her own but in his glory, was the
daughter of the Caesars, the child of a royal house second to none in
antiquity or majesty, his wife, his consort, his defiance to a passing
system. Maria Louisa was as haughty as the Western Empress should be,
patronizing her father and stepmother, and boasting how superior the
civilization of Paris was to that of Vienna. It was during these days
that she first saw Neipperg, the Austrian chamberlain, who was later
her morganatic husband. Napoleon appeared better: self-possessed,
moderate, and genial. His vassals and his relatives, his marshals and
his generals, all seemed content, and even merry. The King of Prussia
had lost his beautiful and unfortunate queen; he alone wore a sad
countenance. Yet it was rumored that the Prussian crown prince was a
suitor for one of Napoleon's nieces. Beneath the gay exterior were
many sad, bitter, perplexed hearts. The Emperor was seldom seen except
as a lavish host at public entertainments; most of the time he spent
behind closed doors with the busy diplomats. As a last resort,
Narbonne was sent to Russia, ostensibly to invite Alexander's presence
in the interest of peace; actually, of course, to get a final glimpse
of his preparations. The Abbe de Pradt was despatched into Poland to
fan the enthusiasm for France.

This unparalleled court was dismissed on May twenty-eighth, the
Empress returning by way of Prague to Paris, Napoleon hastening by
Posen and Warsaw to Thorn. The Poles were exuberant in their delight;
they little knew that their supposed liberator had bargained away
Galicia to Francis in return for Austrian support. For this betrayal,
and his general contempt of the Poles, he was to pay dearly. Had he
labored sincerely to organize a strong nucleus of Polish nationality,
a coalition of Russia, Prussia, and Austria such as finally
overwhelmed him would have been difficult, perhaps impossible. But the
founder of an imperial dynasty could not trust a Polish democracy.
When the Diet, sitting at Warsaw, besought him to declare the
existence of Poland, he criticized the taste which made them compose
their address in French instead of Polish, and gave a further inkling
of his temper by sending his Austrian contingent to serve in Volhynia,
so that neither French nor Polish enthusiasm might rouse the Russian
Poles. When he reached Vilna he found that the impassive Lithuanians
had no intention of rising against Russia, and no attempt was made to
rou