Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1895-04-26

scurely, in the gallery when his name
was presented for the perilous duty. He
accepted; and Immediately there was
speedy work. A young officer, whom
Napoleon knew, Joachim Murat by
name-whom history will presently re.
cord as the great cavalry general of the
empire-was sent with all speed out to
the Champ de Sablons. to whirl in the
batteries stationed there. In few hours
guns were planted around the Conven-
ton Hall, and at the nearby bridges Of
the Seine, commanding all lines of ap'
proach; and at the breaches stood grim
Runners with lighted matches.
Here, then, was business for life or
death. The instruction rolled itself in
great volumes along the streets. 1t
might be seen coming Oh like the sea.
The Section Lepelletier leads the van.
The insurgents get possession Of the
church Of St. Roch, nearby, and then Of
Pont Neuf, and then bristle up face to
face with the guns of the Corsican.
There is not moments hesitation. The
order to fire is quick and sharp. The
Convention Hall is suddenly shaken to
foundation stones with the roar of ar
tillery. The guns are loaded with grape
and canister. Horrid gaps are cut in
long bloody alleys through the insurgent
mob. Observation-Disclosures blown by
hundreds to horrid death. They 60 back
before the hail Of destruction. The Ma
tional Convention is saved. General
po,o~or4o Loc Tho ho,,or Of cr,prroccinu
the last mob Of the French Revolution
Strange to note what the effect OF all
this was on the man himself. He was
in nowise jubilant. Indeed he had hest
tated for half hour before accepting
the place Of general against the revolt
ed Sections In his report he covered up
his own responsibilities the facts gave
him opportunity to do-making it ap-
pear, contrary to his wont, that not he,
but Others had put down the mob. He
had acted only under orders Of the Ma
tional Convention and General Barras!
Ever through life, moreover, he looked
back with regret to this hour and event
of his career. Doubtless, at bottom. he
was Jacobin himself; but he was an
Imperial Jacobin. The two elements in
his character did not consist; the one
was at war with the other.
Thus much only is certain, that Ma
poleon would gladly have had his great
triumph over the Partisan insurgents
blotted from the record. No doubt he
was at heart at one with insurrection;
but he was also the friend of order.
His success in restoring order in the
capital may be said to have made Napo-
leon famous. He had already become an
adviser of the Committee of Public
Safety. Indeed he held that relation be-
fore his name was stricken from the list
of generals in active service. Eleven
days after the suppression Of the Sec
tions, he was made professionally Gen.
eral Of Division. and four days after
wards the professionally was struck
out, and he was appointed commander
of the Army of the Interior, having as
its central field of operations Paris it.
self.
Destiny reserved for the winter of
1705-96 another capital fact in the life
of her devotee. Napoleon found jose
phine. He first met her at the house of
Barras. She belonged to the Societe des
Viotimes-"Society Of the Victims. "
To enter this band Of the new elite
Parisiennes, one must have lost recently |
q near relative by the guillotine! JOSE
phine had lost one-her husband. The
Vicomte Alexandra de Beauharnais had
married Marie Josephe Rose Tascher.
the beautiful Creole of Martinique, in
December of 1879. She was then in her
seventeenth year. In 1880 the Vicomta
came to America with Rochambeau.
he was a deputy in the
States General, and was twice president |
Of the National Convention. He COM |
under Custine. at Mentz, in
1903, when that place was surrendered |
to the Germans, To surrender was
death. He was haled to trial, con-
demned and guillotined only five days
before the collapse Of the Terror. When
fell, the Societe des Vic
times was formed. The light creatures
took wing like butterflies from the
blood pools of the Place de la Revolu-
lion. They still wore crepe on their
arms when they began to dance anew
In Greek sandals and chignons and olas-
sical scarfs girdled at the waist. Napo-
leon saw one Of them, and admired and
loved. ~" -. @.,.s.,s |
So he told Bourrienne, while pointing |
put Josephine one evening at fashion
able cafe. There was swift oourtship. A
story goes that Eugene Beauharnais went |
to Napoleon to recover his father the |
Vicomte's sword, which had been taken |
ut the disarmament of the Sections. The |
youth got the sword, kissed it, won the !
Generals sympathy-and Madame de |
Beauharnais came to thank her benefao- |
tor. II this happened, she knew him al.
ready; and be knew her. The marriage
on the 9th Of March, 1895.
The disparity Of ages was six years and
two months To close this chasm, the |
marriage certificates dated her birth for
scard four years. and antedated his by
nineteen months Documents must con-
form to the exigenoies of the greatl
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