The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1869-06-19
NApOLEON,s BTRTf1pLACE.

World, the birthplace Of Napolean l:
Ajaccio would not be accounted much
except for its bay and healthy situation,
were it not the birthplace Of the most re-.
markablc man Of the past thousand years.
1t has fine gallery of paintings, but
that is gift Of one of the Napoleonic
connections, Cardinal Fosch. 1t has a
beautiful marble chapel, but that is u
mausoleum of the Napoleon Family. 1t
has an old Cathedral, where Madame Lc-
tltia was accustomed to take young Bona.
parte to mass. 1t has some fine villas.
but chief among them, which we visited,
was that of the Countess Bacciochi, (still
Bonaparte) which that lady, just dead,
has left to the young Prince Imperial.
All the streets bear Napoleonic names
All the cafes also are named after .Jcr-
ONE or some others of the family. But
chief among the souvenirs Of tho great
family is the house where Napoleon was
born. 1t is situated next door TO hat.
ters. looked in upon the halter ut his
work looked through the grated win
dow of his shop, aud there, unconscious
! lux away at lis trade. The house wharc
tie prince Of earth frat drew breath is
next door to a lattcrs 1--WE shall ail
meet at the hattcr's," said the honiciy
proyerb. BC; let INC be more precise
Passing up narrow street, in the
heart Of the town, you como upon the
| Place Lelitia then upon a little oren
place, ornamcuted with shrubs aud now.
ers. This plot was opened by the mother
Of Napoleon by tearing down house in
front of her own. She used the house
on one side Of the plot as stable AMI
coach house. Ny halter is opposite
The woman who showed us the premises
was formerly waiter woman OF Caroline
| Murat. She lives in the old house oppo-
site my halter, which IS neatly fitted NJ.
| Upon the front OF the Bonapagic mansion
there is au inscription, that within this
house Napoleon was born. The house il
large-sour storics-stonc, evidently one
Of the best Of It's day. l. "a hardly c%.
ccllcd even yet IN Aiaecio. II sho%s
tia, the family were "woli TO DO" in The
world. In fact, Madame Leti,ia' family
| (the Ri.piolinis) were rich. aud had many
estates upon the island When she died
she bequeath@l most Of her furniture TO
members Of her family. Tho present
Emperor has collected most Of the ar,i.
elcs AMI replaced them IN the house Our
conda aetrc.s told Us whose rooia this and
that was. The second floor was the Mad
anc's bed chamber. dining room, suloons,
E.xe.-quife commodious. the Foonl ahgvr
it was devoted TO tie sons. Iicre was
NaooleoJ's s room and his bureau Yon-
der Joscph's! there Jerouic's The
floor above that for the boys was occu-
pied By the daughters There was very
-...:i! 80! ::cr..ca ic"G:3g out from the Tecep
tion room. with lowcrs in no.s,-all IN
bloom. This reception rom contained
five little square mirrors, as high as your
head running down each side; and three
other mirrors near them, and one grand
mirror at either end OF the room. The
Napoleons were we'll provided with look
ing glasses. We cannot say as much of
any Of the other houses we have
seen. What effect these mirrors had up
on the young Napoleon, We will leave,
with other reflections, TO the reader.
Two brackets for wax tapcrs, hung be.
low each little mirror The ceiling was
ribbed. 1t had been newly plastercd,
with some effort at ircsco. The mothers
portrait, very finely executed, hung over
her dressing. table. II presents her as
splendid woman. The cabinets were in-
laid with every colored marble, and very
antique some rare objects sent by Ma
polcon from Egypt were seen. But the
chief attraction was the bed on which
Napoleon was born 1t was wooden,
rickety affair. Near by it was the sedan
chair of the Madame. 1t is well known
we'll, l will put it, politely, in French
that Madame Letitia surprise a Fe9ttse
par teI douleus dc FenJantmcnt ID Aout
I7G9, fut ropportcc 1t son domicilc i! In
this very sedan chair the mother Of the
great emperor was borne from sllc church,
and on this very couch the little corpor-
aP' first drew his breath. From this bed
to St Helena; from the Capitol to the
Tarpeian Rock FIJI up the gep-Ar-
coli, Austcrlitz, Waterloo! Here, 10 this
house, he passed his time, playing at sol.
diers with his fellows, and mourning be-
cause he had no moustache-till. at the
age Of fifteen, he entered the military
school at Brienne. Hc returned home
for vacations, and mixing his young am
bition with the daily rounds of boyhood
pleasure and walks, he, at tho same time,
Imbibed from the peculiar characteristics
Of the Corsicans their fcuds and feelings,
which his grand, gloomy aud marvellous
after life illustrated. Just above US
whore write-we are pointed out a grot-
to, made by the powders, are surrounded
with foliage and musical with birds, as
the favorite study spot Of the young Ma
poleon. The spot commands beautiful
view of the bay and the snow clad noun
tains around. From it can be seen, on
clear day, the island Of Sardinia. Gar
dens of oranges, from which We are per-
mitted TO pluck Mt pleasure. cover the
slopes near by. Hedges Of cactus-cactus
piled on cactus-the famous macchie,
SO sweetly scented the arbutus, the
myrtle, the olive, aud every kind Of color
Of tree and flower here grew in the air
Of winter 1t was within the circle Of
such influence of sun, sky, land and wa
ter, that the young Napoleon formed his
plans Of life. How many of them failed,
or how many of them were realized, we
can only guess. One thing remainst to be
said that in the hurly burly Of his ac-
tive career he never forgot Corsica. He
always intended to do moro for her than