THE PALACE Or THE TUILERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2685, 30 August 1905, Page 71

THE PALACE Or THE TUILERIES.

Forty-one years ago — on May 27, 18bs — a magnificent fete was given at the Tui-leries'--a fete even yet remembered, although time has swept aw;i\ so many who were tbeit;, and '«> much of the environment of that splendid scene. The Palace, of the Tuileries itself has vanished, and but few of tbe gay company that then thronged itc halls survive to-day. And yet two women — the two who were that night the obseived of all observers — aru still alive : the Empress EugWiie and the Empress Charlotte. The fete was given in honour of what Louis Napoleon regarded as the crowning point of his successful career — -the establishment of the Empire nf Mexico undor the protection ard patronage of France. Tbe Second Empire outdid itself in brilliance that night. The vast halls were ablaze with light. Old courtiers stood gazing with approving and veil-satisfied eyes at tbe state quadrille which Eugenic v, as dancing witli Maximilian, the new-made Emperor ; while Louis Napoleon led out OharloHe, Princess of Belgium, Archdluchess cf Austria, Empress-elect of Mexico.

It wis the age of the crinoline. The French Empress word billow* of cloud-like tulle, lose in Heecj'- masses about her pcifeet figure. Rubies and diamonds crowned and clasped her auburn hair and a golden, snake with ruby e^'efl; was wreathed about

her throat, "whit as jessamine bloom."' Poet* raved o' the tint and ttxtiue of that) graceful throat. SL.3 was d'izzliugly fair, in spite ol her Spanish blood Just then, in the floodtide of her fortunes, it was easy to understand how report declared her to be the ir.«j?t beautiful woman in Europe.

Charlotte of Belgium appeared in complete contrast. Taller than Eugenic, with dark eyes and jet-black hair, she was dressed* that night in sweeping black velvet, o long net veil failing from her diadem to the very edge of Ler robe. In her corsage she wore a single hibiscus flower, its petals of vivid scarlet the only not;: of colour about hei. She, too, had reached the summit of her fortunes. Shs was more than content. Hei eyes met Maximilian's as she swept him the curtsey demanded ,by the figure of the dance, and she smiled triumphantly.

It is a fine thing to ba an Imperial Majesty — deny it who can ! But it was only tbs two women who rejoiced that night in the sound of those magical words'. Their husbands iaoked, and moved, and spoke- as though weighed oown by anxieties and cares. Maximilian, a tall, soldierly man, very like his elder brother, the present Emperor of Austria, was pale as death. He bore himself with graceful courtesy, but the French Empress could not but. feel her partner's thoughts were far away as he touched her hand or laid his arm against her in the evolutions of that very stately quadrille. As for the Emperor of the French, nc extra anxiety could affect the masklike inscrutability of his face. He rarely opened his lips in response to Charlotte's gay clatter. Shemight have been dancing with a marionette, so mechanical and irresponsible was he.

Forty years have gene by since thatImperial ball. We need not recapitulate the brief and tragic story of the Emphe of Mexico, noi tell again the details ot low Maximilian died, shot through the heo.rt, on tho heights of Queretaro. Nor reed we remind our readers of the deatn of Louis Napoleon, discrowned, dishonoured, defeated, exiled. Our aim is rather to draw attention to the fate of those two women, Eugenic de Montijo and Charlotte of Belgium, then so proudly happy, now so- lonely and so sod. The l:mb!e tiragedy o-f M-exicc unhinged the reason of tbe devoted wife who pleaded so passionately for the help that perhaps it was not in Napoleon's power to give.

It is said the unhappy lady flung herself on her knees before the man who had betrayed her cause; and that, when she realised that no help could come, her brain, gave way, and a, merciful forgetfnlness came to the poor despairing soul. She yet lives, helpless as an infant, and almost as heedless. The only woids that ever cross her lips are words of prayer. The ex-Empress of the French is still an influence to bs reckoned with in tbs futura

of Fra-iice. Among all the varied memories that must crowd iier heart, surely one o: the most inefiae&able must be that Imperial ball 40 years ago.