The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-03-28

| ANpi' WdS ppili' I1lSlDIy lellS uS Lilcl
 Madame Letitia was unexpectedl
 taken i'll while attending mass in tn
 cathedral. Her sedan chair was quick ly called and she was hurried home
 but so rapid was the march of event that it was impossible to carry her be r yond the spindle legged sofa in th
 passage way. The Man of Destiny seems to have been master of the situa
 ton, even at his advent into the world
 Besides the historical couch, whose SC
 were outlines must have made it ex
 tremely uncomfortable, there is lttlt
 else in the tiny room except the wrecl
 of sedan chair, once resplendent witl
 gliding and carving and lining of crlm
 son plush. the same in which Madame
 Bonaparte made her nasty journey
 from church on that eventful day. Or
 a corner table, in a safe angle, of the
 wall, is large and curious carving ir
 ivory, which the care -taker says Napo-
 leon sent from Egypt to hta mother
 It oddly represents the NativityJo-
 seph and Mary seated on altogether toe
 modern chairs in a parlor gazing en-
 raptured upon the Babe in fine cradle;
 while outside and peering through the | windows are the shepherds, just ar
 rived and carrying satchels on their
 shoulders. 'Buacher Napoleon" must
 have had sense of humor in him after all! On the mantel-piece is marble bust of Eugenie's beloved son. There
 are several pictures and busts of him 1 scattered through the house, represent
 ing the various stages of his short ca
 reer. The jealous care with which this
 mother of many sorrows has sought in | every way to link the memory of her
 dead with that of his more illustrious
 predecessor has in it an element of the
 pitiful
 Letitia's room, with it's once bravely-
 lowered, but now dim and ghost-like paper, it's scones and many mirrors in | frames of faded gilt, contains little
 but dilapdated spinning wheel Gellc
 of her peasant days), and the frame
 work of bed. The latter is painted in
 stone-grey monochrome. but in times
 long gone by was doubtless gay with
 color and gliding. for the curves and
 beading of the head and foot boards
 testify that it was the expensive style of bed known as "Un lit Pompadour."
 Several other apartments are shown, including a smolding-room and an inn mense ballroom. The fact that Carlo Bonaparte occupied. so large mansion, with the luxury of ballroom at tached, seems to indicate a social prom thence which refutes the stories of his extreme poverty and the islanders con cernng the character of his wife. The oft-repeated statement that Napoleon was the son of a base-born papper and brought up at charity school" and the wicked insinuation that his father was not Letitia's husband, were proba- bly, instigated by the Bourbonist ene- my. Though money was so scarce in those days that the boy Napoleon was ridiculed by his school-mates as a mega calzetta" tone without garters), and doubtless mother Bonaparte found it difficult to provide even shoes and stockings for so many little feet--tha feet (which were afterwards to climb the steps of thrones-we learn in Corsi- ca that besides his unlucrative profess sion, Carlo Bonaparte was also a con landed proprietor and wine- grower At any rate, the family made good their claim to rank as nobles; and about the year 1760 the superior council of the island confirmed the claim, de- claring Napoleon's father and brother to be "Nobles of nobility extending | over two hundred years"
 How the handsome Letitia must have | queened it in that ball-room It has | no fewer than sixteen mirrors-a very 1 large one at either end, the rest being | long and narrow panels set between the ! windows. Instead of the usual red ! tiles, its floor Is kind of primitive par quet, smooth enough yet for dancing, | and it's windows open to the ground, l free access to the terrace
 We purposely left to the last the room which Napoleon occupied when ooy. There are no mirrors there, only tiny dressing glass above a rickety bu- reau. It shows the soldiers instinct, and might be in barrack for the iuxu- y displayed, There is the shell of a plain sedstead and two or three chairs, l shabby writing desk and little cup board in the wall where his school books were kept. In the small fire place stand the same old andirons, and beside it is a card-table, with checker board attachment, where perhaps he ,racticed with ivory pawns the moves le afterwards made with the kings and lueens of Europe. The fact that to him llone of all the eleven children was siven room on the parlor floor is ,roof that he early assumed the direc- ion of the family. His father died at he age of thirty-nine and Letitia had nly her sons to depend upon. It is re- P' orded that Cardinal Fesch, uncle of he Bonaparte boys, said to the jealous oseph, "Yes, you are the oldest; but , Napoleon is it's head"
 What of the domestic life that once vent on here? These moldy walls tell f, ew tales, but no doubt the afterwards I lustrious family had it's joys and sor- r ows, its petty quarrels, it's loves and f opes, just like other folk. Fancy eees he weyy-born young bridegroom, only | Ightaen, bringing home his beautiful I hild-bride of fourteen years-Letftia c of peasant birth, but of for me much superior to his own. How + tile the youthful couple thought that T, ley were destined to become the pa c ,nts of a race of princes who should d rule the whole of Europe f lat fate was going to shower imperial owns upon that humble roof! There Y not tale in the thousand and one of f, le Arabian Nights which compares a ith the history of this family--the N