New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-01-29
NAPOLEON III AND ".
HOW THE LITTLE EMPEROR GOT HIS AP-
PELLATION-RUMORS OF HIS SUCCESSOR

PEIIATION-RUMORS OF HIS SUCCESSOR.
Paris correspondence of The London Post
Whatever may be the immediate chances OF a
Bonapartst restoration in France. there Is no
doubt that the present representative OF the
Napoleons is taking the situation seriously. 1t
is even reported that a proclamation to the
French people, signed Napoleon w. is in
print ready to be posted in Paris at the psy-
Geological moment. and the very name suggests
strange recollectOns. especially on tins. the
twenty sixth anniversary Of the death OF Ma
poleon III. There has always been some mystery
as to why that particular Napoleon was called
"the third" for il was by the mereSt nctlol
that the Due de Reichstadt, son of the great
Bonaparte, can be considered to have reigned
The traditional story Of how the mineral first
came to be thought Of vas originally related
within month after Louis Napoleon mad pc
come Emperor. by Lord CoWley our AinpaSSauor
in Paris to Lord Malmesbury, our Foreign sec
rotary. 1t was that the Project of Bourges
where the Prince President slept the first night
Of his progress in provincial France in the au-
tumn OF 1872. had given instructions that tne
people were to shout "Vve Napoleon" but he
wrote "Vive Napoleon,lr' and the crowd took
the three marks Of exclamation as the Roman
mineral ILL., and shouted accordingly
one Of the band Of conspirators who surround
ed Louis Napoleon at and after the coup detat
wanted in later Gays however, TO have the glory
of inventng the numefal, ana IN MS postum
mously published Memoirs" the once notorious
Due de PersiGny declared that 1t was he VINO
on his own account. gave the necessary order to
the Project
There is a train" he began. leaving Paris
for Bourges in an hour Take care to catch it,
Resume your duties without seeing any one
here. and without letting soul know your
secret instructions. These instructions are
l. Empire Vive rEmpereur" ard let us not
make "A mistake. The Due de Reicnstadt never
regned. but he was proclaimed Emperor ny MS
father. Render, then. this homage 10 the mem
DRY of great man. announce the nephew as
Napoleon III. have already told you To sum
mon all the municipalities Of your department.
Set in hand, without losing moment nags IN
"a iE.mperpur,
'Vive Napoleon III " on the other. Place the
same inscription on the triumphal arches under
which the Prince will pass. Preserve the utmost
secrecy in these preparations. and when the day
comes telegraph to me from hour to hour all
that occurs
Persigny's story. however. is little more than
a turgid ampfcaton of the postscript OF let
ter written to Malmesbury during the Prince
residents progress by Walewski then trench
Ambassador in London. in which II was Sald;
The Prince proceeds from triumph to triumph.
At his departure from Paris they cried 'Nive
Napoleon and few Vive rEmpe reur" On his
return there will be a unanimous chorus Of
'ViYe rEmpereur' and 'Vive Napoleon III
Persigny admitted in his Memoirs. indeed.
that when it served him he was an unscrupulous
liar and ii is far easier to believe the story told
by Lord COwley
In view Of the possibility of the arrival of a
Napoleon w. and especially if. as is limited
with the sympathy Of the Russian Court, 1t IL
striking to recall that the French official opinion
Of 1852 was that Russia was attempting to per
suade Great Britain to object to the numeral. in
order to dissenSiOn between the two West
ern nations But there was more substantial
reason for the annoyance felt by the British
Government at the assumption of the numera
in which thought to Turk threat Of re-
vcnge for Waterloo. and which was not removed
until Louis Napoleon himself after some heated
negotiations. consented to insert in his speech
the great bodies Of the State. at st. Cloud. on
December l. 1852. accepting the imperial crown.
the following explanatory paragraph:
II take from this day. with the crown. the
name Of Napoleon III. because the logic OF the
people has bestowed II upon me in their
clamations because the Senate has legally pro-
posed II and because the whole nation has
ratified IT, Thus. then. the title Of Napoleon III
Is not Of tn use dynastic and superannuated
pretensiors which seem to be an insult to good
sense and To truth. 1t Is the homage rendered
to "A government which is legitimate, and to
which we owe the brightest pages Of our modern
history My reign does not date from 1915; II
dates from this very moment when you have
announced to ne the suffrages of the nation"
Our Government at once recognized the En-
pire. consequent upon this declaration. and the
numeral passed into history; but that norton of
the French chronicle was temporarily closed
six and twenty years ago to-day, when "Le
neveu de son oncle" died defeated and broken
exile British soil
SENATOR VEST WAS RIGHT.