ly affected, and, taking Napoleon's arm, they retired and
conversed a long time together. The noble Josephine, ever sacrificing
her own feelings to promote the happiness of others, urged her son to
remain the friend of Napoleon. "The emperor," she said, "is your
benefactor--your more than father, to whom you are indebted for every
thing, and to whom, therefore, you owe a boundless obedience."

The fatal day for the consummation of the divorce at length arrived. It
was the 15th of December, 1809. Napoleon had assembled all the kings,
princes, and princesses who were members of the imperial family, and
also the most illustrious officers of the empire, in the grand saloon
of the Tuilleries. Every individual present was oppressed with the
melancholy grandeur of the occasion. Napoleon thus addressed them:

"The political interests of my monarchy, the wishes of my people, which
have constantly guided my actions, require that I should transmit to an
heir, inheriting my love for the people, the throne on which Providence
has placed me. For many years I have lost all hopes of having children
by my beloved spouse, the Empress Josephine. It is this consideration
which induces me to sacrifice the sweetest affections of my heart, to
consult only the good of my subjects, and to desire the dissolution
of our marriage. Arrived at the age of forty years, I may indulge a
reasonable hope of living long enough to rear, in the spirit of my
own thoughts and disposition, the children with which it may please
Providence to bless me. God knows what such a determination has cost my
heart; but there is no sacrifice which is above my courage, when it is
proved to be for the interests of France. Far from having any cause of
complaint, I have nothing to say but in praise of the attachment and
tenderness of my beloved wife. She has embellished fifteen years of my
life, and the remembrance of them will be forever engraven on my heart.
She was crowned by my hand; she shall retain always the rank and title
of empress. Above all, let her never doubt my feelings, or regard me but
as her best and dearest friend."

Josephine, her eyes filled with tears, with a faltering voice, replied,
"I respond to all the sentiments of the emperor in consenting to the
dissolution of a marriage which henceforth is an obstacle to the
happiness of France, by depriving it of the blessing of being one day
governed by the descendants of that great man who was evidently raised