The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1897-04-03
THE BONAPARTE FAMILY
EFFORTS OF THE FIRST NAPOLEON
TO PERPETUATE HIS NAME.
House Are Dying Out I'm Europe
The American Branch.


cal transformation of the face Of Europe,
is in danger of speedy extinction, says
the New York Tribune. This is all the
more remarkable when one calls to mind
the manner in which the first Napoleon
set the laws of the church and OF con-
ventionality at defiance for the sake Of
perpetuating his name, as wen as .ne
sufferings and torments which his
nephew, the third Napoleon, endured in
Tue hope Of being able to retain the inn
perial throne for his only son.
The latter, as every one knows, perish
ed in South Africa, struck down by the
assegais Of the Zulus, while arrayed in
the uniform of an English officer and
fighting under the British flag, and today
there is no one left who seems to feel the
responsibility in the eyes or the world Of
preventing the name OF Bonaparte from
dying out. For Prince Victor has formed
associations that his family have sought
In vain to destroy which have lasted for
nearly 10 years, and that preclude the
likelihood of his ever contracting mar
rage with any princess Of the blood. His
brother, Prince Louis who is at the pres
ent moment a colonel of cavalry in the
Russian army, is a queer, silent crea-
ture. who simply abominates the fair
sex. Neither of these princes has any
desire to marry, or dreams of doing So
especially so long as they remain in exile
neither of them, to begin with, having a
sufficiently large fortune to support a
wife in the style suitable to a princess of
the blood. The only other prince who is
entitled to bear the name Of Bonaparte
is Napoleon Charles, younger brother of
the late Cardinal Bonaparte, and grand
son of Prince Lucien, the eldest brother
of the great Napoleon. Prince Napoleon
Charles, who is married to a princess of
the old patriclan house of Ruspoli at
Rome, has no son, but a couple of grown
up daughters, and inasmuch as both his
wife and himself are over 60 years of age
1t is unlikely that they viii ever have
another child.
Prince BY Courtesy.
With regard to Prince" Roland who
Is a widower with a little motheTless
girl, he is a prince merely by courtesy,
and 1t Is by courtesy, too, that ne beals
the name of Bonaparte For his mother,
who lives with him. is the daughter of a
plumber Of the name of Juffin, and she
never went through a legal form Of mar
riage with the late Prince Peter Bona
parte al 1871, that is to say, when Rel
and was already about II years of age
The marriage in question was not sane
toned by Emperor Napoleon, who was
the head Of the family, and the widow of
Prince Peter, who at one time kept a
milliner's shop in Bond street; London
has never been recognized by any of the
principal members of the house, both
prov,4n Dat, 10
Ignoring her altogether, although con-
ceding some kind of recognition to Roll
and in consequence of his excellent man
ner and his vast wealth, the latter com
Ing to him through his partnership in
the ~reat gambling hell at Monte Carlo
which is inherited from his late wife,
Marie Blanc, daughter and a co-heiress
of the founder of the institution.
From this 1t will be seen that not only
Is there no present likelihood of con-
tinuation of the house of Bonaparte in
the imperial or princely line, but that
there Is not even any prospect OF any per-
petuatlOn in Europe of the name, even
without the prefix of title, since Roll
and has no son. 1t is, therefore, not i'm
probable that the Bonapartist party in
France, which is still quite respectable in
size-for there is a historic glamour a.
tached to the name of Napoleon-may
have to look to the United States for
representative of the dynasty. There is
today running in popular English peri
odlcal a serial story entitled IAN Amer
lean Emperor of France" When one le-
calls to mind the astounding history OF
the house of Bonaparte, in connection
with which everything that seemed i'm
probable and even impossible came to
pass, no one need be astonished If some
day or another the French people were
to turn their faces toward this country
and seek In the descendants of the union
between Prince Jerome and Miss Eliza
beth Patterson of Baltimore, a reputable
Bonaparte for the purpose of reviving
the glorles of the first and likewise of the
second empire.
BOnapartism Not Dead.
A general impression prevails abroad to
The effect that Bonapartism is as dead as
the traditional door nail. This is not al
| together correct. For there are always a
large number of people in France, as in
every other country, who are dissatis-
ned with the government Of the day, and
| who recall to mind the fact that during
the reign of the first and the third Ma
poleon's France occupied the foremost
place among the civilized nations of the
world, and that the center Of political
gravity was neither at Berlin, nor yet
at st. Petersburgh, but at Paris; that
the grandest victories in the military his
tory Of France are associated with the
name Of Bonaparte, and that at no time
were French trade, industry and agri-
culture in so iourishing a condition as
during the IS years that interviewed be-
tween the coup d'etat and the battle of
Sedan.
Under any circumstances the American
| representative of the house Of Bonaparte
occupies an Infinitely superior position
to that Of prince" Roland. In the first
place, his wealth Is not derived from a
public gambling establishment, such as
that at Monte Carlo, nor has he ever been
guilty of such a marriage as that con-
tracted by Roland when he led TO the
altar the daughter Of old Nj. Blanc. whose
name is execrated from one end of Eu-
rope to the other. If the Bonapartists
In France were ever In need of chief
and leader, they would infinitely prefer
to range themselves under the banner of
one who, on the maternal side comes
from the best stock in the United States
rather than to follow in the wake of 1ne