Evening star., 1936-07-19
MOTHER SOUGHT
A|DFORNAPOLEON
France Recalls Fight OF
Nine. Laetitia to Join
ExiIed Son.


Mime. Laetitia, mother Of Napoleon
Bonaparte, died, blind and lonely In
Rome, where she had found refuge,
writes H. Garnier in LIE Journal, Paris.
Fleeting from France, Laetitia
Bonaparte had left Paris on July 10.
1915, her heart full of anguish, just
a little before the Emperor left for
st. Helena. Frail, but strong despite
her IS years, she kept herself very
straight, keeping a certain air OF
majesty which she never lost even in
her most sorrowful days. She trav-
eled slowly toward Rome, where no
Italian prince would offer her an ex-
lie, but where the Pope agreed to well
come her.
On August IS, the very day of Ma
ooleon's birthday, that birthday which
the guns In Paris had hailed so often,
she arrived as a humble old woman
in Rome. She was no longer the
mother Of an emperor, but a fugi-
tive like so many others, an exiled
woman who later said bitterly: lam
the mother Of all sorrows."
Without firing. she wrote and wrote
letters, offering her property and her
jewels and asking that the sums she
got for them should be transferred tc
her prisoner son. Her letters received
no reply For three years she waited
bcause she did not want to despair
Only after she had understood that
her plan to join her son was impcs-
sible did she give 1t up and resign
herself to settling down definitely In
Rome She then bought Rinuccini
palace for $1,000 pissters II be.
came Bonaparte palace and still stand.
today.
Entertained Relatives.
Dressed in black. sitting on a big
armchair in a huge drawing room
dark with curtains and hsngings. she
entertained her relatives. aided by
her two old Corsican ladies in wait
ing, Saveria and Camilla nari, the
latter the nurse Of the Emperor, who
had remained faithful to her.
In the morning she went for q
walk, heard the mass at Santa Maria
in Portico or at San Lorenzo. When
she came home she followed the ad-
vice Of her physicians and played bill
lizards, as a sport, at home.
In the afternoon she dreamed
among the stones of the Forum OF
Coliseum. When a cicerone took
French tourists there he never failed
to ask them to raise their voices so
that Nine. Laetitia might hear them
for everybody In Rome knew that she
loved to talk with French compa-
triots.
Talk louder, the mother Of the
Emperor Is there"
The tourists then saw a frai and
darkish little old woman come toward
them, as though drawn to them by
the music of French words. She
talked to them, asked about what
people thought of the situation ir
France. DO they still always tall
Of Napoleon?", According to wha'
the reply had been she then wen
back to her carriage, more carefret
or more bent, to ride home.
Crowds Gathered to Stare.
Sometimes the crowds gathered tt
stare at her as she passed. The coach.
man stopped then, and Nine. Laetitia
waved her hand at the people and
came home more cheerful. And then
she wrote another petition, in italian
in an old fashioned style, which a sec
retary translated into French and
which was sent to sovereigns in their
palaces at Buckingham, Berlin or St
Petersburg. MY son, the En-
peror Napoleon, is i'll and need moi
be feared any more. >" Having lost
the hope of joining him, she still had
the Illusion that she might obtain his
liberation or make his exile easier.
This moment, when she worked fol
her son, was the best In all her day
She sent him wine, books, coffee OF
clothes, sent two priests and a sur
geon and cook at her own expense to
the distant land. Expense: 100000
francs" she noted in her household
book.
On the evening of May 5, 1921,
when the sun was setting beyond the
capitol, a strange man, one whom peo-
pie searched for in vain later on,
forced his entrance into Laetitia's pal
ace. He bowed respectfully to her,
looked at her steadily, and said: Since
a moment ago, madame, Emperor Ma
poleon is freed of all his pains" Ma
poleon had indeed died that day, but
the official news Of his death reached
Laetitia 10 weeks later.
Nobody ever knew who the strange
visitor was Or how he had got the
news Of the Emperor's death. News
travelled slowly in those days. Nine.
Laetitia remained as though petrified
for several days, then wrote to Lord
Castlereagh, minister of foreign affairs
OF Great Britain: MY son no longer
needs honors; his name sufices for his
fame. But must see his dead body" !"
Once more she received no reply.