The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-07-09

London Telegraph.
 In January the Macedonia sailed
 from Marseilles on her usual journey
 to Port Said and the East. Among
 her passengers was an aged lady
 whose hair is white with years and trouble. She travelled incognito, and her identity did not become known to none other than Eugenie, ex-Empress of the French, who. after an interval of thirty-hve years. again left
 French port on a trip to Egypt. But how the circumstances have altered!
 What a changed world 1t is for this fallen queen. and. what memories must riso up before her eyes as she thinks of then and now! The contrast Is so dramatic and so poignant that we may venture to recall events even
 of those who are old enough to recall their impressions of the year 1869.
 On Nov. IT, 1889. the Suez Canal was opened with all the pomp and circum- stance which Ismail Pacha. the most recklessly lavish of all modern rulers, could devise. And the Empress of the French. the Empress Eugenie, was the
 most august parsonage in that bril- liant throng which assembled on the banks of the Nile. Yet the Emperor of Austria was there in person: and the Crown Prince of Prussia--after- ward the ill-fated Frederick the Noble
 and the Prince of Holland. But these passed almost unconsidered conn
 pared with the presence of the Elm
 press of the French. the consort of Napoleon III, then the arbiter--or be- lieved to be the arbiter of the desti- nies of Europe. Sedan lay in the fu-
 ture less than a year ahead-but who could foresee that? Only a few sharp eagle eyes at Berlin. who knew how destiny was shaping itself. for they were helping her in the task.
 The Emperor of the French was the great figure in Europe in the autumn for the Orient, travelling slowly in the imperial yacht fAigle. and calling at Venice and Constantinople on the way. It was highly appropriate for yet another reason that the Empress Eugenie should be the guest of honor in the land of the Pharaohs. For the canal was a French undertaking. the engineer was a Frenchman and the idol of France. and Napoleon III had from start to finish, and had helped his project by every means in his pow l CT The ambitious visionary was | right where the practical English engi- | neer, Stephenson. and the level-headed | Palmerston were wildly wrong. What | had denounced as "bub- ble scheme" became a reality, and. in- stead of English specuiators. as he confidently foretold. bemoaning lost money. the British Exchequer has con- tinued reason to bless Disraeli's in purchasing Ismail's shares. It was but right, therefore. that the Empress of the French should be the central parsonage during that week when IsmaiPs borrow
 Nl~- in mad profusion.
 The Empress was then in early mid dle age. with beauty scarcely touched by time. a queenly figure, possessed of every grace and charm. She was mis- tress of the fetes of Compeigne, of which all Europe was talking; she was the friend of Queen Victoria and of the Empress Elizabeth of Austria; of both she had been the hostess during their stay in France, while at the Paris Ex- position in 1867. she had received the Emperors of Austria and Russia, the K Ing of Prussia and the Prince of Wales In 1869 the Empress Eugenie was the most brilliant lady in Europe. whose slightest will was law. At Constantinople the Sultan himself em- parked on shipboard to greet her in the Bosporus and conduct her to his palace at Beyler Bey; at Port Said it was the French imperial yacht that all eyes strained to see. There were ru- mors at the last moment that she was not coming, that the Empress had talk en offense at something. that some hitch had occurred. From first to last peoples thoughts were of Napoleon and Eugenie. Poor Ismail, who hop cd to show the world that a new pow ar had been born in Egypt. had built q palace for her coming on the shores of Lake Timsah-a real Aladdin's pal ace, where for three days open tables were kept for 10000 people feaHed with the best and rarest that luxury could supply. and surrounded by great city of tents. where the Khed- ives guests were housed. Some one told him that the Empress was sure to desire to visit the pyramids-at once he ordered a broad road to be made. seven miles long. to be finished in six weeks And finished it was by the labor of 10000 fellaheen working rn- | der the heavy lash. The Empress of . the French must be ab' to travel |, smoothly. HY 4
 The Empress eams q sas and con- ]