Letter 047 — XLVII
Original French
Vienne, le 16 novembre 1805.
J’écris à M. d’Harville pour que tu partes et que tu te rendes à Bade, de là à Stuttgard et de là à Munich. Tu donneras, à Stuttgard, la corbeille à la princesse Paul. Il suffit qu’il y ait pour quinze à vingt mille francs; le reste sera pour faire des prêsents, à Munich, aux filles de l’électeur de Bavière. Tout ce que tu as su par madame de Sérent est définitivement arrangé. Porte de quoi faire des présents aux dames et aux officiers qui seront de service près de toi. Sois honnête, mais reçois tous les hommages: l’on te doit tout, et tu ne dois rien que par honnêteté. L’électrice de Wurtemberg est fille du roi d’Angleterre; c’est une bonne femme, tu dois la bien traiter, mais cependant sans affectation. Je serai bien aise de te voir, du moment que mes affaires me le permettront. Je pars pour mon avant-garde. Il fait un temps affreux, il neige beaucoup; du reste, toutes mes affaires vont bien; adieu, ma bonne amie.
Musean translation
Machine-assisted Musean English translated from the French of the 172 Napoleon letters selected from Tancrède Martel, ed., Œuvres littéraires de Napoléon Bonaparte, tome 1 (Albert Savine, Paris, 1888). French Wikisource contributors supplied the scan-backed transcription: https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Livre:Bonaparte_-_Œuvres_littéraires,_tome_1,_1888.djvu (page histories credit contributors). The transcription is CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/; this adapted text and translations are shared under the same license. Extraction removes markup and editorial notes; selected transcription repairs were checked against print images.
Vienna, November 16, 1805.
I am writing to M. d’Harville so that you may leave and go to Baden, from there to Stuttgard and from there to Munich. At Stuttgard you will give the wedding gifts to Princess Paul. Fifteen to twenty thousand francs' worth will be enough; the rest will be for presents at Munich to the daughters of the Elector of Bavaria. Everything you learned from Madame de Sérent is definitively settled. Take what you need to make presents to the ladies and officers who will be attending you. Be courteous, but receive every homage: everyone owes you everything, and you owe nothing except out of courtesy. The Electress of Württemberg is the daughter of the King of England; she is a good woman, and you should treat her well, but without affectation. I shall be very glad to see you as soon as my affairs allow it. I am leaving for my advance guard. The weather is dreadful, and it is snowing heavily; otherwise all my affairs are going well. Goodbye, my good friend.
Plain English translation
Independent machine-assisted Plain English translation from the 1888 Martel French edition, not a historical English translation. French Wikisource contributors supplied the scan-backed transcription: https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Livre:Bonaparte_-_Œuvres_littéraires,_tome_1,_1888.djvu (page histories credit contributors). The adapted transcription and translation are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. Extraction removes markup and editorial notes and makes documented transcription repairs. French-source model review is not human specialist certification or a complete scan collation.
Vienna, November 16, 1805.
I am writing to M. d’Harville so that you can leave for Baden, then go on to Stuttgart and Munich. At Stuttgart, give the gift basket to Princess Paul. A value of fifteen to twenty thousand francs will suffice; the remainder can be used for gifts to the Bavarian Elector's daughters in Munich. Everything you learned from Madame de Sérent has now been settled. Take enough to make gifts to the ladies and officers attending you. Be courteous, but accept all the honors offered: everyone owes you everything, and you owe nothing beyond courtesy. The Electress of Württemberg is the King of England's daughter. She is a good woman; treat her well, but without making a show of it. I will be very happy to see you whenever my affairs allow it. I am setting out to join my advance guard. The weather is appalling, with much snow; otherwise all my affairs are going well. Goodbye, my dear friend.
About this section
Letter 047 — XLVII is part of Letters to Josephine by Napoléon Bonaparte. This page sets the French original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is part 47 of 172 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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