they stood in intimate
relations as general and aide-de-camp, and one of the earliest cares
of the First Consul was to bestow the beautiful Hortense de
Beauharnais on his favorite brother. In 1804 Louis was made general,
then councilor of state, and finally in 1806 he was elevated to the
throne of Holland. His child until its untimely death was cherished by
Napoleon as a son destined to inherit imperial greatness. But, like
the other royal Bonapartes, the King of Holland regarded his high
estate not as a gift from the Emperor, but as a right. He ruled the
land assigned him, if not in his own interest, at least not in that of
the Empire, and from the outset filled his letters with bitter
complaints of all that entered into his lot, not excepting his wife.
Napoleon admonished and threatened, but to no avail. The interests of
his own royalty and of the Dutch were nearer to Louis than those of
the Empire.

At last the Emperor hinted that the air of Holland did not agree with
its monarch, indicating that circumstances required it to be
incorporated with France. In March, 1808, he offered the crown of
Spain as a substitute. A little later the suggestion was made that
Louis might have the Hanseatic towns in exchange for Brabant and
Zealand. Both propositions were scouted. When we remember who the
potentates were, by whom such offers were made and refused, we seem
forced to dismiss all notions of patriotism, uprightness, and loyalty
as the motives of either, and must attribute Louis's course to
petulance. Napoleon was highly incensed. On the failure of the
Walcheren expedition, both Brabant and Zealand were occupied by French
troops, and Louis was summoned to Paris. His first desperate thought
was one of resistance, but on reflection he obeyed. On his arrival he
learned that his fate was imminent. Napoleon announced to the
legislature that a change in the relations with Holland was
imperative. The minister of the interior explained that, as being the
alluvium of three French rivers--namely, the Rhine, the Meuse, and the
Scheldt--that land was by nature a portion of France, one of the great
imperial arteries. Louis sought to fly, but was detained. He at once
despatched the Count de Bylandt with orders to close the Dutch
frontier fortresses and defend the capital against the French troops.
This was done, but Louis's defiance was short. After signing a treaty
which bound him, among other things, to open his fortresses, seize all