River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1879-09-11
the latter bv lack ofspecisl RAINING essen

tion of Paris, and of alternating the want
felt by various material societies in tina
city. From the moment that she becam,
his wife, the Empress associated herself
with all that aas good and glorious il
the career of Napoleon III, and whethel
during his Italian campaign, when he
intelligent sympathy invariably display
ed itself by government mearures at HON,
or whether as the companion of mis- vari
| Gus progresses through France, or in the
MON emit of immediate dan-er-such a!
that wi ich threatened his life at the be.
ginning of the year 1858, or in more re
cent days, such as those plague-stricken
ones when Amiens was devastated by
cholera-the Empress Eugene has inva
rlably manifested heroic characteristics. &
lofty courage, grand power OF endur-
| ance, spirit of self-sacritce which none
but those who personally knew her best
would expect from so fragile looking &
being, from one so radiant in the midst
of brilliant festivities inaugurated by her
or enc so adored whenever appearing in
the midst of Paris outside her OVID pal
ace walls that Paris which her imperi-
al consort found made of brick, but left
built In marble.
When 10y the speech already recorded
Napoleon III. declared his belief that in
the day of danger to the Imperial throne
she would be one of the most courageous
supporters, he uttered prediction which
has been fulfilled by her beyond even
what could have been his most ardent ex-
pectations; tor, though strangely pro-
etc Of many things that have come to
pass, he could not have anticipated the
sudden and overwhelming storm which
weuld PEI manently close his reign, and
call forth on the part of the Empress
those characteristics which could never
have cen displayed to the whole world
save ia the day of such danger that ma
lures of less exalted type would recoil
before it. When, true to the spirit of
her own brave Spanish ancestry. and
speaking the words of Queen Marie Az
tonette-speaking those words in the
very palace where that fair Queen of
France had uttered them-the Empress
Eugene declared that she would rather
be nailed to the walls than fly she WAS
even in greater danger than was the
high souled daughter of the heroic Marie
Theresa before her forced departure from
the Tuilleries. Near the Empress, v hen
the maddened and infatuated mob came
pressing onward toward that palace, was
no crowd of armed defenders, no husband
to sustain her. she was alone with one
lady attendant, her lectriee, when the
probability of her terrible and immediate
danger was suddenly impaired to her by
a devoted ad erent of the Imperial throne
but who, even for the sal e of the EN-
press herself, was compelled to depart
the moment after his word of warning
had been uttered. There was not mo
ment to spare, the courage of the Empress
was undaunted, but, just then, utterly I'M
protected though she was, the safety OF
others not present was involved with her
own. She could not fail to remember, by
painfully vivid flash of memory, that in
case of mortal reverses ensuing to her abb
sent husband, the hope of a future for the
Prince Imperial rested in her decision at
this unforeseen instant, when everything
of most solemn import, not only to her
self but to those she loved far more than
herself, depended on her discretion.
Wherefore just as the murderous mob APP
preached the chateau of the TuilleTies,
the Empress departed from it into the
ancient Palace of the Louvre, from which
there as still possibly a comparatively
safe exit for her and her faithful lady at
tendant, whose privilege 1t was to share
the danger of her gentle though 4mpe-
rial mistress. Fortunately they were
both in outdoor costume when the alarm
was given to them, and, by the help OF a
thick veil, the Empress might yet hope
to pass out in the street through the por-
tai of he Louvre, near which she at length
found herself. But, for moment, there
was an agonized suspense, the key-the
key by which alone this portal could be
opened from the inside-was missing
from the place where it was usually to be
found. The Empress neither screamed
nor tainted, though there was not an in
slant to be lost, and even more than her
life depended upon her instant escape.
But the key was found on the floor where
1t had fallen. The heavy portal Of the
Louvre, on the Seine side of that his
toric edifice, turned on its hinges, the
velled Empress and her attendant stepped
into the street and hailed a cab. A little
fellow, one of those sharp street boys,
called out in his shrill tones wcile point
ing 10 her majesty. "There is the En-
pressl" but Eugenic escaped from the
city.
The sudden nature OF the events which
forcibly prevented the return of the En-
peror Napoleon III. to France, and ban
ished the Empress Eugene, only brought
forth those noble qualities which the
Emperor had discerned in her when he
first presented her to his people as the
wife of his choice, who would grace the
throne in time of peace and uphold its
cnor in time of danger. She has done
so. Even in her voyages she has done
much not only for France but for the
world at large. 1t seems but the other
day that she was floating up the Nile, and
Illuminating the East with ! er presence.
But these and other journeys were not
undertaken by her for the mere purpose
of personal amusement, or even in search
of health, for each one of them, more or
less, involved political purpose for some
desired benefit to France. The same may
be said in regard 70 the Universal ExDo-
sition of 1868, when she desired that
Malmatson should be reproduced as far
as possible, together with the Little Tria-
non, Just as both these historic abodes
had been when the ex- Empress Josephine
wept in the one, and the youthful Marie
Antoinette, unconscious of the tragic
times IN store for her, smiled, radiant
with happiness, in the other.
As mother the Empress Eugene has
proved herself worthy of her high mis-
sion, and of the solemn trust reposed in
her: for, however gentle her character,
however tender her general disposition,
she never shrank from enforcing the dis
cipline essential to the education of her
son, the Prince Imperial, whose tragic
death may prove the immediate cause OF
her OIrn