New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1873-01-30
imperial EraEse.

and the ladies' and gentlemen who ,5scI
plot and fGttcr around the Imperial CONT
tToaI which We quote some extracts Peorl.
have called Eucgnie "a lipne-s III a eigt
cage and said that she often eufuplaIueI q
the tedioasccss aud etiquette OF Court Tf,
and that the Emperor. IN many respects an.
noyed by her offences, regretted his choice
and was frequently very impatient and vio.
lent with her. She has been described as
possessing very little information, rs being
extremely bj-oted Of hal. or rather frca
manners. aud of limited intellect: while. on
the other hand, il had been sail She strongly
incllnes toward stubb0rnncss, thirst Of pow
er, and in:r ne. She used 20 spend many
hours Of the day il occupying herself with
matters o: toilet, and her extrava-ancc in
this direction WAS unb0unGed.
It is said that she had little aptitude for
doing the honors Of the Court, and no in
tiuencc whatever on the Emperor. but more
on the men who surrounded him. and she
ruled through them. y lady who Frequently
appeared at Court asked the Empress to eX-
ert her influence in procuring small place
for lady as music teacher who had been in
some way connected with Queen Hortenso.
! The Empress promised, but did not do it
and when the petitioner reminded her of her
/ promise, she said: Yes. YES. | have thought
/ of it, but really I dare not. the Emperor is
so much engaged The lady ventured to
7 point out that the request was a very modest
one. Thercupou the Empress considered for
4 moment, and said: do you see the En-
peror at the other end Of the apartment?
/ shall send word and request him to come
here then you eau speak for Yourself. and I
shall say a word to support you, and he will
comply. But dare not do it myself, I am
so bashfui. so frightened!r This II ain So
hashiul, 50 frightened." she was said to re-
peat on every occasion, particularly at Off
cial audiences whereas. on the other hand,
she would burst into loud laughter on trifiing
occasions, or give vent to loud and improper
CALCULATIONS; as, for instance: ''Oh, Ia
mel ante. Oh, Ii yiiaine ~ or "Dicu
qui'lest drolc." by which the courtiers were
as much astOnishcd as they were shocked.
The Emperor was deeply depressed for
whole days during October, 1853. and was
full Of suspicion regarding his retinue. arising
from the attempt upon his life by one of the
centgardcs. On such occasions he retired in
absolute solitude in his apartments even the
aids-dc-camp had to keep in distant rooms.
because he could not bear to hear people
talk, and any noise frightened HIM. lie sat
fOr hours, byOOdin@, smoking, and staring at
the ceiling, until he would suddenly innn up
and force himself into activity. The En-
press also frequently appeared discouraged
When one OF her ladies tried to cheer her 40
and spoke TO her of the Emperor's love, OF
her brilliant position, Of the impending JOYS
Of q Misunderstanding, - Indeed, Your Majesty
is the most cnyiable Of mortals"-thc En-
press answered. "Oh! ycs, very happy:
until one fine morning they viii throw Us out
OF the windows into the srcct!n
The life at cOnrt was nothing but con-
tinuoGs round of shallow. sensual destination.
The Empress, without intellectual interest Of
any Kind, aimed daily at new pastimcs. \
lady living at court said: We live on the
lNion wheel ofpleasurc." When mentioned
I'm lc55) to the painter, l.. L., how tastclcss
the dress Of woman had grown in Paris how
everything was ovcrdOne in color and shape.
he answered: I'VE have l0rcttc on The
throne; the character Of the lorettc pcrva,!cs
the taste Of society; and ladies OF thirty to
forty years who have preserved the good old
French taste have to fight hard to save
themselves and their daughters from the dom
mating tG5tclessneSS.' "Lo0E at the WAY
they wear their hair.' said another painter
who was present; this alone gives them q
bold look; they all look as if they had lust
returned from q ball at the Opera House af-
ter having spent = wild night" And we
SHALL soon find by our morals who governs
us," said third one, q member of the Acad-
envy of Science. Scandalous stories of the
SCt' - WHY tciiti- uillt ClIcGldiEG which t.e-
noted its utter Generalization. During the
divorce suit which the banker Hone, of Lon
don, instituted against his wife. Il coac!mau
gave certain evidence which involved the
Empress. Fieury was informed Of this by
telegraph, and finally the English Earl Of
C---n, who used to belong to the intimate
circle OF Countess Teba at Madrid saved the
Empress by using his influence in expunginr
certain evidence from the stenocvaphic re-
ports.
The numerous stories that were circulated
III respect to Princess Mathide, Prince Ma
poleon, and the ayariCe and endless debts of
Prince Napoleon, were perfectly disgusting.
one day somebody said Of the latter, - lie
Is the servant become master: the Fr0utin
OF the Old comedy. Give him one hundred
franks and he viii do anything for vou.n
When he imp0rtuned the Emperor for money
lately, the latter refused. Jerome, intending
to L. him hard, calculated: at is evident |
that YOU have nothing from your uncle"
ideed,' answered Napoleon, haven't !
,ot his whole family on my shoulders 90 The |
emperor knew that all the Bonapartes |
hated him, and that he had but few tr,isty
friends. Ills old teacher, Viellard, once eX-
claimed at a meeting in the ante-room of the |
Senate, am thoroughly convinced that in !
this Whole assembly there are not three per-
sons honestly with him - and Persiynv on |
another occasion gave vent to the words. |
The Emperor's Ministers and all of his |
friends have made secret arrangements with !
the Orleans party, or with the ftlsionists
should anything happen. NJ. Rould will sell |
him; NJ. Magnan will draw his sword against |
him; L. Baroche will condemn him, and they |
will all do it in cold blood."
The total absence Of consideration with |
which the Bonapartes, especially Prince Ma |
poeon, spoke Of the insecure position of the |
Emperor, and the cynicism with which they |
mentioned the Empress, were described to
me by number Of persons as passing all |
bounds. The Prince asked Republican |
among my friends, Can we count on YOU
when we have once got rid of this-:.'' .For |
what purpose" For Republic with a
Bonaparte at the head.' Then YOU are |
thinking of Il Dictatorship:'' "No, no the |
real Consulate as ii was after the return from |
Egypt"
The manners at Court were very low. An
Englishman told NE that the British Ambas-
sador, on the occasion Of a reception, entered
one OF the apartments with his wife, where
many officers were occupying all the chairs. !
Lady C was very much tatigued, and his
lordship approached one of the otlicers-not
one ii them having arisen of his own accord
ard requested him to cede his chair TO her.
The officer rose, stretching himself slowly, |
md lnnkpo over his shoullpr at loI,. -