130

VIII. JOSEPHINE THE WIFE OF THE FIRST CONSUL 149

IX. DEVELOPMENTS OF CHARACTER 171

X. THE CORONATION 198

XI. JOSEPHINE AN EMPRESS 232

XII. THE DIVORCE AND LAST DAYS 282

ENGRAVINGS.

Page

THE SIBYL 24

THE WARNING 58

THE PANTOMIME 85

ISOLA BELLA 109

THE INTERVIEW 156

THE CORONATION 224

JOSEPHINE.

CHAPTER I.

LIFE IN MARTINIQUE.

A.D. 1760-A.D. 1775

Martinique.--Its varied beauties.--Birth of Josephine.--Her parents'
death.--M. Renaudin.--His kind treatment of his slaves.--Gratitude
of the slaves.--Josephine a universal favorite.--Hospitality of M.
Renaudin.--Society at his house.--Early education of Josephine.--Her
accomplishments.--Euphemie.--She becomes Josephine's bosom companion.
--Popularity of Josephine.--Childhood enjoyment.--Characteristic traits.
--The fortune-teller.--Predictions of the sibyl.--Credulity.--More
predictions.--Their fulfillment.--Explanations of the predictions.--
How fulfilled.--Falsity of the prediction.--Contemplated match.--
Attachment between Josephine and William.--Their separation.--Rousseau
throwing stones.--Josephine's superstition.--Mutual fidelity.--Deception
of friends.

The island of Martinique emerges in tropical luxuriance from the bosom
of the Caribbean Sea. A meridian sun causes the whole land to smile in
perennial verdure, and all the gorgeous flowers and luscious fruits
of the torrid zone adorn upland and prairie in boundless profusion.
Mountains, densely wooded, rear their summits sublimely to the skies,
and valleys charm the eye with pictures more beautiful than imagination
can create. Ocean breezes ever sweep these hills and vales, and temper
the heat of a vertical sun. Slaves, whose dusky limbs are scarcely
veiled by the lightest clothing, till the soil, while the white
inhabitants, supported by the indolent labor of these unpaid menials,
loiter away life in listless leisure and in rustic luxury. Far removed
fr