The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1869-02-24

I d.
long, firm-set nose which indicates
strength of char cter; and there is. in
her countenance an expression of ser
! entity, high breeding, and self-control
which marks the superior woman, =
I In her thirty-fitth year, her husband
was seized with a disease hereditary
/ in his family - cancer in his stomach,
j of which Napoleon himself died - He
4 went to France for medical aid, land
proceeded as iar as Montpelier, near
the where his sou, Napoleon was pur-
suing his military studies. Napoleon
was summoned from the military
school to his fathers dying bed, and
arrived just after he had breathed his
! last. sat1 Er 4. : VI
The Bonaparte family was not rich;
but their little income was so reful-
] ly administered by the young mother
that it sufficed for their wants. Joseph,
the eldest of her children, was nearly
eighteen when she lost her husband.
| Napoleon was sixteen, Lucien and
Eliza were old enough to go to school
in France /; but her four youngest
children were still at home ''i
Almost all the life of Madame Bo-
naparte was a storm When the
French Revolution was raging, the
people of Corsica, instigated by the
venerable Paoli, declared against the
republic of Robespierre /; and Ajaccio
was the only town on the island which
refused to lower the French colors
The Bonapartes sided with the repub-
lie. When Paoli and his follorers
marched on Ajaccio, the elder sons of
the family were absent nm the is
land but the mother pa "a herself
equal to the occasion Reused from
er slumbers at midnight, she found
her room filed with armed men from
the mountains of Corsica, who had
! come TO warm her OF the approach of
the patriot army, and to convey her
to the mountains.
MAKE haste, Signora Letizia," ex-
claimed the chief OF the hand; "Paoli's
men are close on US. There is not a
moment 10 lose; but here l am with
my men; wezwill save you or perish"
The mother and her children rose
from their beds, and were soon on the
march. BY day break they had reach
ed place of safety in the mountains,
which commando d view of the ocean
and of the city they had left In the
course of the day smoke was seen ris-
ing in dense columns>from the town
1T is your house that is on fire."
said one Of the mountaineers to Mad
anne Bonaparte.
"Ah, never mind" she gaily repli-
ed 1--WE will build it up again much
better .TiUu Ia Francs!"
From mountain height, two days
after, a French frigate was deserted;
and the Bonaparts hastened to the
shore and went on board of her,
where, to their inexpressible relief,
they found Joseph and Napoleon. The
irigate changed her course, and land
ed the family of exiles at Marseilles,
destitute of resources, but rich in
health and in the indomitable courage
of the mother. Joseph and Napoleon
had only the pay oflieutenants, which
WAS barely sufficient for their own
support, and the exlles were so poor
that they were glad to receive the ra-
tons OF bread distributed by the city
government to the Corsican refugees.
The Able Fesch, the brother of lad
anne Bonaparte, whom Napoleon af
terwards male a Cardinal, had accom-
panied the family from Corsica. AS
no people were so abhorred by the Re-
pubicans as priests, the abbe was
compelled to conceal his priestly garb,
and to earn his livelihood as keeper
OF military stores. Such wes the con-
dition, in 1913, of a family which, six
yea later. gave a chief to France.
Even then, while Madame Bonaparte
was receiving aims from the corpora
ton of NJ rseilles, Napoleon was at
L oulon, where he gave the first proofs
of his military genius, and where he
performed the deeds which led to his
promotion.
When Napoleon was appointed to
command the army OF Italy, he assign
ed to his mother portion of his pay,
sufficient for her decent maintenance,
and thus raised her at once frora in
digence to dignity and comfort. Soon
after this, she removed, with her little
children, to Paris; and there she was
residing, in the family of her son,
Joseph, when Napoleon seized the
supreme authority.
Her bearing on that decisive day,
which she knew must either bring her
son to the scaffold or raise him to
throne, has been described by lady
who was with her during the critical
hours :-''She appeared calm, though
far from easy; for her extreme pale
ness, and the convulsive movements
she made whenever an unexpected
noise met her ear, gave her features a
CHASTITY air. In these. moments she
appeared to me truely like the mother
of tho GraGvhi. She had three sons
undor the stroke of fate, one of whom
would probably receive the blow even
i: the others escaped. This. she felt
most forcibly. My mother and my
self remained with her part of that
tantalizing day, and only left her on
the restoration OF her confidence by
Lucien's messengers, who were tre-
quently sent to calm her disquiet."
For our part, we do not believe
that this strong and far-seeing woman
ever fully believed IN. the fortunes of
her brilliant son. When, Napoleon
was crowned Emperor, he settled upon
her an, income of so, ,00oE a year, as
signed her a shmptuons palace in Par
is, gave ceperate court, and bestow-
aa,J ,,,>o,, I,o. tha t;tlo NJ A. - q