Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1896-03-12

leon, had made him oyer-sensitlye; but
as a last resort he felt the need Of her
presence, She came with a single idea
to make the cause Of Magdeburg her
own. She had suffered under the ma
licious innuendoes Of Napoleon regard
ing her character; she had shared the
disgrace Of the Berlin war party in the
crushing defeat at Jena and Auerstadt;
she had been a wayfarer among a dis
graced and helpless people, but her
spirit was not broken, and she an
nounced her visit with all the dignity
of her station The court carriage in
which she drove, accompanied by her
ladies in waiting, reached Tilsit on July
6, and drew up before the door Of the
artisan under whose roof were the
rooms of her husband. Officers and
statesmen were gathered to receive and
encourage her with good advice but
she waved them away with an earnest
call for quiet, so that she might collect
her ideas.
In n moment Napoleon was an
nounced. AS he climbed the narrow
stairway she rose to meet him. Friend
and foe agreed as to her beauty, her
taste, and her manners; her presence,
in white dress embroidered with sill
yer, and with pearl diadem on her
brow, was queenly. In her husbands
apartment she was the hostess, and as
such she apologized for the stair.
What would one not do for such an
end! calamity replied the somewhat
dazzled conqueror, writes Prof. Sloane
In his life Of Napoleon in the Century.
The suppliant, after making q few
respectful inquiries as to her visitors
welfare and the effect of the northern
climate on his health, at once an
nounced the object Of her visit. Her
manner was full of pathos and there
were tears in her eyes as she recalled
how her country had been punished for
It's appeal to arms, and for its mistaken
confidence in the traditions of the great
FREDERICK and his glory. The emperor
was abashed by the lofty strain Of her
address. So elevated was her mien that
she overpowered him; for the instant
his self-assurance fled, and he felt him
self but man of the people. He felt
also the humiliation of the contrast,
and was angry. Long afterward he
confessed that she was mistress of the
conversation, adding that she stood
with her head thrown back like Mile
Duchesnois in the character of Chi
meme, meaning by this comparison to
stigmatize her attitude and language as
theatrical.
So effective was her appeal that he
felt the need of something to save his
own role, and accordingly he bowed
her to chair, and in the moment thus
gained determined to strike the key of
high comedy. Taking up the conversa-
ton in turn, he scrutinized the beauties
of her person and, complimenting her
dress, asked whether the material was
Grape or India gauze. Shall we talk
of rags at such a solemn moment?" she
retorted; and then proceeded with her
direct plea for Magdeburg In the
midst Of her eloquence, when the en-
peror seemed almost overcome by her
importantly, her meddling husband
most inopportunely entered the room.
He began to argue and reason, citing
his threadbare grievance, the violation
of Ansbach territory, and endeavoring
to prove himself to be right. Napoleon
at once turned the conversation to in
different themes, and in few moments
took his leave.
"You ask much" he said to the queen
on parting; "but l promise to think it
over" The courageous woman had
done her best, but her cause-if, indeed,
it was ever in the balance-was lost
from the moment she put her judge in
an inferior position Her majestic
bearing was fine, but it was not diplo-
macy. She might, nevertheless, have
succeeded had she been the wife of a
wiser man. Long afterward Napoleon
thought she might have had consider
able influence on the negotiations If she
had appeared in their earlier stages,
and congratulated himself that she
came too late, inasmuch as they were
already virtually closed when she ar
rived.