The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-11-23
NAPoLEoNs CoNJUG AL SCHEMES
how He Proposed Strengthening His
Political Alliances

| now ne proposed Strengthening His
Political Alliances.
M. Tatischtscheff, a former Russian dip.
lomat, has published in the Russian ar
chiUfst the whole of the secret correspond
| ence between the French and Russian courts
concerning proposed marriage between
| Napoleon |. and Russian princess. For
long time it was supposed that the French
| had possessed themselves of the Russian
| copies during the expedition of 1912. and
that they had been lost during the disasters
of the retreat frcm Moscow. Another sup
position was thai, at the occupation of
Paris by the allies either in 1914 or 1915,
the copies found in Paris mad been DESTROYED
by Russian agents. NJ. Tatischtscheif dis
Ivered the missing documents in the
Russian division of the archives of the
ministry of foreign affairs at Paris He
writes, in his introduction, as follows:
THE first idea of strengthening the polit-
ical alliance with France by means of a
family connection with the moeror seams
to have entered into the head of Alexander
on the occasion of the meeting at Tilsit. II
is believed that up to that time Napoleon
had had no idea of a separation from
Josephine, but he took note of Alexander's
proposal, deferring indefinitely any action.
1t will be remembered that his
biographers generally agree in dating
divorce
time of the Iilslt interview. At that time
any suggestion Of marriage must have
contemplated the favorite sister of the en-
peror Alexander the Grand Duchess Cath
crime, person of extraordinary beauty and
attraction, for her younger sister, the
Grand Duchess Anne, was barely IL wears
of age. But the cZar's views were not those
of his m ther, the Dowager Empress Maria
Feot DorovnR, who was d cideily I'M
n closer al.
France. She had contemplated mrrrvinp
her daughter to the Emperor Francis /. OF
Austria grandfather of the present en-
peror), who was then O Nidower; but this
project fell through.
immediately after the Tilsit confer
ences, when she learned the projects of her
son, The car, she dispatched Count Goloso-
kin on a confidential mission to secure n
husband for her daughter among the old
reighing houses of Western EuroDe Rut
the confidential envoy was soon convinced
by his inquiries at Vienna and Munich that
an essential preliminary to such marriages
would be that the grand duchess should
become CATHOLIC year passed away.
Napoleon had all but determined on
the divorce, and at the interview
with Alexander at Erfurt he commits
stoned Talleyrand to sound the car on the
idea of the marriage OF the French emperor
with his sister. The CORRESPONDENCE indi-
Gates that Talleyrand, who generally was
influenced even in diplomatic proceedings
by what he thought would conduce to hiS
own interest at some future time. insipu-
ated some distrust against his masters pol
icy. At any rate the Emperor Alexander.
whose ardent feelings toward Napoleon had
somewhat cooled, gave an undecided and
not encouraging answer, mentioning that
his father, the Emperor Paul, had by will
expressly given to his widow, the dowaper
empress, the absolute control over
the marriages CT her daughters. The
car returned to st. PETERSBURG
and the empress mother, resolved to put an
| end TO all danger of French machinations
| to secure her daughter as wife for Napo-
leon, summoned one of the family relatives.
Prince George of Oldenburg, AID early in
| the following year he was married to the
| Grand Duchess Catherine in the presence of
| the King and Queen of Prussia, the special
! object of Napoleon's dislike. 1t would
! appear that even this decided step did not
make the French emperor abandon all idea
of obtaining Russian grand duchess for a
| wife, for the correspondence on the subject
| continued down to the end of 1908
But meantime the campaign against
Austria had been brought to a successful
conclusion, and it had been settled that the
Archduchess Marie Louise was to be part of
the price Of peace
The documents more than suggest
causes which were at least contributorv TO
the war Of 1872 The true causes of that
war have never yet been sufficiently inves-
tigated. according to the Russian diplo-
matte editor OF this remarkable correspon-
| Iepca