THE EMPRESS EUGENIE SKETCHED BY NAPOLEON III.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 89, 9 January 1875, Page 12

THE EMPRESS EUGENIE SKETCHED BY NAPOLEON 111.

+4 A manuscbipt written entirely in. the Emperor's own handwriting was found, after the disaster at Sedan, in the Palace of the Tuileries. It was the original of an article that had appeared anonymously in the ' Dix Decembre ' of December 15th, 1868, a translation of which appears now in the current number of * Fraser's Magazine.' It begins thus : — " To-morrow is the fe"te day of the Empress. The occasion is appropriate to say a few words as to her. Spanish by birbh, and daughter of an illustrious patrician family (dune grande famille patricienne), certain public organs endeavour continually to represent her as imbued with the most intolerant religious fanaticism and with all the prejudices of aristocracy (de tous les prejuges de la noblesse). It is hard that, placed on one of the grandest thrones of the universe, her qualities should be thus misconstrued." Then follows an account of her father, the Count of Montijo, " one of those rare Spaniards who, inspired with a passionate devotion for the Emperor (Napoleon I.), followed him through all his wars." What is described as a curious incident of her life is afterwards related : — " Always inclined towards those who suffer, interested in all the oppressed, she nourished a secret sympathy for the Prince, who, victim of his convictions, was prisoner at Ham, and with her young voice she urged her mother to go and carry to the captive such consolation as might be possible. The Countess of Montijo had decided, it is said, to undertake the pious pilgrimage when her object was suddenly turned aside by an unlooked-for circumstance. This sorely tried Prince (cc Prince si eprove) she was some years later herself to see — not in the confinement of a dungeon, but raised by national acclamation to the head of a great State ; she was to become a part of his existence, and share his destiny/ After tracing her from her childhood to the throne, the Emperor writes : — " The Countess of Teba. has not disappeared under the lustre of the diadem of France. The character of the Empress still remains that of a lady of the simplest and most natural tastes. After her visit to the cholera patients at Amiens nothing seemed to surprise her more than the murmur of applause which everywhere celebrated her courageous initiative j she was indeed at last distressed by it. The lot of all classes of the unfortunate constantly awakens her especial solicitude. It is known with what efficacious activity she has intervened in the reorganisation of the prisons for youthful offenders, in the labour of the reclaiming and charitable societies. She founded the Societe des Pre"ts de l'Enfance au Travail. How many generous reforms she still pursues with a marvellous perseverance ! One finds still in her a little of the young Phalansterienne. The condition of women singularly pre-occupies her. Her efforts are given to the elevation of her sex. It was she who, on a fitting occasion, decorated Rosa Bonheur. Relieved of the occupations of duty, the Empress devotes herself to serious studies. One may say that there is no economical or financial question to which she is a stranger. It is charming to hear her discuss with the most competent men these difficult problems. Literature, history, and art are also frequently the subjects of her conversations. At Compiegne nothing is more attractive than a tea party of the Empress (cc que Ton appelle un the de l'lmperatrice). Surrounded by a select circle, she engages with equal facility in the most elevated subjects of discussion or the most familial* questions of interest. The freshness of her powers of conception, the strength, the "boldness, even, of her opinions, at once impress and captivate. Her mode of expressing herself, occasionally incorrect, is full of colour and life (Son langage, quelquefois incorrect, est plein de couleur et de mouvement). With astonishing power of exactness in conversations on common affairs, Bhe rises in remarks on matters of State or morality to a pitch of real eloquence." The sketch concludes as follows : — " Besides the intelligent woman and the sovereign prudent and courageous, it remains for us to show the mother, full of solicitude and tenderness for her son. It has been her wish for the Prince Imperial to receive a manly education. She caus3s statements of his employments to be rendered to her. She follows the progress of Ms studies. She, so to say, assists day by day in the development of that young intelligence, in that growth, of mental power which, in the inheritor of so high a fortune, is the pledge of the most brilliant future career (a cette croissance de l'esprit gui chez l'heritier dune si haute fortune est le gage dv plus brillant avenir)."