JOSEPHINE’S DRESS AND PERSONAL APPEARANCE--HER REPUTED CONNECTION
WITH BARRAS--MARRIAGE WITH NAPOLEON--HER TASTES AND DISPOSITION.
Let us for a moment, as an antidote to the caricaturist’s pictures,
see what was Josephine’s dress at this period.[26] ‘Here is Madame de
Beauharnais, that excellent Josephine, whose heart is not made for
coquetry, but who throws a childish joy into her dress. With an air
less dramatic and superb than her rivals,[27] the joyous and kindly
creole is, perhaps, the most French of the three, Madame Tallien is the
most Greek, and Madame Viconti the most Roman. Josephine wears a wavy
dress, rose and white from top to bottom, with a train trimmed at the
bottom with black bugles, a bodice six fingers deep, and wearing no
_fichu_; short sleeves of black gauze, long gloves covering the elbow
of _noisette_ colour, which suits this beautiful violet so well; shoes
of yellow morocco; white stockings with green clocks. If her hair is
dressed after the Etruscan manner, ornamented with cherry-coloured
ribbons, I am sure it is impossible to approach nearer to the antique.
To tempt the fashion is the sole ambition of the pretty Josephine, but
it happens that the celebrated Madame de Beauharnais sets it.’
It is impossible to quit this subject without some contemporary
quotations, as they help us to realise the truth, or falsehood, of
the caricaturist.[28] ‘Madame Tallien was kind and obliging, but such
is the effect on the multitude of a name that bears a stain, that her
cause was never separated from that of her husband. The following is
a proof of this. Junot was the bearer of the second flags, which were
sent from the army of Italy to the Directory. He was received with all
the pomp which attended the reception of Marmont, who was the bearer of
the first colours. Madame Bonaparte, who had not yet set out to join
Napoleon, wished to witness the ceremony; and, on the day appointed for
the reception of Junot she repaired to the Directory, accompanied by
Madame Tallien. They lived at that time in great intimacy; the latter
was a fraction of the Directorial royalty with which Josephine, when
Madame Beauharnais, and, indeed, after she became Madame Bonaparte,
was in some degree invested. Madame Bonaparte was still a fine woman;
her teeth, it is true, were already frightfully decayed, but when her
mouth was closed she looked, especially at a little distance, both
young and pretty. As to Madame Tallien, she was then in the full bloom
of her beauty. Both were dressed in the antique style, which was then
the prevailing fashion, and with as much of richness and ornament as
were suitable to morning costume. When the reception was ended, and
they were about to leave the Directory, it may be presumed that Junot
was not a little proud to offer to escort these two charming women.
Junot was then a handsome young man of five and twenty, and he had the
military look and style for which, indeed, he was always remarkable. A
splendid uniform of a colonel of huzzars set off his fine figure to the
utmost advantage. When the ceremony was ended, he offered one arm to
Madame Bonaparte, who as his general’s wife was entitled to the first
honour, especially on that solemn day; and offering his other arm to
Madame Tallien, he conducted them down the staircase of the Luxembourg.
The crowd stepped forward to see them as they passed along. “That
is the general’s wife,” said one. “That is his aide de camp,” said
another. “He is very young.” “She is very pretty.--_Vive le General
Bonaparte!--Vive la Citoyenne Bonaparte!_ She is a good friend to the
poor.” “Ah!” exclaimed a great fat market woman, “She is _Notre Dame
des Victoires_!” “You are right,” said another, “and see who is on the
other side of the officer; that is _Notre Dame de Septembre_!” This was
severe and it was also unjust.’
We must not trust to the caricaturist’s portrait of Josephine. She was
good looking and graceful then, but, afterwards, she did become very
stout. We must never forget in looking over the folios of caricatures
of this period, that the idea of caricaturing then was to exaggerate
everything, and make it grotesque; it is only of modern years that the
refinement of a Leech, Tenniel, or Proctor, gives us caricature without
vulgarity.
After seeing Josephine as she really was, it will be worth while to
compare the satirist’s idea of her, and her marriage with Napoleon.
Nap changed on entering Society,
Obscurity for notoriety;
He to Barras only inferior,
Commands the army of th’ interior.
As pride in office is essential,
His manners now were consequential;
Conducting all affairs of weight,
The little man was very great;
And by this sudden rise to dignity,
He gave full weight to his malignity.
Barras, now moved by his persuasions,
Consulted him on all occasions;
A greater compliment, too, paid he,
He got for him, a _cast off_ lady:
A widow rich, as they relate,
But how so rich, ’tis hard to state,
Her spouse, for politics reputed,
By Robespierre was executed,
And she was by Barras _protected_,
Till he at length the fair neglected.
However, she procured with great art,
A man of colour for a sweetheart;
By which no fortune’s manifested,
For men of colour are detested;
They married would have been, moreover,
But that--in stepped another lover;
* * * * *
* * * * *
There are some writers who pretend,
The lady’s virtue to defend;
For, in the character they draw,
She’s guilty of but one _faux pas_;
But others, probably censorious,
Declare her lapses were notorious,
And that, devoid of sense and shame,
She even gloried in the same;
So reckoning all things, the amount is,
She was a _condescending_ countess.
The lady was, as it appears,
Older than Nap by twenty years;
But, for a man, who scorned to prove
The votary or slave of love--
Whispering soft nonsense, and such stuff--
She certainly was good enough.
Short, like himself, and rather bulky,
But not so insolent and sulky.
As by Barras, too, recommended
(No matter from what stock descended),
It certainly must be allow’d
Of such a wife he should be proud.
So, locked together, soon were seen,
Brave Boney and fair Josephine.
The pictorial caricaturist, Gillray, gives us February 20, 1805,
‘Ci-devant occupations, or Madame Tallien, and the Empress Josephine
Dancing Naked before Barras, in the Winter of 1797--a fact.’[29]
[Illustration]
At the foot of this etching, which depicts the sensual _bon viveur_,
Barras, looking on at the lascivious dancing of his two mistresses,
Madame Tallien and Josephine, it says: ‘Barras (then in power), being
tired of Josephine, promised Bonaparte a promotion, on condition that
he would take her off his hands. Barras had, as usual, drank freely,
and placed Bonaparte behind a screen, while he amused himself with
these two ladies, who were then his humble dependents. Madame Tallien
is a beautiful woman, tall and elegant. Josephine is smaller, and
thin, with bad teeth something like cloves. It is needless to add that
Bonaparte accepted the promotion, and the lady, now Empress of France!’
Barre, who notoriously wrote against Napoleon, says:[30] ‘And not
satisfied by procuring him a splendid appointment, he made him marry
his mistress, the Countess de Beauharnais, a rich widow, with several
children; and who, although about twenty years older than Bonaparte,
was a very valuable acquisition to a young man without any fortune. The
reputation of the Countess de Beauharnais was well established, even
before the Revolution: but Buonaparte had not the least right to find
fault with a woman presented to him by Barras.’
At all events they were married, and here is G. Cruikshank’s idea of
the ceremony, and here, also, he depicts the bridesmaids and groomsmen.
[Illustration]
Their honeymoon was of the shortest, for De Bourrienne says: ‘He
remained in Paris only ten days after his marriage, which took place on
the 9th of March, 1796. Madame Bonaparte possessed personal graces and
many good qualities. I am convinced that all who were acquainted with
her must have felt bound to speak well of her; to few, indeed, did she
ever give cause for complaint. Benevolence was natural to her, but she
was not always prudent in its exercise. Hence her protection was often
extended to persons who did not deserve it. Her taste for splendour and
expense was excessive. This proneness to luxury became a habit which
seemed constantly indulged without any motive. What scenes have I not
witnessed when the moment for paying the tradesmen’s bills arrived! She
always kept back one half of their claims, and the discovery of this
exposed her to new reproaches. How many tears did she shed, which might
easily have been spared!’
We here see the caricaturist’s idea of Josephine as a French general’s
wife.
[Illustration: A GENERAL’S LADY.]