The son, Eugene, was born September 3, 1780, in the province of Brittany, and was consequently in his fourteenth year, when the death of his father took place. On the marriage of his widowed mother with Buonaparte (1796) he was placed on the staff of that general, whom he accompanied into Italy and Egypt, and whose rising fortunes he was destined to share. The establishment of the consular government was, as might be expected, highly favourable to his interests. Young as he was, he was entrusted with a brigade of the consular guard, in which capacity be acquired some distinction at Marengo. The arrival of his step-father at the highest of dignities was still more favorable to his ambitious hopes: he was created Prince of the Empire, nominated Arch-chancellor of State, and in June 1805 was raised to the Viceroyalty of Northern Italy.

Eugene had not yet reached his acme of prosperity. At the commencement of 1806 he was declared the adopted son of Napoleon, who procured him the hand of Augusta Amelia, daughter to the King of Bavaria. In the same year the Venetian states were annexed to the Italian kingdom; in a few months afterwards he was created Prince of Venice, and declared successor to the Iron Crown of Lombardy.

The adopted step-son of a childless emperor, the son-in-law of a king, the acknowledged heir of a fine realm, might well congratulate himself on his splendid destinies, and be almost excused if he saw nothing in the future but hope and happiness. He was too young to discover the precariousness of the base on which this fair structure was built. Like other men, he regarded the emperor as invincible, and his own succession to the throne of Italy at least, if not to that of France also, as certain. Little did he know that even then the divorce of his mother was intended to make way for a consort who might furnish the lord of nations with an undisputed heir.

The renewal of the war by the Emperor Francis in 1809, and the irruption of the Austrian troops into Italy under the Archduke John, placed the viceroy in a perilous situation. With a force amounting to no more than sixteen thousand men, he durst not risk a general action. He retreated with considerable lost on Verona; and the intrenched position of Caldiero enabled him to make a stand against the vigorous assaults of the enemy. But he would soon have been compelled to capitulate, had not two events concurred to ensure his safety. One was the arrival of Marshal Macdonald to direct the operations of the army; the other was the entrance of the French into Vienna. No sooner was this intelligence known to the hitherto successful Austrians, than they became too dispirited to continue the offensive: they began to retreat, and were pursued in their turn. Macdonald seized on Trieste -- Eugene on Clagenfurth. As the latter advanced into the Austrian dominions, he unexpectedly encountered General Jellachich, who with eight thousand men was hastening to Leoben to effect a junction with the Archduke. The viceroy attacked this little band, over which he easily triumphed. He continued his march, but not without apprehensions of an assault by a superior force of the enemy. Napoleon, no less anxious on his account, despatched Lauriston in search of him: the two generals met May 26th; and the viceroy proceeded to Ebersdorf, the head-quarters of Buouaparte, where he was received with marks of great satisfaction. His military talents were highly extolled by the emperor, who asserted that in this campaign he had exhibited all the qualities of a great captain, -- a commendation too extravagant to serve its object. He was immediately sent into Hungary to disperse the levies which the imperial princes were raising. As if fortune wished to second the praises of his step-father, he obtained (June 14th) a victory of some importance over the Archduke John at Raab. It must not be forgotten, however, that he was assisted by generals abler than himself; that he had greatly the superiority in number; and that the soldiers he now commanded were, for the most part, French veterans. By a coincidence worth remarking, during this struggle he occupied the same position in which Montecuculli had defeated the Turks near a century and a half before. From this well-contested field, the victor returned to the emperor, whose favourable opinion was still further increased by his gallantry at Wagram.

But at the close of this triumphant campaign, was demolished the fairy fabric which Eugene had so long delighted to contemplate. He was summoned to Paris to learn the mortifying intelligence that an Austrian princess was destined to replace his mother on the imperial throne. This circumstance was distressing in a twofold sense: it forever destroyed the happiness of a parent to whom he was tenderly attached; and it annihilated his own splendid hopes. He saw, however, that all opposition would be unavailing, and followed Josephine's example of submission. Eugene doubtless recollected that the prosperity of his family was the sole work of Napoleon, who might, without incurring much imputation of injustice, resume a portion of the favours he had so lavishly bestowed. Besides, he was still authorized to cherish the hope of an independent sovereignty, either on the confines of this stupendous empire, or over some one of the many nations which were ready to receive a ruler at the beck of France.

Not many weeks elapsed before he received an earnest of the reward which his prompt compliance with the despot's will might one day enable him to reap. He was declared (March 3, 1810) the successor of the prince-primate in the Grand Duchy of Frankfort. Even if his expectations were to rise no higher, the two sovereignties of Venice and Frankfort, -- both hereditary, were enough to satisfy any but the most unmeasured ambition; they would render him one of the richest princes in Europe.

In the Russian campaign, the viceroy commanded the Fourth Corps of the Grand Army, and behaved very well in the most trying circumstances: when the king of Naples abruptly left the Grand Army, the command was assumed by Eugene. At Magdeburg, he halted to concentrate the scattered wrecks of this once amazing host, and to wait for the supplies which the emperor had promised to bring. Being pursued by the allies, he ventured to attack them, and he was completely defeated; but of this defeat not the slightest mention was made in the French bulletins. Nothing indeed can exceed the disingenuousness, not of those documents only, but of almost all the French writings relating to the national history under the imperial sway. The victories are carefully exaggerated, but the reverses as carefully concealed: nay, the most decisive defeats are not unfrequently transferred into considerable successes.

At Lutzen, the Viceroy headed the left wing of the French. But he was soon remanded to Italy, which the emperor foresaw would not fail to attract the hostility of the Austrians.

It was, indeed, high time to provide for the security of the Iron Crown; the Austrian General, Hiller, was marching on Illyria. In August, the Viceroy took the field with the Gallo-Italian army. At the same time he addressed a proclamation to the whole population of Italy, to rouse them to resistance against an enemy, who, as he truly stated, had for ages triumphed through their disunion alone. But they were little inclined to obey the summons. If they must endure foreign domination, which indeed they had learned to regard as inevitable, and which their own cowardice, as well as want of union, will probably render everlasting, the mild sway of the Austrians was far preferable to the iron yoke of the Corsican. Hiller advanced, some skirmishing followed, but nothing decisive was likely to happen. The two armies seemed desirous of merely observing each other, and of occasionally executing some unimportant manœuvres; both were well aware that the success of the campaign must be decided elsewhere, and that their efforts would have little influence on its fate. The Austrian court, however, was dissatisfied with the dilatory proceedings of its general; he was in consequence superseded by Marshal Bellegarde. This was not the worst for Eugene: the Italian troops began to desert in considerable numbers; and Murat, who had hitherto professed neutrality, openly declared for the allies. The Viceroy in alarm fell back on the Mincio, and fortified himself in a strong position. Yet, though the aspect of things was threatening enough, he had little reason to apprehend any serious attack from either of his enemies. The one had taken the field, not from hostility to the French, but merely to make some sort of show in favour of his new allies; the other perceiving. that his countrymen were at the gates of Paris, wisely imitated his predecessor's example by remaining nearly inactive. During this tacit suspension of hostilities, some tokens of good-will passed between the opposite leaders. Bellegarde visited the court of his antagonist; whose infant child he held over the baptismal font; Eugene treated his distinguished guest with all possible courtesy. Both watched with anxiety the momentous events in the west.

When news of the capitulation of Paris arrived, the Viceroy no longer dreamed of resistance. His hitherto powerful stay bad been snatched from under him, and down fell his hopes of succession to the Italian crown. Yet he seems at one time to have expected that the allied sovereigns might be induced to acknowledge his vice-regal, if not his kingly dignity, or at least to right to the Venetian principality. He actually employed his minister to sound the disposition of the senate, and proposed to his officers to sign an address to the arbiters of Europe, in support of what he deemed his claims. But if he had thought that he possessed much favour with senate, army, or people, he was soon to be undeceived. He was regarded by all three with contempt and hatred, -- with contempt as being the puppet of the French ruler; with hatred, for the manner in which he had executed that despot's decrees, and for the tone of insult which he had often assumed towards the native inhabitants. The mere suspicion that an intrigue was on foot to secure him in his dignity, produced an alarming insurrection, in which his minister Prina was massacred, and the few senators supposed to be favourable to his views were laden with curses and threats. He feared, with justice, that his life might not be respected any more than his agent's; and having previously collected his most valuable effects at Mantua, he resolved to escape by night from his capital, and flee to the Bavarian court. But his intention became known, or at least suspected: the troops, to whom large arrears of pay were owing, deputed a number of their body to demand the amount of their claims. These deputies, who were French grenadiers, fulfilled their mission with little delicacy to his feelings; indeed, he deserved little, for he had robbed the public treasury of the money which should have discharged the just debts of the state. They styled him Monsieur, and loudly insisted on being instantly paid. To chastise their insolence was out of the question: there was danger even of his becoming a prisoner in the city which had for many years been the seat of his delegated sovereignty. He distributed among them a handful of gold, which they resolved to appropriate to their own use, and departed. Not a moment was to be lost; accompanied by his family, and a select suite, he privately hastened to Mantua, to secure his treasures.

In his way to Munich, the prince had to traverse the Tyrol, and on his reaching Roveredo he met with an unexpected difficulty. The commandant of the place, an Austrian colonel, intimated that the princess might pass through the Tyrol with perfect safety, but that he could not do so openly without the risk of his life. The Tyrolese remembered that a few years before he had caused some of their most respectable countrymen to be arrested as spies and shot, and they were sufficiently inclined to have blood for blood. His situation was desperate: to return to Milan would be to expose himself to the fury of a soldiery whom he had robbed, and of a people whom he had oppressed. From this dilemma he was extricated by the commandant, who offered him his own uniform, carriage, livery, and servants; urged him to traverse the country with all possible haste, and above all things to beware of speaking French. Eugene followed the friendly advice, and reached Munich without accident.

The prince had not long arrived at the Bavarian court, before he was summoned to France by the death of his mother. He was well received by Louis XVIII., who addressed him, not as General Beauharnois, the name announced, but as Prince. From Paris he returned to Vienna, to solicit the favour of the Congress. The reception he met with among the members of that august body, proved that his application would not perhaps have been wholly unsuccessful, had not strong suspicion existed that he had found means to acquaint Napoleon, who had just landed from Elba, with the supposed intention of the Allied Sovereigns to transfer him to St. Helena. The suspicion -- it might be more than suspicion -- was confirmed by a decree of Buonaparte, which enrolled him among the new Peers of France. Being no longer an object of favour with the sovereigns, he retired first to Bareuth, then to Munich, to watch the course of events. In April, 1816, when all his dreams of ambition were over, he and his family took up their abode with his sister Hortensia at Lindau, near the Lake of Constance, and there, we believe, he died, in 1825.

The abilities of Eugene were but of an inferior order. He was chiefly remarkable for an excessive vanity, and for an almost total want of prudence in circumstances which required a sober, clear, steady judgment. As a soldier, he did not want courage: As a general officer, he was about one of the lowest in the French service. The absurd praise of Buonaparte, who would fain have ranked him with his ablest marshals, need not create any surprise; for it is well known that the judgment of that extraordinary man was often warped by prejudice, by personal favour, or spleen. The emperor, indeed, furnished the best confutation of his own extravagant applauses, in sending an experienced general to Italy, whenever the young viceroy was threatened by any serious attack from the Austrians.

In the outset of his administration, Eugene was rather liked. He surrounded himself, however, by a set of needy, unprincipled courtiers, who probably used his name as an instrument of oppression, and became inaccessible to public complaints. During the campaigns of 1813 and 1814, he offended his Italians beyond forgiveness by the asperity with which he upbraided their cowardice. Cowards indeed they are, but he who governs them need not tell them so: if he be wise he will do all he can to stimulate their bravery, not to exasperate them. In the end, Eugene had become an object of hatred to all, -- even to the few senators who would have petitioned the Congress in support of his claims to the Iron Crown. They were willing to sacrifice their hatred to their interests; for under so weak a ruler, their own authority was unbounded, and their spirit of rapacity unrestrained.

One daughter of Eugene, the Princess de Leuchtenburg, is now Empress of Brazil: another is married to Oscar Bernadotte, the heir-apparent of Sweden.