New-York tribune., 1912-02-05
EUGENE At BRUSSELS
ry.Empress Visits Royal Palace
forFirSt Time in Her Life.

-ssbt 1912, by the Brentwood Company
SSonress Eugene. who stopped off at
-,a,s FOR several days on her way from
pohoroueh. her home in England, to her
o. an the Riviera, crossed on that oc-
VIZ - che threshold of the royal palace in
sea,s for the first time in her long life
btv-1ve years, being entertained there
% vjrg Albert and Queen Elizabeth short
- before her departure for the south OF
France
Tbrouvhout the first twelve years oe
,,'osnie's marriage TO Napoleon III the
,s,ter,s intercourse with the court of Brus-
- was Of the most frigid and formal
.a-acter for King Leopold I, who was then
- ,hs throne Of Belgium. was tho brother
- ,ou, Of those princes and princesses OF
-. House Of Orleans Bourbon whose prop
..,,. the Emperor had caused to be confis-
Ted. among the victims being Queen
Jonise herself. one of the daughters Of King
Iouis Philippe.
Then. when Leopold III came to the throne
\, was embittered by Napoleon's treatment
~ his brother-in-law Emperor Maximlian,
!, Mexico. and, above all, by the inconceiv-
All. discourtesy shown to his only sister
tbe now demented Empress Charlotte OF
MEXICO. by the Emperor and Empress, when
size visited Paris on her return from Mex
,oo at the end Of 1866. In fact, the indigni-
ties which she suffered at the hands of the
French monarch and of his Consort precipi-
,s,ed the loss Of her reason, by which she
was overtaken not long afterward at the
Vatican, and which has continued ever
since.
Leopold II, like his father before him,
was perfectly we'll aware that Napoleon III
had on several occasions lent a friendly ear
10 proiects for the annexation of Belgium
nv France. and when his only son, the
Duke of Brabant. died with such mysterious
and unaccountable suddenness after only a
few hours illness, in the year 1869, at the
are of ten, stories were current, and even
received credence at the court of Brussels,
that the boy had succumbed to poison ad-
ministered by some unscrupulous Bona
partist agent. The boys mother, Queen
Henriette. was firmly convinced thereof
and until the end of her life. some thirty
years later, she absolutely refused to set
foot in Paris, being, so far as am aware,
the only royal lady in Europe who found II
possible to resist the temptations OF those
emporiums Of feminine elegancies which are
10 be found at their best on the banks OF
the Seine.
Once she visited Chantilly. which is less
than an hour from Paris, TO attend a
royal wedding which was taking place there
under the roof of her husbands uncle, the
late Due dAumale. But. although so near
she refrained from visiting, and died, as
she had lived, full Of resentment against
France, and especially against the Bona
parties, whom she regarded as responsible
for the loss Of her only boy. There was
no cause for any visiting after the over
throw of the French Empire, and the only
time that Empress Eugene ever was at
Brussels since then was a quarter OF
century ago, when she passed through In
the strictest incognito. remaining In her
railroad car and without leaving the sta
ton.
All this is now forgotten. Leopold I and
Queen Louise, Leopold ii and Queen Her
rette are all dead and in their place reign
at Brussels sovereigns OF much younger
generation, who have not inherited the
prejudices and animosities OF their prede-
cessors on the throne. They therefore
showed every attention TO Empress Eugenie
during her stay at Brussels, paid her
long visit at her hotel shortly after their
arrival. and then induced her to spend the
afternoon with them at the royal palace
prior to her departure.
Her visit to Brussels was mainly prompt
ed by the desire TO see and converse with
Princess Clemantine of Belgium, wife o;
the Bonapartist pretender. Prince Victor
ho fe wit a
Of motherhood. II is proposed that, f the
child born be a girl. the christening shall
take place quietly; but that, II a boy, tho
baptism Win be attended by much pomp
and ceremony and by tie leaders Of the
Bonapartist aristocracy In France, Empress
Eueenie herself coming from the South Of
France to Brussels to hold the child at the
font as its principal sponsor.
Prince Victor realized that difficulties
would BE raised about this by the Belgian
crown and government, who do not wish
70 give unnecessary offence TO the French
Republic by permitting its territory to De
made the scene of a political manifestation
by Frenchmen against the existing regime
IN Paris Empress Eugene took the trou-
bic to 20 10 Brussels in order TO convey
assurances to the King and Queen of Bel
GUM that. while the christening might
mean gathering of the Bonapartist aris-
tocracy and an occasion Of rejoicing on the
part OF those French mobiles who are IN
debted for their honors TO the Napoleons'
It would not 5e permitted in any sense 10
degenerate into a political demonstration
against the republic.
The Importance Of the event TO the Bona
psrtist eause OF this impending birth Is
evident For failing male issue Of Prince
Victor Napoleon and Princess Clcmentine'
the legitimate line Of the House Of Bona
parte In Europe will become extinct on
his death and that Of his younger brother,
Louis, a confirmed and elderly bachelor.
Where Col. Newcome Died.
Just at this moment when the centenary
Of Thackersy is being celebrated here In