The penny press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1859-1860, 1859-11-25
The Talisman of Char,emagne,

In looking over that general repertory
ofall kinds of literary odds and ends,
"Notes and Queries" we happened upon
the following curious bit of information,
under the date of December 90 1S49:
MANY years back, Prince Louis Napo-
leon was said to be in possession of the
talisman of Charlemagne, small nut in
gold fligree development, found round
the neck Of Charlemagne, on the opening
Of his tomb, and given by the town oil
Aixe-la-Chapelle to Bonaparte, and by
him to his favorite Hortense, Queen Of
Holland, at whose death it descended to
her son, now president Of the French
Republic QS49)"
The legend of the talisman relates that
certain magic in the train Of the embass-
adors, sent by the magnificent Caliph
Haroun-al-Raschid to the Emperor of the
West, attached powerful charm to the
jewel in question, in virtue of which
Charlemagne entertained an extraordin-
ary affection for the person or thing in
possession of the jewel. His consort,
Estrada, and his Chancellor, the Arch
bishop of Mainz, successfully experienced
the efficacy of the charm, and by it capti-
waited the reverence and love Of the great
Emperor But the Chancellor got scru-
pulous about possessing a heather amulet,
and threw the talismanic jewel into a
lake in the neighborhood Of Mainz. The
regard of Charlemagne was Immediately
diverted from men to the country sur
rounding the lake. He built q magnif-
cent palace near the charmed waters, in
which he passed a portion of his latter
days, and where, too, he died.
The throes of death were long and VIC.
lent the imperial-minded spirit seemed
loath to part from the stalwart frame of
the great Charles. The Chancellor was
called to the bedside of the dying mon
arch, and soon guessed the reason of the
terrible agony. He caused the lake to be
dragged; the talisman was found and re-
stored to the Emperor, and then his soul
departed in peace. Charlemagne's grave
was opened by Ohio iii, in 997, the tails
saan was taken from the corpse and given
to the town corporated of Aixe-la- -Chapelle.
After the lapse of ages, it came into the
possession of the Bonapartes, the
founders of an imperial dynasty which
has alredy played as great figure in the
worlds history as that ofthe first Emperor
ofthe West
Somuch for the legand. The Illustrated
London News, Of March s, lS45, con-
taius representation of the talisman and
the following description :-"This curious
object ofvirtue is described in the Partisan
journals as la plus belle relique de 7
Europe, and it has certainly created con-
siderable interest in the archaeological
and religious circles of the continent.
The talisman is of fine gold, of round
form, as our illustration shows, set with
gems, and in the centre are two rough
sapphires, and a portion of the Holy Cross
1t is at present the property of Prince
Louis Napoleon"
This was written in lS45, when, if we
mistake not, the nephew of his uncle was
a prisoner in the fortress Of Ham, when
few could have con- jectured the revolutions
Of is and '49, and the coup d etat of so.
lthas been said, and not without reason,
that the first Napoleon was fatalist and
if the thousand and one anecdotes con-
cerning the third Nopoleon, now flying
round the world on the wings of rumor,
be true, we would be inclined to class
him in the same category. Whether he
has now the talisman Of Charlemagne,
and puts faith I'M it, are facts of which we
have no certainty and for which we care
little.