Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-10-11
NAPoLKoN's TOME.

|
| NAPoLEoN's TOME
she is. When she speaks her voice 10 low and
pleasant, with just enough Of accent to give
her words an additional attraction II has
been said by some cynic "that at sixty We love
| only ourselves" This certainly il not true OF
| Eugene, who seems to be still in love with her
people and with the memories which her hus-
band and SON recall To keep them alive she
has expended a great deal Of wealth and con-
tinues to spend great deal Of effort Probably
| a million dollars would not repay the outlay
| upon Eugenies castle and its surroundings.
and they are a commanding part of the ro-
| nance and reality of the remarkable exhibition
| OF past power one sees a. soon as dropped at
| the little railway station thirty-three miles
from London.
NAPoLEoN's MAUsoLEUM.
Looking to the left from Eugenie's castle in
the direction Of Aldershot can be seen, Just
across the railroad track, grove of forest trees
| skirting the top Of hill and tending down.
ward toward an open field on the one side and
the main wagon road on the other, which
leads from marlborough to the military camp.
On the brow of the hill among these trees
you see magnificent building Of white stone
surmounted by q tower and pinnacled with
dozens of smaller shafts. The windows are
large and filed with richly stained glass, and
everything indicates a lavish outlay Until
!.
it looks like parish church in a rich commu-
nifty, and SO it is, but not in the sense of be-
longing to the people. 1t is reared and kept in
perfect order to perpetuate the memory of
Napoleon LII, the prince imperial and. when
she goes to her final account the Empress
Eugene. Doubtless q quarter Of a million of
dollars did not pay for this costly monument
to the fallen imperial family of France The
church upstairs is q model Of beauty, and
everything that money could procure has been
in he Of ltaro
lions to make it as perfect q chapel as the inge-
nuity of men could devise. Just in front of the
altar OF the Madonna and above and beyond
the seats reserved for other worshipers is set
broad armchair. with prize dieu in
front for the empress to kneel upon. The
semblance of royalty is still kept up in the
church as in the castle. and her chair and its
accompaniment are upholstered in royal pur-
pie and the framework guided, according to the
imperial habit.
and especially In this part of it, Therefore, the
Sunday congregation at the mausoeum of Ma
poleon Is small and confined almost entirely 10
the attaches of Eugenie's household and Q very
few humble residents along the highway who
profess this faith The church is kept mn
simply to crafty the religious penchant Of the
empress and to keep prominent the memory of
her family, who are buried under the altar of
the church, In the sarcophagus Of marble pre-
sented by Queen Victoria.
THE CRYPT
where the two bodies are deposited is q model
In its way and again illustrates the vast expend-
iture of money that must have been made in
constructing the building. 1t is half the size
Of the church above it and fitted up and finished
even more richly. The floor is covered with
elaborate tlling, and in the center between four
great stone columns a carpet il spread upon
the marble. and upon this are about score Of
velvet-covered prize dieux directly facing the
A ha head ~ fhaf to r.. Il
on either side, are placed the royal purple-cov-
cred chairs for the empress, the counterpart of
the one above. On anniversary days marking
the death OF husband and son she has ceremo-
MES held there. The day was there there must
nave been q wagon load Of wreaths and other
flower pieces upon and about the tombs Of the
two Bonapartes, mostly sent by French people,
which would seem to indicate that least some of
her old subjects keep the name green.
HOME OF THE PRIESTS.
To the graves Of husband and son the empress
10 . daily visitor when at home She has a
rather secluded walk built from the castle to
the crypt door, with q bridge over the railroad
mts her to walk from her home unobserved to
say her prayers for the dead. To administer
to her spiritual wants and say mass in the
chapel the empress keeps six priests and four
monks. These white-robed canons live in q
splendid brick house in the grove just beyond
ones residence and large enough to we'll &C.
commodate double the number that occupy it.
Both IN architecture and environment it 10 q
beautiful building, q very fit accompaniment
to the magnificent church which rises above
the remains Of the last OF the male line OF the
imperial family Of France.
Here Is lady OF high degree with . history
that comprehends almost all the intrigues and
combinations that France has known since
1893, who after twenty years of Punishment
hA and he .I,l Al
here In a country wherein she never had place
or power and still main tanning all the outward
evidences of her old-time political domination
with every one about her to help keep up the
fancy. In the little village the shopkeepers
put upon their wagons: .'Purveyors to her i'm
perial highness, the Empress Eugenie" Not
only the gentry by the countryside, but the
officers at Aidershot, the statesmen of England,
who occasionally drop down here, make mani
fest their recognition of her title, just as
though she were in reality the empress She
hnds IT pleasant ii not necessary to keep alive
past glorles and live in the same atmosphere
she enjoyed before her exile. Everywhere
about her grounds and in her castle there are
interesting evidences Of her past-rich re-
minders OF her royal home in France which
are carefully preserved for future generations,
although she has not near Kindred, believe,
70 respect them when she is gone. Even the
state carriage, with its gold-mounted harness
and gold-linked whiffie trees. in which she and
OF their power is here kept FURNISHED and ready
for use or show in building erected expressly
TO preserve 1t
HER INCOME.
The wealth to keep up this style and enjoy
this miniature nation in Q secluded spot must
be considerable, but the empress 10 credited
with having plenty and something to spare.
The savings from the wreck of the empire are
said to have been large and her possessions in
the United States are set down a. yielding her
considerable income. There seems no dan
ger whatever that the style OF this establish
ment will be marred in the slightest for the re-
naming years Of Euyenie's life. 1t is perhaps
hitting that this should be 80. for, besides the
good she does to the laboring people, with the
expensive establishment she keeps up, she gives
nberaIly to charity, and every person along
marlborough Hants blesses her every day. She
goes about them in q very friendly, way with
out ostentation, tender, but dignity itself Her
life - very secluded, the visits to Victoria
being about her only mingling with the outside
world.
The relation between this pair Of queens il
very interesting, and no one in England more
carefully or more constantly endeavors to
recognize the present existence of Eugenie's
former position than the queen. She treats
her with all the dignity of an equal, and by
every outward mark Of respect teaches her
people to do the same. She also intends to
keep the friendship alive for after generations,
and her youngest daughter, Beatrice, has named
her girl child Vicsoris-Eugenie. victoria's
lines have been mostly happy ones, aud ct
the age OF seventy-four. with good health and
prOsDerity sho ca n Iook npon the wovlA IN ronoh