The Portland daily press., 1900-03-09

tlovtn9 tnht une mhfr1nHe 81 Ms oom
mandsr-in-ehssf 20 . native AGexioan
would tend 10 make HIS rule more popu-
lar and bic throne more secure. when
they were married the emperor gave the
young girl - her dowry the palacs Of
San Cosms, located IN beautiful suburb
Ierial RIft for the Buildings and grounds
were valued at more than sl00, COO. The
unfortunate Empress Carlotta gave the
bride y magnificent neckiaoe OF diamonds
The next two years were spent BY Mar
ahal Bazaine and his beautiful Wits In
and about the court. A child was torn
10 them, ana never was husband more
proud Of wife and child thau was the old
soldier. Finally, the French army. I'M
der the pressure Of the United States, was
ordered 10 embark for home, leaving km-
peror Macmillan to his fats. Marshal
fiset which took the soldiers back TO
France. On his arrival the marshal was
greeted with o storm OF reproaohea. IL
was declared that he bad played tbs part
Of q coward, but through It all he re-
tanned ths confidence Of his imperial
m star, Napoleon Ill.
Then came the most brilliant part of
the career Of the woman who died the
OF her day In Mexico. Her husband was
made q senator OF France; he wss placed
In command OF the army corps stationed
at Nancy; later be emphasized the high
Napoleon gave him chief command Of the
imperial guards. Meanwhile the young
Mexican girl was received with equal
favor ~ the gay court. Princes and
dukes, marquisee, counts and barons
were % plentiful and Is splendid as
Asrchals took her rlacs as grand
dame. Daily she rode In her glittering
chariot through the magnificent avenue
Of the Champs ulysses. or In the winding
and shady alleys OF the forest Of Bou-
logne. Life was ell roses and sunshine
on the surface, though the day Of humil-
alton was near ut hand.
The Franco German war broke ont.
MnIsha Basaine, now Abous 90 years old,
was In command Of the Sd army corps.
On August 3, 1870, he took command Of
the army Of this Rnins, though he after
ward claimed that he did so reluctantly,
and only at the command of the emperor.
This Is mot the place to fellow the for
tunes Of the war, though Nine. Bazaine,
one may be Gure, did 20 with constantly
increasing ohagrin and fear. Finally
came the faisful October day, when Mar
shall Bazaine surrendered his great army
to the Germans, his entire command Of
la, 000 men marching out Of Metz, leav-
ing their arms. and, 10 was afterward
charged, their honor behind them.
All manner Of charges were made
against Bazaine. II developed that he
and, innocent or guilty, this was de-
clsred to be pr5of of his treachery. In
1878 he was tried by oourt-martial, con-
voted and condemned to death and MILL
tary degradation. These were the days
when Nine. Bezaine, still young
woman, suffered all that woman may
suffer. Hut she still retained absolute
confidence in her husband, and did her
best to comfort and support him during
the trial
The judges who had condemned also
recommended clemenoy, and President
years seoluson in the Fort Saint Mar
guerite, nsar Cannes. Thus, at the age
Of f2 the old soldier was looked up In the
dungeon, while his wife, with her two
children, remained outside In disgrace.
But still she believed that her husband
she loved him. She determined to COM
pass his escape, and she was not without
friends to aid nor In the task.
first Of all she gained permits sion
this beautiful Mexican girl, not yet 80
years old-to visit her old husband In his
oell. BY conoesling 10 under her cloth
ing, chs carried into ths prison long
rops. This she delivered to the marshal.
One window Of his cell looked down
NJ on the sea, and through this window.
SIX months after his inoarcer alton. he
finally made his escape.
suspended from the cell window. and
down it at midnight the old soldier
slipped. At the bott ON was q little boat.
In 1t sat bis devoted wife, while her
cousin held the oars Silsntiy through
the darkness they rowed out into the sea.
There waited q ship ready to sail-this,
too, arranged for by the care and hard
work of the wife. In IL the party en-
barkCed and the marshal ana his wife
were united once more.
the ship landed the fugitives 10 Italy,
where they did not find safe refuge.
Accordingly they moved on to Cologne,
and from that city to Ensland.
Finally, they took up their permanent
re sidsnoe at Madrid, Spain, aud there,
until the marshal's death, in 1883, the
family lived.
That Mime. Basaine implicitly believed
In her husbands innocence, and that the
marshal himself was sine sre In the opin-
ion that be was . scapegoat and victim
rather than traitor, there can be no
doubt. In 1874 he printed In New York
paper a long defense Of his conduot In
surrendsring Metz, and nine years later
he went over the ground again In an
elaborate volume. In all these efforts to
clear his reputation as soldier from
ain ne was seconded by his wife, who
never lost faith In him. And whatever
his faults as . soldier may have been, 1t
appears TO be certain that he was kind
and affectionate father and husband.
Sometime after his death his widow
went back to spend her last years In the
land Of her nativity. One may imagine
the contrast between her departure, 80
years before, and her return. Once she
had been second only 20 the Empress
Carlotta at the imperial court. Now she
came hack the widow Of An exiled soldier
brand as a traitor by the country for
which be fought for IS years.
After her return to Mexico she lived In
com pArative retirement. At the time
OF her death abe was still only middle
aged. Her life was not long. but it WAS
certainly marked By almost every posi-
lila ohAnra and varsity Of fortune