plicity which ever marked her character, the following incident,
which occurred during this voyage. The ladies were admiring some
brilliant jewels which were spread out before them. Josephine said to
them, "My young friends, believe me, splendor does not constitute
happiness. I at one time received greater enjoyment from the gift of a
pair of old shoes than all these diamonds have ever afforded me." The
curiosity of her auditors was, of course, greatly excited, and they
entreated her to explain her meaning.

"Yes, young ladies," Josephine continued, "of all the presents I ever
received, the one which gave me the greatest pleasure was _a pair of old
shoes, and those, too, of coarse leather_. When I last returned to
France from Martinique, having separated from my first husband, I was
far from rich. The passage-money exhausted my resources, and it was not
without difficulty that I obtained the indispensable requisites for our
voyage. Hortense, obliging and lively, performing with much agility
the dances of the negroes, and singing their songs with surprising
correctness, greatly amused the sailors, who, from being her constant
play-fellows, had become her favorite society. An old sailor became
particularly attached to the child, and she doted upon the old man. What
with running, leaping, and walking, my daughter's slight shoes were
fairly worn out. Knowing that she had not another pair, and fearing I
would forbid her going upon deck, should this defect in her attire be
discovered, Hortense carefully concealed the disaster. One day I
experienced the distress of seeing her return from the deck leaving
every foot-mark in blood. When examining how matters stood, I found her
shoes literally in tatters, and her feet dreadfully torn by a nail. We
were as yet not more than half way across the ocean, and it seemed
impossible to procure another pair of shoes. I felt quite overcome at
the idea of the sorrow my poor Hortense would suffer, as also at the
danger to which her health might be exposed by confinement in my
miserable little cabin. At this moment our good friend, the old sailor,
entered and inquired the cause of our distress. Hortense, sobbing all
the while, eagerly informed him that she could no more go upon deck,
for her shoes were worn out, and mamma had no others to give her.
'Nonsense,' said the worthy seaman, 'is that all? I have an old pair
somewhere in my chest; I will go and seek them. You, madam, can cut
them to sh