Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1904-08-10
A PARTISAN BEAUTY.

"A l. 11lO1Cl1AN LULA u l. L '
NINE. TALLIEN, WHO, IT is ASSERTED,
sNU6BED NAPOLEON.
A Woman Whose Extra ncing Lowell
| ness Dazzled Even the Women Of
the French Capitalize Mild and
InoGen.ive Young Bonsparte.
During the directoire Marie de- Medi-
els palace became the center of gov
eminent and Barras reigned there uu-
der the inspiration of Nine. Tallien. 1t
was she who organized all the fetes
and ceremonies which enlivened Paris
after the Terror. In 1896 the beautiful
Spaniard was twenty-three and had al
ready had an eventful past. The daugh-
ter Of a financier named Cabarrus, she
had married at the age Of sixteen the
Marquis de Fontenay, been divorced
from him in 1893 and had remarked, a
few months after, Tallien, the conven-
tionnel.
Arrested May %, 1904, she was i'm
prisoned in Les Carmes, and it was
from here that she wrote the singing
epistles to her husband which induced
that waver1ng spirit to dare all in the
attempt to set her free. Armed with
!! dagger in case of failure and all the
courage he could muster, Tallien on
the famous 9th Thermidor attacked
Robespierre in q debate which brought
about the fall of the ''sea green mon
ster."
The reign of terror came to an end,
the prisons disgorged their victims, and
Nine. Tallien received from the people
the title Of Notre Dame de Thermidor.
The world was at her feet, and she daz-
lied it by her beauty and her charm,
her lovers and her luxury. Even wom-
en- forgot to be Jealous and acknowledge
ed what all men proclaimed. The fol-
lowing description is from the pen of
one of her own sex, Nine. de Chaste-
nay:
mime. Tallien came every day to
visit Barras. do not think it possible
to be lovelier than this woman was
then. I shall always see her like a
fairy queen among the rest, her beau
tiful black hair coiled simply on her
head without any ornament, round her
neck a single string Of large pearls.
She wore a white underdress and
tunic Of ink crepe, and, sitting on the
ground playing with child Of three,
the son of one of Barras' friends, they
made a group which no classic sculp-
ture could surpass."
! Barras tells US with great naivete, in
his memoirs, that the Little Corsican"
only turned his attention to Josephine
Beauharnais after fruitless attempt
that this lady had treated him with
great disdain, telling him ''she could do
better for herself" This account of
the affair coming from any other quar-
ter would be more credible.
A considerable event was now to
take place at the Luxembourg-namely
the reception given to General Bona
parte after the campaign of Italy. Fol
this ceremony dec. 10, 179O the court
yard of the palace was transformed
into sort of temple, and an altar to
la Patrie erected in the grand entrance
hall. The five directors, with Barrae
at their head, attired themselves al
Romans, while Talleyrand, the min
lister Of foreign affairs, was prepared
with an elaborate harangue.
The scene was made additionally
brilliant by the presence Of many la
dies, whose splendid jewels and rich
dresses did honor to the occasion
while their eager faces and murmured
admiration betrayed their interest in
the young hero. Among these groups
not the least noticeable were Nine. dc
Stael and Nine. Recamier-"Wit and
Beauty" as Napoleon himself named
them.
Alone Of all the assembly the future
emperor had assumed no imposing cos
tune. His uniform, that Of general OF
the Revolution, suggested a character
Of republican simplicity, while his pal
lor, his gravity and quiet demeanol
seemed to deprecate the ceremony OF
which he was the object. The tone Of
his speech was equally modest, his
theme the pride he felt in his country
scientific conquests and her progress
In the paths of peace.
Surely no government could suspect
rival in SO well disposed young
man. Two years later the coup d'etat
of Brumaire drove Barras from the
Luxembourg, and the first assembly
which in France has borne the title OF
senate, began it's sittings in the palace
tional Review.