The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1914-08-09

MIN down VIVID a Dig Sworn sudPPeu
around him. gave him things to eat that
upset his stomach, and as the decorous
daughter OF the HapsburE wrote her
father. was very childish about him"
II the child cried when he made awful
faces at him, the Emperor rebuked him.
What! A King. and crying. Fie! Fie!"
Once at least he spanked him in the pres
ence of Talma, the tragedian, but only
for the FUN OF spanking a King"
A favorite playtime was at the En-
peror's breakfast. when he liked to hold
his boy on his knee. perhaps dipping his
own fingers into some sauce and smear
ing the little face with It In another
scene that grew familiar TO the court,
the Emperor seated on his sofa, studied
state papers with the child beside him,
or, holding him in his lap, he sat at
his desk scratching his signature on
orders and DEGREES for Europe to obey.
As the Russian war clouds lowered the
Emperor had wooden blocks Of many
kinds and colors made, representing the
units OF an army, and these he carefully
arranged and moved about in various
ACKNOWLEDGMENT II the-boy-
CHANGED TO see his father lying on the
floor apparently playing with those
pretty toys he naturally insisted on TAX
ing a hand in the game Although he
inevitably brought confusion upon the
thoughtfully projected maneuvers in
which the great captain was engaged.
he never was reprimanded or incurred
the penalty Of a frown-
The baptism tok place at Notre Dame
in June, when the Emperor carried his
child from the fount to the porch of the
great cathedral and proudly held him
up before the thousands who crowded
the open space. 1t was the last time
that Napoleon and Paris were to rejoice
together. Wine instead Of water flowed
from the public fountains. feasts were
spread in the squares and the beautiful
capital cleaned at night like a gem
studded crown.
Princes of the empire swarmed the
city and populations came from all
Europe to see the heir of the master of
mankind christened Napoleon Francis Jo-
seph Charles and formally invested with
the proudest Of titles. the King of Rome.
In the Eternal City itself. the capitol and
the coliseum, the dome of st. Peters and
the castle Of St Angelo blazed with IL
Limitations that lit up the seven hills,
and Napoleon decreed that the success
sors to his throne should always be twice
crowned. at a Roman as well as a Pa
risian coronation.
The Emperor followed the pompous
ceremony at Notre Dame with a great
fete for the populace at st. Cloud, and
10000 people Toasted and sported in the
lovely park Of that chateau. where in
the evening, the noble outlines of the
palace of the King OF Rome at Chaillot
which the architects had already de-
signed, were traced in fire, while the
flaming crown OF the child fioated in
the sky. where it had been discharged
from great balloon. Alas. that pal
ace at Chaillot was no more than q
castle in the air. for neither crowns
nor palaces was the King Of Rome TO-
Out at RambouiIlet there stands, on the
border Of the chateau park. the only
palace the fond father erected for his
son before Fastening to his fall, and It Is
still known as lie Palais du Roi de
Rome" Although the structure is Of the
size of a comfortable three-story dwell
ing. II WAS meant only as a play house
for the little King. where he could hold
and amuse himself with rehearsals Of the
part for which his father had cast him
in the drama of life when he should be
the lord Of the palaces of Europe.
In the shady depts Of that park at
Rambouillet lies the very rock on which
all the hopes Of father and son were
wrecked. For on that smooth-topped
stone under the trees Napoleon spread
his maps in May of 1871 and planned the
fatal Russian campaign of the following
year. And alongside the wall OF the park
ran and runs the highway to Charities,
to Rochefort, and on to St Helenai
1t well may have been then and there,
by that rock in the forest of Hambouillet.
as he looked up from his map TO see the
two-month-old King reclining in his baby
carriage, that Napoleon gave the sigh
echoed by history, Poor child! What 4
snarl / shall leave to you" But fortune
held the skein and the great fatalist was
helpless to unravel her tangled web.
A Victim of Success.
The man was the victim of his own
success, the sport of his genius. Each
triumph OF his arms was but q temptation
to seek another. The birth of an heir
only infiamed his ambition to enlarge the
child's heritage.
His estate already stretched aorthward
from the Mediterranean to the BaItic and
eastward from the Bay Of Biscay to the |
Ionian Sea, with vassal kings and allied |
sovereigns standing like sentries at the |
outposts Of his broad dominions. Every |
sword, every musket between Madrid and |
Warsaw was at his command. He had |
eclipsed the mighty empires Of the Assyr- |
Ians. the Babylonians. and the Persians, |
of Alexander, Caesar. and Charlemagne, !