The record-union., 1897-08-08
LIGHT ON NAPOLEON.
SOME SPICY LETTERS HITLER
TO UNPUBLISHED.
Orders and Instructions of No Un-
certain Tenor to Relatives
and Others.


tributions to our knowledge of Napo-
leon has just been made in Paris. The
publisher Pion has brought out two
volumes, containing 400 of his letters
which have hitherto been scrupulously
hidden from the light. When Napoleon
III. in 1869 ordered the publication of
| the correspondence of his illustrious
uncle he gave explicit orders that ev-
erything should be suppressed which
might in any way reflect upon the char
acter of the latter or upon any mem
berS of the Bonaparte family. AS Prince
Napoleon (Napoleon's first cousin and
father of Prince Victor) was Chairman
of the committee, these orders We're
faithfully carried out.
The suppressed letters were not de-
stroyed, however. They We're carefully
filed away among the archives of the
Tuileries. Recently they We're discov-
cred by NJ. Leon Lecesre. The spiciest
and most characteristic have been Sc
lected for publication.
They have to do for the most part
with the Emperors plans for circum-
venting his enemies, whether Chouans,
royalists, emigrants, suspects, bishops,
priests or journalists. There are also
a. number of documents (and these the
most interesting of alb in which he
deals with Princes of his own family
who We're showing signs of having
views of their own.
Here is a sharp rap across the knuck-
les of brother Jerome, the King of
| Westphalia. III December, 1907, that
monarch had seen fit to punish Gen
eral Lagrange, and wrote to inform his
| imperial brother of what he had done.
Napoleon's answer ran as follows:
APROPOS OF LAGRANGE.
Paris, Jan. t. 1908
II have received your letter of De-
cember 10Th relating to General Lee
grange. 1 disapprove of your conduct.
| General Lagrange is not one of your
subjects; he is not in any way RESPONSE
BILE to you for any of his administrative
acts. He served me in Egypt; he made
several campaigns under me in Italy;
he has rendered me such services that
it belonged to me only to decide what
should be done What pleasure can
you have in dishonoring the military
uniform? After all, it was this uniform
which conquered a kingdon-fOr you
and for me the throne Whereon I sit.
1 see little maturity in your conduct,
and this pains me much Nevertheless,
it is necessary to instruct you that you
have no jurisdiction over the French
men whom I send you. Your sole duty
is to report to me what they do. l
reserve to myself the right of taking
| such a course toward them as may
seem to me most in accord with my
interests and my experience. If this
conduct does not meet with your ap-
| proval send me back the Frenchmen
that you have and govern with Ger
mans
A still severer lesson was impaired to
his majesty Of Westphalia year later.
In July, 1909, Jerome, after being out
witted by the Austrian General Kien-
mayer, boasted of his strategy in a
pompous order Of the day Napoleon,
stung to fury, wrote as follows:
LAUGHING STOCK OF EUROPE.
"Schoenbrun, July II, 1909.
Il have seen your order of the day,
which makes you the laughing stock
of Austria, Germany and France. Have
you no friends about you to tell you
a few plain truths? You are King and
brother to the Emperor. These are ri
|
be a soldier and again a soldier, and
still again a soldier. One must have no
Minister, no Corps Diplomatique, no
State. One must encamp with the van
guard, be day and night on horseback,
march along in the van to pick up
news. or else remain in ones harem.
you make war like satrap. Is it
from me, good God, you have learnt
that? From me, who with an army
Of 100000 men, keep at the head of
my slirmishers? People are provoked
| with you. Kienmayer, with 12O00 men,
has laughed at you and your ridiculous
pretensions, has slipped away from you
and has fallen upon Junot. You have q
lot of pretensions, some little mind, a
few good qualities, but these are mar
red by faulty, an extreme presumption
and no knowledge Of the fitness of
things. Leave off being ridiculous, send
the Diplomatic Corps back to Cassel
have no luggage. Wage war like a
young soldier wishing to earn glory
and reputation, and try to deserve the
rank you have reached and the esteem
of France and Europe, who are watch
| ing you. And, by God, have sense
enough to write and speak in a seemly
! manner"
LOUIS NAPOLEON.
! Louis Napoleon, the King of Holland,
was another thorn in the side of his
| imperial and imperious brother. Two
letters may be selected as synoptic of
the whole The first, which tells it's
own story, runs as follows
| Bayonne, May g. 1908.
Il read in the Paris papers that you
are naming princes. l beg you to stop
instantly. Kings have no right to name
princes; that right is inherent in the
imperial dignity. You may, when you
institute a nobility. make counts, bar
ons, marquises or dukes, though l think
| all these will be useless dignities in
| Holland, unless the titles existed from
| of old but you cannot create prince.
You will Aisobliga me extremely if you
do this, and you must feel that, for all
sorts of reasons l have the right to
exact your obedience. My intuitions
are not made to be turned into ridi-
cule. / myself have never created a
prince without giving him princi-
pality. The Prince of Corvo has an
independent principality; the Prince of
Neuchatel and the Prince of Bene-
vento have independent principalities;
| Cambaceres and Lebrun are princes as
being great dignitaries of an empire,
but the great dignitaries of a simple
royal crown are not princes.
I'm Italy, whose population is thrice
as large as that of Holland, I have
named no princesi | have only named
great dignitaries who take rank only
as simple dignitaries. If you persist in
your idea, will publicly disavow these
monstrous innovations. Eth, What has