The silver lance., 1899-01-06
JOSEPHINE THE EMPRESS.

l
other careers. all of wonderful inter-
his own; while, were these taken from
his, the remainder would be strangely
lacking. OF the first moment among
them all is the history of that Joseph
inc whom he made his wife and an en-
press, only to cast her on one side for
an Austrian princess. Those who,
like Napoleon himself, believe in luck,
trace to this desertion of her the be-
ginning of his downfall, and find a
proud satisfaction in pointing out her
lifelong fidelity to him and his inter-
ests, contrasting her with the Aus
trian who superseded her and threw
him over at the first provocation.
Josephine was born at the incon-
spicuous village of Trois-Ilets, in the
inconspicuous island of Martinique, the
eldest Of three daughters born to an
inconspicuous lieutenant in the artil-
lery named Joseph Tascher de La Pa
gerie and his wife, Rose-Claire des
| Vergers de Sannois. child of an incon-
| spicuous planter who had left France
to seek a fortune he never found. 1t
is question which has handed down
the less information, the father or
| mother, but both were singularly sue
| cessful in leaving little trace behind.
In search of the fortune which later
| came to her whom they left behind,
they Journeyed to another of the
French West Indies, died and were bur-
led. Josephine remained behind with
| an aunt, who CHANGED to be the god
mother to the second son of the Mar
| quis de Beauharnais, once governor of
Martinique. In due time the good
aunt suggested a marriage, and, after
much delay, it came about
The year of Josephine's birth is by
no means certain. but it was either
1852, the year England administered
| such drubbing to France and Spain
together in the West Indies, or the
year following; Ebert Hubbard, who
has written a pretty little biography
| of her, favors the latter date. In any
event she was married to the Vicomte
Alexandra de Beauharnais at Noisy-le-
Grand, France, on Dec. 49, 1873. She
is the more American for this, her
husband having fought with the con-
tinental army to obtain the liberty of
the thirteen colonies from Great Brit
ain. AS a young girl she had beauti-
full arms and eyes, and when she came
to move in Partisan society it was dis
covered that she had a beautiful mind
as well.
Hers was not happy marriage, as
marriages go. When at last her hus-
band was executed by order of the con-
vention, she could not have cared very
much, except for the destitution to
which widowhood reduced herself and
her two children, Eugene and Hor-
tense. She herself escaped death as
an aristocrat only through the over
throw of Robespierre. Then came
Napoleon and with great good sense
he fell in love with Josephine at sight,
though she was his senior in more
senses than one. The course of true
love ran rather roughly as usual, and
it seems certain that it was her call
upon him to thank him for returning
to her the sword of her late husband
which made the match certainty aft
er it had been within an inch of break
ing of.
Napoleon and Josephine were mar
ried by Justice of the peace on
March 8, 1896, fifteen months after
the vicomte's taking off. Napoleon
made oath that he was 2s. and his
spouse 29 years old. though Eugene
was then a healthy lad of 15. Twelve
days afterward the bridegroom left for
the front, having been appointed COM
mander-in-chief of the army of the
repablic in Italy. When the time came
for the reins of power to drop into
single hand in France, there is no
doubt that it was through Josephine's
great tact and knowledge of society
in the capital that much of the pres
tige of the general was due-it is prob
ably true that no man was ever so
great that his greatness became
matter Of common acceptance without
such aid as loving and capable wife
can bring him alone.
There seems to be little doubt about
the prime cause for Napoleon's putting
SO devoted a wife and capable con-
sort away-the fact that there was
no heir to the throne. Yet it is a
curious historical fact that Josephine's
daughter Hortense married the Louis
Napoleon whose son became Napoleon
ILL.,, and so made her the mother Of
a king; while the son of Marie Louise
and Napoleon l. died uncrowned and
almost in ignorance of his right to the
throne of the French nation
There is little more of the pathetic
history. Josephine passed away in
the summer of 1914, before the worst
came to her unfaithful husband but
she never swerved in her affection Cor
him or her wish for his success and