The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-06-14


i morals for mankind as whole
and another for himself, That he
was not bound by standards confronting
other men in Europe, that he was free
10 do as he liked. came to be an axiom
with him as he suddenly leaped into
power and military glory such as few
have achieved in all history. one OF
his most obsequious servants and apol-
ogists, the Valet Constant. relates an
episode which may indicate sonnet hing
Of the situation.
At the time Napoleon was First Con-
sul-revelling in authority, his head
filled with plaudits and before him the
possibility OF a vast empire-like
others suddenly raised to such pin
nacle he was surrounded by suppliants
for favors of all kinds: he was con-
stantly on guard against intrigue. polit
ical and other. Men regarded him as
superman; women saw him a demi-
god.
IL was in this first flush of great
power that the First Consul was at
tracted by young woman Of keen wit
and personal charm. who is referred Ia
as Madame ID. Instantly. IL appears
he was smitten. Josephine. knowing
her husband well by this time. saw the
situation-at least suspected it-and
did not conceal her jealousy. There
upon, says Constant. her husband did
all he could TO alay the conjugal sus-
picions."
This was the way in which the First
Consul always acted toward his wife.
remarks Constant. He was full of con-
sideration for her and took every imag
Unable means OF preventing his in
fidelities from reaching her knowledge
Moreover, these passing intidelities de-
tracted nothing from his tenderness for
her. and although other women may
have inspired him with love. none had
his confidence and friendship to the
same extent as Nine. Bonaparte.
1T is the same with the Emperor
severity and brutality toward women
as II Is with the thousand and one other
calumnies Of which he was the object
He was not always courtly, but no one
ever saw him coarse, and he professed
the greatest generation for well con-
drcted woman"
His lovemaking with Mile. Colombier
when he was a youth OF II, partook
Of the idyllic, and evidence in plenty
exists showing that genuine tender
ness existed between him and Desire,
Eugene Clary. charming young Cir
or 16, whose sister was Nine, Joseph
Bonaparte.
The young Corsican military officer
met her at Marseilles in 1895 when he
was 26 years old, at time when his
fortunes were at low ebb. There was
serious thought Of marriage between
them. and when he went on his way she
wrote him with childish seriousness:
"oh, my beloved, Take care of your
self. II only to preserve your Eugene
who could not live without you. BE
faithful to the VOWS you made me, as
j will be to mine"
But the young man whom Desire,
loved so passionately had left Marseilles
ana had entered Paris with patches on
his boots, hungry, but determined tc
find his destiny and to grasp it with
force that could not he shaken. The
young Bonaparte looked to marriage
as release from poverty. He had nc
fortune, apparently no prospects, but he
offered his hand to Nine. de Permor
and To Nine. de Lesparda before he me,
and was captured by Josephine de
Beauharnals, a Creole from Martinique
who at l6 already had been married and
had separated from her husband. Now
she was in Paris and in financial
extremity
During the Reign of Terror Beauhar-
nais had been imprisoned and guilo-
tined she, also a prisoner, having barrel,
escaped execution. Not long past 80
she was in the fun opulence Of her
beauty, preserved and accentuated by
clever methods. when she met Gen
Honaparte. The courtship proceeded
with pplpritN q
were married. Two days later Bona
parte set out to join the army in Italy
When Desiree Eugene Clary learned
Of this she was heartbroken.
You have made my life a misery
she wrote, and yet / am weak enough
to forgive YOU. SO you are married!
Life has become torture to me now
that ! may no longer hope to dedicat
II to you. pray that the wifi,
you have chosen may make you as
happy as I had hoped to make you ant
as you deserve to be. But in the midst
OF your happiness pity the fate OF
Eugene and do not quite forget her"
The pitiful cry OF a child? Perhaps
ii Is charitable to think so, and inter
estlng to remember that when Napoleon
returned from his Egyptian campaign
Desiree besuught him to serve as god.
father to her infant son, for she hat
married Bernadotte The successful
young General accepted the sponsorship
hiding his real feelings, it is to be hoped
Tor there was nothing he so longed fol
as son OF his own And Desiree. re-
venging herself upon her rival
Josephine the "old woman" as sh,
preferred to call her, did not disdain tt
parade her maternity on every occasion