Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1848-11-22
Maria Louisa.
BY REV. s. {. ABBOTT.

the beleaguring hosts Of Napoleon en-
compassed Vienna. and from their enclr
cling batteries were showering shots ant
shells upon the doomed city. The armie.
Of Austria, in repeated conflicts, had beer
mown down and scattered by the resistless
conque:or. As the eagle of Napoleon
gIiltered upon the hills which overlooked
the city. the royal family with the "hol
haste" which terror inspires, had acd far
off into the wiIds of Hungary. 1t is mid.
night. The sky is streaked with the fiery
proiectiles. which, like meteors Of death,
are descending into the thronged and dis.
may ed metropolis. Flames ure bursting
forth in every part Of the city. All hearts
are frozen with terror. There is no
place of refuge. Red hot balls crush
their way through dwellings Of brick
and stone. Shells explode in the cradle of
the infant, and upheaving the most massy
dwellings. bury their mangled inmates be-
meath the ruins. The clamors of two
hundred thousand comba,ants fill the mid
night air, and mlnge with the thunders,
Of one OF the most awful bombardments
earth has ever witnessed.
In one Of the chambers Of the royal pal
ace there lies a maiden. sixteen years of
age, the daughter of King. Her father
and her mother, in the CONSERVATION of
their flight, were compelled to leave behind
them. their sick child Her cheeks are
flushed with fever, and again paied
with terror a, the uproar Of the assault
The 6 lare Of bursting shells and The fames
of the spreading conhagrasion, portentous-
ly g'eam through the windows upon the
eye Of the sufferer. She in vain burles
her head beneath the bed clothes 10 shut out
the horrid cries of the assailants and the
|shrieks Of the wounded.
In the midst of this dreadful scene the
gates of the city are suddenly thrown open
and small party emerged, and with flag
OF truce pass through the embetlling hosts
till they approach the presence of Napo-
leon. They inform him of the situation
and the peril of the princess. He Instant
ly ordered every gun TO be changed, which
might endanger her person. The flag Of
truce again retires within the walls, and
the awful bombardnent continues. For
ten long hours this terrific storm of iron
descends upon the city till three thousand
shells have illeas the sitg .glh al Enin and
with bl3od. But Marie Louisa remains ns'up-
on her bed unharmed, though other parts
of her fa,her's palace were blown from
their foundations, Little did she ilnagine
in the CONSERVATION of that dreadful nig ghl,
that ii was her future husband who was
thus raining down destruction upon her fa-
lher's capital. And little did the plebian
coDqueror imag ne as he compassionately
changed the direction of his guns. that this
maiden was TO be the Queen Of France,
and that by this bombardment he was VIM
ming and wooing for his bride daughter
of the Caesars.
A daughter Of the Caesars! What n
mysterious influence there is in ancestral
renown-Napoleon even, The creator OF
his crown, the fabrica,or Of his own glory,
was dazzled by its glare. Maria Louisa
was lineal descendant of ore Of the
proudest monarchs of Rome. The blood
which circulated through her veins had
passed 10 her from the Caesars, and through
the heroic heart of Maria Theresa. She
had been Graded and nurtured amid scenes
of moral sublimity and regal magnifcence,
which one would think would give an i'm
press of grandeur even TO the meanest
soul. Surely, them. her spirit must be
animated with all that is lofty and emo
bling in human character. Alas, it was
not so ! She was nothing more than a
mild, amiabIe. pretty girl utterly incara-
bic of chefishing an idea of magnanimity
or Of heroism. She was endowed by na-
turo only with those qualities which were
most common place and entirely unq5!i6ed
to act a noble part in the lofty drama
through which she was destined to move.
Napoleon. despairing Of offspring from
Josephine, and consumed with the most
intense desire 20 have an heir who should
inherit his glory and perpetuate his name.
resolved TO sever the ties which bound him
to Josephine the wife Of his youth, and to
obtain more youthful bride from the sub
servient monarchies around him. He
hoped thus to secure an heir in whose per.
son should be allied all that was glorious
in his own achievements, and all that
is illustrious in exalted descent. The re-
pudiaion Of Josephine. strong as were the
political motives which led 10 it. is the
darkest stain upon the character of Napol-
con. And like all wrong doing, however
seemingly prosperous Ior time. il pro-
NOTED final disaster and woe. A pique
in this marriage, alienated Al
exander of Russia from the French En-
peror, and hence the campaigneof Mos
COW, and the imprisonment Of Napoleon.
Every court Of Europe was emulous of the
honor Of such alliance. The Bourbons in
their exile. would gladly furnish prin.
cess Of the royal blood as bride for the
mighty conqueror. The Russian court
prof1ers any of its high born maidens TO
the acceptance Of the master spirit. at
whose frown all Europe trembIes. And
the Austrian monarchy, the proudest of
all earthly dynasties, eagerly seeks alli-
ance with the soldier Of fortune. who has
twice entered its capital in triumph and re-
posed with his plebian marshall; in its pail
aces. After much delileration, Napoleon,
decided 10 accept the alliance of Austria,
Proposals were made for Maria Louisa,
and eagerly accepted. Maria was then
nineteen years Of age, and was most hap
py to be honored es the bride of one who