The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1857-09-10
CATHERINE OF NUREMBERG.
ROYAL LIFE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

An act of graceful homage has recently been
paid to the memory Of Catherine of Wurtum.
berg, the second wife of Prince Jerome Bona
parte, and the mother of Prince Napoleon, who
has of late attracted so much attention in the
European world. The heart of the ex Queen
OF Westphalia, enclosed in an urn, has been de-
posted in the tomb of the Emperor Napoleon,
at the lnvalides. 1t is, as has been we'll OBJ
served In the Times, "the heart of a noble
woman, OF one whom no entreaties of her father,
the King OF Wurtemberg, could induce to sban-
don her husband in his days of adversely, and
who chung to him in evil report and good re-
port to the hour of her death" The circum-
stances of her life are so full of deep and touch
ing interest, that we trust our readers will not
unwillingly follow US in some passages of her
changeful and eventful career.
AT the commencement of the present centu-
~, the ancient palace at Stuttgart was the
peaceful and happy abode of the ducal family
of Wurtemberg, whose position, although high
enough to secure for them the homage and re-
spect which is due to the princely houses of
Europe, yet seemed not lofty enough to expose
them to the political dangers so often entaied
on the more elevated and ambitious potentates
of Christendom. The great social revolution,
however, which had shaken continental Europe
to its very foundations, came to disturb the tran
quill happiness of the Wurtemberg family. Ma.
poleon the Great, now seated firmly upon the
Imperial throne of France, resolved that crown
should also encircle each of his brothers brows.
The throne of Holland had been bestowed upon
Lucien Bonaparte; Joseph was the King of
Spain; and new kingdom-that of Westpha-
lis-was about to be formed for Jerome.
There was, however, one serious obstacle in
the way of this latter arrangement: Jerome
had, in defiance of his brothers wishes, welded
himself to an American lady, who had recently
presented him with q son. Napoleon was seri-
ously displeased at this union, and refused to
acknowledge its validity. Jerome, warmly at
tached to his wife, came over to Europe, and,
throwing himself at the Emperor's feet, be-
sought his pardon, and earnestly entreatcd him
to receive his spouse as member of the Impe-
rial family. This request was made at an un-
toward moment; for Jerome's interview with
the Emperor took place at Milan in 1905, lust
after he had grasped the iron crown of the an.
cient Kings of Lombardy, bearing this proud
yet beautiful device:
Dio me la diede;
Guai ohe la tocca.
1t was at this proud moment of his life, that
Jerome asked him to receive plebeian sister
from Republican America. The request was
Indignantly refused. Jerome shed tears of pas
sionate affection as he embraced his wife's por-
trait, and swore never to give her up for any
paltry consideration of earthly grandeur. He,
however. lacked the 6rmness and resolution by
which the Bonsparte family were SO eminently
characterized; and, when the temptation of a
kingdom, with its power and its pomps, was
held out to his dazzled vision, he gradually be-
came less vehement in his denisls, and finally
yielded to the will of his imperious brother.
His wife was abandoned, his offspring dsown-
ed, and Jerome stood alone, weak and guilty
man, ready to sacrifice honor, affection, and
duty, upon the base altar of earthly ambition.
And now, who is to be his partner upon the
newly-erected throne of Westphalia2
Napoleon turned his glance toward Wurtem-
berg, which had recently been raised to the
dignity of kingdom, and whose sovereign was
now degraded into satellite ofImperial France.
The Princess Royal had just completed her
twentieth year. Fair in person, and amiable
in disposition, this youthful Princess possessed,
nevertheless, far more 6rmness than her royal