The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1873-03-21

Emperors career to show that, Whll
he was not warlike in his tastes, bI
rather indolent and fond Of quit
times, ne was physically bray
man. On one occasion, when b
was about twenty-onc, he was visit
| ing the Grand-Duchess of Baden
with his mother Hortense, at Man
helm, on the Rhine; and walking, OF
bitter winters day, along the rivel
bank with his fair young cousins
the Grand-Duchess' daughters, anC
was engaged in a discussion viii
them as to the decline of chivalry
The Princess Mary had been urging
that there were no knights nowadays
devoted to their ladies fair, as thert
had once been, when suddenly {
gust of wind blew a flower which
adorned her hair into the Rhine.
There" the young girl exclaim
ed, "what a chance that would be
for an olden knightr'
'That is a challenge l dare moi
refuse" responded Louis Napoleon
and, without further words, he plum
ed into the icy-cold stream, and will
difficulty swan to the flower, return
ing with it in triumph to the shore
The river was rapid and boisterous
and the venture was dangerous; nc
coward, however gallant, would have
thus ventured in it.
On the morning of the opening oi
the great Paris Exhibition of 1867
I was standing in one ofthe corridors
of the vast circular building, where
some of the choice sculptural con-
tributions were arranged, when the
Emperor, with the Empress on his
arm, and attended by a brilliant
suite, passed through in performance
of the ceremony of the formal open
ing The contrast between the Ma
poleon of 1868 and the Napoleon Of
1867 was very striking. He was
heavier in face and body, and more
wrinkled, and much more gray; his
hair had thinned and grizzled on his
forehead; his imperial, worn on the
chin, was almost white; his gait was
more slow; his expression that of a
worn and wearied man. There was
some reason why, on that day his
face should wear the pale and anx-
ious look 1t did. It was an occasion,
indeed, which illustrated and SYM
bolized the splendor and power
which he had reached; the beginning
of a festival which was to display
the soyereigns Of Europe, and mul-
titudes from every corner of the
earth, the Second Empire in it's
acme of glory. But he had left at
home, that morning, his only son
and hope, stretched in pain upon a
couch, and he knew that, atthe very
moment when he was passing
through the spacious halls of the
Exposition Palace, the little Prince
was undergoing q painful
and dangerous surgical operation.
Before leaving the Tuileries the
Emperor had gone to his bedside,
and taking his hand he said: "Lou-
is, mon fills, if it will comfort you, I
will remain with you"
The Prince replied earnestly that
he must not, that he should not be
absent from a ceremony to which
they had so eagerly looked forward.
81 will CO." said the Emperor,
him, "but my thoughts will
all be here with you"
There are many evidences that
despite his reputation for
stolidity and taciturnity, was a per
son of strong and deep affections.
He seems from earliest childhood to
have been devotedly attached to
those near him in relationship or
friendship. When he was four years
old, his imperial uncle was about to
depart en- his unfortunate campaign
Of 1872; the little nephew, hearing
Of it, rushed weeping to the Empe-
ror, and with sobs in his voice beg
yed him not to go, or, if he did, to
et him go with him. After Louis
had been led out of the cabinet, the
Emperor, turning to one who was
present, remarked: "My friend,
perhaps he is the hope of my race"
The affection between Queen HOr-
,ense and her son was most intimate
md tender throughout her life. She
devoted herself to his education,
md seemed more anxious that be
should learn to bear privation and
Jelf-dependence than enjoy the lux
lries or delights of a princely sta
ion. Once she asked her eldest son,
Who was seven, what he should do,
we're he deprived of friends and
to get on in the world.
81 would be soldier" was the
prompt reply, "and fight my way to
he rank of a captain"
"And you Louis, said the Queen,
turning to the younger, aged five,
what would you do for a living2"
"I would sell violet bequets," re-
iponded the future Emperor, Gas the
]oys do, from whom we purchase
hem every day at the Tuileries
yate."
When Napoleon, after the Stras
,ourg fasco, was banished to Amer
ca, he kept a journal on the voyage,
which, on landing, he promptly sent
% the ex-Queen in her retirement at
Arenberg, and scarcely slept until
le had indited a long and affection
tie letter to her, giving a minute &C
count of his attempt at Strasbourg,
is failure, and the proceedings Of
lis trial. Hortense soon afterWard
ell mortslly i'll, and her son hasten
ID across the Atlantic to her bed
tide; and the final scene Of her life
s described as having been very
touching in its exhibition of their
leep mutual affection. The utmost
confidence existed between them
rom first to last. With his elder
orother Napoleon Louis, who died
it Forli, of smallpox, in 1881, mis-
citations were equally intimate and
There seems never to
lave been the shadow of differ
,nce or of jealousy between them;
hey fought side by side in the Ro-
magma insurrection of 1881, and
louis Napoleon often afterward
jpoke with emotion OF the elders
excellent qualities.
The gossips of European courts
= II.