Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1873-12-25
NUMBER SO.
BONAPARTE PRINCES.
Luci~n Mnrat, and Joseph Bona part

l.ucien Mnrat, and Joseph Bonnparte.
Mannsel b. Fields "reminiscences OF
Men contains the following:
In the spring of the year 1913 I made
flying trip to Europe for tho benefit
of my health. We had q delightful
passage, to whish the aRreeableness4o |
my fellow-passengess largely contrib.
uted. One of the most pleasing and
entertaining of them was Prince Eucien
Murat, next to whom accidentally hap
pened to occupy a seat at table. He
was going to'France, to derive what
advantage he could from thexevolution
of the. previous February, L found
him most good humored, ~jovial com
panion, possessing :withal, a good deal
of a certain kind of wit and shrewdness.
He was extremely careless about his
person, a voracious feeder, and the
most formidable-snorer1-rver met
Unfortunately for me, his. state-room
was exactly opposite mine, and, as he
always slept with the door open, / en-
joyed the full benefit of the terrible
noises he made in lis sleep. More than
once, after lying awake for hours,
used, in sheer desperation, to hurl my
boots at his berth, which rather forci.
bic protest he always took very ania.
bly,. His proportions were: already oil
the Daniel Lambert order, bu. they
increased considerably afte ward. The
last time I saw him was in the veal
1855, at Paris. He was then in full
uniform, and covered with orders and
the brilliancy Of his attire, united
to the prodigiousness of his person,
made him a sight to behold. What
changes his fortunes have undergone
To be elevated from q sort of New
Jersey squatter to be a member of the
Imperial family of France, with at one
time squint at the throne OF Naples,
again to sink to the position of an Off
shoot of an outcasr dynasty
The Prince used to wear upon his
head very cd dirty, and dllapidated
soft felt hat, which in its best estate
could hardly have been ornamental.
Apropos of this hat, he told me that,
before he left home, his wife, who re,
manned in this country to await events,
insisted that he should procure q
proper black hat as soon as he
reached town; that unless he would
promise to do so she declined to &C.
company him here and see him off:
That he told her he could not afford the
extravaganza, and, if she imposed so
unreasonable q condition; upon giving
him her company to New York, she
might stay in New jersey He bad
with him the famous white plume which
used to distinguish his father upon the
field of battle, or rather the whalebone
remains of IL, the feathers having long
ago fallen victims to time and the
moths. .,--..,.
He had acquired great and some.
what enviable reputation in New Jersey
SIS a horse Jockey. It was said that he
would start off from home for a jour
ney upon the back of q sorry RoslnaIte.
and return, after an absence of several
weeks, driving stylish pair Of horses
before an elegant carriage, the whole
being the result of series of success.
full ssOaa1s he possessed . great natu-
cal taste for mechanics, and, from his
Stevens, of Hoboken, the greatest
genius Of the age. 49,. il r"
j was very much amused with a con-
versation I had With him one afternoon
about his uncle, Joseph Bonsparte. I
we'll remembered the ex-King, for as q
child I had spent several years as a
boarler al" the school 81 the brothers
Peugnet, in New York, distinguished
officers of the Grand Army, at whose
house Joseph was a frequent Sunday
visitor. 1 will try to repeat what the
Prince said, Is nearly IS I can recollect
it, in his own words;
" my uncle Joseph was very estima-
BILE man, with one great weakness-his
excessive end ridiculous affectation of
philosophy and martyrdom. He had
been King of spain !; and yet he had
become resigned to live in obscurity in
q republic! He used to bore me to
death with his nonsense, until one day
lost my patience and almost my tenn
per. Il am weary of these absurd pre-
tentions, I said to him. You are not
half the philosopher I am Compare
for moment our respective fates. You
we're born a miserable Corsican peas
ant. You happened to have brother
who possessed more brains than are
frequently allotted to mankind. He
kIdSpcU luc SCCpGC1 VI VuO WOAAus SAu
elevated you to the rank of sovereign.
You had not a very quiet time Of it in
your exalted position, it is true, and
you were soon compelled to descend
from it. But you came to the ground
unharmed-withn not feather rnfied !;
and while your illustrious brother was
completing his destiny on . barren
rock in the midst Of, q distant ocean.
you retired in safety to this charming
place, where you are living like a
Observation-Disclosures the refine
ments of life, with the comfortable in
come of sixty Thousand collars per
annum. ], on the contrary, was born
on the steps of a throne. Ny father
was shot in Italy; I was condemned to
a like fate at Gibraltar; I escaped with
extreme difficulty, and with nothing but
my life: got to America, and have
ever since been poor New Jerseys far
.ner. =. And I take thugs as they come,
without even imagining that I have
cause for complaint. To say nothing
ofimartyrdom, I am hundred times
more q philosopher than you are"