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THIS MONTH'S ARTICLE
Napoleon's English Lessons, by Peter Hicks
In addition to the two languages he spoke from a young age (French and Italian), it appears that Napoleon set about also learning English. The details come from Count Emmanuel de Las Cases's Mémorial of the fallen emperor's stay on St Helena. Napoleon first expressed an interest during the two-month voyage of banishment from Europe in 1815 onboard Northumberland. The Count gave him his first two lessons when the vessel stood off Funchal, Madeira, 23-25 August, 1815. (2) However, since most of the ship's officers spoke French, the experiment was to be interrupted until the beginning of the following year when the ‘court' was finally settled on the island of St. Helena at Longwood House.
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200 YEARS AGO
30 Germinal, An XIII (20 April, 1805), birth of the painter Franz-Xaver Winterhalter. See our presentation of one of his most famous paintings: The Empress Eugénie surrounded by her ladies in waiting.
26 Germinal, An XIII (16 April, 1805), Napoleon left Lyons where he had been staying since the 10th of the month, on his journey towards his coronation in italy. After 2 days spent in Chambéry, he reached Modane on 18 in the evening.
21 Germinal, An XIII (11 April, 1805), Britain signed a treaty with Russia with the aim of restoring the balance of power in Europe - Austria acceded to the treaty on 9 August, Sweden on 3 October - thus creating the Third Coalition.
In the face of the perceived 'strategic straitjacket' around Britain (C. D. Hill, 1992) from 1804 on, British negociators pursued with vigour the possibility of partnership with Russia (initially between Warren and Novosiltsev in London in late 1804, and in early 1805 between Lord Granville Leveson Gower and Czatoryski/Alexander in Russia). Alexander had been falling away from Napoleon, notably as a result of the duc d'Enghien affair. Britain offered Russia financial support to the tune of £5 million (Austria was later to demand 6), whilst Russia demanded the cession of the island of Malta - part of Russia's continued policy to seek ports which did not freeze in the winter. Indeed, it is a sign of Britain's desperate desire for the coalition that it was willing to hand over the island. Russia, through its minister of polish origin, Czartoryski, also demanded that British troops take part in any projected military operations, whether in Greece or Sicily - they suspected that this was another attempt by Britain to get someone else to do their fighting. However, Russian doubts as to the wisdom of the treaty were dispelled by Napoleon's own actions, namely, his coronation as king of Italy (May), his annexation of Liguria (June) and finally disagreements regarding the future of the Russian-controlled Ionian islands.
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150 YEARS AGO
From 16 to 21 April, Napoleon III went on an official visit to London. Queen Victoria returned the compliment coming to Paris in the August of the same year, to visit the Universal Exhibition.
After landing at Dover, Napoleon and Eugenie went by that modern invention, the train, to Windsor. They were cheered by crowds as they crossed London - people noted with pleasure how the new husband pointed out to his young bride the house in King Street (near St James') where he had lived in 1847. At Windsor they went to a ball and were present at a review. In London they had their lunch at the Guildhall, heard Beethoven's opera Fidelio at Her Majesty's theatre and visited the Crystal Palace. The London times printed an extra verse for the National Anthem to be sung in the Emperor's honour. The Emperor was invested with the Order of the Garter. After their meeting, Victoria wrote of Napoleon (in a long memorandum of 2 May, 1855): "He is evidently possessed of indomitable courage, unflinching firmness of purpose, self-reliance, perseverance and great secrecy; to this should be added a great reliance on what he calls his Star, and a belief in omens and incidents as connected with his future destiny, which is almost romantic - and at the same time he is endowed with wonderful self-control, great calmness, even gentleness, and with a power of fascination, the effect of which upon all those who become more intimately acquainted with him is sensibly felt. ... How far he is actuated by a strong moral sense of right and wrong is difficult to say ... My impression is that...he has been guided by the belief that he is fulfilling a destiny which God has imposed upon him...for it is impossible to know him and not to see that there is much that is truly amiable, kind and honest in his character... Everything he says or expresses is the result of deep reflection and of settled purpose, and not merely des phrase de politesse (en français dans le texte) and therefore I would rely on his behaving honestly and faithfully towards us." Comparing Napoleon with her old friend Louis-Philippe, she noted: "The poor King was thoroughly French in character, possessing all the liveliness and talkativeness of that people, whereas the Emperor is as unlike a Frenchman as possible, being much more German than French in character.'
Clearly Victoria and Napoleon had stuck up a relationship. Disraeli described their parting in the following words: "There was immense embracing at the departure and many tears. When the carriage door was at length closed, and all seemed over, the Emperor re-opened it himself, jumped out, pressed Victoria to his heart and kissed her on each cheek, with streaming eyes...'.
Crystal Palace © Victorian Station
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Jean-Baptiste Isabey died on 18 April, 1855. The portrait painter of the great and the good of Europe, Isabey was born son of a merchant in Nancy in 1767. He studied painting in Nancy with two local Lorraine artists: Girardet (architecture and decoration) and Claudot (landscape). At the age of 19, in 1786, he went up to Paris, with a letter of recommendation addressed to Dumont, the Lorraine artist and 'Premier peintre' to the Queen. He made his living painting the covers for snuff boxes and the ornamentation for buttons on formal clothing, responding to the demand of the times. Introduced at court in Versailles he became of pupil of David's in 1788.
For more details visit his biography on the site.
Admiral Hamelin was appointed French Navy Minister (Ministre de la Marine), 19 April,1855.
Ferdinand Alphonse Hamelin (1796-1864) began his career in the navy as a cabin boy as the age of ten. He toko part in France's only naval victory of the First Empire, the Battle of Grand-Port, 1810, and then was stationed in the Caribbean, at Madagascar, and in the Mediterranean fighting piracy on the Greek coast. He commanded the French naval station in the Pacific Ocean from 1844 to 1848. Member of the Admiralty Council (Conseil de l'Amirauté), he was to become Maritime Prefect (Préfet maritime) for Toulon in 1849. He was mentioned in dispatches for his action during the Crimean War, where he commanded the bombardment of Odessa (April 1854) and the attack of the Sebastopol forts (Oct. 1854). Promoted to Admiral in 1854, and Senator and Minister in 1855, he played s significant role in Napoleon III's ambitious naval policy, particularly with respect to the construction of the first 'ironsides' battleships.
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, week!
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
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THIS WEEK
Date for your diary
Napoleonic Salon 4-6 November, at the Grand Palais in Lille
What's on
- Conference: Joint Napoleonic Alliance/Napoleonic Society of America Conference, 2005, USA
- Concert: Beethoven, Napoleon and Wellington, Finland
- Re-enactment/Commemoration: Tolentino 815, Tolentino, Italy
- Re-enactment/Commemoration: Caldiero 1805, Caldiero, Italy
- Conference/Guided tour: Portsmouth Dockyard in the Age of Nelson, Portsmouth, UK
- For Napoleonic and Nelsonian 2005 bicentenaries, watch our 2005 bicentenaries page
- Exhibition: The Treasures of the Fondation Napoléon, Paris, France
The monthly titles
- This month's book: Nelson – The New Letters, edited by Colin White
- This month's painting: The Empress Eugénie surrounded by her ladies in waiting, by Franz-Xaver Winterhalter
- This month's article: Napoleon's English Lessons, by Peter Hicks
- In the Collectors Corner, 'Nécessaire' belonging to the Duchesse d'Otrante
Got a problem with a link in the letter? Try the homepage http://www.napoleon.org
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