the attendants, and approaching the empress with a trembling
step, took her hand, and laid it upon his heart. 'Josephine,' said he,
'my good Josephine, you know how I have loved you; it is to you alone
that I owe the few moments of happiness I have known in the world.
Josephine, my destiny is more powerful than my will; my dearest
affections must yield to the interests of France.'

"'Say no more,' cried the empress. 'I expected this; I understand and
feel for you, but the stroke is not the less mortal.' With these words,
she uttered piercing shrieks, and fell down in a swoon.

"Doctor Corvisart was at hand to render assistance, and she was restored
to a sense of her wretchedness in her own apartment. The emperor came to
see her in the evening, but she could hardly bear the emotion occasioned
by his appearance."

Little did Napoleon think, when he was making a sacrifice of all the
"happiness which he had known in the world," that the ambitious views
for which it was relinquished would fade away ere five years ran their
course. What strange destinies do men carve out for themselves! what
sacrifices are they ever making of felicity and of real good, in the
pursuit of some phantom which is sure to elude their grasp! How many
Edens have been forfeited by madness and by folly, since the first pair
were expelled from Paradise!

It was not without an effort on her part to turn Napoleon from a purpose
so agonizing to them both, that Josephine gave up all hope. In about a
month after the disclosure, a painful task devolved on the imperial
family. The motives for the divorce were to be stated in public, and the
heart-stricken Josephine was to subscribe to its necessity in presence
of the nation. In conformity with the magnanimous resolve of making so
great a sacrifice for the advantage of the empire, it was expedient that
an equanimity of deportment should be assumed. The scene which took
place could never be forgotten by those who witnessed it. Napoleon stood
pale and immovable as a statue, showing in the very stillness of his air
and countenance a deep emotion. Josephine and Hortense alone appeared
divested of every ornament, while those about them sparkled in all the
splendor of court costume. Every eye was directed to Josephine, as with
slow steps she reached the seat which had been prepared for her. She
took it with her accustomed grace, and preserved throughout a dignified
composure. Hortense stood weeping behind her cha