Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1865-11-09
QDgio Stat|esrlrarl.
private Cabinet Of Napoleon III.


. The Paris correspondent of the N. Y.
Times gives the annexed interesting infor-
nation I'M regard to the Private Cabinet Of
the Emperor Napoleon: 4r.f -.
In the Palace of the Tuileries, or in what
ever Imperial residence the Emperor of the
French may be, he is ever accompanied by
what Is termed lie Cabinet de rEmpe-
reur," meaning his Private Secretary or
Chef, Sous Chef, and two attaches OF the
first official. four huisSers or ushers, and, a
copyist. These form the Private Cabinet
of his Majesty, and the Chef or First Sec
retary is looked upon as one of the most
important personages in France. The
well-known Mons. Mocquard filled this post
up to last year, the date of his death. The
duties of the Chef are various and numer-
Gus. He is generally called upon TO pre-
pare all the public speeches made by the
Emperor, to look over and arrange, in ae-
cordance with their importance, the dis
patches. letters and petitions addressed to
his Majesty, while he is to answer them or
give directions to his attaches as to the will
of the sovereign in each case. Persons de-
string audiences of the Emperor receive
their replies from the Chef du Cabinet, and
as he is allowed great latitude in deciding
whether the applicants shall ever reach his
Imperial master, his own importance is
from this very fact vastly increased. Each
morning the Chef receives from his subor-
dinates the documents to be presented to
the Emperor. He selects from the number
| such as are to be at once answered, and
with scratch of his pen dsposes OF pc
tition for pardon, for advancement, relief,
&c. "Non" scrawled over an episue means
that the attache shall make decided refusal.
A curt, peremptory 'nop is to be addressed
to 2 10 MI no nptl-
| ton. ''Desole, n,aiS pas pOssible' (yery sor-
| ry, but it is not possible), is understood by
the attache to mean that polite note of re-
| gret shall be sent in this case. ~
"N0us veTr0ns'' 1--WE shall see) brings
| forth petition. which causes the writer TO
hope-and so on, with different but brief
indications, the Chef conducts the busi-
ness of replying to letters addressed to the
| Cabinet of the Emperor. AS some hun
dreds are received daily, the labor would
be too much, did not the attaches throw In
the waste-basket scores of these epistles
About a third of the number reach the
Chef and some half dozen are read to the
Emperor. The work of answering these Il
not easy by any means. Coming from very
important personages-in' many cases from
royalty, from Cardinals and Bishops
Princes and Dukes, leading politicians, and
some mouchards or spies, the replies have
| to be carefully worded to suit the person
| addressed Great caution has to be observ-
| ed that not only the one may please the
/ party to receive the letter, but also that the
| Emperor may be satisfied with it, and here
| in lies the great difficulty OF the Chef AT
/ times, like other mortals his Majesty is
4 morose, hard to please, and then the labors
of the Chef are oneruus. He has the rela-
tive satisfaction, however, of turning his
pent up discomfort upon the attaches, ano
these in turn attack the ushers. On thest
dark days, the people who come to th'
Cabinet de rEmpereur" by appointment
find it no pleasant place. --'t.;' ~ ~.
At another time they are charmed Will
the polite manner and condescension of thu
white -cravatted, uniformed hitissierS
The Chef not only has letters to answer
but he must sort the dispatches from th'
Ministeries of Foreign Affairs, Navy an(
Finance. Also the reports from the Pre-
feet of Police, and lastly, the printed slip
containing important extracts from the
English, Spanish, German, Austrian Rus
sian, Italian and American journals. Th,
Emperor insists on looking over all these
or. at any rate, the most important, anC
upon this the Chef must decide. He can
not slight this part of his duty. Were HI
found doing so, he would lose the conf
dence of the Emperor. OF course, all thi
requires time, so the Chef comes to hi
"bureau" at in the morning, winter ant
summer; remains till II; breakfasts at tn
Imperial table, and is then at liberty unit
5 i'm the afternoon, when he returns to tn
palace and remains until in the evening
The Sous Chef is more an ornament thar
useful member of the Cabinet. He is gen
orally person of distinction, supposed tt
be necessary because he draws a salary; but
1 i'm reality, he does nothing except in cas-
of the illness of the Chef, when, for tn
first time, he assumes, ostensibly, the posi-
tion, the work being done by the attaches
The Sous Chef, in fact, has sinecure.
The Emperor is disinclined to admit to-
many persons into the secrets of the Cabi
net, so the Chef and attaches are alone al
lowed access to the correspondence. To sc
cure the fidelity of the latter liberal sala
ries and many decorations are bestoweO
upon them, but even they are kept but par
TALLY in the confidence of the Sovereign
The cypher used by his spies, near tn
thrones of Europe, or that used by eminen
political people, who correspond with hi
Majesty, are never revealed to third party
the Emperor and the Chef alone being abb
to make out the real meaning OF such dis
patches. Herein, again, the power and in
tluence of the Chef are augmented. Know
ing the most secret resolve of his master
he is aware OF the ultimate disposal of i'm
portant questions, of prominent men, an
can act according to his future benefit an,
that of his followers and favorites, by whom
he is, of course, ever surrounded. A hin
from the Chef will often enrich those whom
he chooses to give it to, and he, at the sam
time, can fill his own purse-a fact prove
by the immense fortune accumulated in
few years by the late Chef du Cabinet, Jea
Constant Mocquard, whom L mentioned i
the ecommencemento of this article.
In lesser degree the two attaches ar
powerful and influential. They have OF
ders to throw aside such letters and peti
tions as seem to them trivial or absurd
There are many such, and they may, wher
personal interest leads to 1t, or anger an
spite prompt them, set aside letters an
petitions more important. They are allow
ed to open those not marked in such man
ner that none but the Emperor or Che
may break the seal, and accordingly the
are courted and made much of. A prOmis
to further a suit to his Majesty by one Q
the attaches is eagerly sought after, as the
may in reality do much in aid of the peti
toner by giving prominence to his case.
AS said above, the parties forming tn
Cabinet of the Emperor accompany hir
wherever he may be. Couriers, active an
jealous, have charge of the mails for hi
Majesty, and in no instance will he consen
to be without his daily batch of letters AM
papers. Even when on a pleasure trip. o
out shooting, If he is to remain more than
| n 1. saI h,x. hnr r,f