Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1888-10-18
ROUSTUHT.
The Memoirs of the Mameluke of the Grea
Napoleon

The Memoirs of the Mameluke of the Grea
Napoleon.
PARIS, France-Roustum, the famous,
and according to popular tradition, the
faithful mameluke of the great Napoleon
was evidently of a literary turn. At ali
events, the editor of an interesting Paris
review which is only read by literary
connoisseurs-La Review Retrospective
has unearthed from somewhere, a
series of documents purporting to be the
memories of the magnificent mameluke
whose bronzed liniments, dazzling dress,
and silken girdle full of damaskeened
pistols have been preserved for us by the
great French water colorist, Isabey.
Roustum has always been evoked as TIE
pink and pattern of fidelity: but it is re-
lated that he behaved most ungratefully
to his august master when the "Star of
the Brave" began to fade and Eiba loom
ed in the distance. It is said, moreover,
that he settled down comfortably in
tobacco shop which had been given to
him by the government of Louise Philip
pe.
Roustum's memoirs ale a strange med
ley of puerile ingenuity and oriental cum
ming. He knew that he was an ornamen-
tai appendage in the household of the
3
relates how he made use of his position
to obtain all soIts of favors from the
mighty EN- peror, who occasionally called
him nicknames and pincheo his ears IN
plav. The mameluke states thai in his
youth he was stolen from Georgia, his
native country, by brigands, and that on
his arrival at Cairo, at the age of Is, Sala
Bey enrolled him among the chosen
troops. When the hey was poisoned, in
the natural oriental order of things,
RoustuJp entered the service of shiek
and attracted soon afterwards the notice
of Bonaparte, who at oDcv made him a
brilliant offer, which be accepted. Ro-
stun followed the conqueror TO France
but not without many misgi-ings for
some of the French officers were in the
habit of frightening him by saying that
his head would be struck off and stuck on
a pole as soon as he landed in Earope.
The mameluke soon became the wonder
of the day In Paris. ephin.-whom
he calls the good Nine. Bona parte-made
him present of ring. Describing the
famous coup d'etat of the 18th Brumaire
or Nov. 9, 1893, when the grenadiers of
Napoleon, led by Muraf, drove the depu-
ties from the orangeries of st.
Cloud at tie point of the bayo-
net, Bcustnm laconically says thai
BoDaparte went down to st. Cloud "to
show some people there the door,"
The change from Gen. Bonaparte's hum
BILE residence in the Rue ChanterIne TO
the Luxembourg and then to the fuller
les was the event whibh made the most
impression on the memory of the name
luke. He also relates how ohen he used
to sleep on the mat before the emperor's
door, Napoleon sometimes tried him by
putting out the lights and coming steal
tbily toward him Roustum on one OF
these occasions nearly sirangled the
emperor by mistake.
Perhaps the most amusing part of the
memoirs is that relating to the bad faith
and dishonesty Of Nspoieon's minione.
Berthier, for instance, once borrowed
Roustem's diamond h1lted sword and
never gave it back. Bessiers, who was
told to put the mameIuke's name down
for an snnuity of 900 livres, placidly an
nexed half the sum for himself. His old,
oriental instincts were rather too strong
to permit the mameluke, who had seen so
many pashas come AMI go to remain on
the losing side. His memoirs stop at
Eiba. He disappeared until
the transfer of NaPoleon'5 remains to the
1nvalides, when be blazed once more be-
fore Parisians in his magnificent erient-
ri