The New York herald., 1862-11-24
TAe n~press nugsaae.

The French are renaatic. 81, spits u tAer
levity and carelessness, . supershtioss people.
They attribute great and important events to
causes all more or less 6nged With romantic
interest Thus there arc but few Fronchmea
who will not gravely tell you that the srst Ma
poleon's misfortunes began with ha divorce Of
Josephine She wAs Q handsome woman. and
from the fact chat abe was reputed kind and
amiable she obtained irn hold upon the Of
fectioas and respect Of the French people, who,
imbued beyond all other nations with . taste
for and due appreciation Of all that is beautiful
or grand, invested their handsome Enprcss with
the prestige and power of hsr imperial spouse.
aud admired her for her beauty. She reflected
credit upon the natioa they asserted, whom ct
tire&in' her imperial robes, she appeared upon
grand state occasions by the side Of her lord.
tho great Napoleon.
When she was thrust aside TO make room upon
the throne Of France for an Austrian princess,
s. chivalrous distaste Of sich proceeding per
vaded the French people, who saw in Josephine
e'martyr.. Reverses game +, Nppoleca, and the
people shook their heads and termed these mis-
fsrtlnes q Detsibutien- They pitied tho tallea
Empress, and had she possessed energy Of
. scheming disposition abe might easily haye
formed q powerful party in France Butsshe
was gentle and unassuming and quietly sub
sided The French people say she died Of q
broken heart, Ask any old soldier of the lirst
empire to relate his battles. For hours he
will recount the wonders Of those brilliant
campaigns, and be loud in his admiration and
praise Of tho Great Commander. To check this
outburst you have merely to speak of the EN-
press Josephine and her sad fate The CLEAN
in the old soldiers eye becomes at once dim
med. He no longer rejoices. He blaInes, and,
like all the French people, he will tell you that
from the hour Napoleon put away that gentle
woman his good genius deserted him.
All these things are we'll known to Napoleon
Ill. He will never divorce Eugcnic. He
espoused her with the intention of centering in
her-as his uncle had done in Josephine
pride and love Of the people. She was the
medium whereby all charities. all acts of grace,
were to flow. Napoleon Ill was severe, Eu-
genie goodness personifed She established
charitable institutions was prominently put
forth in all ceremonies of state was paraded,
was fecd was admired, until the object Of his
Majesty was gained and the power and infu-
ence of Eugenie fully recognized. When Ma
poleOn sailed forth to battle for Italian indie
pendence he left Eugene regente of the empire
When he returned victorious to his throne he
did not depose his Empress 1t was officially an
nounced that she would continue to attend
Cabinet meetings. that with her spouse she
regned in France. The zenith of her fame was
reached: the world rang with praises oi her
beauty and wisdom. She was not alone the
monarch Of Fashions realm: she was the FIN
press in deed as we'll rs in name Of the glorious
empire of France Eapoleons aspirations rs
regards her influence upon the French people
were more than realized.
At this epoch began the struggles OF the
clerical party against what they deemed the
threatened encroachments Of Napoleon upon
clerical rights and power. Events in Italy,
precipitated by the genius and good fortune Of
Garibald, caused the enmity of the clergy to
Napoleon to increase tenfold. Then began a
serious complication Of Napoleon's hitherto
victorious career. He gathered about him his
most reliable, most able followers, and deter
mined be would crush the ultramontane party.
He fought them valiant,y and at times it SEEM
cd as though bis success was assured. But by
degrees he ascertained that the French were
more religious people than he had given
them credit for, and, to add to his dis
comGture. he found that Eugene. the Em-
press. was heart aud soul With his enemies.
Naturally superstitious, and Inclined to be
moved by the pomp and solemnity of the Catho-
lie religion, she was fully under the influence
Of her confessor, and had become an ally
and defender Of the Pope. For q time Napoleon
heeded not even this abandonment. He con-
tinued his struggle With the ultramontane
party. But at last they found the means to
conquer him, aud through the aid Of Eugenie
they succeeded. They represented to her that
the downfall of tho Pope would be the signal
for the death Of her SON, her only child, the
Prince Imperial In this SON centres all Napo-
Icons pride and ambition to hsad down 10 bis
inheritance tho magnificent throne OF the great
empire Of France, 70 thus found bis dynasty.
Is Nspoleon's dream, his ell absorbing, heartfelt
DESIRE and when he heard that the life he 30
cherished was mcnaoed he succumbed, and the
Pope was saved. Napoleon has abandoned the
revolutionary party-hss divorced il instead Of
his Empress-and the result will doubtless be
disastrous to his hopes.
Eugene, under the influence Of religious zeal
has formed party, has established jour
nal. has come out openly for The Pope, and
sends the revenue which France voted her to
the treasury Of Plus TX. She goes still further.
To give the Pope money sbc has sold to the old
Duke Of Brunswick, the diamond monomaniac,
the jewels which Paris and the leading cities Of
France, Lyons, Bordeaux and Earseitles. pre-
sentcd to her Majesty upon her advent to the
throne. These Jewels were intended for the
Empress of Frapce-were, strictly speaking,
crown jewels and yet Eugene bias sold them