Page:Napoleon (O'Connor 1896).djvu/163

Rh willingly recognises all the supreme skill happily displayed at this eventful hour.

"None of the seductions likely to impress favourably those whom it was necessary he should captivate had been neglected. The members of the Comédie Frangaise had been ordered to Erfurt, where they played alternately comedy and tragedy; and so for a fortnight this little town enjoyed French plays nearly every night. Extravagance and magnificence could hardly go beyond this; and great was the delight of all those invited to enjoy so unexpected a treat. Napoleon, when giving his orders to Talma, previous to his departure from Paris, had promised him a parterre full of kings, and it will be seen that he had kept his word. He might have added that never would any parterre show itself so well disposed. Among the actresses forming part of the troupe were several pretty women, and if the Court chroniclers are to be believed, their merits did not pass unnoticed. Nay, it has even been stated that one of them had for some little time engaged the attention of the most eminent one of the personages among those whom Napoleon wished to win over to his side. Judging from all appearances, the happy result of his efforts in this respect must have been undoubted, and it can well be supposed that the attractions of Erfurt greatly surpassed those of Tilsit. It was at Erfurt that, during the performance of