Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-02-22

but herself.
On that date Eleonore was married
to NJ. Pierre Philippe Augeir. a lieu
tenant OF infantry and 4 son of a mem
Der Of the legislative corps. Angler
sent his wife to Spain, was captured
while on the march TO Moscow, and
died 4 prisoner in the hands Of the
Russians. The widow married Al
Seckenheim Oh May %, 1911, Charles
Auguste Emile. count of Luxembourg
and major in the Bavarian army. MOI
long after the downfall of the empire
the couple visited Paris. The presence
added to the. gayety of the assembled
nation, for Capt. Revel, now a free
man, and with his greed for black
mail unimpaired. swo0ped down on
them with delicious ferocIty.
He posed as a martyr to The Cersf,
cans" cruelty, and published a pam
pklet, still eXtant, telling how the ty-
rant had put him in Il dungeon because
he had dared protest against the levity
of his wife. He sent out other pam
phlets even more scandalous, but
Eleonore resisted all his demands fol
money. Though he sought the courts,
and out of his e~Xtrayagant suits
against the countess 4 now forgotten
playwright built Il comedy that had
quite a vogue at the time. Revel gain
ed nothing. either by literature or law,
and Eleonore passed from public view
until 1919, when, in her old age, Leon
cited her to court to answer in a civil
action for money unlawfully detained
since his majority. The naughty and
still handsome dame won a legal vic
tory, and when confronting the magiS-
strate saw her son for the first time
since his babyhOod. She died three
years later, and her fortune was dis
posed of by will to charitable objects.
The child Leon was taken from his
mother at the time of the FOntaine,
bleau rupture and consigned to the
Murat. His resemblance to the en-
perOr was very marked and Napoleon
conceived for him an extreme affec-
ton. He often had the nurse bring tie
lad to the palace, and engaged with
him in childish games. He even
thought of acknowledging and adopt
ing him, and went SO far as to pro
cure a list OF precedents showing the
COURSE pursued by previous French
monarchS under similar circumstances.
But he finally abandoned the plan,
and in 1912 Leon was placed under the
tutelage Of NJ. Matthew de Mauvieries,
mayor Of San Forget, a baron of the
empire, and father-in-law Of Meneyal,
the emperor's private secretary. Two
years afterward January, 1S14-
Napoleon settled on his son q fortune
of 100000 francs in bonds and an in
come Of $4,000 livres. Before depart
ing for st. Helena the emperor confid-
ed the child to the guardianship of
Cardinal Fesch. By his will he left
Leon 100000 francs with which to
buy an estate, and the thirty-seventh
paragraph of the instructions to his
testamentary executors reads: Il viii
not be angry if little Leon enters the
magistracy, should that be his choice"
Leon, however, turned out to be any
thing but the material from which good
judges are made. Not in features
alone did he resemble his renowned
father. He had Napolon's restless am
bition, and a feeling that he was cap
able of great things. But his limita-
tons deprived him of opportunities,
and his spirit barred from achieve
ments, sought relief in dissipation.
When less than twenty-One years Of
age he was a gamester, losing at play
in a single night 100000. Cardinal
Fesch paid his debts. Then the young
man turned his attention to politics,
and mixed with them duelling. He
grew noted for his d~omineering man
ner and undaunted bravery, and earned
the sobriquet of "Spadassin," or the
fighter. In 1884 he was elected cap
tain in the national guard, command
ing the parish battalion of st. Denis.
At his first review he told 4 superior
officer that "NapOleon's son takes no
orders from a tradesman," and chased
the frightened confectioner from the
field. For this he was dismissed from
the service.
Six years later he tried to kill Louis
Napoleon. He first attempted to force
the willy adventurer into a duel. and
that failing, planned an ambuscade,
which also proved abortive. This,
however, did not prevent the two unit
ing their fortunes in 1S4S, at which
time there was serious talk Of putting
Leon forward as a candidate for the
presidency of the republic. The sue
ceeding year he became conspicuous
for the suit against his mother, and
for his prominence in the reception of
the great Napoleon's remains-the "re-
turn of the ashes" as the French call
the transfer of the eonqueror's body
from st. Helena to the magnificent
tomb of the Invalides. Crowded Paris
hailed the living image of the mighty
dead, and Leon had a vertible ovation
while the ceremonies lasted. Then he
stood for a seat in the chamber of
deputies. and published a manifesto
which began: "Citizen Leon. ex-Count
Leon. son of the Emperor Napoleon,
director of the peace society, to the
people of France" But he wasn't
elected.
When the third empire began, Leon
made a vigorous assault on the treas
ury. As his political manifesto i'll
dicated, he was no longer a duellist
or ar advocate of war, but he had to
fruit for something, and so he fought
for money. First he got a pension of
5000 francs. and the payment of a
balance due ON bis fathers legacy.