Middletown transcript., 1869-05-15

for the coronation were going on NAL
maison had become useless to the man
who had made himself master of so many
fine palaces, and he decided to quit it as soon
as the above mentioned preparations were
complete. The French say that from the
moment he left the old chateau his star of
glory began to go down. The next thing
after quitting Malmaison was to abandon
her who had been his faithful companion
there; and soon came to her the news of
her reputation. She was at the grand
ball given in Napoleon's honor at the Ho-
tel-deVille a few days before her divorce,
and there she burst into tears, and left the
festivities for Malmaison.
There she lived, dispensing charity to
all around /; and it is said to this day, that
even after her divorce, the peasants used
to cry out 'Long live the Empress,
when she passed by. Instead of the fops
and fools that she had once gathered around
her, she now had artists and poets and
the chateau was adorned with the rarcst
sculptures and paintings of many nations.
When Napoleon's power was broken, her
life seemed to be broken with it; for even
when she was attending festival she was
taken suddenly i'll, and died at Malmaison.
On the 26th of May, 1914, the chateau
was hung in black, and three days after,
Josephine's funeral took place in the old
church in the neighboring town of Rueil.
Hardly year had passed before Napoleon
found his way back to Malmaison. The
battle of Waterloo was over; and, on the
23d of June, 1915, the Emperor and what
was left of his guard rode up the avenue,
and the little man was sat home" once
more.
He found there Josephine's daughter,
Hortense the mother of Napoleon III
| and was received with the warmest hospi-
tality. Two days afterwards, Blucher's
soldiers entered it; and not finding Ma
poleon, they desolated the old chateau and
grounds, broke the statues and burned the
most valuable paintings, and for years af-
ter Malmaison was deserted At last the
Queen of Spain restored the old chateau,
rebuilt the gardens, and all was done as
nearly as possible on the old plan, in mcm-
ory of a man whose name had become
world famous.
The beautiful and indcfatigablc Empress
Eugene has superintended all the work of
re-creating the home of the first French
Caesar, and of collecting the souvenirs of
Josephine. To walk through the rooms
of this ancient chateau, in 1867, was an
epltome of the most marvellous epoch of
French history. 1t was the desire of the
Empress to have the house and grounds
free to all that year. They have not been
open before, and will not be again, for ma
ny years. The country all around it is
beautiful. Going thither from Paris, the
railway runs through the gardens of AS
nieres, past antique Nanterre, where Saint
Genevieye, the patron saint of Paris, was
born in the 9th century, and where cath
edral, 600 years Of age, lifts up its crumb-
ling spire, and to Rueil quaint village,
where stands the church in which Joseph
inc was buried, and from whence one
walks down long avenue to Malmaison.
The guard shouts La Malmaison, !" and
you wander up long path, hedged by TO-
llage which must have grown since Napo-
Icons time; then you turn to the right, |
and go up graveled walk to light stone
building, whose exterior cannot be so |
pretty as the old chateau is said to have been.
Looking out beyond, on fine hill some
miles distant, you see Marty and its ruin
ed aqueduct, which old Louis Fourteenth
built to carry water to his Versailles foun-
tains, and over beyond the hill lie the ru-
ins of the palace, where the old King re-
tired when he was used up with the world,
and the world was used up for him.
The home of the lovely Josephine has
been restored as nearly as possible as it
used to be. The entrance hall is a pretty
room, paved, like all the other rooms ON
the lower floor, in black and white marble
diamonds. The fruit room is the dining
hall, where Barras used to gorge himself,
and where, afterwards, Napoleon used to
sit down, eating in hurry to get back in
the library. The next room, which brings
a torrent of recollections, is the council
room, so called because the Emperor al
ways met his generals there. The furni-
ture is now all newly decorated in red and
gold, but is the same, with the exception
of the covering. The writing-table, how
ever, has been respected and the old
cloth, faded, and with Napoleon's ink
scratcher on it, is left. The ceiling is pan
eled in wonderful blue and white. One
comes next to the library, which looks out
upon the garden, and from one window of
which rustic bridge leads to the pleasant
shaded walks. A handsome bronze stat
uette of the Emperor tracing on the map
of Europe with pair of compasses stands
on the old writing and elegant mod
els Of well-known Roman antiquities are
placed here and there in glass cases.
The library cases are all in walnut and
green. One peculiar feature is the great
number of mirrors in the library On the
other side of the entrance-hall is the bill
liard-room, with its oldfashioned table and
gigantic cues; and here are placed fine
busts of Josephine and Napoleon.
Then, passing through small ante
one arrives at the parlor, all in
yellow and gold. Near one of the win
1ows stands an embroidery frame, with an