The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-07-23

eald II sue adopted any rellglon " Woulu
be the Catholic, because at least that was
a religion oikings-a royal religion Her
niece who was present, exclaimed: '0h!
aunt, how can you say such thing; you
would not give up PfesbyterianiBmP To
which Nine. Bonaparte responded: The
only reason would not Is that should
mot like TO give up the stool my ancestors
had sat upon"
The following from her father, when
she was in London, Is interesting:
II DECEMBER, 10, 1915.
''DEAR BErEY: Since wrote you on
the 10th ult., In answer to yours Of I'd Of
September, have received
your two letters Of 22d August and 23d
September, with oil the notes and tickets
accompanying the last, They have been
seen or heard OF by no person but myself,
and, 10 be candid with you, l would have
beep ashamed to expose them 10 anyone
else. From those letters, as we'll as the
former, / am persuaded you are pursu'
inga wrong course for happiness; but |
hope and pray you may soon perceive
your mistake, and 'that you will look TO
your mother country as the only place
where you can be really respected, for
what will the world think Of woman
who had recently followed her mother
and her last sister 10 the grave, had quit
her fathers house, where duty and nee
essity called for her attentions as the only
female OF the family left, and thought pro-
per 10 abandon all TO seek for admiration
In foreign countries? Surely the most
charitable construction that can be given
to such conduct Is TO suppose that It must
proceed In some degree from state Of in
sanity, for 1t cannot be supposed that any
rational being could act part so very in.
consistent and improper"
Mr.. Patterson was 80 deeply impressed
by his daughters misconduct that In his
last will he spoke OF her in the severest
terms OF condemnation, as having given
hin nothing but trouble, sorrow and
shame.
Those In search OF moral lessons can
find one In the record Of q wasted and
worthless life; lesson as vigorous as any
that ever came from the pulpit, and, as It
seems TO US, peculiarly applicable TO the
present tone and tendencies OF American
society. Here was woman blessed with
health, wealth, beauty and wit; having,
from her position and mental endowments,
the power Of making all around her hap.
Ply, and so leaving the world better and
brighter than she found II, Allthese nat
ural and acquired instrumentalities for
good she deliberately sacrificed upon the
altar Of selfshness. Self was her god, and
the only god she knew or cared to
know. She married, In spite Of parental
entreaties and protest, not for love, but for
ambition. Had Jerome Bonaparte been q
thriving young merchant OF Baltimore,
she would have considered his matri-
monial offer an objectionable insult. Be-
ing brother Of the great soldier with
whose fame the earth was ringing, and
who was soon to wear the imperial purple,
she gladly accepted him and risked the
consequences acceptance involved. She
made what is called "a brilliant MATCH"
careless whether II was manufactured in
heaven or the other place. We really be-
lieve, Notwithstanding all said to the con-
trary, that Jerome had far more genuine af-
lection for her than she had for him. She
regarded him merely as means to an end
q ladder she must use to climb into the
atmosphere Of royalty, but having no
special value beyond this. He had moth.
ing to gain and much to lose by the al
lance, and though his love was not strong
enough 10 resist the pressure OF his
brothers authority, it was certainly un-
selfish while it lasted. On his side were
the passion and enthusiasm Of youth. On
hers was neither passion nor enthusiasm,
but cool, calm deliberation and calcula-
ton : amazing in a girl OF eighteen. But
her heart never seems to have been
young. Itwas always old, hard, dry; very
much such an organ as beat in the bosom
Of Thackeray's most popular heroine,
Becky Sharp.
Never very sweet in disposition, accord
ing to her fathers testimony, disappoint-
ment made her very fountain Of bitter
ness. She had not even sufficient mater
nal feeling to pardon her son for marrying
the lady OF her choice; who, we may re-
mark, was in every way worthy OF him
had he been ten times Bonaparte. She
says:
This marriage must, as you both and
every one knew, separate me from my
son. 1t must, as you all foresaw, and cal
culated upon, be to me during life source
Of deep afliction and burning shame.
Could l even believe what sincerely de-
sire-that the judgment which planned it
will prove superior to mine-no one ever
supposed, none who like or respect me
can ever wish me to forget the treatment
l have received"
Raving at the world, because it had not
given her all she asked; hating, or despis-
ing, human kind; utterly sick OF life
before she had lived out half her days;
having no friends and wanting none;
gathering up money and too mean TO spend
it; surrounded by poverty and distress,
yet refusing to alleviate them by generous
charity; without faith, without love, with
out hope, without single spark OF true
womanliness in her nature-she dragged
herself YEARLY to the grave she dreaded,
and dropped into it "unwept and un-
honored," If not "unsung." Surely il was
"a mysterious dispensation OF Providence"
which permitted this wasted aud worth
less life to be prolonged ninety.iour years,
while noble men and women by hundreds
and thousands were perishing in their
prime, leaving precious work unfinished
and aching hearts seeking the consolation
that never comes. But the weeds grow
stronger and last longer than flowers, and
poison retains It's death.dealing venom
when the rarest perfume has breathed
itself away.