opposed the one-man-rule, may he be King, first consul or Emperor, which earned her the wrath of Napoléon Bonaparte. She accepted no more the arbitrary dictatorship of a self-proclaimed Emperor than of a King by lineage. She called for a strong constitution with two chambers, i.e. an English-like political system, and not the power of one.
Napoléon, fearing her influence and her convincing talent, made her his worst personal enemy. He banished her from Paris, and exiled her 40 leagues (approx. 170 km/more than 105 miles) from the
capital. At the time, she was ready to publish De l’Allemagne. Though the submitted work had already been approved by the Imperial censorship, Napoleon prohibited the publication, seeing not a single line to his glory, and ordered all copies already printed to be burnt and the lead type fonts to be melted (therefore ruining the editor in the process). The author had 48 hours to reach an Atlantic port to embark for the USA, or to return to Coppet, the castle acquired by her father near Geneva, where she would live and be spied on. She chose the second option, but managed to escape two years later, crossing Europe through Poland, Russia and Sweden to finally reach England. In truth, her exile established the recognition
Jeanne-Françoise Julie Adélaïde Récamier (December 1777 – 11 May 1849), known as Juliette, was, among other things, de Staël's best friend. Beautiful, accomplished, and with a love of literature, Juliette was shy and modest by nature. From the earliest days of the French Consulate to almost the end of the July Monarchy, her salon in Paris was one of the chief resorts of literary and political society that followed what was fashionable.
Le château de Coppet in Coppet, canton of Vaud, Switzerland. PD. Unknown credit.
Madame de Staël in ”Corinne au Cap Micène" by François Pascal Simon (Baron Gérard), and bust of Madame Récamier by Joseph Chinard (Musée de Lyon), photo: Caroline Vatan.
The Fearful Opponent
Source: Wikipedia.
54 | Ceres Magazine | Spring 2016