The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1855-11-28
THE EXILE AND THE EMPEROR.


1t3snot long since a striking grouI
19of runners after thrones and scepters
was presented to the adiniring gaze O.
! the IBs1ishl public. 1t was on thciocca.
!, sioa of hsdranlatics representation at ST
j James 3 Theater, some time in the month
of June IS47, that the. incident to which
I alldsled took place. From the pit to
sthe boses, and the boxes to the gallery,
/ the ,rAps house was crowded with spec
tatoEs Fashion adSdisplaxea all the
1 luxury rs resources, and the embel.
l;shnentS of the building, vieiDg with
fihe efArns of beauty and the richness
pf irwelsy anda dress, had lent 10 the
taut e7ngptt1can aspect which it rarely
wore
Il was royal hight, and the Queen
tsnna ,srbce Albert occupied the royal
hos ify their side, the Duke of Ne,
,meqszsBot then ash exile, eating, the
bitter. ksead of foreign hospitality-but
the offspring ,of,a reigning king, the fuZ
ture regeat of great country, the near
ceaneetihhc tue sovereign who INV, in
the sunshi4epflhi successs gave him so
gra oase welcane to the English court.
!, Belows However, the scene was less fat
tering e the theory Of the divine right
of kings Ons.oiie side sit the Duke of
Brussuieks uithshis diamonds and his
rouge. AZ exilesfrorn his beloved /" Vat
erapd x on the other, and opposite to
him, Che Count of Montemolin, preten-
der to tlie Spanish throne. In the first
tiof of boxes, concealed by the interve-
ning drapeiy, and shrouded as it were.
with the Shadows of misfortune, sat the
dethroHed brother of Don Pedro-Don
Miguel tSilnself; and nothing was want
ing TO TIE tableau of defuhct sovereigns
OF oasssF pFete0ders, but the presence
.of,ethe illuminating Theodorus, of the
= Every oae was making his comment
on fhc strange coincidence which had
'brorgh s. many claimants of royalty
together Esto one spot, ea:ld smiling at
the mutabiHty of things, when suddenly
BY The ORCH, stra entered Louis Napoleon
The sitaatioa sYas striking. There was
nothing t5 break its effect, as the curtain
was down, and every one was yielding
to- the strain of thoughts naturally en-
geadctsl BY the spectacle. A sense of
ridieulc seized upon The whole assembly 4
q laugh passed from the orchestra
through the pit, even to the royal box.
Ths very name of L luis Napoleon seem
ed to warrant saIile-a smile at the
folly Of the hero of Strasburg and Bou-
logne. Louis Napoleon was not slow to
nudersfask lae 5ol 5j5aet Of so much nserFi-s
nent. He threw cold and sullen
glance on the royal box, where tue Duke
of Nempurs, the son OF the king of
France, sat in smiling mockery at the
luckleSs aspirant to his fathers throne 4
aud then rising from his seat, he slowly
and deliberately placed himself on the
left side of the theater, under that roy
al box. and in such a manner as to break
the view of its inmates.
What were his feelings at the mo.
ment Now, that we know the man,
we can fancy, at least, somewhat of the
bitterness which must have overswept
his heart, when thus treHted as the
subject of general ridicule by large
and crowded audience-ghen thus mock
ed by the successful rival of his fortunes,
and smiled. at by the sovereign in whose
lands he was an exile We can fancy
somewhat of the dark shadows aud the |
tangled passions, and the impenetrable
of vengeance and hate, which |
must then have possessed the soul OF
the exile of King Street.-The present |
Emperor of France, and the late guest of
Queen Victoria
No men are often more deceived in |
the character of individuals, than those
who are rcckoned among the sages of |
the land. As they have no tendency |
toward adventurous action in themselves,
they of course, throw diseredit on every
one else who has; aud should the knight |
errant, IN his earliest sallies, meet, as
haply be may de-, with the fate of the |
Don Quixotte, it is at once |
decided that bedlam is the ultimate goal
of his destiny. No appeal lies from |
opinion and the unthinking mass, with |
out taking the tro2ble to investigate its |
at once adopt it as truism
beyond the reach or possibility of doubt. !
Yet, even admitting, to its greatest
extent, the principle of popular unchar-
We can still scarcely realize
to ourselves at the present moment the
degree of supercilious pity, of hearty
of universal derision, with |
which Napoleon was treated in the days
by-gone. Circumstances have belied |
the wiseacres sbo shook their heads at
that very rash young man, who made |
such mess of it at Strasburg, and such |
a fool of himself and his eagle at Bou-
logne and few who witnessed his re- !
ception by the English crown and Eng |
lish people on the day of his arrival in
the metropolis, would ha- c faneied that |
only eight years ago, scene such as |
that which have just described had ta-
ken place in ridicule of this same man.
then discounted pretender, but now
an imperial guest. And strange must
have been his thoughts when he point
ed out to the fair partn,riof the pomp
and circumstance of his present life, the
house and the street in which he dwelt
in the times of his misfortune Old
forms were still about, and the clubs
tecmcd with familiar faces but now,
every window was white with waving
handkerchiefs-every roof crowded-eve-
ry lamp post frcighted with its due bur-
den of curiosity-every footpath lined
with solid rows of human beings and
the whole heart of England seemed to
throb with the sympathetic shout which
followed the imperial cortege through 4
that CITY in which Napoleon was once
an exile and pretendOr.
Such are the vicissitudes of human
fortune and happy is he who, neither
in sunshine nor in cloud, forgeta the al
tentative which may await him. That
Louis Napoleon does not, ought to be
the earnest hope Of all those who wish