Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1870-09-20
Charles Louis Napoleon, of Strasburg, Bou-
logne, Ham, ths Tuilleries and Magde-

The career of Louis Napoleon is one scarcely
paralleled in history for its varied fortunes and
the wonderful crimes which it has touched
Born In 1903 in the midst of the changing
scenes of the first Empire his very childhood
was life of excitement. His mother, Hor-
tense, after the abdication of King Louis, resi-
ded in Paris as Queen Regent of Holland, and
here Louis Napoleon proved to be the favorite
nephew OF his great uncle, and was among the
last to take leave Of him at Malmaison Hor-
tense, banished from France, made Augsburg
her residence for time, and afterwards re-
moved to Switzerland Her winters, however,
were spent in Italy, and the education of her
sons became thus desutory and interrupted, ~
Louis, while in Italy was deeply concerned with
the secret revolutionary societies of that coun-
try, and with difficulty escaped the conse-
quences of the abortive attempt of 1881. n,
In that year his elder brother died as also
the Duke of Reichstadt and henceforward
Louis was the heir to the Emperor Napoleon
In 1882 he published various works on politics,
and Swiss history, and on the science of artil-
lery. The studies which consumed his time
had however never stifed his ambition. In
1886 took place his well remembered attempt
against the government of France, in which his
first step was to be recognized and joined by
the garrison Of Strasburg.
lowed by his banishment to the United States
but he was soon obliged to seek refuge in Eng
land In 1887 he returned to Switzerland, and
in 1889 published his 'Idees Napoleennes, a
work which has been highly praised and which
is devoted to the Napoeonic policy.
In 1910 he made his celebrated descent on
Boulogne, which brought upon him a weight
of contemptuous ridicule, that only his long
imprisonment at Ham could have caused the
world to forget. E3s.fi l..ro.s 81
In his prison life he devoted himself again
to Literature and published his Historic Frag-
ments, an Analysis of,the Sugar Question, and
the Extinction of Pauperism, in all of them
avowing liberal and even communistic views.
In 1916 he made his escape from Ham and
retired to England al aeEtgs71a1 a IL
After the revolution of 164S he was elected
n four different Departments a member of the
National Assembly, resigned his seat, and was
Immediately reelected, and in December of
that year was elected by great majority Pres
ident of the Republic of the French
By the French constitution his term was to
expire in the spring of 1852, but on End De-
cember, 1851, by his authority, seventy odd of
the most prominent citizens of Paris were ar
rested before daybreak, the Assembly was forci-
bly dissolved and 220 of its members arrested
Ga the afternoon of the same day, the troops
with which Paris had been filled began to fire
on the people, and carnage took place which
stands alone in its horror among the events of
modern times. Apologists of the Empire
reckon the number of unarmed men, women
and children thus murdered a, 3S4, and un-
biased historians place itas high as 5000; while
within the next month 26,5 500 persons were
transported for political causes to Cayenne and
Africa where more than half of them perished.
In our estimates of Louis Napoleon this
enormous, this almost unheard of crime, should
never be forgotten.
With the history of the Empire, men are
familiar at least in its outline.
The Government of Napoleon preserved or
der and enforced a material prosperity and
progress hitherto unknown in France Roads,
railways, telegraphs, canals, factories. began to
abound in France, while Paris turned from
brick to stone. - faF
Napoleon himself became the great power of
Europe and we all remember how that power
grew through the campaigns Of the Crimea and
of Solferino how it waned as Macmillan fell
in Mexico, Benedek lost the field of Sadowa,
and Luxemburg proved beyond Napoleon $
grasp; and the cable has flashed the news to
us that in August the Empire tottered at Grave
lotte and in September fell in the dust of Sc
dan. ,a58a8 aEs sa la 5s..ar h.l-a is.e
To gauge rightly the character of Napoleon
| and the good and evil he has brought to
France the time is not yet ripe. We can only
behold with amazement the wonderful changes
of his career and observe how in the same man
have been united unwearying patience and the
rashness of the fool flial DEVOTION unsur-
passed and callous Indifference to human pain
worthy of Nero; the dreams of an enthusiast
with the GOODNESS of man of action; the shifts
and evasions of an adventurer followed by
eighteen years of Imperial Glory Petersburg
Indec.