Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-03-30
NAPOLEON's DEAR EMILIA.
The EmperOrs MOrganatic Wife and
Her Strange Career.


twas in 1905, says a Paris correspond
ent. that the young Emilia, daughter ola
miner of Idria, first saw Napoleon. She
was presented to him by her adopted
father, a secretary in the artillery depart
ment, whose headquarters were then at
the Castle of SchOnDTunn. 1t was we'll
known fact that the Emperor resided at
the castle during the Austrian campaign.
/ Emilia was at that time in all the
| splendor of her 10th year. Tall and
slender she was, and, with her blonde
/ halr falling like river of gold over her
/ goddess-llke shoulders, she at once made A
| great Impression on Napoleon who seized
the hrst opportunity to make her formal
/ declaration.
Strange as it may seem, the young girl,
I although perhaps somewhat daZZled by
such an unexpected homage, in nOwise
abandoned her scruples, and naively de-
mahded OF the Emperor nothing less than
marriage! Cesar pretended to yield to
Inls ultlmatum and cheerfully went
/ through the mOckery of a religious cere-
] Inohy, at which the Comte de MOnthOlpn
/ one OF the Emperor's aides-de-camp and
! afterwards his companion at St. Helena
is said to have assisted.
some days after this exceedingly NOR
gahatlc union he was Obliged to leave for
Munich, where Eugene de Beauharnais
was to be atianced to a Bavarian Princess.
Napoleon brought Emilia in his suite, but
lncognito. for the Empress Josephine.
who had just come from France, watched
her husband with jealous anxiety that
was but too often justified
AT the end of January. 1906 the beauti-
! Iul Austrian moved to Paris, and is said
/ TO nave kept herself hidden in one of the
secret apartments Of the Tuileries where
notwithstanding to another and more
doubtful legend-used to give the Cesar
. ~ T.
/ is at least IncOntestible that the fair re-
/ cluse condemned herself with ioy to life
/ OF absolute secrecy-a sort Of retreat only
broken by the visits of Il very few of the
Emperops friends. When Napoleon
again bestrode his battle-steed he was
accompanied to the frontier by Josephine;
but once upon the other side of the from
lief the morganatic wife resumed her
! rights. she cut off her beautiful bright
hair and assumed masculine attire in
! or0er TO attach herself the better to her
/ loFef destlnIeS. The battle Of Jena, the
trlumphal entry into Berlin, the march
( upon arSaw, the victories Of EylaU and
Freldland-iinally the peace of Tilsit-all
lnose glorious and bloody episodes OF the
Napoleonlc epop@Ia east their splendors
ana tuelr shadows athWart the life of the
Austrian miners daughter.
In July, 1907, Napoleon returned from
1 dresden to Paris, and Emilia resumed
her claustrae life until the breaking out Of
the spanish war. Once more she followed
/ Napoleon-thus adyantageously replacing
the Little Red Man, With whom, however,
the Ola camp legend may yet satisfactOr-
lily identity her. In March. 1900. we find
her again IN Austria, and even at Schon-
/ pfuhn, where Napoleon leaves her i'm
order 10 triumph at Wagram. She has
abandoned her military disguise, and
aIoWed her golden hair to float again over
her white shoulders.
In the month of October following She
re-ehtered Paris accompanied by her mas
/ Ter. The marriage Of NAPOLEON with
Marle-Loulse necessarily relegated Emilia
TO obsurlty. The newly-wedded pair
llVed nj CompIegne in public spendOr. at
SAINT Cloud, and at the Tuileries, while
the morganatic wife seemed to have be-
come utterly forgotten. Her whereabOut
/ was known only to Constant the Valet-de-
chambre and to RoustOn the Mameluke.
But-curiOus phenomenon - scarcely
/ nad Jhe russian campaign opened than
Emilia reappeared at NapOleOn's side
step by step she followed all the terrible
course OF that savage war. At SmOlen-
sko, at Moscow, in the icy tempests,
throughout that dismal route wherein the
Grande Armee melted away, she guarded
win heroic fidelity the post to which she
had been consigned.
rms strange union, formed between
I TWO victories, and which had become ems
noDled and stronger through years of
battle, was definitely broken only at
Fontalnebleau. Before addressing that
eVer-memorable farewell address to his
veteran guards, Napoleon went TO bid
Emilia farewell. He had created her
Baroness of WOlfsberg and had assured
her a comfortable future by depOsiting i'm
an English banking house the sum of
I'ooO,OOO francs, whereof Emilia was to
| receive the yearly interest. The dOcu-
ments relating to this arrangement were
f fl!i,l to the keeping of her adopted
father, who had in the meantime become
a counselor in the War Office and a
/ Chevalier of the Legion of Honor a
Emilia did not see Napoleon again dur
! ing the Hundred Days. While he was pin
ing away at Saint Helena she married a
Nlennese lawyer named Schonauer. But
| our Amazon could not submit easily to
/ tne prOsalc conditions of her new life. In
io2O she applied for and obtained a
divorce.
From that moment began the long
martyrdom Of her life. After NapOleon's
death the Austrian officeholder to whom
/ the manageme 1t of EmIlia's million had
| been intrusted managed to squander more
! than tWO-thirds of it. What was even
/ worse, he refused to remember anything
ABOUT collection of Jewels that Emilia
had contided to his honor. The poor wo-
! man left Vienna, and, accompanied by
4 her mother and sister, sought new home
/ at b, upon the Lake of Constance,
/ where she bought a. little cottage and re-
/ solved to end her days there in peace.
But she had reckOned without love, and
/ love changed her plans. She became
/ suddenly enamOred of young physician
ana married him, Notwithstanding a nota-
] Ole dlnerence in age. She was then 40
1 ana her husband only %. In 1889 the
surgeon died and poverty entered the
home of the Little Empress" She sold
! or paWned her robes, her jewelrv. and
/ her furniture. The sale of her house in
/ vowed her in lawsuit which consumed
/ her last resources. And when ruin had
! come at last she lost her pride to such a
! degree as even to ask for aims She esDe-
| clally solicited the Intervention of the
Archbishop of Salzburg, who declined.
and replied to her that her situation was
OF TOO peculiar character and the source
OF her fortune too impure to render it
| possible Tor any prelate to decently grant
her protection.
The 'COmtesse aux Chiens." as she
was called by the people, did not allow
nerseI TO DediscOuraged. She even dared
10 make direct application to Marie
Louise, and the widow of Napoleon actu-
ally granted her a pension Of 900 francs.
| whIch-it may be parentheticalIv
reality OF the ties which united Emilia TO
the Emperor. However it may have been.
encouraged by this first success she be-
gan To prosecute the Princess with her
selnsh applications, and thus wrested
pecunlary assistance from her on many
occasions, and even tried to obtain an
audience of her illustriOus protectress
While the latter was on a Journey to
SalZburg.
ms last favor was refused her. With
out being at all brilliant her situation was
by no means desperate. Besides the
annual pension and the occasional gratui-
lles OF which l have already spoken.
Emilia also had an allowance of POO francs
year from the widows fund. She still
retained her passionate love for dogs and
BIRDS, and lived with them in sickening
promlsculty in miserable hovel, whereof
the sole furniture consisted of bed and a
few chairs.
The authorities at last took a hand in
TINS state Of affairs. A guardian was
appointed to take care of the "COmtess1
aux Chlens." She was indignant at the
ldea OF having thus excited puIeic pity.
and loudly declared that the Emperor
should grant her her rightful allowance
ana enable her to live according to her
rank. In the numerous petitions which
she addressed to the court she spoke in /
eXtraYagant terms of her lost beauty