The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-06-21


ment. and. for that matter. affection.
too. seem at first to have been on the
side of Napoleon. and the couple were
married March 0. 1896. Napoleon al
most Immediately afterward leaving to
take command OF the army in Italy.
He refused to permit her to accom-
pany him, regarding her presence as
/ likely to- cause unfavorable comment
! among officers. who were not permit
ted the company OF their wives. Once
she visited him. but the sight of a bat
tlefieid covered with corpses. the scenes
OF the hospital. the sufferings of the
wounded. so wrought upon her feelings
that she left the army and returned to
Paris. From time to time rumors OF
her gayeties there reached the ears of
Napoleon. but he either turned to them
a deaf ear OF refused TO investigate
. them. knowing that his own life would
not bear the test CT publicity.
With the rapid ascent OF Napoleon to
supreme power came the triumph OF
Josephine. Opposed by the members OF
his family. who seemed to have cher
ished for her an unoying hatred. she.
nevertheless. succeeded in persuading
Napoleon to grant her the highest pos
sible honor. that OF being crowned En-
press OF the French. The story of the
divorce Is too well known TO need re-
telling. but the divorce was merely the
elimination of long series of bitter
quarrels between her and the Emperor.
during which the charges OF miscon-
duct were mutual. After the divorce
she lived quietly at Malmaison, where
she died May %. 1914. when the empire
OF Napoleon was already lettering to
its fall. During her last days she more
than once expressed the desire to re-
turn TO Martinique. TO the retirement
OF her girl life. and die there in the OBJ
security in which her youth had been
passed. Had she lived until after the
downfall OF the empire, she might have
carried out her plan. and instead OF a
statue the island might have been hon
ored by a tomb. but the end came too
soon. and she was buried in the church (
OF Rueil. splendid monument being ]
erected in her honor by her children.
The desolated island is associated /
with the name OF another famous
French woman, as noted in her way as
Josephine. and as different in most re-
spects as the imagination can conceive.
Whether FRANCHISE d'Aubigne, March
ioness de Maintenon, was born in Mar
Unique or in France Is matter of con-
troversy. Some authorities assert that
during the Incarceration of her par
ents there in 1886. her father being i'm
prisoned on a charge OF treason and his
incarceration being shared by his wife.
Other accounts place the date of her
birth three or four years later, after
the release OF her father and the re-
movai of the family to Martinique.
However this may be. the family GER
tainly lived in the island from 1859 to
1915. when the father died, having
squandered all he had in speculation
and gambling. Nine. dAubigne re-
turned TO France and in her poverty,
unable to care for the little girl, con-
fded her TO her husbands sister. Soon,
however. finding that the child was be-
ing trained in Calvinistic principles.
her mother removed her TO the house
hold OF n Catholic relative. There she
met the famous Scarron. the comic dra-
matist and poet, man partially para
lyzed and deformed almost out OF SEM
blance TO human shape. The death of
relatives left her penniless and without
a home. and in seif-protection she mar
rted the cripple in 1852. Eight years
later he died. his pension ceasing at his
death. and again she was homeless. and
remained in bitter poverty until be-
friended by Mime. de Montespan. then
all powerful at court, who not only Sc
cured for her n pension, but the posi-
ton OF governess 90 the madame'S own
children. She seems at first to have
been cordially disliked. not only by
Louis XIV. but by most of the cour-
tiers. her gravity and propriety of con-
duct i'll according with the license of
the palace. But those who imagined
that she was to be despised reckoned
without their host. for her talents
speedily commended her to the men
and women Of real influence. and in a
short time she had per-
suaded the King TO Danish Mime. de
and reinstate himself in the
affections OF the Queen. Between the
latter and Mime. de Maintenon. her
name being derived from that OF an es-
late presented TO her by the King. there
was the most sincere affection. and af-
Ter the death OF her royal friend Louis
was secretly married 20 the singularly
gifted woman who had long resisted his
advances Until his. death she was not
only the power behind the throne. but
The real ruler OF France. though such
vas her prudence that even while she
held the reins OF state. her guiding
hand was never seen. After the death
II Louis in 1715 she retired from court !
lie 10 the St Cyr convent, where she
passed her days in lahors IF cbari.y 7