Napoleon of
crimes, in reference to the daughter of Josephine and the wife of his
brother, which, if true, should consign him to eternal infamy. The
"Berkeley men," after making the most thorough historic investigations
in writing the life both of Louis Bonaparte and Hortense, say:

"Louis was a little over twenty-three years of age at the time of his
marriage. Hortense was nineteen. In his memoirs Louis treats with scorn
and contempt the absurd libels respecting his domestic affairs,
involving the purity of his wife's character and the legitimacy of his
children. Napoleon, also, in his conversations at St. Helena, thought
proper to allude to the subject, and indignantly to repel the charges
which had been made against Hortense, at the same time showing the
entire improbability of the stories about her and her offspring. _We
have found nothing, in our investigations on this subject to justify
even a suspicion against the morals or integrity of Louis or Hortense;
and we here dismiss the subject with the remark that, there is more
cause for sympathy with the parties to this unhappy union than of
censure for their conduct._"

The Duchess of Abrantes, who was intimately acquainted with Hortense
from her childhood and with the whole Bonaparte family, in her
interesting memoirs writes: "Hortense de Beauharnais was fresh as a
rose; and though her fair complexion was not relieved by much color, she
had enough to produce that freshness and bloom which was her chief
beauty. A profusion of light hair played in silky locks round her soft
and penetrating blue eyes. The delicate roundness of her slender figure
was set off by the elegant carriage of her head. Her feet were small and
pretty, her hands very white, with pink, well-rounded nails. But what
formed the chief attraction of Hortense was the grace and suavity of her
manners. She was gay, gentle, amiable. She had wit which, without the
smallest ill-temper, had just malice enough to be amusing. A polished
education had improved her natural talents. She drew excellently, sang
harmoniously, and performed admirably in comedy. In 1800 she was a
charming young girl. She afterwards became one of the most amiable
princesses in Europe. I have seen many, both in their own courts and in
Paris, but I have never known one who had any pretensions to equal
talents. Her brother loved her tenderly. The First Consul looked upon
her as his child. And it is only in that country so fertile in the