Oregon Republican. [volume] (Dallas, Or.) 1870-1872, 1871-04-29
. NEsCIT REV lsRTI.o
TFrom the Christian Weekiy.l


We heard during the progress of the
late dreadful war, that the beautiful
chateau of MaImaison was DESTROYED in
the course of the bombardments of the
forts. We shall soon learn how far The
ruin has extended 1t would be a mat.
ter of sincere regret to lose the many
interesting mementoes of Josephine,
which the enthusiasm of the Empress
Eugene had preserved there. gathering
them from every place.
In one room was the harp she used to
play upon, an ancient instrument, with
the book of music living beside it, bear
ing the old Paris imprint of the last
century. Alas, how silent now are the
fingers that once swept over the strings
Then in another room, the main apart
ment, exquisitely furnished, with paint
inss in the panels of fresco, aud mantels
set with jewels, we could ses the very
tambour frame, with the canvass still
stretched upon it, and the embroidery
pattern, half finished, just as Josephine
left il when her last sickness came sud
denly on 4 little stand, arranged with
pouches, held the balls of faded worsted
from which she chose the colors as she
needed them.
Overhead we entered the chamber,
hung now, us formerly, with crimson
and gold, that was reserved Tor her
slumbers and there was the bed on
which she died. 4 small painting upon
an easel close by, eommemorated aud
depicted the scene of Napoleon's final
visit TO tho mansion. 1t showed him
kneel;ng beside the couch, his face
buried in his hands, while Hortense
stood behind him in tears. Perhaps, in
the hour Of his dcsolation, The great
warrior remembered deeply his folly in
putting away from his heart the best
and trnest friend he ever bad The
= huudrcd days" were over. and he was
a fugitive again. From Waterloo, he
hurried tp Malmaison. lie spent there
his last night in France.
Out in the grounds among The fow>
ers, there now stands little bronze
monument with the inscription, $ The
last step of the emperor II was plant
ell on the spot where his foot touched
last as he sprang into the carriage
hich bore him to the sea shore Sam.
Helena came next.
But that which used to impress us
all, the most, was simple article in n
small room which Napoleon made his
cabinet and library That apartment
is decorated in the Pompciian style, and
is proof of the delicate taste of jose
phine, who prepared it for surprise to
her husband on his return from Egypt
to be the first consul There was the
chair in which he was wont to sit as he
planned the vast campaigns on the con-
tinent. There are his charts, and maps,
aud books Of reference.
But on the table near the window
stands curious clock IL marks the
hours. the seasons, and tho changes oI
the moon, The machinery is compli-
Gated, and just over the hands, for eau
tion's sake. suppose the maker pat
the Latin direction, Ncscit Reverti-it
does not know how to go backward.
Cheerfully, accurately even yet, the
little timepicce ticks on just as ever,
unconscious that il once marked the
minutes of monarch. 1t does not know
how to go backwards. Time is ircx-
orabIe And the commonplace warning
y.Pt kaS ak, al la Gal a..
dent of history. lost in the deeper sug
gestion it bears.
Josephine lies in her quiet tomb al
Rueil close by. Hortcnse is buried in
the crypt beneath it. The emperor.
body is covered with the conspicuou.
dome the enemies of his empire have
just been trying to shatter. And quite
possibly Malmaison---evil house in tho
French languagc-lies heap Of ruins
to-day.
What fine thing it might have beer
for the old emperor, il that night at the
silent chateau, only few hours before
he set foot on the Belierophon, he coulc
have made the remembered study CLOCK
60 backwards! A few mis>step re.
traced, and that q last step" might no
have been the final one in France.
What fine thing it might have beer
at Sedan for this later emperor, if h,
could only have got the time-pieces al
to turn their busy hands the other way
until he saw the July day back again
when that fatal declaration af war wa
made, and the wild cry-To Berlin
was raised at Paris All me do yor
think be would do that thing now.
the clocks would help him get tn
chance back in his sceptreless hands !?
Might have been say it over an
over:
or all the words, by tongue or pen.
The saddest are these--it might have been
Why will not wicked men learn th
lesson! Decisions made by free>wille
creatures are irrevocable Delibcrat