your dissensions, your misfortunes, your
faults. Let the religion which unites you bind you by indissoluble cords
to the interests of your country. Citizens of the Protestant faith! the
law has equally extended its solicitude to your interests. Let the
morality, so pure, so holy, so brotherly, which you profess, unite you
all in love to your country and respect for its laws; and, above all,
never permit disputes on doctrinal points to weaken that universal
charity which religion at once inculcates and commands."

This, surely, is a great triumph of Christianity. A man like Napoleon,
even though not at the time a believer in its divine origin, was so
perfectly satisfied of its beneficial influence upon mankind, that, as a
matter of state policy, he felt compelled to reinstate its observances.

Josephine cherished emotions of the deepest gratitude toward all those
who had proved friendly to her in the days of her adversity. Napoleon,
with his strong prejudices, often took a dislike to those whom Josephine
loved. Madame Tallien, the companion of Josephine in her captivity
and her benefactor after her release, was, for some unknown reason,
peculiarly obnoxious to Napoleon. She was extremely beautiful and very
ambitious, and her exclusion from the splendors of the new court, now
daily becoming more brilliant, mortified her exceedingly. Josephine also
was greatly troubled. She could not disregard the will of her husband,
and her heart recoiled from the thought of ingratitude toward one who
had been her friend in adversity. At this time, in Paris, pleasure
seemed to be the universal object of pursuit. All the restraints of
religion had been swept away, and masked balls, gambling, and every
species of dissipation attracted to the metropolis the wealthy and the
dissolute from all parts of Europe. Napoleon never made his appearance
in any of these reckless scenes of revelry. He ever was an inveterate
enemy to gambling in all its forms, and had no relish for luxurious
indulgence. Josephine, however, accompanied by Eugene, occasionally
looked in upon the dancers at the masked balls. On one of these
occasions a noble lady witnessed an incident which she has recorded in
the following words:

"Chance rendered me witness of a singular scene at one of
these balls. It was near two o'clock in the morning, the
crowd immense, and the heat overpowering. I had ascended for
a few moments to the apartments above, and, ref