The Clio messenger., 1915-06-18

But he had had an illegitimate son in America.
ne mad been arrested in an evil resort in Paris,
ne had peen promiscuous in his love affairs he
mad an unattractive personality, bad skin, poor
eyes, poor carriage. Yet he was attractive to
women who did not think he ever would be an
emperor.
He was fascinated by Eugene and made love
to her in an informal, easy-going manner. But
he tried hard to marry some princess of es-
tablished dynasty. No woman of royal rank
would accept the adventurer. Had anyone sig
nified her willingness to do so Eugene had never
been empress of the French
1t is said that he at first offered her NOR
ganatfc marriage. This she refused and also
refused to see him again. Chance drove Napo-
leon into the marriage. His uncle, Jerome, for
mer king of Westphaa. circulated rumor that
he was incapable Of marriage. Bismarck, 1t Is
said, believed the story. To disprove It, Napoleon
asked Eugene de Montijo to share his throne.
They were married January 30, 1853, at Notre
Dame, Paris and began a reign of seventeen
years. in which good was intermingled with much
evil
Their positions were hard at first. Not being
of royal blood, royal families looked askance
upon them They circulated all sorts of stories
about them. In his marriage proclamation the
emperor said: II hope that she will revive the
virtues Of Josephine" Cynical Paris roared. 1t
remembered the easy virtue of Josephine before
and after her marriage to the great Corscan A
postcard bearing the picture Of the empress had
this sentence upon 1t:
"The portrait and virtues Of the empress-all
for two SOUS"
None the less Eugene's influence was great
She urged her husband to undertake many ell
terprlses that proved dangerous to his empire
but for twenty years France was successful in
peace and in war; The court gttered Every
form Of pleasure was encouraged The empress
shone with the supreme radiance OF womanly
fascination Paris the center Of interna-
tional society. Whatever Eugene did was done
by the women Of all the world She wore the
ridiculous crinoline and huge, fantastic chignon
The world wore them, too. She had Haussman
remodel and rebuild Paris. The great boule-
Yards and avenues Of today are the work of the
little old woman who now moves among the
wounded in England
In 1856 an heir was born, the little Louis,
whose end was to be so tragic. She dabbled in
politics and offended her husband She even led
party which opposed him In the chamber Of
deputies. He found out that the love letters
which had charmed him had been written by the
distinguished academician. Prosper Merimee,
hired by Eugenie to do II. When Eugene had to
write herself, her letters were no better than
those Of a semilitcrate peasant girl. Asked about
II Merimee said: God gave her the choice be-
tween beauty and brains and she chose beauty"
Eugenie loved bohemianism and laxity and
Paris became effeminate. Handsome faces, a
small gift OF epigram, romantic past were the
credentials to the court of the empress A grad
ual decay honeycombed society and the army and
the foundations of Sedan we're laid.
Eugenie was not popular with prlncesses who
fouted her birth or with French women who
felt that when Napoleon made up his mind to
marry a woman OF less than royal rank he