the new Emperor devoted special attention to Joséphine, and one would
almost be led to believe that he occupied the throne by right of
descent from his grandmother the Empress Joséphine, rather than as
heir to his uncle the Emperor Napoleon. “Joséphine was painted as the
sorrowful martyr to necessities of State. She was the fondly loving
wife repudiated after fourteen years of faithful wedlock.”
Under the Third Republic, the admirers of the Great Emperor, less
fettered in their views, have gone as far in the other direction:
they deny to Joséphine any attachment to Napoleon except that of
self-interest, and blame him only for not repudiating her sooner.
As usual, the truth of History lies between these two extremes.
* * * * *
It will always be a moot point how a woman possessed of so little
intellect, and endowed with no surpassing physical beauty, managed to
gain, and retain for fourteen years, the love of a man six years her
junior, and that man Napoleon!
First, with regard to her beauty: We have innumerable portraits of
Joséphine, for she loved to be painted, and sat to all the celebrated
artists of her day: David, Gérard, Gros, Isabey, Prud’hon and many
others. None of these portraits gives the idea of a beautiful woman.
The written descriptions of her appearance are even more unflattering.
It is impossible to forget the picture of the faded Creole, past her
prime, endeavoring to hide the ravages of time by an extravagant use of
powder and rouge; the closed lips which concealed her bad teeth; all
the artifices to supply the deficiencies of nature. But on the other
hand we have the admissions even of unfriendly observers that her eyes
were beautiful, her smile always charming, her figure slender, supple,
well-proportioned, needing no corset to support it; always clothed in
the most perfect taste. To complete the picture we have the graceful
movements of her elegant, indolent body, for in the words of Napoleon,
“she was graceful even in going to bed”; and the harmony of her soft,
caressing voice, which could soothe and put the Emperor to sleep even
when most harassed by the cares of State.
All the memoirs of her time are agreed in stating that Joséphine
had but little intellect, but they are almost equally in accord in
admitting that she supplied the deficiency by her marvellous _savoir
faire_. Her education had been only rudimentary, and she never
increased her knowledge by reading. There was an excellent library at
Malmaison, and there was always a reader on her staff, chosen more for
her beauty than for any other qualification, but no one ever heard of
Joséphine opening a book except to read Napoleon to sleep.
Joséphine was a great collector, and the château of Malmaison was a
regular museum of valuable paintings, choice statuary, and rare objets
d’art. But there is nothing to show that she prized her collection
except for the value it represented in money. It was only another
exhibition of her mania for spending. It must be admitted, however,
that Joséphine loved her flowers and her plants, and her hothouses and
gardens were the finest in Europe.
That Joséphine was prodigal in her expenditures of money cannot be
denied, but altogether too much has been made of her debts by Monsieur
Masson and other recent biographers. The matter has already been quite
fully covered in these pages, and it is not necessary to go into it
further here. Napoleon’s wrath at the discovery of her debts, and the
terror of Joséphine during these “scenes,” were both largely assumed.
It has even been said that “Napoleon liked her to be in debt because
it made her utterly dependent on him”! It must be remembered, however,
that, as Napoleon once stated: “It is fortunate that the French are to
be ruled through their vanity.” All of the display and the etiquette of
the Imperial Court were irksome to Napoleon, with his simple tastes,
but he endured them because it was part of his policy. For the same
reason he expected Joséphine to spend lavishly the handsome allowance
he gave her, although with his love of order he did not wish her to
exceed her income. It was all a part of his general policy of fostering
the industries of the country, which has made France what it is to-day,
the leader in the manufacture of articles of luxury and display in
every line.
The secret of Joséphine’s attraction for Napoleon appears to have
been that rare quality which, for lack of a better term, we may call
personal magnetism. She was one of those exceptional characters who
seem to possess the natural gift of attracting others while themselves
giving little or nothing in return. But to win all hearts as she did,
Joséphine at bottom must have possessed a large fund of human sympathy.
All agree in speaking of her affability; she was “gentle and kind,
affable and indulgent to all, without respect to persons.”
The Joséphine of legend is emphatically “_la bonne Joséphine_.”
She could never refuse a request: she was always giving lavishly,
indiscriminately. It was also impossible for her to treasure up
grievances against any one--even the Bonapartes who did so much to
injure her. With Napoleon’s mistresses, she displayed the same lack of
resentment. She received Madame Walewska at Malmaison, and lavished
affection upon her child. She made Madame Gazzani one of her chosen
attendants after her divorce.
Joséphine has frequently been accused of loving no one but herself, but
her letters to her children show that she was a very affectionate and
demonstrative mother, and she was certainly a doting grandmother. It
seems hardly possible that she was insincere, or that, as one writer
puts it, “Joséphine’s affections were a vigorous expression of her
self-love.”
No one can question the fact of Napoleon’s love for Joséphine, which
lasted as long as he lived; and certainly after his return from Egypt
she was to him a model wife. She anticipated his every wish; she
never kept him waiting; she was always ready to accompany him on his
journeys; she went cheerfully through the most arduous social duties;
and exerted herself to conciliate all whom he wished to win to his
interests. From Napoleon she extorted the admiring exclamation: “I win
battles; Joséphine wins hearts!”
In fact Joséphine was an _enjôleuse_: to win, to seduce, by
cajoleries, by caresses, by soft words--in short, _to please_,
was the principal aim of her existence. Even where she had no end to
gain, where no self-interest was involved, she strove to please simply
because it gave her pleasure. It was to please that she embellished her
home; that she spent a fortune on jewels and toilettes; that she wore
herself out with visits, receptions, and journeys; that she triumphed
over her headaches, neglected her colds, and went to her death. This
explains all: this is the true key to her character.
This also is the explanation of her falsehoods, for by the testimony of
all her contemporaries, friends and foes alike, Joséphine was one of
the greatest liars who ever lived. If she has succeeded in imposing on
history, it is largely due to the fact that she imposed on Napoleon,
which in itself is no small feat! He was convinced that she loved only
him; he represents her as the model wife--attentive, affectionate, and
devoted; he thinks she is extravagant, but how elegant and how graceful
she is! how beautifully she dresses! how she excels in everything she
does! For him she is the perfect woman!
By a supreme falsehood, and this one posthumous, she leaves with her
attendants the impression, and with Napoleon the conviction, that she
dies of love for him, overwhelmed by the disasters of France and the
Empire, in despair because she could not share his fate at Elba, and
mollify by her loving tenderness the rigors of his exile.
On the day after his return from Elba, in March 1815, he said to
Corvisart at the Tuileries: “You let my poor Joséphine die!”
Then he sent for Horau, her regular physician, and demanded the fullest
details of her death:
“What was the cause of her illness?”
“Anxiety ... chagrin....”
“You say that she was anxious, what was the cause of her chagrin?”
“What had taken place, Sire; the position of Your Majesty.”
“Ah! then, she spoke of me?”
“Often, very often.”
“Good woman, good Joséphine! She loved me truly, did she not?”
This conviction remained with Napoleon until the end of his life, and
in speaking of Joséphine at Saint Helena, he exclaimed: “She was the
best woman in France!”
* * * * *
Aside from her two châteaux of Malmaison and Prégny, and her fine
collection of jewels, Joséphine left little of value at the time of
her death. In the settlement of her estate, Eugène took Malmaison, and
assumed the payment of her debts, while Hortense received Prégny and
her jewels, the share of each of her children amounting to about two
million francs when the estate was finally settled.
Of all the places closely associated with the life of Joséphine, only
Malmaison remains to-day. During the lifetime of Eugène, a large part
of the estate was cut up and sold in parcels. In June 1829, five years
after his death, in the final settlement of his estate it was found
necessary to sell the château. After passing through several hands,
it was bought in 1861 by Napoleon the Third and made a museum of
Napoleonic souvenirs. During the Franco-Prussian war it was pillaged
by the Germans and damaged by fire. Finally it was purchased, early
in the present century, by a Jewish millionaire, who had the generous
thought of restoring it as nearly as possible to its former condition
and presenting it to the State as a museum of relics of Napoleon and
Joséphine.
Prégny, which was taken by Hortense, as her portion of the real estate,
was sold by her in 1817 for about one hundred thousand francs. Nearly
all of the furniture was removed by Hortense, but the buildings remain
in the same condition as in the time of Joséphine.
Under the terms of the grant to the Empress, at her death Navarre
passed to Eugène, and from him to his eldest son, Auguste. In 1834 this
prince married the Queen of Portugal, but died at Lisbon less than
four months later. He was succeeded as Duc de Navarre by his brother
Maximilian, who married the Grande-Duchesse Marie of Russia, daughter
of Czar Nicholas. On his death in 1852 the title was claimed by his son
Prince Nicholas, but the French Government refused its assent, on the
ground that, as a member of the imperial family of Russia, he could
not swear fidelity to the Emperor of the French. It was thus that the
grandson of Prince Eugène was deprived by his cousin Napoleon the Third
of the duchy erected by Napoleon the First, and by virtue of a clause
in the original grant which four successive Governments of France had
neglected to invoke! But long before this date the estate of Navarre
had been sold by the heirs of Eugène, with the permission of the
Government, and the proceeds, over a million francs, invested in French
bonds.
* * * * *
On the Sunday following the battle of Waterloo, the 25 June 1815,
Napoleon left Paris for the last time, and went to Malmaison. Here,
before departing for his final exile, he spent four days in wandering
through the château and the park, as if in search of the beloved shade
which in disappearing from his life seemed to have taken with it his
happiness and his fortune.
Such, charming and exquisite, she lives in his memory, to soften his
agony and soothe his exile, and such, after the lapse of a hundred
years, she still appears in the eyes of posterity.
“In vain,” says Monsieur Masson, “in vain have we been compelled to
tell the truth about her, to throw upon her life the light of History:
the legend still prevails. Her memory will never suffer from what has
been written--even from what has been proven.
“In the dispersal and quick disappearance of the things she loved,
there remains only the name of a flower: the _Souvenir de
Malmaison_, and thus her image, and the emblem of her life, will be
one of these lovely roses, tender and fragile, bright and nacreous,
which she loved and named.... When for a brief moment the rose has
given us a vision of its grace, a petal loosens and falls, then
another, and another, until finally it is like a fall of fragrant snow,
projecting into the warm atmosphere hardly the repressed vibration of a
sigh; but the fragrance of the withering petals long floats on the air,
and perfumes the room.”
With this beautiful thought we take our leave of Napoleon’s charming
“little Creole.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
There are very few books on Joséphine, either in French or in English.
Little is known about her early years, and after her marriage to
Napoleon, her career is so identified with that of her husband that
most of the information regarding her is to be found in the numerous
biographies, histories and memoirs devoted to the life of the Emperor.
AUBENAS, J. A., _Histoire de l’impératrice Joséphine_, Paris,
1858–1859. 2 vols. An excellent history, written by one who had
made a careful examination of all the material then available,
both in France and in Martinique, and whom we may call the
official biographer of Joséphine. He alone had access to the
archives of the Tascher family, and to him we owe most of our
knowledge of the first fifteen years of her existence.
HALL, H. F., _Napoleon’s Letters to Joséphine_, (1796–1812).
Trans. 1903.
LE NORMAND, M. A., _Mémoires historiques et secrets de
Joséphine_, Paris, 1820. 2 vols. These so-called “mémoires,”
falsely attributed to Joséphine herself, were published
four years after her death. Napoleon was then in exile; his
enemies were in power again; and this book was intended
as a propitiatory offering to royalty. The author was an
unprincipled, unscrupulous woman, Mlle. Le Normand, who
was a professional fortune-teller of Paris. The book is as
untrustworthy as the _Mémoires_ of Barras.
_Lettres de Napoléon à Joséphine_, Paris, 1833. 2 vols. These
volumes contain the letters of Napoleon to Joséphine from
1796 to 1813, also the letters from Joséphine to her daughter
from 1794 to 1814. The publication of this correspondence
was authorized by Queen Hortense, who had the letters in her
possession. These letters are of extreme interest, as they
reveal the innermost thoughts of the Emperor, and throw a strong
side-light on his character, as well as on that of Joséphine.
MASSON, F., _Joséphine_, Paris, 1899–1902. 3 vols. Also
_Napoléon et sa famille_. Paris, 1896–1919. 13 vols. Masson was
the greatest authority upon the history of the Emperor and his
family. His works are remarkable for the abundance of their
intimate details and the exactitude of their documentation.
OBER, FREDERICK A., _Joséphine, Empress of the French_, New
York, 1895. A popular English biography, based on the French
history of M. Aubenas. The author seems to be familiar with
Martinique, and gives many intimate details of Joséphine’s early
life.
SAINT-AMAND, IMBERT DE, _Joséphine_, Paris, 1887. 5 vols.
Published under different titles. The author presents Joséphine
in the most favorable light, and at the same time displays great
admiration for the Emperor.
SERGEANT, PHILIP W., _The Empress Joséphine_, London, 1908. 2
vols. The best English biography: well written, accurate, and
very fair in its treatment both of Joséphine and Napoleon.
TURQUAN, JOSEPH, _L’Impératrice Joséphine_, Paris, 1895–1896. 2
vols. The first volume, entitled _La générale Bonaparte_, covers
the period from Vendémiaire to the end of the Consulate; the
second, the Empire and the years subsequent to the divorce. The
author makes much of the early scandals in Joséphine’s life, and
is very unfair in his presentation of the facts.
MEMOIRS
AVRILLON, MLLE., _Mémoires sur la vie privée de Joséphine_,
Paris, no date (about 1835). 2 vols. The author, who describes
herself as “première femme de chambre de l’impératrice,” was
with Joséphine from 1804 to 1814. While possessing no great
historic value, these memoirs are interesting and readable.
BOURRIENNE, L. A. F. DE, _Mémoires_, Paris, 1829–1831. 10
vols. Trans. London, 1893. 4 vols. Also new French edition,
Paris, 1899–1900. 5 vols. A vivid, but untrustworthy picture of
Napoleon and Joséphine. The stories of the author’s very close
friendship are open to suspicion.
JUNOT, LAURE (Duchesse d’Abrantès), _Mémoires_, Paris,
1833–1834. 18 vols. Trans. Very vivacious, but full of slanders
and sarcasms in her portrayal of the Emperor and his wife. Not
trustworthy.
RÉMUSAT, MME. DE, _Mémoires_, Paris, 1879–1880. 3 vols. Also
trans. She was a _dame du palais_ of Joséphine, and her memoirs
give a very vivid description of the Consular and Imperial
Courts. The original manuscript was burnt during the Hundred
Days, as the author feared that her attacks on Napoleon might
get her into trouble. The memoirs which we have now were written
in 1818, and show a desire to gain favor with the Royalists.
INDEX
Abrantès, Duchesse d’, 59
Alexander, Czar, 235, 367, 369, 371, 372
Anne, Grand Duchess of Russia, 320
Arenberg, Mme. d’, _see_ Tascher, Stéphanie
Arnault, author, 60, 63, 64
Artois, Comte d’, 130, 138
Aubenas, author, 11
Augusta of Bavaria, (wife of Eugène), 188, 193, 221, 360
Avrillon, Mlle., author, 155, 171, 173, 288, 293, 354
Bacciochi, Prince Félix, 69
Bacciochi, Princesse, _see_ Bonaparte, Élisa
Barral, Archbishop, 376
Barras, director, 44–46, 48
Bausset, palace prefect, 287–291
Beauharnais, Alexandre, birth (28 May 1760), 8;
his early years, 12;
education, 13;
Mme. Renaudin’s interest in him, 13;
enters the army, 14;
plans for his marriage, 15;
letter of his father, 15;
marriage to Joséphine (19 Dec. 1779), 18;
sails for Martinique (1782), 19;
repudiates Joséphine, 20;
returns to France (1783), 21;
refuses reconciliation, 22;
separation arranged (1785), 22;
elected to States-General (1789), 27;
president of the Assembly (1791), 29;
flight of the Royal family, 29;
retires to the country, 30;
rejoins the army, 30;
commands Army of Rhine, 31;
his disgraceful failure, 32;
resigns command, 32;
retires to Blois, 34;
arrested and imprisoned (1794), 34;
his execution, 35;
his daughter’s pride in him, 107
Beauharnais, Eugène, birth (3 Sept. 1781), 19;
on staff of Hoche, 39;
in school at Saint-Germain, 44;
claims his father’s sword, 49;
intercedes for his mother, 83;
his treatment by the Emperor, 144;
at the Marengo review, 170;
made Viceroy of Italy, 172;
marriage to Augusta, 192–194;
his character and appearance, 192;
adopted by the Emperor, 193, 258;
summoned to Paris (Dec. 1809), 296;
his difficult position, 296;
arranges final conference, 297;
refuses Crown of Italy, 297;
his address to the Senate, 301;
visits his mother at Aix, 334;
also at Navarre, 344;
brings news of birth of King of Rome, 345;
at Paris before Russian campaign, 350;
given command of Grand Army, 356;
attitude towards Napoleon, 359;
the Emperor’s suspicions (1814), 360;
letter from Joséphine, 361;
leaves Italy, 368;
called to Paris, 369;
received by the King, 370;
part in Joséphine’s estate, 382
Beauharnais, François, 6–8, 10, 15
Beauharnais, Hortense, birth (10 April 1783), 20;
repudiated by her father, 20;
goes to Martinique with her mother, 24;
placed in Mme. Campan’s school, 44;
intercedes for her mother, 84;
plans for her marriage, 102;
her appearance and character, 106;
love of her mother, 107;
pride in her father, 107;
early dislike of Napoleon, 107;
fancy for Duroc, 108;
wounded by infernal machine, 109;
marriage to Louis, 112;
hostess at Tuileries, 199;
births of her children, 200;
Queen of Holland, 201;
residence at The Hague, 201;
visit to Mayence, 201;
death of Charles, 225;
her despair, 226;
letters from the Emperor, 228–231;
visit to Cauterêts, 239;
reconciliation with Louis, 239;
return to Fontainebleau, 239;
her illness, 239;
refuses to return to Holland, 247;
birth of Louis-Napoleon (Napoleon III), 267;
her interview with Napoleon at time of divorce, 292;
abdication of Louis, 335;
visits her mother at Aix, 336;
also at Navarre, 344, 365;
at Malmaison (1814), 367;
receives the Czar, 367;
created Duchesse de Saint-Leu, 370;
entertains the Czar, 371;
at her mother’s deathbed, 373;
part in Joséphine’s estate, 382;
at Malmaison with Napoleon (1815), 383
Beauharnais, Stéphanie, (Grand Duchess of Baden), 195, 197, 246,
247
Bonaparte, Caroline, (Mme. Murat), 92, 112, 142, 155
Bonaparte, Élisa, (Mme. Bacciochi), 69, 142, 155
Bonaparte, Jérôme, 124, 171, 238, 246
Bonaparte, Joseph, 78, 99, 127, 269
Bonaparte, Letitia, (Mme. Mère), 69, 149
Bonaparte, Louis, 103, 104, 105, 106, 111, 112, 198–201
Bonaparte, Louis-Napoleon, (Napoleon III), 267, 357
Bonaparte, Lucien, 78, 98, 102–103, 123, 257
Bonaparte, Napoleon-Charles, 200, 225
Bonaparte, Napoleon-Louis, 157, 200
Bonaparte, Pauline, (Mme. Leclerc, later Princesse de Borghèse),
69, 120, 155
Borghèse, Prince de, 121
Bouillé, Marquis de, 19, 29
Bourrienne, secretary, 199
Broc, Mme. de, 358
Cadoudal, Georges, 130–134
Calmelet, 53
Cambacérès, 140, 285, 303
Caprara, Cardinal, 112, 145
Carnot, director, 99
Catherine, of Würtemberg, (wife of Jérôme), 238, 246
Caulaincourt, 135, 320
Charles, Hippolyte, 65, 78
Charles, Grand Duke of Baden, 188, 195, 196
Charles, King, (of Spain), 263–269
Cochelet, Mlle., reader to Hortense, 366
Corvisart, Dr., 381
David, painter, 150
Dénuelle, Mlle., 225
Dupont, General, 270
Duroc, grand marshal, 108, 115, 256
Emmery, merchant, 39
Enghien, Duc d’, 134–137
Eugène, Prince, _see_ Beauharnais
Ferdinand, Prince, (of Spain), 263–269
Fesch, Cardinal, 148, 153, 321
Flahaut, Charles de, 336
Fouché, minister, 100, 102, 139, 252–254, 278, 286
Fourès, Mme., 80
Gazzani, Mme., reader to Joséphine, 246, 380
Georges, Mlle., actress, 119
Girardin, Stanislas, 279
Gohier, director, 86
Hatzfeld, Prince, 206
Hoche, General, 35, 38
Horau, Dr., 381
Hortense, _see_ Beauharnais
Isabey, painter, 152