Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-02-06

3 /
and would have been described by that
Chifney-in the words once applied by
him to fellow Jockey, Tom Goodison
as weighing half a ton of lead a
piece" It was bad day for a young
horse, the scent being cold and the
checks frequent The hot and impetu-
ous chestnut bestridden by the future
Emperor of the French was tearing at
his bit in manner which suggested to
on-lookers that less desirable convey
ance across country could hardly be con-
ceived.
Just as the early evening began to
fall. the Emperor followed, or tried to
follow, a well known first flight man.
who was, we'll remember, a special OBJ
iect of admiration and emulation to |
young Oxford boys-over low rail, |
which had been stile, and was sunk in |
a hollow cavity of the ground. 1t was
lust the place for steady old hunter, |
as the f0otboard of the stile had disap- |
peared, and the stump upon which one
end of the plank had rested stood aWk-
wardly in the way of a horse about to
make his spring. The Emperor came |
much too fast at his fence, although the |
fault was not his own. With eyes
gazing starwards and nose thrust out,
the young chestnut galloped over the
stile-which he probably never saw
caught the top bar with his knees, and
discharged his rider headlong into the
next field "Who is hep" said hard
riding farmer to an employee of the well
known London horse dealer, Mr.. Til
bury, who was also steering a young
horse across the country, but with much
better hands than those of the fallen
horseman. ''Prince Napoleon, was the
prompt reply, ''and rare good plucked
'un into the bargain. He had seven
falls in one day from horse upon which
nv master mounted him and, if you
find horsefcsh, trust him for finding
nerve and spurs"
Many time in after life has the En-
peror laughed at the recollection of that
fall in the Vale of Aylesbury; nor did
he ever revert to his thick-cOming men,
cries of hunting in England, and of the
spirit of our English country life, with
out marked qualification, or without a
profound sigh of regret. ''There is
nothing comparable to the position of an
English nobleman or squire" he re-
marked some three years ago; ''all our
French limitations of your fox hunting
and your shooting parties are like salt
that has lost its SAVIOR Within a few
weeks of our first renCOntre in the Vale
of Aylesbury, / CHANGED to meet him,
and to make his acquaintance at the mess
table of the Second Life Guards. | told
him that had been a spectator OF his
rafting fall over the stile, and to the
feeling of good-fellowship towards my
self which this accident established in
| his mind I attribute much of the I'M
varying kindness which | have subse-
/ quently received at his hands. When
/ ever visited Paris-and at this moment
| it is impossible not to sigh as | remem-
| Der how often | have cOnversed with
| him at various stages of his eventful
| career-he was good enough to accord
| me an immediate interview. His first
/ allusiOn was generally to that ''ramping
| tearing chestnut as the late Jem Ma
/ son, who was out hunting upon the day
! Of which ! have spoken, termed the En-
! perOr's unsatisfactory mount-which
! made him acquainted, though by no
means for the first time, with the mud of
| the Vale. | have often watched the
| Emperor as he rode at the head OF his
! gorgeOuslY bediZened escort to review
! on the race ground at LOngchamps or in
| the Champ de Mars. He had never, to
my thinking. good hands, and, in order
! to look his best on horseback, he required
horse with a dull and hard mouth.
But surrounded by French cavalry of
| ficers, who are, without exception, the
| worst and most ungraceful hOrsemen |
| ever saw. he looked his part admirably
and, moreover. the effect he produced,
when in the saddle, upon bystanders on
| foot was that of big man. His legs
seemed those of man almost twice his
actual size.
/ never saw him in better spirits than
he was throughout the whole of the CTi-
mean war. He seemed to entertain no
anxiety about the result and the mis-
chances and disasters of the French
army during that famous winter upon
the plateau of Sebastopool, when Lord
| Russell spoke of the condition of the
English army as being horrible and
| heart-rendiug," were never permitted by
him to come to the knowledge of the
French nation Extracts from the Eng
lish journals about our starving, desti-
tutc and frOst-bitten troops were con-
stantly reproduced in French journals
and | remember his once saying that it
would be impossible for him to remain
for one month in the Tuileries if, like
the English Queen and government, he
had to do with an unmuZzled press.
THE French nation must be hidden in
spurs''-such was one of the ''Idees Ma
poleoniennes" upon which his finger
most frequently rested. 1t always seem
ed to me that, during the Crimean war,
his thoughts flew forward to the position
that he would occupy in England after
its triumphant close He was too self
contained to allow his qualification at
the reception accorded to him by the
English nation in 1866 to find expression
in words; but | have never doubted that
the moment when Her Majesty received
him as her guest and brother, and he
took his place as Knight of the Garter,
was the proudest of his life. | saw him
frequently during the somewhat agita-
ting period that followed the Crimean
war, when the French colonies Were
eagerly clamoring for war with us.
There is nothing in it, said the En-
,eror again and again; ''it is all sound
and fury, slgnifying nothing | know
| much too well hat England is. not to
be aware-cven If | had any desire to
pursue the mistaken policy Of these
empty madmen-that she is impregna-
| BILE" For the first seven years of his
| rsi9ll nc GuOuSuL mutt VI tl1C OtJ1LlOu VI
England than of all the rest of the world.
But in 1858 his love for and interest in
Italy-derived from the early days when
he was a Carbonaro and conspirator,
and when his brother expired in his arms
| seemed to come strongly back upon
him ; and, possibly the fact that Orsini
and his Italian associates, Pieri and Ru-
dio, had recently attempted his life,
stimulated him to do something calcu-
lated to win italian gratitude and favor
But he wore much more anxious look
before the Austrian war of 1859 than /
had ever seen upon his face during the
Crimean war and nothing was to me
less surprising than the prompt and rap
id conclusion to which he brought it at
| Villafranca
saw him upon his return from AL
geria in the spring of 1864, and heard
from his own lips that he was never
really well unless the Fahrenheit Their
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