Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1892-11-15
DIDLOUIS USE PAINT 2
ZOLA'S CHARGE THAT NAPOLEON
PAINTED HIS FACE.

The Novelist Says the Emperor Made Use
OF Rouge at the Battle Of Sedan-Ths
Statement Contradicted by Eminent Au'
thority-Did He Turn Green?
On the declaration of war against
Prussia, both MN. de .Cassagnac and
Mitchell threw down their pens for the
sword, and enrolled themselves as vol
unteers in the First zouaves. Both
were personally known to the Emperor
Napoleon Ill, who saw them almost
every day. and now these two distin,
guished authorities have come forward
to traverse the inference suggested by
NJ. Emile lola in La Debacle" that
Napoleon III at Sedan had resorted to a
cosmetic to impart unnatural rosiness to
his complexion. NJ lola describes the
emperor as having glowing cheeks, and
adds, "Assuredly he had his face paint
ed" NJ. de Cassagnac has emphatically
stated that during his close association
with Napoleon before the battle he
never noticed a trace of paint on the
imperial countenance, and in this denial
he is corroborated by NJ. Robert Mitch.
ell. who declares his certainty that the
then ruler of the French people used nc
pigment whatsoever during the opera.
tons leading to the capitulation OF
Sedan.
The question, although intrinsically
unimportant, is very curious, inasmuch
as this is not the first time that the
change Of complexion of the son uf
Queen Hortense has been made mat
ter of public discussion. The anony.
nous writer Of that most entertaining
medley. 1.-THE Englishman in Paris,
who first met Prince Louis Napoleon at
the Hotel du Rhin, Paris, in 1S4S, has
plenty to say about the personal appear.
ance Of the then pretender to the French
throne. He describes his heavy brown
mustache, his thin lank hair, his aqui.
line nose and grayish blue eyes and the
general impression which the features
of the prince gave him of being ha.
bitual opium eater; and opium eaters are
assuredly not as rule persons of rud,
dy tint. Provokingly enough the Eng.
lishman has nothing to say touching the
princes complexion at this stage of his
career.
The late Mr.. Kinglake has, on the
other hand, great deal to state touch
ing the facial hue Of the third Napoleon
In his prologue to the history of the
Crimean war the writer describes the
emperor as apt, on days of great peril
to turn facially green, and on this cir
cumstance he founded the opinion that
the emperor, either at the period of the
coup d'etat or on subsequent occasions
as momentous, did not, so far as could
be judged from his appearance, suggest
the conclusion that he was a man of ex
ceptional courage. 1t is said, indeed
that when Napoleon III read the first
volume of Mr.. Kinglakes history he
observed with a smile to one of his con
fidants, "This," pointing to the sea greer
passage, "must have been written by 8
woman" and anti-English French jour
nalists of the period did not scruple t.
insinuate that Mr.. Kinglake's structures
on the personal appearance of the EN-
peror were due to the inspiration of al
Egeria well known in Partisan society
who hated the third emperor as bitterly
as the first one had been detested by
Nine. De Stael.
The authority. however, of the histo
rian Of the Crimean war was naturally
so highly valued in England that the
story of the emperor turning green OF
days of battle or revolution obtained
universal credence, and to some extent
it was used to bolster up the absurd &C
cusatiOn of personal cowardice which
the ultra republicans constantly brought
against their imperial foe. 1t remained
for an illustrious English surgeon, mo-
long deceased, to point out the indubita
BILE verify that man has no command
over his blood, although by the exercise
of his will he has every command ovel
his muscles. Meanwhile it must bt
frankly admitted that in circumstance
of emergency the features of Napoleon
Ill did assume peculiar hue.
The color was certainly not ruddy
nor was it swarthy or sallow; it was 6
curious leaden gray. But that such {
leaden gray had nothing to do with thu
emperor's capacity for mourning danger
without wavering there is on record frs
the observation of the distinguished Eng
fish medical man to whom allusion ha'
been made, and next to the personal ties
timony-not by any means exclusively
that Of MN. de Cassagnac and Mitchell
of people who had constantly beer
close to the emperor, and who had OBJ
served his physical mien from the earl,