The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1874-01-30
Napoleon Bcnaparte and Nine. De Stsel

From their first introduction, Nine.
De Stael never liked BOnaparte. He
inspired her with an instructive dread
a feeling which was not unique in her.
Being an earnest lover of true liberty,
she early OWNED his ambitious projects,
and fOresaw the despOtism that he was
working to erect. 'That which char
aeterized BOnaparte's government" she
says, "is profound contempt for all the
intellectual riches of human nature,
virtue, dignity of soul, religion, enthus-
iasm. He would desire to reduce man
to mere force and cunning, and to desig-
nate everything else as mere folly and
Stiffness. The English irritate him
above all because they have found the
means of combining success with hon
esty; combination which Napoleon
would have us consider to be impossi-
ble." The dislike was reciprocal. "She
pretends to speak neither of me or poll
ties" said Napoleon; "yet / do not
know how 1t happens, but people love
me less who have been with her. She
gives them fanciful notions and of the
opposite kind to mine.n At another
time he said, "Mme. De Stael has shafts
that would hit man were he seated
upon rainbow" In the year 1900 he
established himself in the Tuileries,
where he held sovereign court, which
in gOrgeousness would have shamed the
d'tciGn regime. In that same wear,
French society, though still mixed with
base alloy, had resumed much of its old
brllliance, and gathered as usual around
different nuclei. Nine. Reeamier was
I then in all the delicate flower of her
youth and exquisite grace; Nine. De
NiscOnti in all the blossom of her maies-
tic beauty; Nine. Josephine Bonaparte
gave SPLENDID redlliOits, and the Princess
De Polk small and exclusive parties. In
such salons gathered whatever of beautv.
wit, and birth the guillotine had spared
But most notable and most brilliant OF
all these gatherings were those of Nine
DE Stael, whese genius and celebrity at
tracted the finest intelleets of all ma
lions. Brilliant as are her works, her
conversation is said to have been infin-
ately more so. "You find that She
writes well; hear her talk, and Won will
lind that she writes badly" said a CO.
Temporary. She lived above all by con-
versatlon and in conversation; it YVES in
that her genius was most thorOl ily
aroused and was thoroughly ORIG i.
sit was in that" saws Saint-Beuve
''that she instructed, and, as it were,
renewed herself increasingly, rather
than by prolonged meditation. Con-
NersatlOn was her inspiration and her
muse" The night before BENJAMIN
Constant, her most intimate friend
made his speech in the Assembly
against the growing power Of the First
/ Consul, he drew her aside. f1f / make
this speech" he said, Tomorrow night
your drawing-rOom will be deserted ~
Il know it. But you must do what is
right" she answered intrepidly. Their
I representations were correct. A partv
had been arranged for that night; by <
1 O'Clock she had received letters of excuse
/ from every person invited, not one of
whom came. What could more eloouent-
/ ~ describe the slavish adulation of the
Parisians to their Moloch? But Feuche
waited upon her and told her plainly
that Napoleon suspected her of having
composed that speech. a short time
afterward she was commanded to quit
Parlsi and not TO reside within forty
leagues OF 1t. In vain did Joseph Bona
parte, whom she frequently visited, and
with whom She passed the last few days
OF her Partisan residence, intercede for
her. The Consul was immovable. No
greater punishment could be imposed
upon her than Punishment from her be-
loved Paris, and within the prescribed
limits she wandered from village to viii
lage, her thoughts ever turned to the
one spot with the same melancholy
longing that Adam might have felt
when looking back on Paradise.-Iebl-
pie Bar.