everything. On the death of a man like him we should only
feel deep concern and regret." Forsyth thinks this splendid
magnanimity on the part of his hero.

It is not recorded what the gallant Major thought of it, but it may be
taken for granted that if Mr. Henry and Gorrequer had any sense of
humour at all, Lowe's comment must have sounded very comical, knowing
what they did of the relations between the dead monarch and his
custodian, though it must be said that Henry seems to have been the
only person who could work up a sympathetic word for Sir Hudson.
Forsyth, in vol. iii. p. 307, says: "No one can study the character of
Napoleon without being struck by one prevailing feature, his intense
selfishness." This is a remarkable statement for any man who professes
to write accurate history to make, and proves conclusively that
Forsyth had not "studied" Napoleon's "character," or he would have
found, not only his closest friends, but some of his bitterest enemies
doing him the justice of stating the very opposite of what this writer
says of him.

Mr. Henry, who took part in the dissection of the corpse, says that
Napoleon's face had a remarkably placid expression, and indicated
mildness and sweetness of disposition, and those who gazed on the
features as they lay in the still repose of death could not help
exclaiming, "How beautiful!" After this very fine description from Sir
Hudson's friend, Forsyth adds a footnote: "It may interest
phrenologists to know that the organs of combativeness, causativeness,
and philoprogenitiveness were strongly developed in the cranium"! In
order to prove the charge of selfishness he brings in the old familiar
story of the divorce: "A memorable example of this (_i.e._,
selfishness) occurs in his treatment of the nobleminded Josephine."

This outburst is obviously intended for effect, but Forsyth does not
score a success in bringing the amiable Empress to his aid; for,
whatever virtue she may have possessed, authentic history reveals her
as the antithesis of "nobleminded." Those who knew the lady intimately
speak with marked generosity of her graces, but they also record a
shameless habit of faithlessness to her husband at a time when he was
pouring out volumes of love to her from Italy. And she seems to have
let herself go without restraint during his stay in Egypt. The
wayward, weak Josephine had many lovers, who were not too carefully
selected.

From the time of her marriage with Napol