before the revolutionary tribunal,
that Josephine cut off her beautiful tresses, as the only gift which she
had to leave her children, for all the family estates in Europe had been
seized, and the destruction of property at St. Domingo had cut off all
supplies from that quarter. Yet amidst her anxieties, her afflictions,
and her dangers, her fortitude never forsook her, and her example and
her efforts to calm them, to a degree supported the spirits of her
fellow-prisoners. Josephine herself ascribed her firmness to her
implicit trust in the prediction of an old negress which she had
treasured in her memory from childhood. Her trust, indeed, in the
inexplicable mysteries of divination was sufficiently proved by the
interest with which she is said to have frequently applied herself
during her sad hours of imprisonment to learn her fortune from a pack of
cards. Mr. Alison mentions, that he had heard of the prophecy of the
negress in 1801, long before Napoleon's elevation to the throne.
Josephine herself, Mr. Alison goes on to say, narrated this
extraordinary passage in her life in the following terms:--

"One morning the jailer entered the chamber where I slept
with the Duchesse d'Aiguillon and two other ladies, and told
me he was going to take my mattress, and give it to another
prisoner.

"'Why,' said Madame Aiguillon, eagerly, 'will not Madame de
Beauharnais obtain a better one?'

"'No, no,' replied he, with a fiendish smile, 'she will have
no need of one, for she is about to be led to the
Conciergerie, and then to the guillotine."

"At these words, my companions in misfortune uttered
piercing shrieks. I consoled them as well as I could; and at
length, worn out with their eternal lamentations, I told
them that their grief was utterly unreasonable; that I not
only should not die, but live to be queen of France.

"'Why, then, do you not name your maids of honor?' said
Madame Aiguillon, irritated at such expressions at such a
moment.

"'Very true,' said I, 'I did not think of that. Well, my
dear, I make you one of them.'[H]

"Upon this the tears of the ladies fell apace, for they
never doubted I was mad; but the truth was, I was not gifted
with any extraordinary courage, but internally persuaded of
the truth of the oracle.

"Madame d'Aiguillon soon after became unwell, and I drew her
tow