Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1879-04-19
NAPOLEON AND JOSEPHINE.

NAPOLEON ANO JOSEPHINE.
The Paris Reuus Histori9ue has given to the
world most interesting collection OF letters
and n. es upon tae uu idrel Days b. the his
tnrian Sisnondi alusio2 to which has already
ben made in these columns In the last
iHs,almrnt there is a curious trait recorded at
the Solder VINO sent so many hundreds Of
thousands to their death, and who avowed the
reservation which the Orient with its armies OF
myrlads possessed for him In the chara :teriStjc
words, lone could work whole ,ale there - After
Friedland. sa; s Sism ,ndi, the Emperor re n hu-
ed on the battlefield surrounded by the wound
ed, who were so numerous that no attention
could be paid to them. His attention and t1at
of his stan was attracted by the specGac.e OF an
unhappy man lying In a ditch. both ot whose
legs had been shnt away aid W 10 was vainly
endeavoringto wrinhe and drag nlm SELF into a
less ,orturiug attitude LIT that man sail
Napoleon to NJ. de Saint-Agnan Lift That ID IN
up; remember there is a GJd wac sees good &C
tons ana keeps an account of them Sismondi
adds further evidence as to the physical feeble
his csreer-of which, by the way. the usually
stupid Lord Albemarle tells an unusually
graphic story 10 his Iecollecttons Of Waterloo.
''Napoieon." says Stsnondl, had formerly
possess ed the faculty Of doing without sleep al
most as long as he wished to, and then Of CON
polling stumber almost instantaneOusly: IL his
mentai fatigue or Ell e the daily baths OF two or
three hours duration ordered BY his doctor. had
relaxed his fibre, or perhaps induiyencies when
had injured him the more because he had given
way to then only somewhat late In life had 30
deposed him to sleep that he could not conuler
the tendency. He slept twelve or fifteen hours
day. He was unable to endure long exercises
on horseback. During the battle of Waterloo,
after having been two hours In the saddle, he
Was obliged to dtsmOunt and lean against Il tree
TO rest himself. He was sincere 10 his pro.
feSSed loss OF taste for war, bat it was a result
OF temperament rather than of philosophy. He
shut himself up habtually In hts cabinet alone
when his situation Was so critical that no one
doubted that he was hard at work. But when
IL became necessary to enter the room he was
almost always found sleeping with book In his
hand"
A pathetic picture this of the exhausted con-
queror around whom the armies of Europe were
closing their resistless coil! But there is another
passage concerning Napoleon's conjugal rela-
lions which 1t Is well perhaps that the Cheva-
lier Abbott is not alive to read. NJ Sismondi
writes:
Napoleon greatly loved his wife and was ten
derly beloved by her; nevertheless she was a
creole OF passionate and ardent temperament,
and she was guilty Of many infidelities. Napo-
i e3n kneW IT. and the knowledge threw him
campaigns in Italy he dismissed from his STAFF
several of Josephines admirers; he banshed
Others after his return from Egypt, but none of
them were deprived of life or liberty When
he came back from Egypt sundry people dis
played good deal OF malice in letting him
know an that his wife had done. Murat was
one Napoleon was beside him self with pas
sion, but Josephine had an ineXpressible magic
In her tears aud soft demeanor On tue NOR
row all was forgiven. Josephine said to MurI It.
fou nave Deen very cruel to me and have
Done me much harm, but have been forglvea
and forgive you"
With the story of Josephine and Barras most
readers are familiar. but the fact of her being
fagrant and promiscuous fiirt has never been
SO dlStlDctly asserted BOurrienne. In his
" :. memoirs" touches very lightly upon the sub
lect: but gives striking scene which occurred
In Syria in February, 1899, as follows:
Bonaparte was walking alone with Junot. as
he frequently did. was not far off, and why
ib Know o"n notmhad my eyes xed on him during
pale, had become for some reason did not un-
derstand even more palid than. usual There
was something convuisive in his features and
bis forehead. After a quarter OF an hours con-
versation he left Juno and came back towards
NE, Never Never had | seen him so displeased and
pI pre- S1;ps You are not friend Of mine
not attached TO me-" he said, CURLY and Sc
verely; "those misunderstanding! Ii YOU had
been GU would have informed me of all that I
nave My Just heard from Junot. He is a real
friend, Josephine!-.and l six hundred leagues
away! You should have told me of it. Jose
phlne 70 deceive me 80! She. Confusion upon
them; will exterminate that tribe OF dandies,
aDc as for her-divOrce, divorce, public and con-
S.icu us divorce must write TO her. / know
ALL but you should have told me of it." These
earnest broken words, his changed voice, his
ag1ta.ed c0untenance, made IL but too plain TO
me what Junot had been talking to him about,
Bourrienne affected to treat the stories told
Dy Junot as exaggerations OF rumors set a1oa5
Ii
General and inducing him TO foreyo his tnten-
ton OF whiting to Joseph Bonaparte at once TO
take measures to obtain divorce, and fort
night later, at Acre, Napoleon was blaming
Junot for bringing TO his ear such malgna1i
inventions. To Bonaparte's annoyance at Ju-
nous not act and to Josephine's natural dislike OF
husband, it was due, in BourrIenne's opinion.
that Jui OF died without having obtained the
coveted ba' on OF a Marshal
Nnen Oh the 10th or October. 1893. NAPOLEON
sI1
not The e, having gone by way OF Burgundy
White he took the Bourbonnais route, says Bour-
rienne:
When Josephine returned we were Installed
The IEemol ies OF the past, the hateful, I'D en-
ven0med tales OF his brothers, exaggerated
stories OF all sorts, had exasperated Boaaparte
to TIE highest pitch, and he received her with
studied severity and an expression OF the cold
est Indifference. He remained three DAYS with
out any communication with her. and during
these three days ceaselessly entertained me
with bis suspicious, which his Imagination had
turned 1btO certainty. and often threats OF
divorce fell from his lips as furiOusly as they
Citation had already played with Lucien, and
represented what dangers might result for him
from the scandal of divorce suit. What time
was he selecting for such an act? Was 1t az a
moment when perhaps his great projects were
about to be realized that he ought to come be-
fore France and all Europe with demand for
divorce? spoke to him OF HOrtenSe and Eu
gene, whom he loved greatly, and finally sue
ceeded as well as had on the former occasion.
Reflection, seconded by the lively affection he
always had for Josephine, brought about COM
plete reconciliation. After these three days CT
matrimonial pOuts their union was not again
troubled on this subject. AS much cannot be
said for J0sephines debts and foolish expenses.
Murat had made the acquaintance OF the
wives OF BOnaparte and Tallien when he was
sent home to Paris with the first fags taken In
Italy, and they obtained for him the rank Of
brigadier- general. Napoleons first aide de-
can p, however, fell into disgrace by showing
the White feather at Mantua, and being trans
rerred to another division was not with Napo-
con when he returned to Paris after the treaty
or Campo Fcrmio. The ladies, however, kept
up their interest In him and got him appointed
to the Egyptian expedition. On the passage
Napolt on did not speak to him, and he treated
him With marked GOODNESS In Egypt till the
future King of Naples's bravery aud skill gilded
over the memory OF his mOmentary cOwardice
at Mantua, when, in Bourriennes own words.
he Wisf ed even to forget what he had without
doubt bt en- told OF Murat. for, though Bonaparte
never tod IL to me, / have many reason
for thinking that the name OF Murat
had, with that Of Charles been given him By
Junot," in the interview already mentioned.
Josephine's object, Bourrienne contends, in