children have you?”

  If the woman in question said that she had none he would turn upon her sharply and say:

  “Then go home and have some!”

  Napoleon was only influenced by three women in his life. Because she helped secure him his earliest chance for advancement, Josephine was number one on this list. She met him through Barras, with whom she was said to be intimate. Josephine captivated Napoleon from the start. After Josephine and Napoleon were married, her dowry was the command of the Italian army. She was his first love, and Napoleon was shocked and heartbroken to learn that she had betrayed him. And yet he would have forgiven her had she borne an heir to the imperial throne. It was her failure to do so that led Napoleon to divorce Josephine and marry Marie Louise of Austria. There were times later when he expressed his regret for that decision and complained that:

  “I have had no luck since I gave up Josephine!”

  Marie Louise was important to Napoleon for a short period of time and this was mainly because she gave birth to his son, the little King of Rome. However, she soon left her husband in his misfortune and became the mistress of Count Neipperg. She also let their son die in a land far from France.

  The third woman who proved to be a great influence his life, is said to have almost equaled Josephine in her importance to Napoleon.

  Napoleon passed through the little town of Bronia, in Poland, on New Year’s Day in the year of 1807. Believing that he could save them from the Russia’s oppression, thousands of people crowded to meet him as he rode through the ancient capital of Warsaw.

  Napoleon used this sentiment to win thousands of gallant soldiers for his armies, who believed that fighting for Napoleon meant they were fighting for the independence of their native land.

  From the thickest portion of the crowd came a sweet voice:

  “Please let me pass! Let me see him, if only for a moment!”

  The people drew backward, and a beautiful girl with dark blue eyes and long hair was facing the emperor.

  She cried:

  “Thrice welcome to Poland! We can do or say nothing to express our joy in the country which you will surely deliver from its tyrant.”

  The emperor bowed and handed her a great bouquet of roses.

  “Take it,” said he, “as a proof of my admiration. I trust that I may have the pleasure of meeting you at Warsaw and of hearing your thanks from those beautiful lips.”

  The trumpets issued jarring rings and the horsemen closed up beside the royal carriage, and it rolled away amid the boisterous shouting of the people.

  This girl was Marie Walewska.

  Marie was born on 7 December 1786 in Kiernozia, Poland. Her father was Count Mathieu and was a landowner and mayor of Gostyń, while her mother, Eva Zaborowski, was the only child of a wealthy family.

  At the young age of fifteen, the wealthy landowner Count Walewski began courting her. He was four times older than her, but her age did not matter to him when he saw her dark blue eyes and her long golden hair. She accepted his proposal, but as she was still a child, she was far more interested in her country than in her role as a wife. Her sense of patriotism was this reason that the young Countess had visited Bronia.

  She met Napoleon when she was only eighteen years old. According to her own words, she spoke very briefly with Napoleon, but the meeting was unsatisfying.

  However, Napoleon was not able to easily forget the young woman. He remembered her extraordinary beauty and when he arrived in Warsaw, he asked a few knowledgeable citizens about the beautiful stranger. A few hours later, Prince Poniatowski, accompanied by other nobles, called upon her at her home.

  “I am directed, madam, by order of the Emperor of France, to bid you to be present at a ball that is to be given in his honor tomorrow evening.”

  She was very startled and asked why should Napoleon seek her out and do her such an honor.

  “That, madam, is his imperial majesty’s affair. I merely obey his instructions and ask your presence at the ball. Perhaps Heaven has marked you out to be the means of saving our unhappy country.”

  Though Marie was satisfied with the answer and though she was very fascinated, she refused the request. However, after the nobles left, even more nobles entered in groups and begged her to humor Napoleon. Her husband even joined in their pleas and commanded her to go. At last she was compelled to go see the emperor.

  Dressed in white satin with a wreath of foliage in her hair, she was welcomed in the ballroom by hundreds of people whom she had never seen before, but these people were of the highest aristocrats of Poland. Poniatowski came to her and complimented her, and brought a message that the emperor wanted her to dance with him.

  “I am very sorry, but I really cannot dance. Be kind enough to ask the emperor to excuse me.”

  But at that very moment she could feel that Napoleon himself was standing by her. He whispered:

  “White upon white is a mistake, madam. I had expected a far different reception.”

  She refused to meet his eyes upon his statement. Napoleon stood there and then moved on. She returned home with a heavy heart. The next morning, while she was tossing and turning at the previous night’s events, a maid brought her a note. It ran as follows:

  I saw none but you, I admired none but you; I desire only you. Answer at once, and calm the impatient ardor of — N.

  The note angered her.

  “There is no answer at all,” she said. She felt dishonored at the thought that Napoleon simply wanted her as a mistress and nothing more and she immediately burst into tears.

  The next morning, she awoke to a second note from Napoleon. Refusing to open it, she placed it with the first letter and commanded that both letters be returned to the emperor.

  She refused to tell her husband of the events that had transpired and she had no one to whom she could confide. But eventually, her husband insisted that she should see them.

  “Why are you insulting the greatest men and the noblest women of Poland?” he demanded. “More than that, there are some of the most distinguished Frenchmen sitting at your doorstep, as it were. There is Duroc, grand marshal of France, and in refusing to see him you are insulting the great emperor on whom depends everything that our country longs for. Napoleon has invited you to a state dinner and you have given him no answer whatever. I order you to rise at once and receive these ladies and gentlemen who have done you so much honor!”

  She was surprised to find a crowd of her countrymen and countrywomen in her drawing-room. She was accused of being disloyal to Poland’s cause by refusing to see Napoleon.

  One of the most bizarre letters Maria received was from the noblest man in Poland. A portion of it ran as follows:

  Did Esther, think you, give herself to Ahasuerus out of the fulness of her love for him? So great was the terror with which he inspired her that she fainted at the sight of him. We may therefore conclude that affection had but little to do with her resolve. She sacrificed her own inclinations to the salvation of her country, and that salvation it was her glory to achieve. May we be enabled to say the same of you, to your glory and our own happiness!

&
nbsp; M. Frederic Masson writes:

  “Every force was now brought into play against her. Her country, her friends, her religion, the Old and the New Testaments, all urged her to yield; they all combined for the ruin of a simple and inexperienced girl of eighteen who had no parents, whose husband even thrust her into temptation, and whose friends thought that her downfall would be her glory.”

  Maria finally agreed to attend the dinner. She was happy when Napoleon acted cold towards her, and the only greeting he gave her when they met was as follows:

  “I heard that Mme. Walewska was indisposed. I trust that she has recovered.”

  As soon as she realized that she was wrong about Napoleon’s intentions, she regretted her earlier response to him.

  During the dinner, she let her eyes wander to Napoleon’s in appeal. He, the subtlest of men, knew that he had won. The party broke up early, but Marie was asked to stay. When she was alone, General Duroc placed a letter from Napoleon in her lap.

  There are times when all splendors become oppressive, as I feel but too deeply at the present moment. How can I satisfy the desires of a heart that yearns to cast itself at your feet, when its impulses are checked at every point by considerations of the highest moment? Oh, if you would, you alone might overcome the obstacles that keep us apart. MY FRIEND DUROC WILL MAKE ALL EASY FOR YOU. Oh, come, come! Your every wish shall be gratified! Your country will be dearer to me when you take pity on my poor heart. N.

  Maria decided to meet the emperor on her own. She vowed to implore with him to save her country, despite the fact that she did not return his passionate feelings.

  The emperor was wise enough to refrain from using violence. He spent a lot of time attempting to convince her of his love for her. He finally professed that he would make Poland a strong and splendid kingdom again for her sake.

  In the early morning, there came a knock at the door.

  “Already?” asked Napoleon. “Well, my plaintive dove, go home and rest. You must not fear the eagle. In time you will come to love him, and in all things you shall command him.”

  The next morning, Marie was surprised to receive a cluster of violets, a letter, and several morocco cases that contained necklaces of the most beautiful diamonds. Throwing the jewels across the room, Marie ordered the gifts be returned to the emperor immediately.

  That night, the nobles gave the emperor another dinner and Marie decided to attend without the jewels that she had returned.

  Once again, Marie decided to wait until the guests had left to meet Napoleon alone. But his mood was quite different from that which he had shown before.

  “I scarcely expected to see you again. Why did you refuse my diamonds and my flowers? Why did you avoid my eyes at dinner? Your coldness is an insult which I shall not brook. I will have you know that I mean to conquer you. You SHALL — yes, I repeat it, you SHALL love me! I have restored the name of your country. It owes its very existence to me. See this watch which I am holding in my hand. Just as I dash it to fragments before you, so will I shatter Poland if you drive me to desperation by rejecting my heart and refusing me your own.”

  As he spoke he threw the watch against the wall and Marie fainted. When she resumed consciousness, Napoleon was tenderly wiping away her tears with words of remorse.

  Napoleon had finally conquered Marie and she gave herself up to him, thinking that her love of country was more important than her own honor.

  In her memoirs, Maria argued that she forced herself to get involved with Napoleon for patriotic reasons:

  “The sacrifice was complete. It was all about harvesting fruit now, achieving this one single equivalence [convincing Napoleon to support Polish independence movement], which could excuse my debased position. This was the thought that possessed me. Ruling over my will it did not allow me to fall under the weight of my bad consciousness and sadness.”

  The people of Poland considered Marie a heroine; one who would make Napoleon love Poland return her to its greatness. Napoleon idolized and honored Marie in every way, but he never restored Poland, despite his promises.

  “I love your country, and I am willing to aid in the attempt to uphold its rights, but my first duty is to France. I cannot shed French blood in a foreign cause.”

  But Marie learned to love him for his own sake. For some years she spent ong hours with him and accompanied him to Paris. She was the mother of Napoleon’s only son who lived to manhood.

  Napoleon was pleased that Marie was different from the other women in his life; unlike the others, Marie was quite loyal to the emperor and did not have any of their greed. Even when he was exiled to Elba, she visited him to comfort him. She was his counselor and friend and he had a lot of love for her.

  In 1816, Maria married Philippe Antoine d’Ornano, count d’Ornano. They resided in Liege, because d’Ornano did not want to return to Paris due to his allegiance to Napoleon. In 1817, Maria gave birth to a son, Rudolph Augustus, and she died in Paris shortly afterwards due to a prolonged kidney illness. Prior to her death, she finished her memoirs and addressed them to her husband. Her body was exhumed from Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris and moved to her family crypt in Kiernozia upon request from her family.

  It is said that when she died, while the dethroned emperor was a prisoner at St. Helena, the word “Napoleon” was the last upon her lips.

  * * *

  4

  Karl Marx & Jenny von Westphalen

  Karl Marx was an individual whose intellectual achievements were bigger than his individuality and his private life. His teachings made his presence in the Continental monarchies a source of danger and he was driven from country to country because of this danger. Kings and emperors teamed against him. However, his teachings gradually began to influence the rest of the world and thousands of people all over the world have been affected by his belief that the state should control and manage everything for the good of all.

  Marx was born on May 5, 1818, in Trier to a middle-class family, The town of Trier appears to be like any other sleepy little town, but when you delve deeper into its past, you will find that Trier has not always been like any other small town. It was one of the chosen residences of the Emperors of the West, after Rome began to be governed by Gauls and Spaniards.

  Marx was ethnically Jewish. His maternal grandfather was a Dutch rabbi and his paternal ancestors had provided Trier's rabbis since 1723. First in his family to receive a secular education, his father became a lawyer and his family was relatively wealthy, owning a number of Moselle vineyards. Third cousin once removed of German Romantic poet Heinrich Heine, Marx was also born to a German Jewish family in the Rhineland, with whom he became a frequent correspondent as an adult.

  Little is known of Marx’s childhood. As t third of nine children, he became the eldest son when his brother Moritz tragically died in 1819. Young Marx and his siblings were baptized into the Lutheran Church in August 1824; their mother was baptized in the same church in November of 1825. Marx did not receive any of his gifts from his mother, who was a very strict and conservative Jewess. She cared about her children and her home and hated any talk that hinted of radical ideas or a modification in the social order. Even though she became a Christian, the word meant little to her. In her opinion, it was enough that she believed in God and some of her more skeptical friends teased her for her beliefs. She replied with the only quip that has ever been attributed to her.

  As Mr. Spargo said:

  “It was the irony of life that the son, who kindled a mighty hope in the hearts of unnumbered thousands of his fellow human beings, a hope that is today inspiring millions of those who speak his name with reverence and love, should be able to do that only by destroying his mother’s hope and happiness in her son, and that every step he took should fill her heart with a great agony.”

  Marx’s father privately educated him until the year 1830, at which point he entered Trier High School, whose headmaster, Hugo Wyttenbach, was a friend of his father.

  As a youth,
anyone who met Marx immediately found him attractive. He was tall, agile, and graceful and his skin was so dark that he was called “der neger” — “the negro.” But he had honest eyes, a nose that indicated strength and a mouth that conveyed kindness in its expression.

  Marx’s family was on pleasant terms with the Prussian nobleman, the Baron Ludwig von Westphalen, who was of Scottish origin on his mother’s side, being connected with the family of Argyll. The baron treated Karl as if the boy were his own.

  Born on 12 February 1814, Von Westphalen’s daughter, Johanna Bertha Julie Jenny von Westphalen, also known as Jenny, grew to be friends with Sophie Marx. She was four years older than Karl, but the two grew up together. He was a high-spirited boy and she was a romantic girl.

  Jenny’s father was a former widower with four previous children, who served as “Regierungsrat” in Salzwedel in Trier. Her paternal grandfather had been effective “chief of staff” to Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick during the Seven Years’ War. Her paternal grandmother, Jeanie Wishart, was a Scottish noble, while her mother’s family were the Dukes of Argyll, one of Scotland’s most powerful aristocratic families. Her mother, Amalia Julia Carolina von Westphalen lived from 1780 to 1856. Her brother, Ferdinand Otto Wilhelm Henning von Westphalen, was the conservative Interior Minister of Prussia, from 1850 till 1858. Although he was one of the leading conservative forces in 19th century Prussia, Ferdinand remained on friendly terms with Karl and Jenny. According to Marx, Jenny was the most beautiful girl in the town of Trier.