Year: 1867

The last number of the Gclaxy contains

 a racy and readable sketch of the Emperor

 fIom the pen of Mir. H. A. Delille. We make room for few paragraphs :-

 The emperor is the most exemplary oi

 husbands For years he has not been on 1 good terms with the Empress, whose feel ings as a wife he has outraged in the most barefaced manner. His iasons with wom.

 en infinitely inferior to her in every sense

 have been so open, so fragrant, that ignor.

 ance of them on her part was impossible

 This naturally soured her temper and ren. de'ed her cold and indifferent toward the

 man who made it apparent to the world

 that he neither loved nor respected her. As an instance of the indiscree course pur- sued by the Empress, may be mentioned

 the fact of her repeated efforts to leave Par IS clandestinely. On one occasion she was forclhly taken out of a cab at the palace i door, just as she was being driven away. With only her maid, Eugenia had deter mined to take the night train for England. The Emperor got wind of the escapede and frustrated 1t. A little later on, Eugenia 1 succeeded in taking her departure, and she did not return until the Countess of Castig- lone had been banished from the court. 1t IS we'll known that with his cousin, Prince l Napoleon, the Emperor has never beA on very good terms. A mutual jealousy exists l which events tend to indame. The facts that Prince Napoleon is next to the Prince Imperial, heir to the throne of France, ren- ders the Emperor and also the Empress quite jealous of him. They seem to dread that he~may, in case the opportunity should present itself, supplant the Prince Impe- rial, and, as a natural result they dislike their cousin, and very often let him see this

 The servants in the palace tell many amusing stories regarding the queer do- ings of the Emperor when the morose fit is upon him. They say that, in his room, he arranges things to suit himself-hangs his engravings and family portraits, the furni- ture, and piles away his letters and papers. So long as he is, in his way, cheerful, he seems satisfied with tne disposal of the rooms; but, during the dark days he takes down the pictures, moves the furni- ture and the books, and the while grum- bling and growing at himself On these occasions the mait,'e dhotel of the palace is in despair. The dinners are always ''detes- table, v the wines are ''sour"-in short, the great Cesar is as fretful and whimsical in his blues as the most petted and spoiled girl By contrast, at other times he eats and drinks anything, makes no complaint, and gives less trouble than the most insig- nifcant member of his household

 Napoleon has one fixed idea which has almost become maxim: that is the discov- cry of some terrible engine of warfare. some extraordinary musket or cannon. He is theoretically and practically one of the most skilful artillerymen of the day; and he bends his energies toward the perfec- tion of that branch of military science un- ceasingly. It will be borne in mind that he was the first to use rifed cannon to the efficacy of which he owed, in great meas ure, the brilliant series of victories which marked the campaign of 1859 as one of the most successful the French may boast of At the Tuileries, at Fontainebleau, at Con- piegne and at St. Cloud, there are rooms which may be termed arsenals, so filled are they with the arms which the Emperor has invented, bought or received from those who are aware of his passionate desire to examine and try every species of firearms. He IS somewhat of an alchemist, and, at times, diligently endeavors to fabricate ex- plosive substances of unheard of power, but the constant requirements of office, the routine of Imperial life, take him away, perforce, from these cherished pursuits.

 I might cite many little incidents to prove that Napoleon has no very fine feel ings, but the following will suffice As is we'll known, he is fond of riding and driv- ing splendid horses Naturally enough, one would suppose that when these latter have done him good service, in fact been used up by his overriding or over-work- ing them, for the rest ot their lives they would be we'll taken care of Nothing of the sort; no such good fortune awaits them have seen horses which, for years, had borne His Majesty faithfully ending their days in the shafts of butchers cart. When they are no longer up to the mark they are given away or sold for trife. They must no longer cumber the Imperial stables. This fact speaks volumes in proof of ntter selfishness and want of sentiment on the part of the Emperor. A gentleman grants home to dog or horse which has been faithful and true. He sees to it that after their toll and service, they may end their days in comfort. As far as Napoleon IS concerned, the dogs are shot and the horses sold.

 THE BEAUTY OF OLD PEOPLE. Men and women make their ownbeauty, or their own ugliness. Lord Lytton speaks, in one of his novels, of man 'swho was uglier than he had any business to be- and if he could bull read it every human being carries his life in his face, and is good looking or the reverse as that life has been good or evil On our features, the fine chisel of thought and emotion is eternally at work. Beauty is not the monopoly of blooming young men and of white and pink maids There is slow-growing beauty, which only comes to perfection in old age. Grace belongs to no period of life, and goodness improves the longer it exists I have seen sweeter smiles on lip of seventy than upon a lip of seventeen. There is the beauty of youth and there is also the beauty of holiness-a beauty much more seldom met; and more frequently found in the armchair by the fire, with grandchildren around his knee, than in the ballroom or promenade. Illus band and wife, who have fought the world, side by side, who have made common stock of joy and sorrow, and grown aged togeth- CT, are not unfrequently found much alike in personal appearance, and in pitch and tone of voice-just as twin pebbles on the beach, exposed to the same tidal influences are each others second self. He has gain ed feminine something, which brings his manhood into full relief. She has gained masculine something which acts as a foil to her womanhood