Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 December 1875 — The Prince Imperial's Governor. [ARTICLE]

The Prince Imperial's Governor.

A Paris correspondent writes: The decease of Gen. Frosard, governor of the Prince Imperial, denrives the Bonapartists of one of their sraunchest men. ’The Geperal was appointed to the post, which was then considered to be of paramount importance, in 1867, at the period when half the sovereigns of Europe were the, guests of the Emperor Napoleon, whose power appeared to he so solidly established. The General, in recounting the honor so unexpectedly conferred upon him by the choice of the Emperor, gave the following particulars to an intimate Iriend, from whose journal they are taken: “My nomination,” said the Geperal, “ was a very simple matter. His Majesty sent for me, about ten days ago, and said to me; ‘My dear General, the greatest joy I ever hoped for, .after that of having a son, was to train and educate him. I find that I cannot do this. Business, work, my health, render it impossible. I have therefore turned my eyes to you. Will you undertake the management of Louis ? I have no advice to give you; no programme to propose to you. I say to you, merely, will you do what I should have wished to be able to do myself?’ The Emperor took my hand, and I felt that he could hardly refrain from tears. I made no reply, but nodded my head, by way of accepting. I was moved myself; and, for a moment, 1 lost sight of the sovereign confiding to my care the heir to his throne, and saw only the father who was putting his son into my hands, as a man, on the point of death, intrusts to bis best friend wjiat i# dearest to him in the world lie is leaving. What could have caused me this impression ? I don’t know. But there was an accent in His Majesty’s words that suggested the idea ot one who was reading a passage from a last will and testament. At length I found my voice, and said: ‘Yes.’ The Emperor pressed my hand f amily and, when the first moment of emotion was over, I asked Ilis Majesty to give me some directions respecting the plan to be pursued with liis son, but the Emperor interrupted iue, saying: ‘You will do, my ..dear General, exactly what you think best. I have nothing more to ask of you!’ This was all. But next morning I tried again to obtain from the Emperor some outline of the plan to be adopted iu regard to the Prince. I found the Emperor with the Empress. The Empress gave me some few instructions, such as all mothers would give in regard to a child; butthe Emperor said I then boldly laid down my conditions, and I did so with the utmost precision. I begged their Majesties to inform the father and mother of tjaechild that it was my intention to have them come to his rooms—or, rather, to mine—as seldom as possible. I added that I would fix the hours for the child’s going out, and demanded that no one should come to disturb me at any other hours. And I said that I should adhere, and expect the father anil mother and everyone else to adhere, rigidly to these conditions. After this everything went on smoothly. The child is a charming little fellow. He is not a wonderful genius and l am glad of it. As regards aptitude and intelligence, I should call him good middling. Were he the son of a grocer, going regularly to college, lie would he fifteenth or twentieth in a class of thirty boys. life special tendencies arc not yet very decided. He bites well into literature, and is on pretty well with Latin and Greek; as for mathematics he is nothing particular as yet. His special faculty as yet is drawing. ’Tis very odd, a Bonaparte an artist; if he were left to liimsqji. he would draw the whole day long. On the other hand he i 3 very daring and courageous. But I am not going to imitate the trick of boardingschool masters, who, when they cannot award any other prize to a stupid pupil, give him a prize for gymnastics, by way of flattering the vanity of liis parents. No, no; I shall make him study diligently, and shall keep him steadily at work at all the serious branches. He is a Prince and must learn to discharge well the duties.of that position; but he must also learn to be able to be no longer a Prinbe if such should be liis destiny.” The General, knowing Paris and France as he knew them, seems already to have seen the insecurity of the throne, which then appeared to be at once so brilliant and so strongly-based. His system of education was therefore well adapted to the conditions of the ease; and liis imperial pupil has done honor to the care anil foresight of his goyerner.