certain members
of the Imperial family had set the example--as certain malcontents of
the Faubourg Saint-Germain chose to say--it is certain that men and
women alike flung themselves into a life of pleasure with an intrepidity
which seemed to forbode the end of the world. But there was at that
time another cause for such license. The infatuation of women for the
military became a frenzy, and was too consonant to the Emperor's views
for him to try to check it. The frequent calls to arms, which gave every
treaty concluded between Napoleon and the rest of Europe the character
of an armistice, left every passion open to a termination as sudden as
the decisions of the Commander-in-chief of all these busbys, pelisses,
and aiguillettes, which so fascinated the fair sex. Hearts were as
nomadic as the regiments. Between the first and fifth bulletins from the
_Grand Armee_ a woman might be in succession mistress, wife, mother, and
widow.

Was it the prospect of early widowhood, the hope of a jointure, or
that of bearing a name promised to history, which made the soldiers so
attractive? Were women drawn to them by the certainty that the secret
of their passions would be buried on the field of battle? or may we find
the reason of this gentle fanaticism in the noble charm that courage has
for a woman? Perhaps all these reasons, which the future historian
of the manners of the Empire will no doubt amuse himself by weighing,
counted for something in their facile readiness to abandon themselves
to love intrigues. Be that as it may, it must here be confessed that at
that time laurels hid many errors, women showed an ardent preference for
the brave adventurers, whom they regarded as the true fount of honor,
wealth, or pleasure; and in the eyes of young girls, an epaulette--the
hieroglyphic of a future--signified happiness and liberty.

One feature, and a characteristic one, of this unique period in our
history was an unbridled mania for everything glittering. Never were
fireworks so much in vogue, never were diamonds so highly prized. The
men, as greedy as the women of these translucent pebbles, displayed them
no less lavishly. Possibly the necessity for carrying plunder in the
most portable form made gems the fashion in the army. A man was not
ridiculous then, as he would be now, if his shirt-frill or his fingers
blazed with large diamonds. Murat, an Oriental by nature, set the
example of preposterous luxury to modern soldiers.

The