The record-union., 1897-09-06
FANCIES OF NAPOLEON.
Recently Published Works Show
That He Was Superstitious.

That He Was Superstitious.
All the world has long known that
| the great Napoleon was more or less
superstitious, but until the recent pub
| llcation of his letters no one knew how
| nrmly he believed in occult forces.
His firm belief was that star pre-
sided over his destiny, and that, ac-
! cordIng to the brilliancy or obscurity
OF This star, so would his career be-
/ w e first near of this star on the night
OF August IA, 1869, when it appeared
to the Able Martenot, being posted at
that time in the midst of the constella-
/ ton Of the Virgin. On the following
| night Frederick the Great saw at
Breslau, in dream, this star, and it
was tull of light. Suddenly, however,
1t was obscured by another star. which
much surpassed it in splendor The two
stars struggled with each other for a
While. and in the end the second one
vanished. The Chevalier de Benterne
tells this story, and he adds that we
may also find it in several biographies
| and histories of Frederick II, which
] were printed in Germany before and
after the death of that sovereign, and
at time when Napoleon was still
student at Brienne or at most a simple
officer Of artillery
Afterth battle of jena Napoleon ask
ed Wieland what he thought of Fred
erick's dream, and Wieland replied:
The dream has come true, sire
There is strange menace in it for
US, remarked the Emperor, for it
is very evident that the star of him
who is dead will ultimately triumph
over the star Of him who is living"
At BayOnne Napoleon ordered a Cap
tain of a corvette to take some very
important dispatches through the Eng
lish lines, and assured him of success,
by saying, Don't be afraid, Captain:
my star will guide you safely
Rapp, on his return from the siege of
Dantsic, happened to enter the Emper-
or's study without announcing his ar
rival, and he was surprised to see Ma
poleon jump up from his chair and hear
him exclaim: There, don't you see it,
my star? It is before you, shining
brilliantly. Never has it abandoned
me, and on all great occasions it has
made itself manifest to me. AT present
it orders me to go ahead, and I know
it is sure forboding of happiness
In 1911 Cardinal Fesch begged Ma
polaOn to put an end to the war, but
the Emperor in reply took the church.
man by the hand and leading him to a
window, pointed to his star, which
| happened to be shining brilliantly.
/ Even in apparently simple occur
rences Napoleon saw a foreshadowing
of his future greatness. When Nine de
Mortesson went to Brienne in order to
preside over the distribution of prizes,
she placed on Bonaparte's head laurel
wreath, adding the conventional words.
May it bring you happinessi" The
First Consul was overjoyed at her act,
seeing in it most fortunate symbol.
! and he covered her with honors
! In 1874, while at Marseilles, he con-
suited fortune teller, and she said to
! him: You will cross the seas; you will
be victorious: you will return, and you
! viii become greater than ever
One day at Cairo. while he was walk
ing with his officers. he came face to
face with an old woman, who did not
know him, but who yet unhesitatingly
cast his horoscope and predicted his
divorce and exile.
At the beginning of 1909 he had at
, Fontainebleau a dream, which disturb
ed him greatly. He saw, among other
/ things a man clothed in imperial pur-
pie being carried away by two kings.
/ who were loaded with chains In after
years he became convinced that these
] two kings were sent to warn him of his
two periods of captivity. one at Elba
and the other at Saint Helena
Napoleon also consulted Nine Lenor-
mand. the famous clairyoyant, but the
exact nature of her predictions is not
known. True. in her "Souvenor dune
Sibylle' there is a horoscope of the
Emperor, but the general opinion is
that it was cast after his downfall. The
Emperor. however, had great faith in
her ability to foretell the future.
He also had absolute faith in his own
presentiments. In his book on the EN-
press Josephine, NJ. Turpuan tells us
/ that, while he was on his way to
Egypt the Emperor would often hold
long discussions with Monge, Bertholet
and other savants in regard to the truth
| or falseness of presentiments, as we'll
as n regard to the interpretations of
! dreams No matter how the others
might argue, he could never bring him.
self to believe that there was not some
/ truth in presentiments.
According to Constant the Emperor,
while in Italy. happened to break in
( his Dccket the glass cover of Josephine's
portrait whereupon he at once dis
patched a courier to inquire as to her
health and ''he could not rest until the
! courier returned as he could not rid
his mind of the idea that she was dead.
On October p, 1900. the day when an
Internal machine exploded in the Rue
Saint Nicaise. in Paris he for a long
time resisted Josephine's entreaty to
| take her to the opera, as he had