Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1879-04-08

ing OF her social aCCbilpl lShlncnt>, sit Ut
tracted attention and was tavorably received
in the best circles Lady Morgan speaks IN
her ''Memoirs" of "thc wife of Jerome aban-
doned in a cruel and dastardy way, yet hold
/ ing her position with a sc1rntul courage that
/ excited pity for the woman'S nature. 50 scathed
! and outraged" Only once did Nine iona
| partc meet jerome after the separation 1t
was in the gallery of the Pitt Palace. in / lor-
enco. The Princess was leaning on the arm
| of her husband. He started on recognizing
! Nine. Bonaparte and whispered to the lrih-
cess: That lady is my former wife. Tie
next morning lac left Florence. She had only
said on meeting him. 1T is Jerome" Nine.
Bonapartc was received at the court of Flor
encc with special Distinction and was so KIND
Nv met upon her presentation to the Duke ana
Duchess that she nearly burst into tears. She
said afterwards that she only recovered her
self hv thinking that tears might spoil her
lovely satin gown, and that she would be
thought iefe for making a scene. Vt Rome
she was we'll treated by her Bonaparte CON
ncctions. with the exception OF Madame Mere.
who finally relaxed little.
Since her return from Europe Nine. Bona
parte resided in Baltimore. She appears to
have exercised Scotch thrift in the manage
mcnt of her money matters, for. with an IN
come not very large, she amaSScd Il fortune.
She wrote to Lady Morgan in 1919 that she
had Slu. OJO annually. but that she had all her
life been tortured and mortified by pccuniary
Notwithstanding had saved her from abs0-
Lutte poverty except her energy, industry, and
determination to conquer sutfciency to live
on" Her son, jerome Bonapartc, was cdu-
Gated at Harvard College. from hich inStitu-
ton he was graduated in 1926. He attcrward
studied law, but did not practice. He mar
ricd, at an early age. Miss Susan Mary Will
lams. of ROXbury, Massachusetts, lady of
large fortune. This with his own acquisi-
tons. made him one of the richest citizens of
Baltimore. He was much devoted to the
management of his estates. and to agricultural
pursuits He was on terms of intimacy with
his father. from whom he received Il stated in
come. He visited the French Court during
the reign of Napoleon III. 4 family council
decided in favor of his assuming the name of
Bonaparte but he was not to be regarded rs
belonging to the Imperial family. The
French courts refused to recognize his legiti
macy. He was never naturalzed in the nit
ed States, but always regarded himself as
French citizen. He died in Baltimore, June
IL. 1870. His son Jerome Napoleon, born in
1882, was graduated at West Point in 1852,
and became an officer in the French army in
1854, seryi ing in the Crmca with distinction,
and being decorated for gallant conduct by
the Sultan of Turkey Another son. Charles
Joseph, is a rising member of the Baltimore
bar.
The latter years of Mime Bonaparte were
unmarked by any important events. She
lived to see the imperial family with which
she had connected herself second time ban
shed from the throne of France, and any
dreams of the future greatness of her de-
scendants must have been long ago dissipatod.
She employed herself it is said, in writing
her memoirs. From 1887 to 1871, she spent
her summers ut Rockawav, where she is re-
ported to have been the ''gayest of the gay.
At Baltimore she lived very simply, in Il
downtown boardinghousc. Her rooms were
plainly furnished, and there was but little
about them to mark them as occupied by Il
distinguished parsonage. They have ever
been characterized as "barren and comfort
less" She was, of course, good deal an
noyed by visitors who had no claim upon her
time or attention. One wanted an autograph (:
another an interview to be duly reported in
some newspaper. She complained to the last
that her ambition had been crushed" She
would look exultantly at portrait of herself
taken in her youth, but she would never allow
it to be copied.
1t is greatly to be desired that the ''me-
moirs" which Nine. Bonaparte is reported to
have written in her old age may be given to
the public. She associated during her life
her letters which have been printed suggest a
remarkable literary ability of certain kind.
She was sharp, piquant and not particularly
good-natured in her CONNER ts upon men, wo-
men and manners, and seems to have caught
portion of the naiyetc of French memoir
writers. She wrote, it is intmatcd, 4 certain
clever piece, entitled "A Dialogue of the
Dead" in which her father and King jerome
talk over her story in ilades. 1t is hardly
probable that this will ever see the light,
Nine. Bonaparte somewhat petite in
person. of a remarkably symmetrical figure,
and fair complexion. Her step to the last
was quick and elastic; her face, Grecian in
its cast, was mobile and expressivc her hair
Il beautiful shade of black. She told a writer.
with great frankness, that ''her height and pro-
portions were exactly those of the Venus de
Medci" and as she said this she threw back
the sleeve of her dress, and showed beauti-
fully moulded wrist and arm, such as few wo-
men can boast Of at the age of eighty-four.
II was dangerous to try combat of wit with
her, for with all her grace she had one of the
sharpest of tongues and this is said to have
alenated more than one of her early friends.
Yet she had the skill to win them back again
if she pleased. Taleyrand said of her, ''It
she were queen, with what grace would
she reign - and Gortschal< off declared that il
"shc had been near the throne the \ HES would
have found it even more difficult to dispose OF
Napoleon" She experienced the fate gilmore
than one woman as herself: but whatever and
however dark may have been the ycissi-
tudcs of her life she never surrendered to
them, but remained brave, earnest and in
domtable through all. If Napoleon |. could
have seen her he might have admired her,
and so the whole current of her life have been
changed. But still it would have been dark
one, for she would have been driven from the
throne, which she coveted so much, and
which she came so near reaching. In the an
mails OF the remarkable period during which
her early life was passed she will always be
mentioned, and her ill-treatment lduced as
! evidence of the thorough and utterly nnscru-
! pulous sclishness of her imperial brother-in-
! law, Tribune.