Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1854-03-09
THE DEATH OF JOSEPHINE.

| DARkNEss and clouds surrounded the
pathway of Napoleon In vain he strus.
gled to retrieve his fortune. The last en-
gagement at Leipsic decided his fortunes
for the time and consigned him to Elba.
Napoleon was an exile, but in his retire
ment he did not forget the only being he
ever really loved, his Josephine He i'm
mediately addressed a letter to her, breath.
ing the same spirit that he had always
manifested, rather congratulatng himself
that his head and spirit were freer from
the enormous weight of care, and intimat-
ing that hereafter his pen should be a sub
stitute for the sword
! ''The world" said he, shas as vet ONLY
seen me in profile. l shall now show nv
self in full. How many things have I to
disclose how many are the men upon
whom false estimate has been placed =
L have heaped benefit upon millions of
wretches What have they done in the
end for me? They have all betrayed me !
Yes. all. | except from this number the
good Eugene and yourself Adieu my
dear Josephine. Be resigned, as I am.
and never forget him who never forgot,
and never will forget you. Farewell. Jo-
! sephine NAroLEoN.
Upon reading these tidings so terrible,
Josephine was overwhelmed with grief.
and Immediately answered his letter.
breathing the same spirit of devotion to
him who was once her husband. that had
always characterized her noble heart and
entreated him to say but the word, and she
would fly to him. The remaining circum-
stances connected with her illness and
death we give in the language of Mr.. Alb
! bott
A few days after this letter was written.
the Emperor Alexander, with number of
| illustrious guests. dined with Josephine
at Malmaison. In the evening twilight,
the party went out upon the beautiful
lawn in front of the house for recreation
Josephine, whose health had become ex-
ceedingly precarions through care and
sorrow, being regardless of herself in de-
votion to her friends, took violent cold
The next day she was worse Without
any definite form of disease, she day after
day grew more faint and feeble. until it
was evident that her final change was near
at hand. Eugene and Hortense, her most
affectionate children, were with her by day
and by night. They communicated to her
the judgment of her physician, that death
was near. She heard the tidings with
perfect composure, and called for a cler.
gyman to administer to her the last rights
of religion.
just after the solemnity, the Emperor
| Alexander entered the room. Eugene
and Hortense, bathed in tears were kneel-
ing at their mothers side. Josephine
beckoned to the Emperor to approach her
and said to him and her children, Il have
always desired the happiness of France
[ did all in my power to contribute to it
and | can say with truth, to all of you
now present, at my last moments, that the
first wife of Napoleon never caused a tear
to flow"
She called for the portrait of the En-
peror; she gazed upon it long and tender
ly; and then, fervently pressing it in her
clasped hands to her bosom. family artic
ulated the following prayer:
80 God watch over Napoleon while
he remains in the desert of this world -
Alas though he hath committed great
faults, hath he not expiated them by great
sufferings just God, thou hast locke
into his heart, ard hast seen by how ar
dent a desire for useful and durable i'm
! provements he was animated Deign to
approve my last petition. And may this
image of my husband bear me witness that
my latest wish and latest prayer were for
him and my children"
1t was the Goth of May 1914 A tran
quill summers day was fading away into
cloudless, serene and beautiful evening.
The rays of the setting sun struggling
through the foliage of the open window,
shone cheerfully upon the bed where the
empress was dying. The vesper songs of
the birds which filled the grove of NAL
malson foated sweetly upon the ear. and
! the gentle spirit of Josephine, luled to
repose by these sweet anthems, sunk into
her last sleep. Gazing upon the portrait
of the Emperor, she exclaimed, ''L'isle d.
Elbe-Napoleon t' and died
Alexander, as he gazed upon her lifeless
remains, burst into tears. and uttered the
following affecting yet just tribute of res
pect to her memory ''She is no more !;
that woman whom France named the ben.
efcent, that angel of goodness is no more
| Those who have known Josephine can new
er forget her. She dies regretted by her
| offspring, her friends, and her contempo-
| rarieS f-.-
For four days her body remained
shrouded in state for its burial. During
this time more than twenty thousand Of
| the people of France visited her beloved
remains. On the End Of June. midday.
the funeral procession moved from Nal
maison to Ruel, where the body was de-
! posted in a tomb Of the village church. =
| The funeral services were conducted with
the greatest magnifcence, as the sover-
eigns of the allied armies united with the
French in doing honor to her memory
When all had left the church but Eugene
and Hortense, they knelt beside their
mothers grave, and for long time ming
led their prayers and their tears. A beau
tiful monument of white marble repre-
senting the empress kneeling in her coro-
natical robes, is erected over her burial
place, with this simple but affecting in
! scription
EUGENE AND HoRTEysE
/ JOSEPHINE.
ord CaEo fba cub, !