Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1848-02-24
Biographical,
From tho New York Evangelist.
NJ A r 10 UISA. N 0. a,
BY REV. J. S. c. ABBOTT.

the result of the battle of Waterloo. The wars
of Napoleon were in the main, undeniably, wars
Of selfdefense. The unrelenting and persever-
ing hostility with which England endeavored to
combine the powers of Europe against the elect
ed Emperor Of France, has not a shadow of JUS
tifcation; and every day the verdict of the
world, upon this subject, is becoming more unan-
imous and decisive. With all the faults of Ma
poleon, he was UNNECESSARILY superior to the
banded kings who were struggling, by his over
throw, to support the despotistn of their thrones.
Napoleon, during his short reign, did more for
the promotion of civil and religious liberty, and
for the elevation of the masses of the people,
than all the combined kings of Europe have done
for the last three centuries. The prevailing i'm
pressions of Buonaparte are derived from the
gross caricatures of the English historians-his
inveterate foes. Can Lockhart and Scott, who
write to flatter national vanity and to please aris-
%tocratic ears, fairly delineate the character Of
the renowned enemy whom that nation has so
long delighted to traduce2 As well may you
expect the Quarterly Review fairly to describe
republican America.
" When | heard Of the result of the battle of
Waterloo,' says Robert Hall, 81 felt as if the
clock of the world had gone back six ages."-
The eyes of all nations were fixed upon the spot
where the armies of Christendom were concen-
trating for the decisive conflict! On the one
side were all the banded monarchs of Europe
On the other was Napoleon. The match was al
most an equal one. A morning of the peaceful
Sabbath ushered in the dreadful conflict. Du-
ring all the long hours of that sacred day, till
the sun was descending, the battle ragged with
sanguinary ferocity. At every point Napoleon
was victorious, and the mangled, wagering lines
before him, gave assurance that the eagles of
France were again triumphant. Wellington, as
he gazed upon his melting battallions, trembled
before the genius of Napoleon, and wipinr the
cold sweat of agony from his brow, exclaimed,
81 wish that Butcher. or night were come p
The foaming c%oqriers of the Emperor we're on
their way to Paris, with the tidings of the VIC
tory.
At that eyentful hour a black mass of thirty
thousand P~russians suddenly appeared, headed
by Butcher, and poured down like an avalanche
upon the field of battle. The troops of Napole-
on, exhausted by the herculean toll of the day,
and unable to resist this new onset. were. after
the most desperate resistance, overwhelmed and
swept away. All was lost. Maria. from the
palaces Of Vienna, looked on apparently with i'm
perturbable equanimity, as the star of her hus-
bands glory paled and faded away on the field
OF Waterloo. His defeat relieved her mind from
serious embarrassment. She moved smilingly
amid the group of his c~xulting foes, and even
appeared IN public leaning upon the arm of the
Duke of Wellington. There is no evidence
that she shed a tear or experienced an emotion of
regret, as her husband was borne, like a caqed
lion, to that barren rock which was to be his
prison and his grave. Not one word of sympa-
thy or tenderness was sent to him from Maria. as
he babe adieu to every object he held dear UPON
earth, and entered upon a doom more iutolerabIe
than death.
Napoleon had hardly arrived at that dreary
rock, where in misery he was to wear away the
few remaining years of his life, when Maria
Louisa. highly eIatod with her own good fortune,
departed from Vienna in gilded chariots, sur
rounded with fawning f%ayoriles, to enjoy her pos.
sessions as Duchess Of Parma. She assumed nc
garb Of mourning. She affected no grief Of
bereavement and widowhood. Congratulatina
herself that her lines had fallen to her in pleas.
ant places, and that she had IA goodly heritage
she allowed no pleasures to be marred by una
vailing regrets. Forgetting her imperial hus
band on that dreary rock which his suffering,
have immortalized; forgetting her son, born t,
SO exalted a destiny, more spIendidly, but none
the less ingloriously an exile and a prisoner il
Vienna; she surrendered herself, with the mos
amiablc philosophy, to all the cnjoyments within
her reach.
Colonel Neipperg, a Hungarian Count, hat
been appointed by the Austrian Cabinet to &c
company Maria Louisa to Parma, lie was to d.
all in his power to divert her mind from tn
grandeur from which she had fallen, and to lur
her to all the public and private haunts of fcstiv
ity. His task was easy and agreeable, and faith
fully he performed his mission.
The s%ilvery lake is gilded by romantic moon
light. The soft air of Italian summer invites
t an excursion upon the water. The boat glide
) over the unrippled surface, which shows a cor
1 cave Of moon and stars and fathomless immcns
ty beneath as above. Soft music, Of flutes an
still more liquid voices, floats upon the coo
, zephyrs, Maria recllnes upon the cushione
seats, leaning upon the arm of Neipperg. an
5 yields herself to the luxury of the hour. Ho,
e can she send her Imagination from that scene {
n enchantment to the foggy, storm-swept, rain
c drenched rock where Napoleon is imprisoned
l. A pleasure %launtis planned to Genoa. The DIT
i cal chariot is drawn by p%rancing steeds gaily G.
= parlsoned. Liyeried servants. and outriders wit
|, glittcring sabres and in rich uniforms, compos
the splendid cortegc, The brilliant yisio
sweeps along through the eycr-yarying scenes
sunny Italy. In the luxurious carriage of Ii
young Duchess sits Neipperg by the side of NJ
ria. They read, they talk, they sing. Looks
atfectionate recognition are interchanged, an
words Of tenderness are uttered. Thousands
leagues of stormy ocean intervene between NJ
ria and Napoleon. She can never see hi
e again. Why, then, should she think of him al
more. Marriage, says infdel Europe, is a par
1t nership, to be formed or dissolved at pleasure
o My partnership with Napoleon, thinks Maria,
70 dissolved by his absence, Why may | not for
another? The world will condemn, whispers a
inward voice. Then | will not tell the worl
thinks Maria, And she returns the pressure
Il Neipperg's hand. Maria wants counsel in
q fairs of state. Neipperg is at hand to give d
. %rection to her w%avering purpose, and the cabin
Us council is prolonged late into the hours Of Il
k, night. She wishes to stroll along the banks
the romantic stream, or ascend the mountain.