The Washington herald., 1914-11-22

old palazzO on the Corso. which is stiIl
marked out on the guide books of Rome.
her favorite post was by a window. and
Romans and travellers from all parts OF
the world paused in the Piazza Venezia
10 gaze up at the mother Of Napoleon.
Blindness was added to her affiictions.
but with a mOtherly smile she turned
her sightless eyes still to the bust OF
the Emperor, always by her side.
am indeed a Mater Dolorosa," she
sighed, as she called again and again
the roll Of her dead. At last the hand OF
mercy wrote her own name upon it,
Lest the governments take offense. the
authorities requested that the funeral
should be private and that the imperial
arms should not be displayed, But tho
mourners were not denied the satisfaC-
tion of adOrning the pail with the eagle
OF the empire and inscribing upon il:
Mater Napoleonis."
-Four sons and a daughter outliyed this
mother of kings. Caroline and T.ucien,
who are believed TO have died, like Ma
poleon- Of cancer Of the stomach. and
Joseph and Louis followed hG~ in the
course Of ten years: but Jerorre IacCCd
superhuous and lived well into the sec
ond empire.
Marie Louise Thrice Wed.
Perhaps Marie Louise's closing wears
were no less tragic than her mother-in-
laws. il the story Of them could be read
with the eye OF sympathy rather than
Knocked by a sense of the ridiculous.
Count Neipperg dying three years before
rAiglon. the widows grief seemed in
consolable, although two Of their three
cnhdren remained to console her. She
wore locks of the counts hair in a cru
cihN on her wrist and in a locker at her
throat. and picture OF his one good cva
on chain about her neck. Rheuna-
situdes OF life had given her the ap-
pearAnce Of decrepit woman Of fifty.
eight.
For .o,-.-,, ,-.- -. -
place at the head Of the duCaI govern
ment was tilled by a temporary sci, g.
ton. When IL became necessary Sor Met
iernlch 10 choose a permanent successor
ms choice fell upon Count BomheIloS
whom he described as "a man stronr
enough to influence the weak character
OF the ArchduChess Marie Louise
Again the discrimination Of the great
statesman was abundantIy verified. for
Bombelles who had been a French emf
grant in revolutionary and NapoleoniC
days. and was now widower OF fortv-
nine. was fairly dragged TO the altar by
Marie Louise. six months after entering
her service. This count. who proved him
self competent minister. had never as
very religious and austere. He was
amazed by the duchess proposal and
only~obeyed il because il had the force
OF command from his sovereign
History has caught on its records the
weary sighs of Neipperg. while he Wore
the marital bonds OF the Duchess Of
Parma. and poor Bombelles marched
signing to the altar He appears indeed
to have proved himself no more than an
official husband, and the gossips say that
Marie Louise, when nearly fifty, tried
for time TO. fill the void in her heart
with Partisan tenor. who dared 10
write home the proud boast. Il am Ma
poleon's successor
Since it is not possible to make a ro-
nance Of Marie LOuise's life. it wer..
well not to dwell upon il longer. She
died at Parma in her ffty-seventh year
having survived the first Of her three
husbands twenty-siN years.
L'AIEIon at Rest.
The story of Napoleon's dynastic am
hition fittingly closes in a melancholy
dusk, which wraps with its gloom tho
couches OF the Inflated Hapsburgs. From
a long. narrow bare hall beside the
Capuchin Church in the midst of Vienna
a hlue-eyed. blond-bearded monk in
sandals leads the waiting pilgrim down
daTk. cellar stair to drear. vaultcd
chamber where Austria's imperial dead
for 800 years lie in simple bronze cof-
inns. Many of them are scattered over
the floor as IL but pausing on their way
monument rises dimly IN the twilight
specially to mark the resting place ~
some emperor: but the most conspicu-
BUS tomb Of all is that Of the woman
any of her race. Maria Theresa.
Maximilian Is there among, his kindred.
thank ks TO the Austrian warship which
ay by the Mexican shore. helpIessIv
waiting to bear him home when he
should have paid the penalty of his i'm
oertal dream at Querataro. So too are
he Empress Elizabeth. the Euiltless vic
i'm OF an assassin. and her son, the
Crown Prince Rudolph. enshrouded in the
ragic mystery Of his death
In an elevated sarcophagus sleeps the
Emperor Francis. with four metal cof-
ms lying on the floor beside him. Those
OF the Emperor are not,
however, his four wives At his head
md feet lie two children. and on either
'ide of him Marie Louise and PAiglon,
'ooted and spurred. and in his Austrian
inform.
In death the little eagles paternity
vas not disdained or denied. The Haps-
,urgs were not ashamed to confess on
IFS coffin plate that the blood of Rudolph
md the Corsican mingled in his veins
md the inscription boasts that he was
King of Rome before he was the Duke
Il Reichstadt. On Marie Louise's plate
Napoleon alone is acknowledged among
Ter husbands. for no other title to re-
had she.
It was not there among the Hapsburgs
hat the Emperor meant his Empress
nd his heir to find their sepulchre, but
.mong the Bourbons. Yet even at St.
DENIS they would not be in prouder or
more ancient company than beneath the
Id church in Vienna. And those glory
'Aiglon back to place him beside his
ather in the Invalides would do better
o let him alone in his captivity.
CCopyright. Isl3lsl4. BY James MorEan.l