The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1883-05-14
The Fall of an Empire.
Eugenie's Last DAYS as an Empress or a
Parisienne.
[Temple Rar.l

The events of the 14th served on the
whole to give the court too great sense of
security. On the nth the battles round
Metz began, and Bazaine's armies. every
where outnumbered and beaten, had to re
treat before the German hosts. But ST.
Privat and Gravelotte were reported to the
Parisians as victories, and it was said that
Bazaine had thrown himself into Metz In
order to take up "strong positionr' The
empress believed in all these fables. Was it
a wonder that she should do SO when at
clabs like the Union and the Cercle Imperi-
al old generals would bark fnriously at YOU
if you expressed any doubt as to Marshal
Canrobert's having driven whole regiment
of Prussian cuirassiers into the sand-pits.o of
Jaumont-sa nd-pits which had no existence?
The trouble is, double sets Of kilograms used
to be sent from the seat of war, and those
which related events with some approach to
the truth flor none of them were wholly
truthfull were never communicated to the
empress. When the hoaxing dispatch about
the Jaumont sand-pits was put into her
hands, the poor lady, believing in real vic
tory, was so oyerjoyed that she ran down
from her apartments to the guard-room
right among the soldiers, who were lying
upon camp-beds or playing cards, and
waved the telegram, crying, 'sThe Prussians
are beatenT' She then suspended all her
own personal preparations for fight. She
said that If revolution were attempted In
Paris she would herself ride at the head of
the troops that quelled it. This was her
mood during several days, and 1t explains
how so few of her own chattels were re-
moved from the palace. Her wardrobe con-
tanned more than 300 dresses; her collection
of fans, of furs, of lace and linen was proba-
bly, unique, for the pin money which she had
received in monthly payments ever since
her marriage amounted TO 600 a year,
and one may add that she never failed to
spend this sum to the last franc. Every
thing that the empress possessed, with the
exception of her jewels and few valuable
missals, was left at the Tuileries when she
fed; and the jewels would have been aban-
doned, too, had not Madame Carette, one Of
her majesty's ladies-in-waiting, prevailed up
on her, after much pleading, to have these
treasures confded to a banker.
The empress lead a curious life during her
last days on the throne. She was up every
morning at o'clock, attired in a black CASH
mere dress which she wore all day with
plain white collar and cuffs. At 730 she
heard mass said In the private chapel of the
Tuileries by Monseigneur Bauer, her al
moner. Immediately after this she took a
cup Of coffee with Madame Carette, who, by
the by, was one Of the most renowned court
beauties, and most charming companion,
owing to her exquisite cheerfulness The
ANN q fRrf 90 a Ia
first floor Of the pavilion de Flore overlook
ing the garden, and commanding glorious
view of the Seine and the Champs Elysees
as far as the Triumphal Arch. The room In
which she generally sat was a circular sa-
loon, very gayly decorated with panels paint
ed by Charles Chaplin, and illustrating the
loves of violet and rose. In this room,
from s o'clock in the morning until long af-
ter the nominal hour for dinner, which day
after day was delayed, the empress received
an uninterrupted flow of visitors, and the
confusion Of those wretched times was
shown by the kind as well as by the number
Of persons who were allowed TO penetrate
into her presence.
Crack-pated men bringing plans for new
campaigns, inventors who had new sorts Of
shells to propose, wives of convicts who
sought pardons for their husbands, and, it ia
pitiful to add, men Of every degree who
ndHbCd " SO2o Va I0AAJ Etdiito VI fbOhCJs
posts or decorations out of regent whom
they knew to have more in her Of womanIy
sweetness than Of regal strength-all these
people were, by some objectionable misman-
agement on the part Of those who should
have protected the empress, allowed to
plague her all day long. An excuse that
may be offered for some of the men then in
power is that several of them were qnite new
to the responsibilities Of office. NJ Clement
Duvernois, for instance young man OF 20
who had become minister of commerce on
the strength of some dashing newspaper
articles-was a regular Bohemian who used
always to show an inch of shirt between his
vest and the waistband of his neither gar
ments. From Observation-Disclosures he would
90 out with patent leather boot ON one foot
and clump-soled shoe on the other. This
eccentric man of talent, who displayed some
administrative ability in provisioning Paris
for the siege, used to give audience to quon.
dam Bohemian brethren at-the cafe de Mad
rid, and when he could not grant them all
they desired, he would dismiss them in
patches, saying: "Ah, you must see the en-
press-J'H take care that you are admitted"
Things reached a pretty pass when on the
31st Of August horde of hungry suppli-
cants, tired of waiting in the antechambers
of the Tuileries, pushed their way into the
private room, and swooped upon cold
luncheon that had been spread for the
empress.
On the first of September some servants OF
the imperial household absconded taking
with them portable articles Of value; statu-
cites Of bronze and marble, miniature paint
ings, albums. Some of the emp Jess dresses
vanished General Loland, the governor OF
the place, was at pains to secure proper at
tendance for the regent, and going on tour
OF inspection through the kitchens he was
supefied 10 see workmen, soldiers and
women-the friends Of the scullions-being
treated as honored guests in the servants