ABSTRACT
Shortly after his own arrival there appeared in New York a certain Prince Pierre Napoleon, who proceeded to scandalise the city by a series of discreditable escapades. He at once renounced his first intention of buying land in the United States and there pursuing a pastoral existence for the rest of his days. The autumn of 1838 and the early months of 1839 marked the high-water mark of his apparent importance as a pretender. His departure from Switzerland had been the occasion of great demonstrations in his honour by members of his own canton. In a notable speech, wherein he pointed out to the Orleanist Government the folly of encouraging the worship of Napoleon, Lamartine spoke of ‘ editions of the Idees Napoleoniennes running to five hundred thousand copies,’ as one sign among many of the danger of a possible Napoleonic pretender.
