The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1875-05-01

/ all persons. were feSbidden TO hold any com-
munication with the ship under severe pen
atty. The "Erin" remained in the Texel eight
days, during which time she was strictly guard
ed, being placed between sixty four gun ship
and frigate.
Excluded from the ports of continental Eu-
rope, and fearing that an attempt would be
made upon her life if she stayed in the Texel,
Madame Bonaparte sailed for England. Her
first and only child was born at Camberwell,
near London, on the 7th of July, 1905, and
named Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte. Two
months after this event the young mother and
her child embarked for the United States, and
arrived in Baltimore after prosperous voyage
| of four weeks
The weak and tickle Jerome soon forgot his
"dear little wife," as he once was fond of call
| ing her. After leaving her at Lisbon in April,
1905, Jerome addressed her frequent and ten
der letters, declaring repeatedly that his "dear
little wife was the sole object of all his love, for
whom he would be willing to give up his life. y
As late as the 4th of October, 1906, he wrote to
her from Paris:
"My dear and we'll beloved wife, life is moth
| ing to me without thee and my sen. Be tran
| quill, thy husband will not abandon thee"
On the 10Th of the same month he wrote TO
her again:
"To leave thee, my good wife-I have never
had that fatal thought I act as a man of hon
or, as brave and loyal soldier. | love my
country, love glory but | love them man
who, accustomed TO fear nothing, never forges
that he is the father of Jerome Ma poeon and
| the husband of Elise embrace you as love
you, and love you as my life
In another letter Jerome assures her that he
prefers her to crown. Again he writes TO
her:
"Believe, my Elise, that my first thought in
awakening, as my last in falling asleep, is al
| ways of thee and if | not sure Of the
hon nf aiv,p IL -ha1n nUnn xuifa
4 should cease to live"
/ His often repeated determination "never to
abandon his beautiful young wife" melted
| away before the frowns and brilliant promises
! of Napoleon. Ina few months after separating
! from her at Lisbon he consented to divorce.
| AS reward for his pusillanimity Jerome was
/ created prince of the empire and raised to the
| rank Of admiral in the French navy. On the
22d of August, 1907, he was married to the
| Princess Catherine OF Wurtemburg, with all
| the pOmp and ceremony with which Napoleon
| knew so well how to dazzle the French people.
! At the end OF these festivities Jerome and his
| wife left France to take possession OF the new
| kingdom Of WestpEala which was formed out
| OF the territories OF the Grand Duke OF Hesse,
| and given to Jerome for his weak compliance
with the measures of Napoleon. To the honor
of Pope Plus VII. it should be stated that he
| firmly resisted Napoleon s attempts to get him
| to declare null and void the marriage of Je-
rome Bonaparte and Miss Patterson. The mar
riage was annulled ty Napoleon's Council of
| State, but the Pope always refused to sanction
| the divorce, and in the eyes OF the Catholic
| church, of which Napoleon profoundly called
| himself the eldest son, the OILY legitimate de-
scepdants of Jerome Bonaparte, and, conse
quently, the only legitimate heirs to the impe
rial throne of France, in the event of the death
of the Prince Imperial, are the Baltimore Boz
napartes
acin Pol Ro
parties endeavored to have their legitimacy
tablished by the French courts. Through the
powerful influence of King Jerome and his son,
Prince Napoleon, these attemp pts always failed
Jerome died at the close Of 1859. Early in 1861
Madame Patterson Bonaparte and her son, Je-
rome Napoleon, made final appeal to the Cour
Imperiale de Paris. M. Berryer, the eminent
French advocate, argued their with dis
tinguished ability. He cited an array of in
teresting and irresistible facts, proving beyond
question the legality of the marriage of Jerome
Bonaparte and Elizabeth Patterson. copy Of
the marriage contract was produced, signed by
the contracting parties and William Patterson,
the father of the bride, and witnessed by Bishop
Carroll, M. Sotin, the vice consul of France at
Baltimore, and Alexander LIE Camus, afterward
lie Comte de Furstentein, minister of foreign
affairs in Westphalia during the reign OF Je-
rome in that kingdom. The certificate of the
marriage, duly authenticated by the late Very
Reverend Henry B. Coskery, rector of the Bal
tmore cathedral, was also produced at the trial.
| Numerous letters were read from eX-King
Jerome to Jerome Bona parte, of Baltimore, in
which the latter was addressed respectively,
"Mon cher enfant," and "Mon cher fls." Other
members of the Bonaparte family wrote hiG.
isting relationship ein splCv' Ute-oru-
euence of Berryer and the justice OF the cause,
the appeal was denied.
Let US leave the weak and extravagant King
Of Westphalia on his throne, and return to his
| forsaken wife in Baltimore. The Patterson
| family is one of the oldest and most respecta-
BILE in that arstecratic city, and has always oc-
cuped the highest social position. Thomas
jefferson, who was the President of the United
States at the time of Jerome Bonaparte's mar
riage to Miss Patterson, wrote to Chancellor
Livingston, our minister to France, in reference
to the family of the bride, as follows:
| "Mr. Patterson is president of the Bank of
Baltimore, and the richest man in Maryland,
perhaps in the United States, except Charles
| Carroll, of Carrolton. He is man of great
worth and of great pectability. The mother
is the sister of the wife of Gen Smith "a distin-
guished officer in the Old Maryland Line.) The
social standing of the family is among the first
| in the United States"
Rob't Patterson, Madame Jerome Bonaparte's
brother, married Miss Cation. granddaughter
of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, who, when a
widow, visited London, where she married the
Marquis of Wellesley, brother OF the Duke OF
Wellington.
1t was rather absurd for Napoleon, who had
declared that he was "the sole fabricator OF his
destiny" to speak of Jerome's marriaget to Miss
| Patterson as a Q,eSnLiGnce, and to call her con-
temptuously ''the young person with whom Je-
| rome has connected himself in America"
Madame Bonaparte has always enjoyed So
ciety, which her wit, beauty, and brilliant con-
versation have fitted her to adorn, When she
returned to Baltimore after her romantic visit
TO Europe new interest was thrown around the
former belle and beauty. A glamor OF romance
and poetry, and suffering, was about her. Those
who had envied her as the bride OF Jerome
Bonaparte could well afford to sympathize with
her as the deserted young wife. Her brave and
determined spirits sustained her in the midst
of trials which would have crushed an ordina-
ry woman. When Jerome, whom she once
adored as the embodiment of chivalrous gal
lantry, abandoned her, whom he had sworn be.
fore God and man to love, honor, and cherish
until death, her love and admiration changed
| to absolute contempt.
After the downfall of Napoleon, Madame Bo
naparte visited Europe and remained there
seven years. Her fascinating manners, extra
ordinary beauty and romantic history made he
admired and celebrated all over the continent
She spent several years in Florence, and wa
the ornament of the court of Tuscany, which
: was at that time one Of the most brilliant il
Europe. In these splendid scenes Madame Bo
naparte was always the gayest of the gay. Sh'
| went to ball every night. Her regular habi
was to spend the early part of the evening il
music and reading. At nine her maid came t.
t dress her for the ball. Precisely at ten, sh
drove to the soiree, and invariably left at mid
night. In society her sarcastic wit was as mucl
8 feared as her beauty was admired
: 1t was while residing in Florence, in 1922, tha
0 Madame Bonaparte saw Jerome for the first an
: last time after their separation at Lisbon, il
4 1905. They met in the gallery of the Pitt Pal
ace. On seeing her, Jerome started, and whis
s pered to the Princess of Wirtemburg, his secon,
e wife: "That is my former wife," He immedl
r ately quilted the gallery, and the next mornin
left Florence. No words passed between them
: Madame Bonaparte spent the winter OF lS2
i in Vienna. Here her social success was almos
q I as brilliant as at Florence. 1t was while re
e siding at Vienna that she made the retort
!, the English ambassador at the Austrian cour
), which was repeated all over Europe. This
# the story At state dinner given by Primo
: Metternich it fell to the English ambassador
: escort Madame Bonaparte. He was not muc
= pleased at having her assigned to him, tor h
n had already in the drawing room suffered iror
# her sarcasm. He hated Napoleon, and express
"a hot rid Ia st rid of hin