Evening star., 1923-04-28
BY THE MARaUIsE DE FONTENOY.

'
Frances government has under con-
sideration a petition for the transfer of
the remains of the Inflated prince i'm
perial Of France from their tomb in the
monastic church of Marlborough, in
England. not far from Aldershot, to
the elaborate mausoleum which is now
| in course of construction on a piece of
; land adjoining the chateau Of Malmai-
son. which belongs to Prince Napoleon,
| and which he proposes to present 20 the
nation, in order to become part and
parcel of the Malmaison estate.
The ground in question covers little
over two acres and is shaded by num-
ber Of stately cedars and other fine
trees Of great age. The mauSoleum is
very artistic and has been fashioned in
such a manner as to incorporate the
we'll known statue of the prince and of
his dog Nero. the work OF the cele-
brated sculptor, CarpeauX. in the struc-
ture.
Empress Eugenie. some time before
her death, had acquired a site on the
Champ de Mars, not far from the base
of the Eiffel Tower. for the purpose OF
serving as her sons mauSoleun1. But
she was not satisfied Herewith. 1t did
not seem to harmonic with the envi-
ronment, whereas the bit of forested
land adjoining Malmaison presents an
ideal site for the memorial, whittier the
| mausoleum has now been transferred.
x x x =
IF the government of the republic
sees it's way TO defer to the petition for
the transfer of the remains of the
prince imperial. from Marlborough TO
Malmaison it will be the third disturb
ance of his last rest. For when he fell
in South Africa. killed by the Zulus,
i@;,N n !, "
rey of a cavalry patrol of the English
army. and arrayed in an English uni
form, he was buried not far from the
spot where he met with his death.
Then his body was ordered home. and it
had to be disinterrCd and prepared for
the long sea journey by means of en-
balming methods. These We're not sat
isfactory, and the chemicals employed
for the purpose had the effect of turn
| ing the corpse almost completely black
by the time that it reached Southamp-
| ton Indeed, Prince Murat. the elder.
and several kinsman and devoted re-
tainers who had been requested to
identify the body. confessed themselves
completely unable to recognize the
corpse. 1t was not until the services of
! the late DR.. Thomas Evans. the re-
nowned American dentist of the Napo-
leonic reign in Paris, had been invoked
and he was summoned to determine the
identity of the corpse that he was
some rather remarkable and peculiar
| brdgework which he had made for the
prince before the young fellow started
! for that South Africa, from whence he
was never to return alive.
Now the prince, after having been
! first buried in South Africa, then en-
! tombed at Chislehurst in Kent. and
thereafter at Marlborough, is to. have
his last rest once more disturbed by
another change. namely, from Farm
borough to Malmaison.
X x X
If the Paris cabinet hesitates about
granting the popular petition that is
being circulated for the return of the
| remains of he who was regarded by
the adherents of his dynasty as Ma
poleon w, it is because the states
men concerned have a long memory,
and cannot forget that the bringing
home of the body of the. first Ma
poleon-the great emperor--from its
tomb in the reeking south Atlantic
! island of ST. Helena contributed
| largely to the overthrow of the regime
| of the day, and which, in it's effort to
cater to popular sentiment by bring
| ing home in pomp and state the body
of the first Napoleon, to rest under
! the dome of the Invalides an the