The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1850-09-25

When Napoleon was forced to abdicate and re-
tire from France, in the year 1914, his wife Ma
ria Louisa, with her son. then three years old, was
taken back to Austria. The mother married a.
gain and removed to Italy, but the son was
brought up at the court of his grandfather, the
Emperor Of Austria. The following account is
taken from an article entitled, ssThe Bonaparte
Family in the North British Review We
have seldom met with story more truly affect
ing!
Only three years Of age, when he came with
his mother to reside at Schonbrunn, the young
Duke of Reichstadt spent the whole remand
ofhis life either there or at Vien11; only on one
or two occasions travelling from either, beyond
the distance of few miles. By his grandfather,
the Emperor, as well as by all the other men,
bers of the Royal family, he seems to have been
always treated with extreme kindness. After
the departure of his mother for the Italian Sta
ties, he was committed to the care of various mas.
ters, under the superintendent of an Austrian
nobleman of rank, the Count Maurice de Dietri
chetein. Regarding his early education, only
two facts Of any interest are mentioned; his ex-
cessive reluctance at first to learn GermSs,
which, however, soon became more his own tn .
French; and his fondness for historical reading,
and especially for books relating to the career of
his father As boy he was, on the whole, dull,
grave and mirthless; but docile and affectionate.
he news Ol LlS ldIilcI 3 ueukN, WlliCh OCCuI-
red when he was ten years ofage, is said to have
produced visible effect on him. twas evident,
indeed, that the boy, young as he was, had been
brooding in secret over the mystery of his own
changed condition, and cherishng, we'll as
he could, the thought of its connection with the
extraordinary being whom he could directly re-
collect as his father; whose busts and portraits
he could still see; and who, as they tried to ex-
plain to him, was now living shut up in an Is
L. <bo 18th do oF rfE
nations of Europe had conspired to send him for
their own safety. The thought ofhis father be-
came the boys single passion; and when he could
no longer think Of that father as still existing
earth, his respect for his memory amounted to a
worship. Every book that could tell him any
thing about his father he devoured with eager
ness and if he CHANGED to hear of the arrival of
any one at Vienna who had personal relations
with the Emperor, he was uneasy till he had
seen him. At last, to crafty this anxiety for in
formation about his father his tutors at his grand
fathers command, began to instruct him system
atically, in modern history and politics; conceal
ing from him nothing, says NJ de Monthel, that
could enlighten him as to the real course of his
fatherss life, and its effect on the condition Of
Europe, and only adding such comments and ex-
positions might make him aware, at the same
time. in what points his father could he repre-
hended.
Perplexed by such lessons in history, accord
ing to Metternich, the poor boy did his best to
come 10 the right conclusion, and to express him,
self judiciously to his tutors regarding what he
was taught to consider his fathers errors and
excesses In all cases Of feeling and instinct
however his reverence for the memory of his
fsther prevailed. the very books that his fathel
had liked, such as Tasso and Ossian, became fol
that reason his favorites His fathers cam
paigns and dispatches be made subject of dill
gent study, using them as the texts for his OWL
military lessons In short before he had attain
ed his seventeenth year, he had read and re-reae
everything that had been written regarding Ma
poleon, and had fixed in his memory the mos
political life, the name Of his generals, his chic
battles and the various Incl dents of his birth ir
Corsica to his burial in St. Helena. One point
n this great history he would dwell on with spe
cial interest-that when, amid universal accla
nation. he himself had come into the world, the
unconscious heir to mighty empire
This brooding on the past naturally assumed
AZ he grew up, the form Of a restless anxiety re-
.nectirr the future. That he, the son Of Napo
lem. was NO common person; that, as the owner
81 Z oreat name, superior actions and qualifca
t;on 1ould he required Of him; that in some way
~ other he must take part in the affairs of Euro
ne-s,ch was the idea that inevitably took pos
session of,him. The pedantry Of his teachers ap
nears 10 have fostered it to an undue extent. II
for example, the poor youth contracted an ADM
ration for the poet Byron, his teachers were
hand % criticize the poet for him, ana 70 reduc
III opinion 10 the just shape and standard, les
=. shonid commit what in his case would be tn
sirnal improperly Of exaggerated praise: II, Q
I'm. he was seen to be falling in love with Q Ia
Sv 81 MI 1randfathers's court, they were at han
* resson him out of the affair by consideration
ofsvhat wss due % his situation, and nus in'Poi
tanee in the public eye e.