davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-29
EnthrOned Again

On a December day in 1910 Paris opened
wide her gates to receive Napoleon ~
If he were the still living conqueror re-
turned from a victorious campaign,
Mounted upon stately funeral car ana
escorted by the aged veterans of the
Old Guard his body was borne in triumph
under his Arch of the Star and down the
Champs Elysees. across the Place de la
Concorde and over the Seine to the Hotel
DIES Invaldes.
There beneath the gilded home, the
King and the royal family. in full court
splendor, were awaiting the arrival of
the heroic dead when a chamberlain
dramatically entered and thrilled the dis
tingushed assemblage with the announce
ment "PEmpereur!" Instantly monarch
and princes, generals, statesmen and
courtiers rose to their feet but one among
them feebly sank into his chair again
beneath the weight of his nearly 80 years.
This was Money, governor of the In
yaldes who was the last marshal of
the empire to give up the defense of the
capital when the allies surged against its
walls in 1874
Louis Philippe did not long retain the
reflected radiance in which he basked
at the funeral ceremony, and he soon
found that the throne he had erected for
the dead Emperor at the 1nvaldes out
shone his own at the Tuileries But while
Napoleon reigned in glory from the grave,
the living Bonapartes remained under the
ban of the Orleans King, the only men,
Der of the family permitted to breathe
the air OF France, inhaling it through
the bars of fortress One day, how
ever, the prisoner of Ham, with his mus
tache shaved off and disguised as a la
borer, sauntered past his triple row of
guards and was free after nearly six
years Incarceration.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-29
They Saved the Seeds

Dan ]. Callaghan, chief steward OF
the Hotel SEVERN, was called on the
other day to serve watermelon to an
unusually swagger dinner party, and
in order to make the menu Just what
the rather particular host desired. Il
was necessary to saturate the meat of
the melon with quart of champaene.
says the Indianapolis News. This re-
quired an overnight process, but the
melon was a success.
which reminds me-" remark ed CAL
laghan, "of little incident that oc-
CURED out at the Planters, st. Louis,
while / was steward there. A big con-
vention of Kansas and Iowa farmers
was in progress and some OF the Board
of Trade fellows decided to give Z
dozen of the leading agriculturists a
blowout at the Planters
I'm arranging the menu, one of this
Board of Trade officials remarked to
me: 'Callaghan, all of these men are
strict teetotalers. and we can't serve
wine. We want to give them something
extraordinary; now. what would you
suggestT
II suggested watermelon treated
with a liberal solution of champagne.
This IL done by making an opening in
the melon ana pouring In the wine un-
til the meat is thoroughly saturate.s.
So this idea appealing to my Board q
Trade friend, was carried out. end the
teetotalers partook of the dinner a.
though they enjoyed it. Naturally we
were curious to know how thew re-
ceived the melon. strictly tectotalers
as they were. Would you believe tlnat
nearly every man in the whole bunch
sneaked half q dozen of the seeds Of
that wine-soaked melon In his vest
pocketT
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-29
IdOlatOrs and IcOnoclasts

Following Sedan there was a violent
reaction from the Napoleonic idoIatry
of the second empire. Skepticism and
condemnation swiftly ran to an extreme
as great as the blind credulity Of the
idol worshipers. The Napoleonic legend
was furiously torn to tatters and its
central figure was transformed from a
neurological deity into the scapegoat
of modern times; from an impossible
demigod he was distorted into an i'm
possible demon.
Time has checked that reaction and
scttened the rage of the iconoclasts.
who no sooner overcame the base habit
Of looking UP to Napoleon than they
fell into the opposite baseness OF rat
tering themselves by looking down on
him. 1t is difficult to take horizontal
view of one whose life ana character
touched nights SO lofty and sounded
depths so abysmal. But as the world IN
creases in understanding, men VIII be
enabled to look Napoleon in the eye
and view him on level with them
selves, when, perhaps, he will lose their
awe but gain their charity. As history
groves democratic 1t will become more
and more like nature herself, careless
of the single life and careful of the
tyre We are now too prone to mag
nifty a man and to minify mankind, to
forget that no one sands-or falls
alone and that all men are creatures OF
circumstances.
Picked Out of the Crowd
We have seen Napoleon at ~ q drift
Ing. unambitious man. apparently Of
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-29
LOOKING D0AW lNow zzz SAaaaHssc1c

from the grave after a quarter Of CEN
fury and stirred his ashes in the vain
hope that she might find live cinder
wherein to kindle her glory anew. She
transfused his living blood from the veins
of Napoleon III into the anemic body
polite, but only to collapse at Sedan.
Then at last she turned from the tomb,
to discover the true source of her power
in the red blood of her people.
Reigns But Does Not Rule
But the exile has his wish. His ashes
repose on the banks of the Seine, where
the earth-hungry conqueror who felt
himself pent and stifled within the wide
boundaries of Europe rests in the mar
row empire of the grave-61sx13 feet.
There, facing the altar of the King
of Kings and of that other Victor of Mt.
Tabor whose invincible sword. however,
il not of the flesh and whose everlasting
Kingdom is not of this world, he Is en-
throned with the vain, almost theatrical
pomp and splendor of his brief imperial
days. Five afternoons week he holds
his crowded court, with all the races OF
men for his courtiers. And while they
lean and muse on the marble balus-
trade. gazing down upon his majestic
tomb, the slanting rays of the sun,
transmitted into pure gold by the stained
glass windows of the Chapel of the Dome,
light up his violet red throne with a glory
not of war nor of earth.
Spite Of all efforts to Danish him from
memory and consign him to an eternal
exile this man who was picked out OF
the street to embody common men, to
be anointed, crowned. sceptered, empur-
pied and enthroned above the monarchs
of long descent this man who made
mockery of the divinity of kings and
the sacredness of ancient systems and
customs. never has lost his dominion
over the imagination of men. His latest
photography, compiled by German, con-
tains the titles of no less than $1,000
In the catalog of the British meseum
he distances every other man of action,
only Jesus and Shakespeare receiving
more space on the shelves of that great
library. He remains supreme in the ad-
miration and the disappointment, in the
applause and the reproach of men:
Tho glory. jest and riddle of the world.
Had he not lost his touch with the
people he would rule the globe from his
grave Had he kept his face to the
future and not turned 1t to the past the
earth would be his empire and the human
race his subjects. Had he only seen and
welcomed the dawning of this age of
democracy he would be it's prophet, and
the 1nvalides would be more than a brill
liant spectacle; 1t would be the shrine
of mankind.
THE END.
Copyright, 1884, by James Morgan.)
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-29

son of Marie Louise but for a grandson
of his divorced Empress to revive his
dynasty and wear his crown.
The grandchildren of Josephine mount
ed no less than four thrones, for be-
sides Napoleon III a daughter of Prince
Eugene Beauharnais married Braganza
and became an Empress of Brazil; 1.
son welded the Queen of Portugal and
became the royal consort of that SOW
ereign, while another became the hus-
band of sister of the Car Nicholas.
But the strangest prank that fortune
played was the marriage OF a daughter
of Eugene and a granddaughter of Jo-
sephine to Oscar, son of Bernadotte and
OF Napoleon's early sweetheart. Desiree
Clary. AS the wife of Oscar l this
Princess sat on the throne of Sweden as
Queen Josephine and gave a daughter to
the royal house of Denmark. Thus the
descendants of the creole Empress hold
today two of the thrones of Scandina-
via
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-29
The Revival

After the death of Louis XVIII Charles
X, the ignorant and intoerant brother
who succeeded him on the French throne,
determined to drag France herself back
into the ruck of autocracy. But when
he made ready to set up an absolutism
on the ruins of the broken constitution,
the people of Paris awakened and took
to the streets once more. In three swift
days the last OF the Bourbon Kings had
lost his crown and the Bourbon throne
was destroyed forever
Again the tricolor fioated over France
and the Napoleonic empire might have
been restored had not the King of Rome
been an Austrian captive. The French
turned instead to the Orleans branch of
the Bourbon family, and Louis Philippe
received the crown, not by right divine,
however, but in the name of the peo-
pie.
The return of the tricolor brought back
the memory of the great captain whose
victories had glorihed 1t and a Napo-
leonic revival rolled over the land in
waves of popular emotion. The press be-
ing free, literary torrent burst forth
and the stories of the Emperors COM
panions at ST. Helena were eagerly de-
voured as fast the successive editions
could be Issued At the same time the
pens of the poets and the brushes of the
artists were busily engaged in trans
figuring the Emperor into a legendary
hero. Living, he lost the world" says
Chateaubriand; dead, he possesses it. =
- The giant had to fall before I could
measure his heighth" Only his glory and
misfortune were recalled. Old men forgot
and young men were not taught the price
of that glory and the cause of that mis-
fortune.
Then the King of Rome died. and Louis
Napoleon, son of Louis Bonaparte and
Hortense Beauharnais, offered himself as
the legitimate successor of his uncle. But
Louis PHILIPPE and his politicians diligent-
ly sought to turn the Napoleonic serti-
ment to their own profit. With one hand
the banished the heir of Napoleon to the
United States and with the other rem
dered homage to the Emperor's name.
They tore down the Bourbon lily from the
Vendome column and crowned the shaft
anew with a statue of Napoleon, and they
missed no opportunity to light up their
overriding fortunes with his shining
fame.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-29
The Return of the BODY

In his will the Emperor had said at
II my wish that my ashes may repose
on the banks of the Seine. amid the
French people whom ! loved so WE'LL"
That the body of the exile might be
iescued from alien soil and rest by
the Seine was a growing national de-
sire when, s a last recourse. the Or
leanist King resolved to bring it back
In the hope that he might borrow some
glory from the imperial lust. And Eng
land having sraciously consented to
release its captive. the King sent his
brother, the Prince Jcinville, to St
Helena.
While the princes expedition was
sailing on its sentimental voyage. Louis
Napoleon. who had remained in the
United States only Il few weeks
thought it a favorable time for the
heir of the Emperor to return to
France. Crossing over from England,
the pretender landed at Bologne in the
dawning of an August day. but only to
eat breakfast in prison that same
morning and be condemned to per-
retual imprisonment in the fortress of
Ham And one of the three com pam
ions permitted him in his captivity
was the Count Montholon, who had
shared the captivity of the first Ma
poleon.
second exile, his surviving comrades
in the earlier exile were returning to
st. Helena with the Prince of Joinville.
Among the pilgrims, faithful even to
tine grave of their master. We're Gems
bertrand and Gourgaud. Marchand the
valet; St Denis, the counterfeit name
luke, and three of the old servants al
Longwood With them also was the
son of Las Cases who had brought
himself to the attention of Europe by
attempting to wreak bodily vengeance
on Sir Hudson Lowe In the streets of
10 n
manhood the somber scenes of his boy
hood. while still another member of
fine party. the son of Bertrand, was
horn In exile. his mother having boast
ed at the time that she had received
enc visitor without asking permission
Of the British government
The sight of their prison house only
ceepened the unpleasant memories it
had left with the one-time prisoners OF
ST. Helena. They went tc Longwood as
to shrine of their hero but they
found that it had reverted to its orig
final use and become stable again.
Horses, cows and pigs lad been turned
into the Emperors study and bedroom
anc a farmer winnowed his grain in
the death chamber
The grave of Napoleon, however. was
etil, guarded by his Jealous captors.
as IL determined that even his ghost
should not escape them. When the visi-
tors made their pious pilgrimage down
into Geranium Valley. they found Il
FrItish soldier posted there on sentry
duty that had never been omitted night
~ day In the more than 10 years that
tnt captive had slept beneath the will
lows.
Keverentiy the bare. uninscribed
erayestones were removed and the
coffin was lifted out of the brick
grave. But they who had thought to
Dec imperial Caesar dead and turned to
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-29
Zzx SARE0ez4ouy WME CeHv

the chapel the body of Turenne and the
heart of Vauban, those two marshals of
Louis XIV, and gave them sepulchure
there.
The lofty wooden dome, with it's now
neglected and shabby gliding. rests like
a gigantic helmet on the tomb of Napo-
leon, which sits beneath the very cupola
and in an open circular crypt, 20 feet
below the floor of the church AS IL to
armor him against invaders of his quiet
realm he lies in no less than six. collins
of oak, mahogany, ebony, lead and tin,
which in turn are guarded within a mas
sive fortress in the form of an imposing
sacrophagus standing nearly Is feet high.
The rare red prophyry of the sarcopha-
gus came from that Finland, which, at
Tilsit, Napoleon permitted Russia to take
from Sweden, the Gar cheerfully con-
senting to the quarrying of 1t with the
remark that since Russia had overthrown
him, it was only fair that she should
entomb him. But the son of the blue sea
is shielded from those alien stones, cut
on the frozen shores of the White sea,
by lining of the warm tinted granite of
bis own native Corsica, while the base
of all is a block of that green granite
with which nature has fortified the Gaul
against the Teuton in the mountains of
Vosges.
Like sentinels about the tomb stand II
colossal Victories in Carrara marble.
But even as the empire made the fatal
mistake of exalting force above Justice,
so Napoleon's victories of peace are cele-
brated in the dim shadows behind his
victories Of war, where in bas belief on
the wall of the crypt are carved smy-
bolical representations of his undisputed
titles to the gratitude of posterity-the
Code Napoleon, the execution of great
public works, the founding of the Uni
gft re ~ 49, Is-y.x 80
the Legion of Honor, the protection of
commerce and industry, the regulation
of the public finances, the Concordat,
the creation of the Council Of State, the
reform of the evil administration and
the restoration of public order.
Only four personages of the empire
were specially chosen to be their EN-
peror's attendants in death. His brothers
Joseph and Jerome have their tombs in
chapels on either side Of the entrance to
the church. while downstairs on either
side of the bronze doors Of the crypt the
bodies Of two of his most devoted fol-
lowers are entombed in the walls. One
OF these Is Bertrand. who followed him
In his two exiles and to his two graves.
The other is Duroc who followed him In
peace and war until he fell by his side
In the Saxon campaign in 1913, when the
Emperor in his mitter contempt for the
1ngratitude of man, praised his fallen
servitor for having the faithfulness and
affection of dog. Like a dog, then let
it be, the grand marshal of the palace
still keeps watch at the door while the
master rests in untroubled sleep.
Nothing In the Invalides better EN-.
phasizes its monumental grandeur than
three slabs Of stone in one Of the small
rooms of the church. They are the un-
carved covering of the unmarked grave
beneath the willows at st. Helena But
this grave at the Invalides, too. has beer
with sword or pen, with AK or scythe. q
man cuts his own epitaph.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-29
At the Inyalides

Although no drop of Bonaparte blood
now courses beneath a crown, Napol-
con / still is enthroned under the gold
en- dome of the Invalides. That vast
soldiers home has lost the purpose to
which Louis XIV dedicated It, when he
opened 1t to the wrecks of his battles,
and has become great shrine of war,
whose chief diety Is the martial En-
peror of the French.
The magnificent tomb of Napoleon is
in one of the two chapels of the i'm
mense pile, which is mainly given over
to the exhibition halls OF a museum,
crowded with the jumbled relics of ages
of warfare. But always the visitors to
tho museum throng thickest about
some Napoleonic souvenir. The rude
fcneral car which bore him to his St
Helena grave, a gift from Queen Vic
ttria: a simple wooden settee, which
was the favorite seat of the throne
legs monarch In his exile; the walking
stick which supported him who once
had carried the weight of empire on
his shoulders. the rough, frightfully
rough, draft of his appeal to the prince
regent before going aboard the Bel
lerophon, and other of his undeciph-
cradle scrawlings: the writing table
upon which he poured out his dreams
While hungry lieutenant at Auxonne;
his camp bed, camp desk and camp
book. and the whip and sword and gun
of the King OF Rome. But the gray
overcoat, the green undercoat. the
white breeches and the black chapeau
of the conquerer draw the curious
closest and hold them longest.
In the chapel of st. Louis a silvery
bel! tinkles the half hours among the
tonlbs in the Aisle of the Brave, where
the soldiers of France sleep in a time
less eternity. There lie Marshals Bes-
stores. Money, Serurier, Oudinot and
Jourdan. There also is the heart of
Kleber, which the unerring knife of an
Egyptian assassin found, and so, too.
is the heart of that First Grenadier of
France La Tour dAuvergne.
OF Napoleon's 26 marshals 1t Is strange
that only three, Lannes, Bessieres and
Poniatowslsi, should have met a soldier
death and that all but eight died in
their beds. Four were killed in the pc
Rod of their masters downfall, Ney by
the Bourbons, sMurat by the Neapolitans
Bruno by a mob, and Berthier by falling
from his window. while Mortier was
struck down by bomb thrown at King
Louise Philippe in 1895.
Massena, Augureau, Perignon, Keller
man and Lefebre did not long survive the
empire and died before Napoleon. But 49,
or precisely one-half of the marshals out
lived the Emperor, and Grouchy, Victor
Oudinot. Marmont. Soult. Money and
Bernadotte were still living when his re-
mains were brought back from St. Helena
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-29
The Second Empire

Soon came the revolution of AS, which
sent a tremor through the European
continent. The thrones of the Haps-
burgs and the Hohenzollerns rocked; Met
ternich fled Vienna and Louis Philippe
decamped for England as plain Mr.. Smith.
Almost the only throne that escaped
the shock was Napoleon's in the In
Valides.
A republic was hastily improvised in
France, and Louis Napoleon, returning
al 40 to the land which had exiled him
at Z, was chosen President by some
100000 votes against 100000 for his OPP
ponents. Under the fostering care of
his administration the idealiZation of
Napoleon took on new zeal, with Theirs
chronicling and Hugo singing the grand
eur of the empire. In four years more
the French We're ready to acclaim a live
Emperor. and the Prince President as
cended the throne as Napoleon III.
Radiant with ardor France once more
had set her feet in the path of martial
glory. Paris blazed In dazzling bril-
lance while for two and 20 years in all
the lesser Napoleon held the Tuileries,
where the greater had ruled only Is
years.
Lifting the eagles of Austerlitz from
the mud of Mt. st. Jean, Napoleon III
sent forth his imperial legions They
marched and battled from Mexico to the
Crimea, but only to furl their standards
forever at Sedan-60 miles from Water
loo-when one day the nephew of the
master of Tilsit became the captive OF
the son of Queen Louise. For the third
time under the reign of a Napoleon the
Germans pitched their tents in the
Champs Elysees and the Uhlans watered
their horses in the Seine. For the third
time, too--1S14, 1915. 1S70--a Napoleon had
left France smaller than he found her.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-29

clay. drew back In establishment and
awe when the coffin was opened, and
they beheld the Emperor, with his
Jove1ike brow, lying al ease and life
like, in the green coat of the chasseurs
of the Guard, the cross of the Legion
cleaning on his breast with UNI
dimmed luster.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-29
Josephine Avenged

History has not been content to set
al naught all of Napoleon's dynastic am
billions, but it has also visited with Bit
ing irony his sacrifice of Josephine on
the altar of that vain ambition. Al
though he put away his wife that the
imperial succession might be established
in bis own blood. 1t remained not for q
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-29
The Tomb Of Napoleon

The Chapel OF the Dome. i'm which
Napoleon lies, was erected by the Grand
Monarque as the royal church in the In
valides, $50 years before the usurper of
the Bourbon throne found his grave in
front of its high altar. Yet it was the
Emperor himself who converted 1t to a
mortunary purpose. when he brought to
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-29
Z5ZE G2lNE ar I5E ZyZ>9LZQE5
AENz9ZH NNzNSX I>aR0Z E0W RESZ5

French democracy has long outlived
that of any dynasty since the Bourbons
went into bankruptcy in 1880.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-29
Democracy Reigns

The downfall of the Second empire
taught a new generation of the French
the lesson their grandsires had received
from the wreck of the F'irst-whither the
path of military conquest ever leads.
And neither princes nor dukes nor mar
shals stayed to settle the account they
had opened. None but the same humble,
patient, toiling, thrifty common people
who had poured out their blood on the
leaden altar of war now poured out their
savings to ransom their captive mother
land, and they sent the conqueror away
with a thousand million dollars of their
hard earnings. In that hour of stern
reckoning the French masses learned the
awful cost of the glory of arms and the
simple truth that only they who have to
pay the bills ought to have the power
to incur the debt.
For fourscore years the little people
Of France In their self-distrust had
been looking to the. great people to
save them and free them but the
Mirabeaus and the Lafayettes, the
Dantons and the Robesrierres. the Bon
apartists the Bourbons and the Or
leanists had shown themselves help
lcss when the test came. 1t was only
when all the great people had failed
that the little people falteringly turned
To themselves. They composed no pre-
smbles and made no declarations; they
issued no bill of rights and framed no
constitution; but the reign OF the
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-29

'Bu9I9H rs
4g sesBO serI o. uoeTodeN-
'9Ioe4oeds etugs 9ql eonpoId
9I o. pMoIo eq4 Suoue uoIJ
IeqlouB qlIoJ MBIp eseo
Gm u! pe4gInmnooe seouB4s
-mnoI!o eql eIoJ9q esdBIo
II!M s9Se 10 spuesnoqL