Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1851-01-03


his liftle sranchiif the son of Hortense and of his
brother, Louis, the King of Holland The boy was
Extremely beautiful and developed all those noble
land s,.irie1l traits of character which delighted the
/ Fmneror Napoleon had apparently determined to
make this young prince his heir This was SO gem
erally the understanding both in France and IN Hoi-
land that Josephine quite at her ease, and Sc
rene DAYS again dawned upon her heart.
Early in the spring of 1907, this child, upon whom
such dcstinies were depending. then FIVE years OF
age was seized suddenly and violently with the
Group and in a few hours died The blow fell upon
the heart of Josephine with most appalling power.
Deep as was her grief the loss of this child she
was overwhelmed with uncomfortable anguish in
view of those fearful consequences which she shud-
dered to contemplate. She knew that Napoleon
loved her fondly But she also knew the strength OF
his ambition, and that he would make any sacr1hee
of his affections which in his view would subserFe
the interests of his power and his glory For three
days she shut herself up in her room and was con-
tinually bathed in tears.
The sad intelligence was conveyed to Napoleon
when he was far from home in the midst OF the PruS-
sian campagn He had been victorious almost mi
iracuIOusly Yict0ri0us-over his enemies. He had
gained accessions of power. such in the widest
dreams Of youth he had hardly magined. All OPP
Dosition to his sway was apparently crushed
NAPOLEON had become the Creator of Kings, and the
proudest monarchS of Europe constrained TO DO
his bidding. 1t was in hour Of exultation that
the mournful tidings reached him. He sat down IN
silence buried his face in his hands and for long
was heard mournfully and anxiously to repeat to
himself again and again. = To whom shall leave
all this p The struggle in his mind between his
love for Josephine and his ambitious desire to found
new dynasty, and to transmit his name and tame
to all posteriy was fearful. 1t manifest in his
pald cheek IN his restless eye, in the loss OF appe
lite and Of sleep. But the stern will of Bonapartc
was unTclenting in its purposes. With an energy
which the world has never seen surp&ssed he had
chosen his part 1t was the purpose of his sou-the
lofty purpose before which everything had to bend
to acquire the glory Of making France the most IL
lustrious powerful and happy nation earth had ever
seen. For this he ready to sacrifice comfort.
ease and his sense Of right For this he ready
to sunder the strongest ties Of affection.
Josephine knew Napoleon. She knew the power
of his ambition. With almost insupportable anguish
she wcpt over the death of this child. upon whose
desnes her own seemed to be so fearfuly blended,
and. with a trembling heart, she awaited her hus-
bands return. Mysterious hints began to fill the
journals Of 1he contemplated divorce and of the al
lance Of NAPOLEON with various nTncesses Of foreign
courts. in October, 1900, Napoleon returned from
Vienna He greeted Josephine with the greatest
kindness but she perceived that bis mind was
i'll at and that he bordering the dreadful
question. He appeared sad and embarrassed. He
had frequent private interviews with his minister's
general feeling Of constrant peryaded the court
Napoleon scarcely yentured to look upon his wife
if apprehensive that the very sight Of one he had
loved 90 we'll might cause him to waver in his firm
purpose Josephine in a state Of the most fever
ish solicitule. and yet compelled TO appear calm
and unconstraincd. As vet she had only some fore
! boiings Of her impending doom. She watched with
most excited apprehensioTs. every movement Of the
cnperor's eve, eyerv int0nation OF his voice every
sentiment he uttered. Each day some new and
trivial Indication confirmed her fears. Her husband
became more reserved: absented himself from her
society the private between their apartments
was closed he now seldom entered her room. and
whenever he did so he invariably knocked And yet
not one word had passed between him and Josephine
upon the fearful subject. Whenever Josephine heard
the sound Of his approaching footsteps the fear that
he was coming with the terrible announcement Of
separations Immediately caused such violent palpita
ton of the heart that it with the utmost difficult
~ that she could toter across the floor. even when
supporting herself By leaning against the walls and
catching al the articles Of furniture.
The months Of October and November passed a.
way. and while the emperor discussing with his
cabinet the alliance into which he should enter, he
had n05 summoned courage to break the subject to
Josephine. The evidence is indubitable that he
perenced intense anguish in view of the separation
but this did influence his iron will to from
its purpose. The grandeur of his fame and the mag
nitude of his power, were now such that there
not royal family in Europe which would not have
felt honored in comforting upon him bride. 1t
at first contemplated that he should marry
princess of the Bourbon family and thus add to the
stability OF his hrone by conciiatng the royasts of
France. princess OF SaXOuy proposed. Some
weighty considerations urged alliance with the
majestic empire Of Russia, and some advances were
made to the court of st. Petersburg, having in view
sister of the Emperor Alexander. 1t was at length
decided that proposals should be made to the court
Of Vienna, for Maria Louise, daughter of the Empe
rOr of Austria.
At last the fatal day arrived for the announcement
to Josephine 1t was the last day Of November 1900
The emperor and empress dined at Fontanbeau
alone She seems to have had preSentiment that
her doom scaled, for all that day she had been
in her retired apartment weeping bitterly As the
dinner hour approached, she bahed her swollen eyes
and tried to regain composure They sat down at
| the table in silence. Napoleon did not speak. Jo-
sephne could not trust her voice to utter word
Neither of them even feigned to eat Course after
course was brought in and removed untouched. 4
mortal paeness revealed the anguish Of each heart
Napoleon, in his embarrassment, mechanically, and
apparently unconSciouSly kept striking the edge of
| his glass with his knife, while lost in thought 4
more melancholy meal was probably never witnessed
! The attendants around the table caught the infec-
ton, ana gazed III motionless silence. At last the
! ceremony of dinner over, the attendants were
dismissed, and Napoleon and Josephine were alone.
Another moment Of most painful silence ensued,
when the emperor. pale death, and trembling in
every nerve, arose and approached Josephine. He
took her hand and placing il upon his heart, said:
Josephine. my own good josephine, you know
how have loved You 1t is 10 You alone that owe
the few moments Of happiness have known in this
world Josephre ms destiny is stronger than my
will My dearest affections must yield to the inter-
! ests Of France
| Josephnc's brain recled: her blood ceased to cir
eulatc she tainted and fell lifeess upon the floor
Napoleon, alarmed, threw open the door of the sa-
loon and called for help Attendants from the ante
! room Immediately entered. Napoleon took taper
from the MANTLE and, uttering not word, but pale
AMI trembling motioned to the Count De Beaum ont
~