The Nevada journal., 1859-12-16

- AOhSh 'OA ~ " HA~H NAAO -
cissitudes of life induce even the most
unreAscting so frequently to apply.
and which some witty writer of the
same nation; no less philosophical
than gallant; wishing to testify to
woman's inevitable influence in all
things great and small, has modified
into 'L'Aomme propose es la Jcmme dis
pose," is, perhaps, nowhere more for
chilly impressed upon the mind than
in the chequered careers of Napoleon
and Josephine. Familiar as every
one is with the lives Of these two per-
sonages, many, however, have never
thought of following Josephine thro'
her descendants, and are not prepar-
ed to acknowledge how much more
closely the Beauharnais are allied to
the royal families ofEurope than are
the Bonapartes. A few, probably,
might prove as incredulous, in the
absence of proof, as would have been
the Viscount Beauharnais had any one
revealed to him, the fate of his chill
dren and grandchildren, When. in
1874, he laid his head under Robes
pierre's relentless guillotine, and left
widow behind him destined to
fascinate and marry the rising Gem
eral of the Republic. Equally
surprised, too would the respec-
table planter of Martinique, Tas-
cher de la Pagerie; have been had
he been told, while attending to his
negroes on his far-away planta-
tion, that from his loins was to spring
race of emperors and empress
es. queens and viceroys, as pow
crful as any the world had ever
known; and that to this end two lit
tie islands. colonies of France-Cor-
sica and Martinique-were to con-
tribute.
After the treaty of Tilsit, Napoleon
occupied the 1oftiest position in the
civilized world. Enthroned amid the
spIendor of the most magnificent court
of Europe, he was virtually master of
an empire stretching over the entire
face of the continent, with the ex-
ceptioh Of Russia and Turkey, and
with those two powers he was on
terms of Cordial aliancs To himself,
as every schooiboy knows, he reserv~
ed the imperial throne Of France,
comprising the France Of the present
day, Belgium. Savoy, Piedmont, and
at one time the whole of Northern It.
ally and part Of Germany. On his
brothers and Sisters he conferred re-
spectively the diadems of Holland,
Naples, Spain, Westphalia and Tns-
cany whilst his step-son. Eugene
Beauharnais, he appointed viceroy of
Italy. Yet. with his unrivalled do
minion. he was discontented. As long
as he had no issue to transmit his
name to postefity he fancied his pow
er ill-secured. To consolidate his
throne. then, and to crafty the am
bilious yearnings of his heart, he
formed the project ofan alliance with
the imperial family of Austria. And
to accomplish this, he discarded Jo-
sephine-his long devoted and faith
full wife. She retired to Malmaison,
a powerless, weeping woman. a cast
off favoritc, without political friends
or influence. And he continued to
rule. the very emblem of power, all
Europe at his feet, millions of men
ready to carry out his lightest caprice,
and his throne apparently irmer than
Gibraltar. Who then would have
dreamed of the retribution that time
held in reserve
A few short years more and Napo-
leon lay chained to ST. Helena's rock.
and Josephine lay sleeping peacefully
beneath the spd. The rule of the
B"napartes was ever; the sceptres
of France, Belgium, Holland, Spin,
Italy and Westphalia had been trans.
ferred to hostile hands. The only
scion of the great man fallen. the
Duke de Reichstadt, c;-derant King
of Rome, roamed a virtual prisoner
in his grandfa;her's palace at Vienna
bearing in him the seeds of malady
to which he was early doomed to fail
a victim. The family name of the
ambitious Napoleon figured in none
of the courts of Europe.
The children of the discarded Jo-
sephine, on the other hand. were ris-
ing into power and forming alliances
with the proudest blood IN Europe
Her son Eugene. already allied to
Fthe royal house of Bavaria by his
marriage with Amelia, daughter of
the king, was living with bis father
in-law. under the title of Duke of
Leuchtenberg. His oldest son, Au-
gustus, married Donna Maria. Queen
Of Portugal, in 1885. His younger
son, Prince Macmillan. married in
1889 the daughter of the Emperor Nj
cholas of Russia, The eldest daugh-
ter Of Eugene Beauharnais. Joseph:
inc, m arried Oscar. afterwards King
of Sweden, son of Marshal Bernadotte
and successor to his father in 1884,
The second daughter, Engenie, mar
ried the Prince of Hohenzollern,Hec-
hingen-the HohenzolIerns, it will
be remembered, are the reigning
house of Prussia only the Prussian
monarchs are descended from a youn-
ger son of Rodolplius H., whilst the
Hohenzollefn-H Hechingens boast of