Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-04-14
The Late .Inaame Bonapartc.


Baltimore SUM-
DR.. Mackenzie, whose "reminiscences
of Madame Bonaparte arc very inter
cstiug, and who spent an hour or more
with her each evening for many years
prior to her death, visited her remains
Sunday night, in accordance with a
promise he had made her hat she
should notbe buried alive, ofwhich she
had anervou dread. Some timeagoshe
asked the late Prof. Nathan r. Smith
if he would not use his surgeons
knife on her before burial, that it
might be made an absolute certainty
that she was not alive when commit
ted to the grave. In reply to an in
quiry DR.. Mackenzie told her a few
days previous to her death that Prof.
Smith was dead, but that he would
see that she was not buried before life
was extinct.
Madame Bonaparte frequently spoke
of her hard lot, being the wife of a
king and going about like a clerk from
bank to bank and from brokers' Office
to brokers Office, making her invest
ments and attending to her specula-
tions. She said she never put her
eggs all in one basket, but made only
such ventures as would not entangle
her if they failed. She spoke fire.
guently of her association with Lady
Morgan, Gortschakoff, Lamartine and
other distinguished contemporaries.
She said her petite figure and appear
ance had gained her many friends in
her European travels, and that had
she been Of larger stature she would
not so readily have excited the sympa-
thies of those with whom she came in
contact. GOrtschakoff, she said, had
told her on one occasion that she was
possessed of more fnesse than any
woman he had ever met.
Madame Bonaparte often spoke OF
saying her prayers nightly. She always
prayed, she said, for grace to forgive
her enemies, but added that it never
came to her. She said she considered
herself a Presbyterian, but that, like
the rest of the world, she knew moth
ing of the hereafter, and that it was
all a great mystery.
After the fall of the Emperor Ma
poleon and the dethronement of Je-
rome Madame Bonaparte thought it
possible that her husband might, in
the event Of his csming to this coun-
try, set up a claim to her property,
and as in those days a woman's right
to hold property was not so we'll pro-
tected as now, she applied to the legis-
lature Of Maryland for a divorce,
which was granted. Since that time
she used only the name Of Patterson,
and all her business was done under
the name of Elizabeth Patterson. She
stated a few days before her death that
she hated the name of Jerome.
She was a woman of the closest
economical habits, but what she
bought was always of the best quality.
She used candles in preference to gas,
because they were cheaper, and be-
N"uoO ohO was dlIdlu vi lHe Il on aC-
count ofaccidents that might occur,
and from any possible injurious effect
upon her complexion and health.
There was never any carpet on her
chamber floor, because they were not
healthy. She had a dread of being
robbed, and kept nothing about her or
IN her apartments to attract robbers.
She was cold, calculating, and all She
did was with a motive, and done dip
lOmatically.
She had only a few minutes talk
with her grandson, Colonel Jerome
BOnaparte, aud that on the morning of
his first visit to her. She told him
that rank and royalty were at an end !:
that in twenty years there would be
no kings or Kingdoms in Europe that
the masses were tired of being taxed
to support courts, ETC., and advised
him to keep clear of an ontanglements
to put the prince imperial on the
throne.