The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1859-08-03
THE Ex.KING JEROME BoNApARTE.

1 Ii has seldom fallen to the lot Of man 10
see such amazing yicissitudes OF fortune, af-
fectng himself and family, as has been wit
messed by the parsonage whose name heads
this article. The dreams Of romance have
been excelled by the actual realities Of his
Lille. He is the only surviving brother Of the
,llustrious Napoleon, and was born in 1884.
s6e that the sssas sao aa,oF'a a Ghs
running the mostremarkable career OF lwenIy
years that the world ever saw, terminated il
by his death, nearly forty years ago, upon
the rock Of ST. Helena, should have brother
now occupying high position in the French
Government.
OF all his family, he alone is permitted to
witness both their remarkable rise in pros.
perlty and fortune, and their subsequent tre-
mendous downfall, and their equally wonder
ful return to the height Of power and influ-
ence. His recollection goes back TO the
time when the Iamily Of Bonaparte was not
known beyond the range OF lew friends and
acgualntances, and when its members, in pri-
yate life, were compelled to struggle in OBJ
scurity with penury and misfortune. He can
rec0llect his mother, widow, with large
family Of children upon her hands, and when
/ il required stern conflict to obtain for them
the necessary means Of subsistence. He was
ia early manhood when the genius Of his bro
ther first burst upon the world, aud opened
to las relatives visions Of power and splend0r
that never, even in the widest flights Of i'm,
aginatian, had they previously entertained.
| lie saw his brothers and sisters placed. by
/ tie magic wand Of Napoleon, upon nearly
all ;he thrones Of Europe, and decked with
diadrns and coronets.
For the first time in the history Of Europe
was the extraordinary spectacle observed Of
family Of private citizens parcelllng thrones
and crowns among themselves, as il they had
/ been the merest baubles. Jerome was about
! thirty.bne years old when the dark clouds
nf misfortune and disaster gathered black and
heavy over the fortunes ii his family, and
when the storm came that swept them irhm
their height Of grandeur and glory. into the
depth OF humiliation and debasenent. lie
saw the star Of the BonaparIe destiny, so Of
ten apOstrophzed by Napoleon, sink beneath
the clouds apparently never to rise again.
! For nearly forty years the blackness Of night
enrelUpeI it. Not one Of the original FAM.
j. saw this long night to close, save Jerome
a., before II again emerged from the ppliti-
cal horizon, they we're all deceased. Jerome
has had the remarkable felicity to see the
fortunes Of the family re.estabished under
new Nspoleonic dynasty.
One of the rhiefs Of TIE old empire, he holds
similar position in the new. lie directs
the counsFls Of The Regent Empress Eugenie,
as hc had previously done those Of Maria
Louisa. A great historical mnn6ment of ths
past is this old King Jerome. who personally
mas witnessed the most remarkable family
history that the world has ever seen. II !.
not yet finished. he has not yet attained the
most extreme old age. and il is possible that
lie may zee events affecting lis family quite
as startling and remarkable as those which
have hitherto characterized its career.
Cincinnati Enquirer.