The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1878-09-26
LITERARY
EUGENE MOMTIJO,
Romantic Private History of the Second
Empire The Beauty that won Napo-
:eon ~; AND Ruled al! Europe-A
BRIDES orebodings at the
Nuptia Aifar.

BRIDES Foreb odings al the
Nuptal Altar
when the bloody business of the
coup d etot was definitely finished. the
murder stains washed from the
streets. the victims inferred. and =
lew thousand Of the best and boIdest
hearts Of France had taken the sor.
roW1ui road Of exile, the new emper.
or bethought him how best to Gid his
freshly gained throne. ->' ''->
AlIef Inc gloomy tragedy of the
overthrow Of the republic. France
was TO be treated to the grand spec.
tacular piece of the Second En-.
pre-. An empress was besougbt for
without delay. Negotiations We're
opened with several Drincelv bonseS
toi Ihe mana OF damsels of royal birth,
ouo opeeully came to naught The
Hegotiatlons for the hand of the
oweoish Frlncess Vasa did, indeed.
PROMISE at one time to be crowned
Win success. But the emperor sent
ms physician to take look at the
laay' ana to judge if her physique
promised healthful and numerous off.
spring; and this fact, coming to the
ears OF her family, caused sudden
SIop 70 De put to the whole affair.
meantime, at the reunion of Com.
Pleghe' the personality of y0ung
anu foreign countess was coming
prominently into notice owing to the
evident Impression that her charms
had made upon the susceptible heart
OF Napoleon III. This lady. Eugenie
MontiJo. Countess de Teba. was M
longer IN The first bloom of girlhood
having Deen born in 1926. But she
was III the full meridian of beauty
~ u.s. lhdeed, said that as a young girl
Hel cIarlpS were in no wise remarka.
ple. On her first appearance in socie.
ty at the court of Madrid she created
no sensation whatever. But one dav
the court, being at Araniuez. durino
a Jefe chdmpetre, Mademoiselle de-
MontlJo had the good or i'll fortune to
tall into one of the Ornamental fish
poiloS III the garden. She was taken
ouC liSehSlble, and her wet and cling
ing garments revealed form of such
sIaIueSque perfection that all Madrid
went favlng about her beauty. She
plunged commonplace girl-she
lose venus. And when she first at.
Cracted the notice of Napoleon she
was lndlSputably one of the lovliest
women in Europe. She was tall. slen.
DER, eXqulsltely prOportloned, and her
walk was that of a goddess. Her fea-
lures delicate and regular; her ewes
long, almond-shaped, and full of ten
der ana dreamy sweetness; her small
and faultlessly- shaped head was set
upon long, slender neck, with the
sWaylng grace OF Il lily upon is stalk :;
her shoulders were sloping and beau
fully moulded. Notwithstanding her
lack of embonpoint-for in those days
she was as slight as Il reed. A pro-
fusion of fair hair--which she wore
turned back from the face in the
graceful style known us "a la PomUa-
dour, but speedily to be rechristen-
ed IA IImperatrice' "A hand
and foot OF truly loyal beauty com
pleted an ensemble of charms well
calculated to drive humanity out of
It's seven senses.
The Spanish blood of the Countess
de Teba made her obnoxious in the
eyes of many of her future subjects.
Moreover, the antecedents of the lady
were not altogether without reproach.
Not that any actual stigma had ever
clung to her character, but she had
always been looked upon as fast
girl. Stories, some true, some false,
were circulated respecting her folies
and her escapades.
The fact of the emperor's interest
in the fair foreigner was revealed by
an incident slight in itself, and only
important by The emotions which it
called forth. At one of the small in
innate reunions ut Compiegne,
Mademoiselle de Montiio happened.
while dancing, to entangle her feet
in the long folds of her train, and she
fell with some violence to the floor
The extreme anxiety and distress
manifested 10y the emperor acted as Il
revelation to all present. a stormy
opposition TO the proposed alliance
was 1T once organized among the ia
mlliars OF the emperor-the men who
had aided III his elevation, and To
whom it was too recent for them to
stand III awe of him. Nj NJ. de Morny
and de Persigney in particular were
violent III their opposition. In fact
the latter went so far rs to tell the
emperor, ut the close of long and
stormy interview on the subject, that
it was hardly worth while to have
made Il coup d etdt to end in such 4
manner. NJ. de Morny argued and
reasoned with his imperial brother
but neither the violence of Persivney
nor the arguments OF de Norny make
any impression on the cold and int!ex
ible Will OF Napoleon H.. and few
days later the countess made her ap-
pearance at one of the court balls in !
dress topped ana wreathed with the
Imperial emblem flower. the violet
The emperor. advancing toward her
presented her with superb bouquet
of the same significant blossoms
The marriage was irrevocably decided
upon. and all that they had to do wa:
to submit to the imperial will ant
make ready To offer their homage t,
the new empress. With the solitar,
exception of prince Napoleon. the i'm
perial family submitted with goos
grace to the matrimonial projects o
their chief. The princess Mathilde
in particular, although the marriag
would depose her from the place tina
she had orcuniesl ne the frat lady q