r of his life every proof of his entire devotion. I have been
assured that, in 1814, on the departure of the Emperor for the Island of
Elba, Monsieur Frere was by no means the last to blame my conduct, the
motive of which he could not possibly know; but I am not willing to
believe this, for it seems to me that in his place, if I thought I could
not defend an absent friend, I should at least have kept silence.

As I have said, the Empress was extremely generous, and bestowed much in
alms, and was most ingenious in finding occasions for their bestowal.
Many emigres lived solely on her benefactions; she also kept up a very
active correspondence with the Sisters of Charity who nursed the sick,
and sent them a multitude of things. Her valets were ordered to go in
every direction, carrying to the needy the assistance of her
inexhaustible benevolence, while numerous other persons also received
each day similar commissions; and all these alms, all these multiplied
gifts which were so widely diffused, received an inestimable value from
the grace with which they were offered, and the good judgment with which
they were distributed. I could cite a thousand instances of this
delicate generosity.

Monsieur de Beauharnais had at the time of his marriage to Josephine a
natural daughter named Adele. The Empress reared her as if she had been
her own daughter, had her carefully educated, gave her a generous dowry,
and married her to a prefect of the Empire.

If the Empress showed so much tenderness for a daughter who was not her
own, it is impossible to give an idea of her love and devotion to Queen
Hortense and Prince Eugene, which devotion her children fully returned;
and there was never a better or happier mother. She was very proud of
her children, and spoke of them always with an enthusiasm which seemed
very natural to all who knew the Queen of Holland and the Vice-King of
Italy. I have related how, having been left an orphan at a very early
age by the Revolutionary scaffold, young Beauharnais had gained the heart
of General Bonaparte by an interview in which he requested of him his
father's sword, and that this action inspired in the General a wish to
become acquainted with Josephine, and the result of that interview, all
of which events are matters of history. When Madame de Beauharnais had
become the wife of General Bonaparte, Eugene entered on a military
career, and attached himself immediately to the fortunes of his
step-fathe