The tri-weekly standard., 1866-09-15

peror of the French, which has perhaps
= saved Austria from total humiliation,
, there is reason to believe that the desire
of France to possess tile ashes of the
: young Prince, who was for few hours
Napoleon I'LL, has been acceded to by
the Emperor Francis Joseph, and that
the mortal remains ofthe King of Rome
will soon be placed beneath the dome
of the Invalides, side by side with those
of his illustrious father. Thus the great
Napoleon and his son, separated by
destiny in life, will at last be united in
death. Both died in the land of exile,
and neither will have found repose up
on the soil of France until after many
years. sleep far from her shores-one
upon rock-bound island in a distant
ocean, and the other in the funeral vault
of an Austrian palace.
Little is generally known in America
of the last years of Napoleon H., and
the present moment seems opportune to
give sketch of his brief and melan-
choly career.
Joseph Charles Francis Napoleon,
King of Rome, Duke of Reichstadt, was
born in Paris on the 3Oth of March,
1911. All the good fairies seemed to
have assembled around the cradle, and
all appeared to predict for him honors,
riches, and power not one intimated
doubt of his future grandeur and lus-
tire Yet, despite the happy presages
which accompanied his birth, scarcely
three years after he came into the
world as the heir Of Napoleon, the
young Prince left France on the I'd of
May, 1914, never to return during life.
On arriving in the dominions of his
grandfather, the Emperor of Austria,
his title was suppressed, the name he
bore was prescribed, every fact in his
tory which recalled the glory of his
father and the humiliation Of his ene-
mics was carefully concealed from the
child's knowledge, and at seven years
of age the son of Napoleon became the
Duke of Reichstadt.
An imperial decree, promulgated Ju-
ly %, 1918 (the 22d of July was also
the date of his death,) conferred upon
him the title of an Austrian Duke, fixed
his rank at the Court of Vienna, the
arms he was to bear, the honors to
which he was to be entitled, and the
position he was to occupy as a member
of the imperial family of Austria. No
trace of Napoleon was left, and the
name itself was formally suppressed by
the decree.
Afterwards, when he grew up and
learned what hero was his father, he
suddenly awoke as from long slum-
ber When he read in secret the story
of Napoleon's immortal campaigns,
and comprehended the glory and pow
er to which the genius of his father had
attained, it seemed 10 him that he had
all at once entered another world, illu-
minated by the history of gigantic ex-
ploits.
Then despite those who surrounded
him despite the incessant watch kept
over him, he determined to know ALL
He obtained and eagerly devoured
every work in which Napoleon's name
was mentioned, and finally, when he re-
allied how great his father had been,
what humiliations had been heaped up
on him, how he had died a tortured pris-
oner, the young Prince was filled
with an immense hatred of those
who had accomplished the banished
soldiers long martyrdom. His indigna-
tion was also excited against the decree
which deprived him of the name which he
justly regarded as the most glorious of
those he bore, and he Immediately and
resolutely signifed his intention to be
called. IN apoleon. Like his father, he was
fond of the profession of arms, but his
tall thin body could not withstand the
arduous exercises to which he attempt
ed to school himself. Appointed Col
onel of the Gustavus Vassa Regiment,
he assumed the active command, took
part in every fatiguing ceremony, in
all weather, and no matter how ill he
was, or how much his physicians re-
monstrated. His dreams were of glo-
ry. He studied the art of war in the
numberless descri ptions of his fathers
battles, either reading them or indu-
cling others to recount them to him, with
the map of Europe before his eyes.
He would never consent to lie down
except when his feebleness absolutely
forced him TO do so. He well knew that
he must soon die, but he had only one
regret in leaving the world ,and that was
to have done so little to prove himself
worthy to bear the name of Napoleon.
remember having often seen in Amer
ica an engraving representing him
grasping his fathers sword and lament
ing his powerlessness to grasp the wea-
pom which had so long "made all Eu-
rope tremble." The phrase attributed
to him may be apocryphal, as regards
Giie SGIlCG leGGoI VI Gile eApIcSSlOu, uuG
that such were in reality his feelings
cannot be doubted for an instant.
His mother-a woman whose heart
seemed insensible to any ennobling emo
tion, and who had not the dignity to
remain the widow of Napoleon-wept
at his beside when the fatal moment
drew near.
Mother! mothern' he whispered, 81
am dying !'
1t was the 22d of July, 1882, and
these were the last words of Napoleon
II, expiring in murmur upon his lips,
with his last breath. Thus died the son
of the Great Captain, at the age of 21
years. Six days after his death, on the
2sth, a post mortem examination of the
remains was made at Schonbrunn. The
following is an extract ofthe medical re-
port:
"The body completely ernaciated :;
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