The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1881-02-17
NAPOLEON Ill.

NAPOLEON Ill.
Personal Peculiarities-- Some Of His Good
Qualities His Escape from Ham.
E. C. Greenville- Murray contributes to
the Saciss Times some personal reminis-
cences of Napoleon ILL.,, from which we
make the following extracts: "Apropos Of
the emperor's private life, one cannot help
abiding to this most enrolling feature of
it, that he never forgot kindness. have
heard an English gentleman say that Prince
Louis Napoleon, while in England, was once
And I often regretted, quoth the Great
Briton, in the days of the Empire, that I
refused to lend it to him. Another Great
Briton had the good fortune to oblige the
emperor in the days of his majesty's great
ness. If I can be of any service to you
said Napoleon, you have only to ask me. ,
Your Majesty, stammered the English
man, I'LL should like the -the-legion
of honor Oh said the emperor with a
smile, 7 should not have offered
it to you, as I imaginged your government
did not allow Englishmen to wear it except
under extraordinary circumstances, but if
you can get over that difficulty, by all
means. Here Napoleon went to cupboard,
unlocked drawer, and took out small
cross in brilliants. This, he continued,
'once belonged to Prince Murat: pray ac-
cept it as a token of my gratitude for the
service you have rendered me- And John
Bull departed almost beside himself with
admiration for the Napoleonie idea
Another instance Of the mans generosi-
ty: He was in prison at Ham. Nine. Cor
nu paid him visit. Have you any mon
ey? she asked in sisterly way. The
prince confessed he had not much-in fact
latter two or three turns Of the screw,)-
just three louis. The concierge had died
the day before yesterday; the family were
in great distress; he only knew Of it this
morning; had sent them in Is louis. X
Here the conversation was interrupted,
for the concierge's child had come to thank
the prince in her mothers name. Napol-
con patted her on the head and slipped his
three remaining gold coins into her hand.
One is, bound to add-by way of moral pen
dent that Nine. c. had to lend her foster
brother something before she left the pris-
on walls
"In those days he was the adored of the
French nation-the Legitimists and Doc
trinaire Liberals alone excepted. But it
was naturally in the army that he found his
most devoted partisans. He escaped, as
every one knows, from Ham disguised as a
working mason. What is not SO generally
known is that sentinel recognized him as
he passed out Of the gates with hod of
bricks across his shoulder. But the SOL
der only smiled faintly-all to himself He
was not going to betray the heir of the Lit
tie Corporal, nothe. When Napoleon came
into his kingdom he royalty rewarded all
who had aided his escape-not excluding
the sentinel.
"The worst of these ups and downs in the
early life of monarch is that he can never
quite command from his servants the re-
spect which would be accorded without
question to sovereign regularly succeeding
his father. He could not, even on the
throne, get himself treated quite like
aues gromdi,' he said to the Duke of R., an
English nobleman, whom he had known as
a young man and Marquis of G. EFT vous
aussi, sire, replied the Duke, not altogeth-
er in the best taste.
He must occasionally have been in dread
full straits. One day, after Cabinet coun-
sci, the President of the republic laughing
~ drew from his pocket two fve-franc
pieces, jngled them one against another.
and SAID: ''This is all I have to pay the
expenses of my progress" He was about
to visit some Of the departments. Ferdin-
and Harrot, his Secretary General over
heard these words, and saw that his chief
was testing with forced smile. That
evening the Prince (who was to start next
found 10000 francs in gold on
his dressing table. It's, you. Barrot, he
said to his faithful servant, who was in at
tendance. Barrot afterward obtained all
that an Emperor could give-portfolio,
Senatorship, Grand Gross, etc.
Napoleon was sorely puzzled as to the
right way of dealing with the opposition,
and the fact is much to his credit. The
Persignys and the De Mornys were notatall
puzzled. Three rolls of the drum and a
volley' was their infalible penacea for ali
discomfort. ButNapoleon, half italian him
self, shared the italian Cavour's dislike Of
such methods. Mr.. Kinglake in an ILL.,
natured and absurdly misinformed book,
has told the world that the Prince President
turned pale on the night of December ~,
1851. This solitary fact in Mr.. Kinglake's
book may possibly be true; but it was not
the pallor of the fear that blanched the
cheeks of the arch conspirator. He hon
estly disliked the bloodshed that he foresaw,
albeit too ambitious to recoil from that
supreme attempt. There is no doubt that
Morny at one moment doubted whether his
master would be willing to do alland (mor-
ally dare all. As to personal courage, on
ly the widest malice of party spite could
ever deny it to Louis Napoleon Bonaparte.
Bismarck bore unwilling testimony to
the Emperor's courage when, as the Prus-
sian shells were raining upon Sedan, he
said lin answer to question as1 to wheth-
er Napoleon was there, No. l don't think
him very wise, but I do think him wise
enough not to expose himself to that
pointing to she'll that went whizzing away
in the direction of the French lines. All
the while Napoleon was quietly sitting
on horseback in the thick Of it,
with shell after shell crashing around
him. It was no empty phrase that he
penned in his letter to King William, when