Year: 1879

III. with Eugene de MontUo, Comtesse
de Teba, was celebrated ut the Tuilerles ON
the Goth Of January, 1858, and on the fol-
lowing day at the Cathedral of Notre
Dame. Almost imediately afterward the
Empress gave an indication Of that
generosity Of disposition, which has upon
various occasions since distinguished her,
for the sum of $126,O0O, having been vo-
ted by the Municipal Council of Paris for
the purchase of q parure of ornaments,
suitable not only to her beauty but her
imperial rank, she entreated that, instead
Of devoting this sum to her own personal
adornment, she might be allowed to .'con-
secrate it to the founi iation of an estab-
lishment TO- the professional education Of
poor young girls who, though possibly
we'll born, and gifted with some talent,
are precluded from the honest exercise of
the latter by lack ofspecial training essen
tlal to its development. Nor was this the
only sign Of benifcence given by the new
ly welded Empress, for the Emperor hav-
ing placed in Corbeille de Marriage sum
of $4,000 her majesty divided the whole
of it for the double and human purpose
of increasing the hospital accomnoda-
tion of Paris, and of alleviating the wants
felt by various material societies in that
city. From the moment that she became
his wife, the Empress associated herself
with all that u as good and glorious in
the career of Napoleon ILL.,, and whether
during his Italian campaign, when her
intelligent sympathy invariably display
ed itself by government mearures at home
or whether as the companion of his vari-
Gus progresses through France, or in the
moment of immediate dancer-such as
that which threatened his life at the be-
ginning of the year 1858, or in more re-
cent days, such as those plague-stricken
ones when Amiens was devastated bly,
cholera-the Empress Eugene has inva-
riably manifested heroic characteristics. a
lofty courage, a grand power Of endur-
ance, spirit of self-sacri6cc which none
but those who personally knew her best !
would expect from so fragile looking a.
being, from one SO radiant in the midst
of brilliant festivities inaugurated by her,
or one SO adored whenever appearing in
the midst of Paris outside her own pal
ace walls - that Paris which her imperi-
al consort found made of brick, but left
built IN marble.


When 10y the speech already recorded
Napoleon III. declared his belief that in
the day Of danger to the Imperial throne
she would be one of the most courageous
supporters, he uttered a prediction which
has been fulfilled by her beyond even
what could have been his most ardent ex-
pectations; tor, though strangely pro-
etic of many things that have come to
pass, he could not have anticipated the
sudden and overwhelming storm which
would permanently close his reign, and
call forth on the part Of the Empires
those characteristics which could never
have been displayed to the whole world
save i'll the day of such danger that ma
lures of less exalted type would recoil
before it. When, true to the spirit of
her own brave Spanish ancestry, and
speaking the words Of Queen Marie An
tonette-speaking those words in the
very palace where that fair. Queen of
France had uttered them-the Empress
Eugene declared that she would ''rather
be nailed to the walls than tfy,:' she was
even in greater danger than was the
high-souled daughter of the heroic Marie
Theresa before her forced departure from
the Tuilleries. Near the Empress, when
the maddened and infuriated mob came
pressing onward toward that palace, was
no crowd of armed defenders, no husband
to sustain her. She was alone with one
lady attendant, her lectrice, when the
probability of her terrible and immediate
danger was suddenly impaired to her by
a devoted adherent of the Imperial throne,
but who, even for the sal e of the EN-
press herself, was compelled to depart
the moment after his word of warning
had been uttered. There was not mo
ment to spare, the courage of the Empress
was undaunted, but, Just then, utterly un-
protected though she was, the safety OF
others not present was involved with her
own. She could not fail to remember, by
painfully vivid flash of memory, that in
case of mortal reverses ensuing to her ab-
sent husband, the hope of a future for the
Prince Imperial rested in her decision at
this unforeseen instant, when everything
OF most solemn import, not only to her
self but to those she loved far more than
herself, depended on her discretion.
Wherefore just as the murderous mob ap-
preached the chateau of the Tuilleries,
the Empress departed from it into the
ancient Palace OF the Louvre, from which
there vas still possibly comparatively
safe exit for her and her faithful lady at
tcndant, whose privilege it was to share
the danger of her gentle though Impe-
rial mistress. Fortunately they were
both in outdoor costume when the alarm
was given to them, and, by the help of a
thick veil, the Empress might yet hope
to pass out in the street through the por-
tai of he Louvre, near which she at length
found herself. But, for moment, there
was an agonized suspense: the key-the
key by which alone this portal could be
opened from the inside-was missing
from the place where it was usually to be
found. The Empress neither screamed
nor tainted, though there was not an in
slant to be lost, and even more than her
life depended upon her instant escape.
But the key was found on the floor where
1t had fallen. The heavy portal Of the
Louvre, on the Seine side of that his
toric edifice, turned on its hinges, the
velled Empress and her attendant ste ppcd
into the street and hailed cab. A little