New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-10-17
The Talismnn of GharIemaRne.


1t is understood that at the recent Bon,
partist couucil, held at Arenenberg,
Switzerland. it was decided that the Er
press Eugene should abdicate the regepe
which she held ever since her imperial Inn:
band left Paris. in the bright summs
weather of 1870, for the last time; and In,
the young prince, Louis Napoleon, who up
derwent in that fatal summer his "baptisn
of fire." should take upon himself the j
sponsible leadership of the imperial cans
in France. Whatever the reasons for Nm
decision may be, it is quite certain, we an,
pose, that the Empress Eugene, so long
she lives, will continue to exercise a greJ
influence upon the fortunes of her son an
of the party which is so openly and so AUDI
ciously laboring for his restoration to n
throne of France. Our readers, therefon|
will read with interest, we are sure, an a
count which has been forwarded to us frOr
England of visit recently paid by hi
Englishwoman of position and of intel
gence to the dethroned and widowed lad
who for so many years commanded the al
mlration and the homage. not of her ov
sex and of her own couBtrymen only, ID
of both sexes and of all civilized peoples
The Empress has for some time past bee
living at Arenenberg, where NapoleoI
Ill. passed so many years of his life Will
his mother, the lovely and unfortunasE
Queen Hortense. Arenenberg is charuW
ing cndledu eldnuiDS liutle Oh tne ulra5
road from Scbatfhausen to Constance.
was sold in 1913, after the death of Loud
Napoleon, King of Holland, to citzs%
of Neuenburg, for $4,000 tiorins, and =
1888 this citizens heirs sent to Paris an
sold there Its fine collections Of pictuk
and works of art, including some paintiuu
by David, and many souvenirs of the Fin
Napoleon. This led the Emperor Napoleu1
Ill to repurchase the estate. and it now
longs to his son. The ex Empress twh
always. by the way, alludes to the disastey
OF 1870 as "the events') has passed hs&H
autumns at Arenenberg ever since the en-
OF the Franco German war. The chats
stands on hill nearly 1900 feet in heigt
and commands lovely view over the upps
valley OF the Rhine. The house is furnis6t
now with perfect simplicity, the only spla
dor anywhere kept up being about N
chapel of the chateau, the altar furniture
which is decorated with ancient and ven
costly laces. In this chapel is kept ID
Golden Rose" sent by his holiness Phi
reigning at the Tuileries. This "Myst
Rose" by the way, is rather rose tr
than rose, and is wonderful piece
godsmith's work. 1t represents buns]
of roses with buds and leaves, the WHO'D
about twelve inches in height, being set
an antique vase of exquisite pattenx
adorned with 6asSi reflect of scenes in M 4
life of Plus TX. The roses, the leaves NJ 4
vase, are all of the purest gold, chisslssH
with delicacy, and freedom, and ford \
worthy the best ages and schools of az \
The vase ls set upon base of lapislazaM
enriched with alternate medallions in gd4#
Of the papal and the imperial arms, and H
its turn supported on four small steps i
lapislazuli. Of course the ex-Empress ed
the highest value on this precious InemoriiI
OF her sovereign days, and OF the fay}D
with which the head of the church thsj
as now, regarded her, alike as a womb
and as sovereign. Equally tre4 n
ured with the Golden Rose" hO'%
ever, is the Craftsman of Charemangs 4
a curious souvenir of the two greata y
princes who have ever swayed the destina
ct modern Europe. The Romans were On.
sionately fond of ''talismans," which had
been sometimes called chinierU from tU
multifOrm fabulous monster of that name
goat, lion and dragon in one-and SON
times syn,plcgmata, as being made up
dlscordant elements embraced in one f0r
and which have been known in more rece.
times as grylti, from the Italian critic, wht
signifies at once 'cricket" and a capriO1I
In the later days of Rome and the earl4
days of modern history the use of such syn
bOlic devices, carved in stones OF varied
kinds and worn chiefly in rings, becan<
very general. They were thought to OH
rate az charms and to secure 70 the weal48
the mystic protection of the deity or deiti5I
either symbOlized or set forth plainly upJ
them. The stone known as the Talisman H .
ChaIlemagne is species of cOrundum alt
Is believed to have been held very preciu1H
by that great sovereign. II was long pN
served with the rest of the relics belengi}
TO him at Aix-la- Chapelle, and the chapl
of the cathedral there presented it, ndI
without cogent reasons, to the m0le{I
Charlemagne, Napoleon l., who cd
stantlv carried it about with h3
The King of Rome, afterward Duke
Reichstadt, treasured it not less. aud fro
him it passed to his cousin Louis Napoleul Il
who had it about his person when he mad =.
his escape from the prison of Ham. HELD
it behind him, however, when he quite ~
Paris in 1870. Who knows what might hay ks
happened had he taken it with him to "
field! On the third of September when d
Empress made up her mind to fly fro sr
France, it was inclosed in reliouary !,
rock crystal, shut in by secret sprr
which the Empress did not understand al u
had no time to search for. So with b
womans decision she caught up pair |.
tongs from the chimney piece and dash
the costly case into fragments. Short d
afterward she contided it, with large 90 N
of money, to a faithful official. with ords
10 find the Emperor at Wilhelmshohe al
give them to him. The official lost his he T
and, instead Of setting out at once, went
his apartments in Paris. There he put
moneys and the talisman into an arma
the key of which he had lost, aud the ID u
BILE doors of which he fastened togeth
by pinning over them a map of the fon ~
fcaJiOns of Paris with four pins! Thd nj
came on "the events" one after another vi n,
tremendous rapidity. The official, caug
one day out of doors, was obliged to fly o.
his life without going back to get either II
money or the talisma1. OF course the
press in her exile, when she heard all tH
imagined that the money and the tasm IN
both must be given up for lost, and wi H.;
the talisman the fortune of the Napoleu
the more particularly as 1t was ma II
known to her by the public journals NJ
the apartments of the official to whom a.,
had confided them, had been repeated =
ransacked both before, during, and aft III
the commune. Fancy her astonishma NJ
then, and delight when this official at
returning to Paris and to his long abb y
doued apartments found the map of NJ
Notifications dusty indeed but undisturba -
and the contents of the armoir precist :
as he had left them! 1t can hardly VI
thought strange that this should be regal y,
ed not only by the ex-Empress herselt,
by her son and by not few of their ps
sans, as an omen of unquestionable prom kud
for their now fallen cause,
The lady through whom we have lean
this curious little Incident of the en- pun
catastrophe of the second empire, sped Al
of the ex Empress as enjoying unusus
good health at the present, aud as havi -
gained greatly in all of the most woma pcti
attributes of bearing and of character in m
the discipline of sorrow and OF misfortu
The young Prince Imperial she describes