The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1869-10-07

Warm hearted, bold, and gay;
They left my side-One wore the blue,
@ The other wore the grey.
Ono rodo with stonewall and his men,
: "a, Aud Joined his fste to Lee:
II Triumphant to the sea.
Both fought for what they deemed u
fl And died with sword in hand;
! And one In Georgia's sands
II The same sun shines upon their graves
My love unchanged must stay;
And so upon my bosom lies
The knot of blue and gray.
Napoleon's Courtship.
Il Miss Muhlbach's "Empress Jose
phinc,' published by Appleton & Co
N. Y, contains tho following tancifl
but interesting account of the cour,
ship of Napoleon and Josephine:
i Josephine was not alone whcl
Bonaparte was announced; and whcl
the servant named him she could no
repress AWKWARD fear, without know
| ing why she was afraid. Hcr friend
who noticed her ,tremor and blush
laughed jestingly at the timidity
which made her trcmble at the nam,
of the conqueror of Paris, and thi
was perhaps the reason why Jose
phlne received General Bonapartt
with less complacency than she gen
orally showed to her suitors.
| Amid the general silence of al
those present the young General (2t
years old) entered the drawing room
of the Viscountess Beauharnais and
this silence, however flattering i,
might bo to his pride, caused him q
slight embarrassment. He therefore
approached the beautiful widow with
| a certain abrupt and perplcxcd man.
ner, and spoke to her in that hasty
| and imperious tone which might be
como a general, but which dld not
seem appropriate in ladys saloon.
General Pichegru, who stood near
Josephine smiled aud even her ami
able countenancc was overspread with
a slight expression Of scorn as she fix
ed her beautiful eyes OH this pale thin
little man, whose long smooth halr
| fell in tangled disorder n either side
of his temple over his sallow. hollow
cheeks; whose whole sickly and
gloomy appearances bore SO little re-
semblance to the majestic figure of
the lion to which he had bccn so of
ten compared after his success cfthe
thirteenth Vandemairc.
III perceive, General" suddenly ex-
claimed Josephine, ''that yon are sor-
ry it was your duty to ell Paris once
more with blood and horror. You
would undoubtedly have preferred
not to be obliged to carry out the
bloody orders of the affrightcd Con
ventlon?"
"That is very possible" said he,
"But what can you expect, Madame? :?
We military men are but the autom-
atoms which the government sets in
motion according to its good pleas
ure; we know only how to obey; the
Sections, however, cannot but con-
gratulate themselves that | have
spared them so much.---Ncarly all
my cannons were loaded only with
powder. | wanted to give little
lesson to tho Parisians. The whole
affair was nothing but the impress of
my seal on France. Such sl1irmishes
are only the vespcrs of my fame. y
Josephine felt irritatcd, excited by
the coldncss with which Napoleon
spoke of the slaughter of that day;
and her eyes, otherwise SO full of gen
tleness, were now infamed with
flashes of anger.
"Oh," cried she, "if you must pur-
chase fame at such a price, l would
sooner you were one of tho victims"
Bonaparte looked at her with as
tonishmcnt, but as he perceived her
flushed check and flashing eyes, the
sight of her beauty ravished him, and
soft, pleasant smile suddenly illu-
minated his countonancc. He an
swercd her violent attack by a light
pleasantly, and with gladstone unaf-
fectedness he gave to the converse
ton another tnrr- The small, pale,
gloomy General was at once changad
into young, impassloned, amiable
cavdlier, whose countenance grew
underthc sparkling inte ligeace which
animated it, and whose enchanting
eloquence made his conversation at
tractive aud lively, carrying with it
the conviction of a superior mind.
After the visitors who had met
that morning in Josephine's drawing
| room had departed, the General still
remained, Notwithstanding the as
tonishcd and questioning looks of thc
Viscountess, paying no attention to
her remarks about tho fine weather.
or her intention to enjoya promcn'
ade.
With rapid steps and arms folded
behind his back, he paced few times
to aud fro the room; then standing
before Josephine, he fixed on her 9
searching look.
"NIadame," said he suddenly, witt
kind of rough tone, Il have aprop
osition to make; give me your hand
Be my wife ?"
| Josephine looked at him, half as
tonishcd, half irritated. as it ajok'
| YOU are induIging in p said she.
Il speak in all oarnestncss," aaic
Bonapartc, warmly. "Will you d,
me the honorof giving me your hand?'
| "Sir,'' said she, "who knows if
| might not be inclined to accept you
| distinguished offer, il, unfortunately
| fate stood not in the way Of you
wishes 2"
"Fate?7 said Bouaparte with ami
nation.
eyes, iatc, my GcneralH' rcpeatc,
josephine, smiling. "But let MS spcal
no more of this. 1t is enough, tina
fate torbids me to be tho wife Of Gen
eral Bonaparte. lean say no more
, for you would laugh at me-"
"But You would laugh at me is yo
could turn me away with so vague y
answer" cried Bonaparte, with V
! vacity. IL prey you explain tn
!, meaning Of your words"
o "Wcli, tnen, General, cannot b
p your wife, for am destined to b
Queen of France-yes, perhaps nor
than Qucenl"
1t was now Bonapartc's turn
8 appear astonishcd and nritated, an
t using her OWE words, he said, shru.
o giug his shoulders, Madame is it