# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Josephine Rose Tascher de la Pagerie

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JOSEPHINE ROSE TASCHER DE LA PAGERIE,
Empress of the French, Queen of Italy, was born in Martinique, June 24th., 1763. At a very early age she came to Paris, and was married to the Viscount Beauharnais. By this marriage, which is represented as not having been a happy one, the marquis being attached to another at the time of his union with his wealthy bride—she became the mother of two children, Eugene and Hortense, afterwards so well known. In 1787 Madame Beauharnais returned to Martinique, to nurse her aged mother, but was soon driven away by the disturbances in that colony. During her absence the French Revolution had broken out, and on her return she found her husband actively engaged in public affairs. Although one of the first actors in the movement which was to regenerate France, Beauharnais fell a victim to the blood-thirsty fanaticism of the times. Cited before the bar of the Convention, he was condemned to death, and publicly beheaded on the 23rd. of July, 1794. Josephine was imprisoned, where she remained until the death of Robespierre threw open the doors of the prisons.
Josephine is said to have preserved her serenity during her imprisonment, through her strong faith in a prediction which bad been made her; an old negress in Martinique having foretold, under circumstances of a peculiarly imposing character, that she would one day become Queen of France. However reasonably we may doubt the influence of such a circumstance on the mind of a woman condemned to death in such relentless times as these, there is no question of its being a subject often dwelt upon by Josephine when she actually sat upon the throne of France. The prophecies that come to pass are always remembered! Through her fellow-prisoner, Madame Tallien, Josephine became, after the establishment of the Directory, an influential member of the circle of Barras. According to some writers, she there made the acquaintance of General Bonaparte. The most general belief is, however, that the acquaintance was formed through her son Eugene, in the following manner:—"The day after the 13th. of Vendemiaire, the disarming of the citizens having been decreed, a boy of fifteen called upon General Bonaparte, then commandant of Paris, and with ingenious boldness demanded the sword of his father. The general was struck ​with the boy's deportment; he made particular inquiries about him, and sought an acquaintance with his mother." Bonaparte soon became passionately attached to Madame Beauharnals, and married her on the 17th. of February, 1796; and his affection for her continued through life. She possessed considerable influence over him, and his letters to her are proofs of his warm attachment, as well as of her amiability. She was always accessible and benevolent to those who sought for mercy or protection from Napoleon. She followed him to Italy, and was with him during that brilliant period when he laid the foundation of his military reputation. When Bonaparte set out on his expedition to Egypt, Josephine took up her residence at Malmaison. Much has been said of her conduct during this period. Whether the censure was fully merited or not, has never been known; that Napoleon, on his return, contemplated a separation, is well ascertained. A reconciliation was effected by her children, whom he tenderly loved, and Josephine was again restored to the affection and confidence of her husband. When Napoleon was elevated to the consulate, Josephine constantly exercised her benevolence in favour of the unfortunate. She was particularly kind to the emigrants, many of whom she restored to their country. Napoleon, in one of his letters to her, said, "If I gain battles, it is you who win hearts."
When Napoleon became emperor a divorce was proposed to him, but this he rejected, and Josephine was consecrated Empress of France by Pope Pius the Seventh, December 2nd., 1804. Soon after, at Milan, she was crowned Queen of Italy. Josephine acquitted herself in her exalted position with a grace and dignity which won all hearts; to many, it was a matter of surprise how she had acquired this "royal bearing." Eugene and Hortense, her children, shared her elevation; Napoleon never neglected their interest, nor that of any members of Josephine's family. As Napoleon's power increased, and his family became to all appearances more and more firmly established upon the throne of France, his desire for offspring to continue his line increased; and after much deliberation, and many painful scenes, a divorce was determined upon. Josephine bore it with a fortitude which her good sense alone enabled her to exert. To have opposed the will of Napoleon would have availed her nothing, and it was everything to her to continue to possess his esteem. The world, too, would sympathize with a wife who, under such painful circumstances, yielded with dignity to her fall; her impotent resistance would only excite its contempt or sneers. Josephine retired to Malmaison, at the age of forty-six, with the title of empress-dowager, and two millions of francs a year. Napoleon visited her occasionally, and always gave proofs of his esteem and regard for her. While at St. Helena, he paid the highest tribute to her virtues and amiability. On the birth of the King of Rome, in 1811, Josephine Is said to have exhibited the most unfeigned satisfaction. If such was really the case, her magnanimity was of the highest order; for that event, which must have confirmed Napoleon's sense of the expediency of the divorce, also rendered his wife more dear to him, and Josephine's situation more glaringly humiliating.
In 1814, Josephine beheld the downfall of that throne which she had once shared. When Napoleon retired to Elba, she wrote to him, signifying her wish, if permitted, to follow him in his reverses. ​When the allies entered Paris, she was treated with the most distinguished consideration. The King of Prussia and the Emperor of Russia visited her at Malmaison, and showed her flattering attentions. On the 19th. of May, the Emperor Alexander and the King of Prussia dined with her. She was extremely indisposed, and, in opposition to her physician's wishes, did the honours to her royal guests. The next day she became much worse; her disease, a species of quinsy, increasing rapidly. On the 29th. of May, 1814, she expired, in the full possession of her faculties. Her children were with her, and, by their affectionate attentions, soothed her last moments. Her body was interred in the church of Ruel, where, seven years after, her children were permitted to erect a monument to her.