The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1890-10-26
MILE. RHEA's FRENCH HOME.

The Charms of the villa Beatrice-A Visit
TO Josephine's Tomb.
Paris Correspondence New Orleans Picayune.
When Rhea is over here her home is at Mont
morency, in pretty house which she has named
the Villa Beatrice and her private park over
looks as lovely a forest and valley, as fine
landscape as it is possible to find anywhere Out
where she lives the Montmorencys and Condos
once reigned, and through those lands and woods
Englishmen and Frenchmen have often met in
battle. There she lives when she is on this side
of the Atlantic, and there she receives many
visitors, including some of the most distin-
guished writers and artists OF the continent, and
all are made very welcome. Parisians are much
interested in Rhea, and, Notwithstanding her
long sojourn in the United States, she has not
been forgotten by the critics. the dramatists, or
the managers. Time and again this summer she
had to tell of the success of "Josephnen which
has warranted two or three of our local man
ayers to ask Rhea to produce the piece here in
Paris, and it has even been suggested that she
should do so with her own company.
The other day Rhea, who has long wished to
make pilgrimage to the old home of ''La Bonne
Josephine" had some of us go out with her to
Malmaison-Mme. and Mile. Alice Verhulst.
now now living at Antwerp; NJ Rene Pont-Jest, a
distinguished novelist and graphic writer of
clean stories whose books Invariably run up
into many editions; Mile. Marie, the faithful
companion of the famous actress, and your cor
respondent Our place of rendezvous was the
81. Lazare station, and few minutes after leav-
ing that depot we reached Chatou
we took carriage to the Church of Rueil,
where there are tombs of Empress Josephine
and her daughter Hortense de Beauharnais
Queen of Holland by her marriage with Louis
Bonaparte brother of Napoleon l. The two
monuments were in white marble Josephine
Is represented the same as she is in David's pic
ture OF the coronation, kneeling down and
awaiting Napoleon to put the crown upon her
head. On the pedestal the following simple
words are inscribed: ''To the Empress Jose
phine, Eugene, and Hortense" Old flowers
and faded wreaths were lying about on the
tomb, and an iron plate, formerly the bottom
OF crown, bears this inscription: "To the EN-
press Josephine, the Old Soldiers of the EN-
pire." Before this tomb Imagination carried
us back to her infancy, to when she was happy
and adored in Martinique, to when she became
a wife, then prisoner, victim of that revolu-
tion from which was to emanate giant man
who would seat her on the first throne in the
universe. Then, alas her divorce and abandon
ment; she suffered all that with sweetness
and resignation like true woman.
"Poor Josephine" said Rhea while two tear
drops ran down her cheeks; and as we were 60
Ing out an old woman stood at the door of the
church, having before her hortensias. "Buy
them, madame, F" said ehe, sit was the Queens
fayorite flower" SO Rhea bought the flowers
and asked the churchkeeper to place them on
Josephfne's tomb and carefully tend them.
$f.OO-Grand Excursion to Baltimore
and Return on B. t& o. r.. r., Mon
day, October 27.-$1.OO.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad will sell ex-
cursion tickets to Baltimore and return on above
date at rate of one dollar for the round trip in
cluding admission to Masonic fair which is
DpiDp pto1