Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1883-08-10
BONA.PARTE,s COURT.
Memoirs OF the Duchess Ola Dr antes
From the London Times

! BONAPAHTE'S COUNT.
Memoirs OF the Duchess 'Aprantes.
From the London Times n i
| The memoirs of the Duchess d'Abran-
ties are likely to retain a lasting pop
| ularity, because the authoress really
1 knew no more of Napoleon Z. than any
1 one Of the great number of persons who
have written about him. Although she
had shrewd perception of the HIM
poror's character and was by no means.
blind to his faults, her womanly enthu
s;asm for his genius inclined her often
to praise the hero overmuch and to as
sail his enemies with unreasonable
animus. But this only makes her book
more lively; and historians viii, continue
to 60 to it for the best pictures Of Partisan
society under the consulate and empire.
The famous NJ. Prudnomme attribu-
ted the great mans fall to excess of am
bition. 'If," said he Napoleon had
been content to remain simple lieu
tenant Of artillery he might row be sit
ting on the throne of France" Readers
Of Nine. Junot's go sip will quickly
form an opinion that Ma poaeor.'s failures
were due in a great measure to the bad
ness Of his temper, "What nifty that
such q great man should be so i'll Bred"
remarked Talleyrand, after the Emper-
for had spitefnlly tweaked his ear in pub
: lie; and it seems that the emperor had
nafs5on for 2nllng nob5es as well a. earS
nose till she shrieked, and even mis- ca
resses were SO rough that on one occa-
, sion he reopened an old wound in Gen.
| Junots head by carelessly passing his
hand through the wretched n,sns hair
/ His paroxysms Of rage are said to have
} been awful, but they did not awe
everybody, for when the little tyrant
once lifted a cane to strike vice-Admiral
Bruat the latter placed hand on the
hilt of his sword and said: '"Take care,
sir"
Plus VII. again, when a prisoner at
/ tontainebleau, disconnected the emperor
by placid sarcasm. Napoleon talking on
, the ConcarLat, had worked himself into
a great excitement and stamped about
the room unfolding his scheme fora Gal
%or Sr9aa agd thsP mPU Hef
maddencd at this the emperor shook
his fist, yelled and swore; but thA pom
tits only answer was the smile with
plying sweetness as he whispered
. ''TrogediarteW
Nine. de Stael gave Napoleon O neat
} retort when, being asked, 'Since when
have women taken to meddling with
politics." she answered, "Since the re-
public took to guillotining Them" but
Napoleon paid this off another time by
telling the sprightly lady that the women
he liked best were chose who had most
children"-the sting Of this lying in the
fact that Nine. de Steal had only one
child. Such rudeness as this-which
was habitual with the emperor, for not
a day passed without his saying an un-
kind thing to somebody at court-prO-
| voked q great deal Of sullen resentment;
and il goes far to explain how when
Gen. Malet tried to overthrow the gov
eminent in 1912 during Napoleon's alb
sence in Russia, he nearly succeeded.
Napoleon inspired terror, but very
} little love. Nine. Junot, who had known
him intimately when he was boy, says
that from childhood his temper was un-
governable, and his character at once
When one reads that his fellow-pupils
at the military school summed him and
actually set influence to work SO that he
might get a commission before the usual
time and so rid them Of his company, it
ceases to be q matter for surprise that
no signs of budding genius were dis
; cerned in him. Saveria, the old Corsi~
can nurse in hi family, thought him the
poorest OF five brothers. Even his
mother had 40 presentiment Of his
splendid destinies; and what is more,
when Napoleon seemed master of the
world and was distributing thrones
among his kinsmen she never thought
that this heyday would last. She used
to save up money in view Of misfortune
and made the emperor furious by so do
ing, though i'll after years, when pris-
oner at St Helera he was glad enough
to be relieved out Of her hoardings.
Their is finely engraved portrait of
Nine, Letitia in this book, and it merits
attention because Of the striking resem-
blance which it's features bear to those
Of Napoleon III. On the other hand,
there is a most pleasing lifelike head Of
the Empress Josephine, engraved from
miniature by 1sabey. The soft, sensu-
Gus look on the pretty creatures face,
the artful expression Of the eyes and the
studied artlessness in the attitude of her
arms-all show what AL euchantress Jo'
sephine must have been when young.