THE CROWNING OF NAPOLEON AND JOSEPHINE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2525, 6 August 1902, Page 65

THE CROWNING OF NAPOLEON AND JOSEPHINE.

The coming Coronation premises to be rccoided and illustrated as no previous event of the kind Las evei been — and correctly, too, without more than a slight amount of that addition and hiibtiaction m which Court chroniclers and tourtieraitists are expected to be adepts. Once over, the many million's who constitute King Edward's subjects will have no excuse for not know .ng exactly how Ins Majest\ was crowned, what he looked like in his n.bes and regalia, how the pee 1 less Queen adorned the ceremony, and 111 what manner the lest of the Royal Family contnbmed inteiest to the scene. A cheap press and photography may be confidently reckoned upon ; and for a very c m.ill out'.ty t lie woild may be put into pos l f-s>ion of piet\ res and details which would have cost a la;ge sum in ihe bygones, eve 1 vhtu attainable.

For a long wlule after the splendid C'oiouation of the Fii>fc Napoleon, the English peo-ple had little better idea, of the ceremony thm they cou'd gather from Uillray's canratnre, a woik o{ fan^y. winch depicted the Empero! . the Empies«. the Pope ai d attfiiddnl* as a set of hidtoiis guys. The givcefu 1 Josephin-, foi instance. appears as an ugly „nd immensely stout we man, whose tiain is lw.j ni; by tin cc repulsive iish \vi\es — one with a black eye — >v ho wear coionets and wildly waving 1 1' umes.

Equally imaginary, though mon t > flattering and respectful, were some of the illustrations of the ceremony which cnculated 111 France while Xapo'eun reigned One engraving would give the idea that ihe Emperor knelt to receive his crown In leality P.us VII had to sit a- 1 h itieie -pr(t.it<Awhile the imps-nous (,'o'si ip v ,\\ ned him self. Aud even in tht* oHicutl paaire piiiited by David, which occupied the aitisl tour vt-ars, and was freijuently inspected by Napoleon and nidiiy otheis who Lad Hsrured >t the Coronation, there aie emm — but these were purposely committed ,n uidei to improve the sci-ue.

A number of u'ni.iik tble drawings wee p-:eLiited by Is.ibey. thf .11 tist whom Xapoh»on had eh ii'"Oil to superintend the Imperial coitege on the Cmon 11 son d iv : an<l a magnificent album. ve:y v.ilu.ib'p fen hi> lorical referen p. w.is the result As ll.uiajMite hiniself wts ,\ )i>-iite' of rlotail. a> wel! a«< of gi".iu •;< lipuit>. .iri'l a!-o knew bow to selecl the 11/ht men as a-s.st.aits. ihe crowning event of his mirvellciu« caiefr went off we!!, and mu-t be legaided as one of hi.s successes.

The enormous interest takon of I,.te yars in everything X moleoi.ic ha* <,(.ise<l so much of the great Empeioi's hi-ti.i-% t<j become universal!'.- known that the twentieth century opens with a moie coirc t idea of his personality than did the nineteenth And most people now regaul him as a, genuine soveieign. not as the up-stait iisuipei who played fast and loose with tLi- sacied rights of Boiubon Kings and Oeiman potentates of mure or less impoit.itice

At King Kdwanl's Coionation it is very probable that some descendants of the Einpiess Josephine wi'l be piesent. Hrr son, Kugene Beauharnais, luairied a Pruice^ of B«i\aiia : and his sons and daughters made vciy great matches with leading Royal houses, .aid ilu-ir ieuie>-tnuti\ e c at the I'ies.ent day ai-e fanly luuneious. The^e Higlmesses include Piiuce Clunks „f Denmark, nephew and son 111-law of King Edward and Qucpii Alexandia ; a'-o Prince of .Bazleiu the husband stl Priacejss

Marie Lomse of Cumbeiland, Queen Alexandra's mccc.

Their ;.nces trc-s. the fiivolons yet fascinating Jo.sc-phine, \vd< a magnificent figuie at the Coion-ilion of Napoleon, who inc'uded her in the cciemo'iy They were both capable of fib« concerning their ages, but the Emperor at the tinu: was about S5, and the Empress well over 40. though, when made up tor the occasion, she looked a you.ig a^ vrAl as a beautiful woman.

At her Coronation Josephine woie a longsleeved lobe of wlrte sitm embroidered 111 gold and siher. edged n.und tlie hem \a ith gi Id embio.deiy and fmige. The bodice was ado! ned with clusters 01 diamonds. The ct.uit tram of white velvet was also embio.deied with gold, and the shoes weie to match, of white vehet ana gold. Her h'.; vv and voluminous mantle was of puiple \i'lvet < (iverecl with god bees in embossed wnik. with a gold boidenng of 'aurel, oli\e. and oak branches: and at was lined thioughout and bonleiod with <m mine.

Placed well foiwaifi on the Empiess\ head was a high diadem of gold, amethysts, a lid diamonds- — one laigc amethyst being special y conspicuous Hei crown was a golden diclet enriched with emeralds and d: i<li'ms. fu,m which ro-c ciifht halt-t ncles in the form of lain el and myitle leaves ; and wheie these joined at the top a small globe surmounted by n ci <)>■.■, was placed. Joseplime was accustomed to weai a weight of jewellery on her he:id. so that tliis double allowance of diadem diid crown did not aflhct hei as it wou'd >ome nomeii; and she letamed the whole nias«, ornaments, roh-.ngs, and all. to dine alone with the J'lmpcror on the eve of then Coionation day.

A fu« yea i> later, and the ciown of the dnoiierl Josephine had to do duty for her succes>oi. Mane Lou.se. who did not fancy 1' at fir-i. Howevei. Napoleon declared thdt "It is not handsome, but it ha.s a paiticuhii character, and I wish to attach it to mv dynasty "' With the one sou he had by Mane Louise died chf dnect lu,e of the Fust Napoleon. With the one son of the Tl'mcl N ipleou and Eugenic di> Montijo d-ecl the line founded b\ tint ll'-assoitcd ci (?{•'. Louis Roiiipaits and Hoi tense Boaulurnai.s. A \oung<M biothei ot the Fiisf Napoleon. Jeiom". is now 1 epresented by two princes who remain v. niained. and a m idon fd piincess uirh <r,it -on 'I hs clown ha- vanished, and tin il'.nastv has d's,ippeaied behind the s ( enes. with but lit t 'c chance of a 1 l-i jl!

1'uo; Josephni'-'s fail's ,md Id ie«. h ive iaen gi\cu Mi' h publicity of late yeais that it is only just to lemeinhei thai liei g< od uUiibutes included a compassionate fiii.dm-ss for animals She loathed ciuelty 111 an\ sUlpe,s Ul p e , , Ull j w ]ien obliged, fui fom/s sake, to 'ounfenjn^e a hunt, would often beg foi meuy for s..ine wiPtched l>.'j.st euiunig .tmwheie near hei This should count to hei foi 1 ighte.msness. esptujllv in these time^. when theie is a daugei that physio logical females. emu\'Ung males of like taste, nuv tuin into \er'table hags, skilled 111 animal toituie. a'ld only too pleased to c.lubit tLen uasn uoik. ji to descant on it iv public

Josephine's tears ovei ill-used cieatures contiast \eiy favourably with the unwomanly pleasure manifested wh le hunting by the ill staired Mane Antoinette, who had a pe< uhar fancy for watching tiie last struggles uf aiuina's m the davx when, as Dauphmess or Queen, she lived but foi her ow v amusement, lite Einpiess who- turned sick and cued in protest wher a. dying brute was torn to pieces by dog-- teitainly had an easici fin sU than the Queen to whom the hideous spectacle was an cuter-

.nnmeir

Ihe question of tianibeaiuig is a most important oik 1 at a CViroiuitimi : and though it would be a chaiming Mght to behold Queen Alexanuia's State mantle being held up by her Majesty's thiee daughter, as some folk have suggested, or by four ilucjiesseju. as others wQuid texisx^ yet there

is a risk not to be ignored that, at such an agitating time, unskilled bearers might lind that train too much for them. PrinCcs«es and peeresses are not accustomed, as a nile, to take thought for anybody's clothes but their own : and not one of King Edward's daugh+ers caves to fill any lcsponssible role in a pageant.

Crowns have sometimes proved misfits, piecious stones have dropped from them at special moments, mistakes iv plenty have (icevned through the foigetfulness of people who should have remembered everything — e^en the holy oil has now and then been deficient in quality, and offended such sensi-tive-nosed sovereigns as Queen Elizabeth. The State mantle has pl-iyed its part, too, as a cause of anxiety ; and in Josephine's case it pulled her back, made her stagger and seem to fall, a«. immediately after b?in c c crowned, she was ascending a throne vi ith hei hns'r-ti d, in order to hear ma.ss. The wonder w.is that nothing worse occurred.

Aapoleon had ordered that his wife's tiain shou.d be cumod by his sisters and M>ter^-in-liiw, fi\e of them. These ladies im:Ji disliked the task, and omy agreed t » it cm condition that they. too. should weir ttain.-. and that edch. .should liave her Iraii' i .11 l ied hy <in ofHeer of h»r household. Previous lthoiirsils prub-ibly prevented tlie w liole string of them coming to grief in the La.tLedral at some critical stage of the Coronation proceedings. Bein'_c one of the most extravagant women

who evoi wore a ciown m.itr.tnonia! — being oUler tli.uv her hu>ba')d. and apprehensive (»' losing his favour — Josephine spared no expense in dre.>s v hiie able to 'lip in Tinptiial Lofiers ; :uid the lobes 'he wore .it fetes succeeding the Coronation were beautiful .'iid cosfy in tlie extreme. One \va-- composed of white satm embroidered in gold and silvei, ■nith a Court tram of i'lac velvet embroidered with silver ronvol\iMii> lilo^ouij ; another of silver net with t-ain of pink velvet ; another of gold net virl tram of white velvet embioidered with bouquets of violet^, a gold bordering and 163 dozen.? of fal«e emeralds of good quality.

An elegant a'ld fa^c : nating appearance and a capacity tor setting the fashions have immoitalised two French Empresses — Josephine .iiid Eugenie — who both, in their d.'ys of power, made money fly hi style, and encouraged other wonion to do the same. C< od and dowdy queens, like Adelaide, wife of K.iig William IV of England, Marie Amelie, wife of Louis Philippe, King of the Fieucli. leave no such mai'k as these fair spendthrifts, and to most people are hafdly know n by name.

It seems to be generally expected of leading loyal personages that they should stage well ; and when they have failed to do this, they soon pa.ss out of mind. Of course, Queen Victoria must remain an exception to this rule, for she was a great Sovereign in her own light, and for bitch a lengthy j-oi'iod that her name became a familiar one all the wocld over. Hei- widow's weeds and plain coiffure could detract nothing from lire real importance of a woman who leigned over so many million subjects. Though kings and queens of the present diy possess not a, tithe of the power they foimerly enjoyed, they are still of high consequence in the world as objects of social and sentimental interest. Were the British Emphe tinned into » Republic, it could haidlv hold together for long; but a genial Kuig and a sei.sthle Piince of Wa>les>. an ideal Queen and an attractive Princess of Wales, aie as populai in the dominions < ver the seas a* at home, and serve as a boi.d between people who might, otherwise v. :sh to sevei connection with each other. The coming Coionation is well worth its cost, fioin a political point of view; frrr it interest* the nlioV of the En«jlish-speak-ln-^ iai_e and gives them .something to talk about.