The Washington herald., 1914-05-17
IN THE PATH OF NAPOLEON p lso YEARS After @ Hs
PATERSON AMERICAN SISIERu4I

splendid actions to wipe out that stain.
As to your love affair with your little
girl, do not regard it." As Napoleon
bowed the penitent out, he remarked to
his suite: He needs little more weight
in his head. but / hope to make some
thing Of him."
4 FairhIcss Father.
In three months more Jerome's dis
honor was complete when he stood be-
fore the world a faithless father as well
as q faithless husband. his deserted wife
giving birth to son in London SUD-
urb and dutifully christening him Jerome
Napoleon Bonaparte. IL Is true that
Jerome wrote Betsy. Teach our child
to love and esteem his father. and say
to him. Your father will always prefer
of high rank Leave you. my good wife?
I never had this fatal thought!
After having fulfilled my duty as brother
of the Emperor. 1 will fulfill that Of
husband
But the baby hands of little Jerome
Napoleon not having proved strong
enough to draw the father away from
his vanity. Betsy and her family gave up
The Emperor hurled me back
on what hated most on earth-my Bal
timore obscurity. But even that shock
could not destroy my admiration for his
genius ana RlOTy. ana she dCCepIeu
such solace for her wounded pride as
pension of $1,000 a year from Napoleon
afforded.
Married Again.
Jerome, after idling about the sea for
awhile. was rewarded first with the rank
of rear admiral and then with the title
of prince. not to mention the payment Of
1T is inconceivabie." Napoleon growled.
how much this young man costs me-"
But he wrote &c Joseph: Il have recog-
nized him as a prince and have gwen
him the grand Gordon Of the Legion Of
Honor. I have arranged his marriage
with Princess Catherine, daughter Of the
King of Wurtemburg."
Although a heavy liability in a inan-
cial way, the youth was an asset for the
imperial matrimonial bureau. and Ma
poleon made haste to ask Pope Plus VII
to annul the Baltimore marriage in a re-
ligious sense, as ii already was annulled
that his brother had been married by It
Spanish priest to "a Protestant young
woman"
The Holy See knew the true facts and
braved the imperial displeasure by de-
clining to invalidate a marriage with a
Christian of any faith that had been
performed by a bishop of the church.
But the roy al house of Wurternhurg, be-
ing Protestant. was not trodbled by the
refusal of Rome to sanction the match.
and in a little more than two years after
his parting from Betsy Jerome became
the husband Of the Princess Catherine
The Eagle and the Goose.
Some time after the costly youth had
been elevated to the throne of Westpha-
liza and Napoleon had unloaded him upon
the poor taxpayers of his new realm,
Jerome grew generous toward Betsy with
the money of his subjects. He offered
s ne. Ass from SaSeean Il she
would bring their ooy and live IN West
phalia-
But Betsy was not the woman to Be
eplied TO Jerome that the kingdom Of
westphalia is NOT large enough for two
queens" and furthermore. that she pre-
ftrred her present position OF being
sheltered under the wing OF an ,e cage 70
goose When the eagle heard Of that
witty retort, he enjoyed il so much that
he instructed the French Minister at
WASHINGTON to ask Betsy what he could
duchess but i continued to be her lot
to dwell on a level of equality with peo-
pie who after had married q prince be-
came my interiors"
When the kingdom of we5tphalia was
no more and Jerome's glory mad depart
ed. he and Betsy met for the first and
only time after their parting IN the har-
Dor of Lisbon. He was nov a bankrupt.
and she had divorced him to protect her
property. They passed without word OF
greeting as each was stTCllinS IN the pic
ture gallery OF the PittI Palace at Flor
ence. Jerome clerely jerking mis- thumb
toward Betsy and rem arking to Cath
crime. That is my American wife.
The American Bonapartes.
Both Jerome and Catherine often saw
young Jerome Napoleon. but his father
ignored him in his will. Emperor Ma
4, I,Nly-
but with the vanity of his race this
American Bonaparte refused TO relin-
quish his pretersions to a higher dignity,
that Of prince of the empire and a
legitimate heir to the throne.
Although his mother never foreswore
her native Presbyterianism, she reared
Jerome a Catholic, because that was to
her the religion of princes and kings"
graduated. and greatly to his mothers
grief. he so far forgot his princely rank
as to make an American marriage.
Two sons were born to this second
Bonaparte. became Attorney General in
President Roosevelt's Cabinet, while the
elder was the late Col. Jerome Napoleon
Bonaparte. graduate of West Point.
Of Samuel Appleton. of Boston. and
of Daniel Webster. Their
son. Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte. Of
Washington. is the great-grandson of
hlHs JerOnle anu sTtdl-sTdnuueput" VI
Napoleon. II his Observation-Disclosures
had been recognized. this young
man in Washington would be the mead
of the house of Bonaparte and first in
line for the vanished throne of Napoleon
instead of King Jerome's other great
grandson, Victor of Brussels.
Betsy True to the Empire.
Betsy ever remained faithful to the
empire that banned her. Long after it
had fallen she continued to wander about
Europe where she could hurlor her con-
ceit by mingling with titled people. To
her hard-headed fathers protest against
her forsakiEg her place as the head Of
his household. she replied: 1T was I'M
possible to bend my tastes and ambitions
to the obscure destiny of a Baltimore
and it was absurd to at
tempt it after 1 had married the brother
father described her as my disobedient
daughter. Betsy" When at length she
did return to America it was to take up
the management OF her estate in her ma
tive city.
Betsy's husband was the last survivor
among the brothers of Napoleon. but she
outlived him many years, and outlived
pire had risen from the first at Waterloo
and fallen at Sedan. and she WIS four
score and ten, Nine. Bonaparte still did
her own bargaining and collecting as she
went through the streets of Baltimore. an
Did carpet bag in her hand. Although
reputed to be more than q millionaire,
she passed the last eighteen years of her
life in boarding house, where in her
nany trunks she cherished her fondest
purple satin coat Jerome
wore at their wedding, a gown given to
her by the Princess Pauline, another