Part 5
Be happy, do not reproach me, do not concern yourself in the happiness of a man who lives only in your life, rejoices only in your pleasure and happiness. When I exacted from you a love like my own I was wrong; why expect lace to weigh as heavy as gold? When I sacrifice to you all my desires, all my thoughts, every moment of my life, I obey the sway which your charms, your disposition, and your whole personality have so effectively exerted over my unfortunate heart. I was wrong, since nature has not given me attractions with which to captivate you; but what I do deserve from Josephine is her regard and esteem, for I love her frantically and uniquely.
Farewell, beloved wife; farewell, my Josephine. May fate concentrate in my breast all the griefs and troubles, but may it give Josephine happy and prosperous days. Who deserves them more? When it shall be quite settled that she can love me no more, I will hide my profound grief, and will content myself with the power of being useful and serviceable to her.
I reopen my letter to give you a kiss.... Ah! Josephine!... Josephine!
BONAPARTE.
* * * * *
_December 24th._--French under Hoche sail for Ireland; return "foiled by the elements."
_January 7th, 1797.--Alvinzi begins his new attack on Rivoli, while Provera tries to get to Mantua with 11,000 men via Padua and Legnago. Alvinzi's total forces 48,000, but only 28,000 at Rivoli against Bonaparte's 23,000._
_January 9th._--Kehl (after 48 days' siege) surrenders to Archduke Charles.
_January 10th.--Napoleon at Bologna advised of the advance, and hastens to make Verona, as before, the pivot of his movements._
No. 20.
_January 12th.--Combat of St. Michel: Massena defeats Austrians._
TO JOSEPHINE, AT MILAN.
_Verona, January 12, 1797._
Scarcely set out from Roverbella, I learnt that the enemy had appeared at Verona. Massena made some dispositions, which have been very successful. We have made six hundred prisoners, and have taken three pieces of cannon. General Brune got seven bullets in his clothes, without being touched by one of them--this is what it is to be lucky.
I give you a thousand kisses. I am very well. We have had only ten men killed, and a hundred wounded.
BONAPARTE.
* * * * *
_January 13th.--Joubert attacked; retires from Corona on Rivoli in the morning, joined by Bonaparte at night._
_January 14th.--Battle of Rivoli: Austrian centre defeated. Bonaparte_ _at close of day hurries off with Massena's troops to overtake Provera, marching sixteen leagues during the night. Massena named next day enfant cheri de la victoire by Bonaparte, and later Duc de Rivoli._
_January 15th.--Joubert continues battle of Rivoli: complete defeat of Austrians. Provera, however, has reached St. Georges, outside Mantua._
_January 16th--Sortie of Wurmser at La Favorite repulsed. Provera, hurled back by Victor (named the Terrible on this day), is surrounded by skilful manoeuvres of Bonaparte, and surrenders with 6000 men. In three days Bonaparte had taken 18,000 prisoners and all Alvinzi's artillery. Colonel Graham gives Austrian losses at 14,000 to 15,000, exclusive of Provera's 6000._
_January 26th.--Combat of Carpenedolo: Massena defeats the Austrians._
_February 2nd.--Joubert occupies Lawis. Capitulation of Mantua, by Wurmser, with 13,000 men (and 6000 in hospital), but he, his staff, and 200 cavalry allowed to return. Enormous capture of artillery, including siege-train abandoned by Bonaparte before the battle of Castiglione. Advance of Victor on Rome._
No. 21.
TO JOSEPHINE, AT BOLOGNA.
_Forli, February 3, 1797._
I wrote you this morning. I start to-night. Our forces are at Rimini. This country is beginning to be tranquillised. My cold makes me always rather tired.
I idolise you, and send you a thousand kisses.
A thousand kind messages to my sister.
BONAPARTE.
* * * * *
_February 9th.--Capture of Ancona._
No. 22.
TO JOSEPHINE, AT BOLOGNA.
_Ancona, February 10, 1797._
We have been at Ancona these two days. We took the citadel, after a slight fusillade, and by a _coup de main_. We made 1200 prisoners. I sent back the fifty officers to their homes.
I am still at Ancona. I do not press you to come, because everything is not yet settled, but in a few days I am hoping that it will be. Besides, this country is still discontented, and everybody is nervous.
I start to-morrow for the mountains. You don't write to me at all, yet you ought to let me have news of you every day.
Please go out every day; it will do you good.
I send you a million kisses. I never was so sick of anything as of this vile war.
Good-bye, my darling. Think of me!
BONAPARTE.
No. 23.
TO JOSEPHINE, AT BOLOGNA.
_Ancona, February 13, 1797._
I get no news from you, and I feel sure that you no longer love me. I have sent you the papers, and various letters. I start immediately to cross the mountains. The moment that I know something definite, I will arrange for you to accompany me; it is the dearest wish of my heart.
A thousand and a thousand kisses.
BONAPARTE.
No. 24.
TO JOSEPHINE, AT BOLOGNA.
_February 16, 1797._
You are melancholy, you are ill; you no longer write to me, you want to go back to Paris. Is it possible that you no longer love your comrade? The very thought makes me wretched. My darling, life is unbearable to me now that I am aware of your melancholy.
I make haste to send you Moscati, so that he may look after you. My health is rather bad; my cold gets no better. Please take care of yourself, love me as much as I love you, and write me every day. I am more uneasy than ever.
I have told Moscati to escort you to Ancona, if you care to come there. I will write to you there, to let you know where I am.
Perhaps I shall make peace with the Pope, then I shall soon be by your side; it is my soul's most ardent wish.
I send you a hundred kisses. Be sure that nothing equals my love, unless it be my uneasiness. Write to me every day yourself. Good-bye, dearest.
BONAPARTE.
No. 25.
_February 19th.--Peace of Tolentino with the Pope, who has to pay for his equivocal attitude and broken treaty._
TO JOSEPHINE, AT BOLOGNA.
_Tolentino, February 19, 1797._
Peace with Rome has just been signed. Bologna, Ferrara, Romagna, are ceded to the Republic. The Pope is to pay us thirty millions shortly, and various works of art.
I start to-morrow morning for Ancona, and thence for Rimini, Ravenna, and Bologna. If your health permit, come to Rimini or Ravenna, but, I beseech you, take care of yourself.
Not a word from you--what on earth have I done? To think only of you, to love only Josephine, to live only for my wife, to enjoy happiness only with my dear one--does this deserve such harsh treatment from her? My dear, I beg you, think often of me, and write me every day.
You are ill, or else you do not love me! Do you think, then, that I have a heart of stone? and do my sufferings concern you so little? You must know me very ill! I cannot believe it! You to whom nature has given intelligence, tenderness, and beauty, you who alone can rule my heart, you who doubtless know only too well the unlimited power you hold over me!
Write to me, think of me, and love me.--Yours ever, for life.
BONAPARTE.
* * * * *
_March 16th.--Bonaparte defeats Archduke Charles on the Tagliamento._
_March 25th.--Bonaparte writes the Directory from Goritz that "up till now Prince Charles has manoeuvred worse than Beaulieu and Wurmser."_
_March 29th.--Klagenfurt taken by Massena._
_April 1st.--Laybach by Bernadotte._
_April 17th.--Preliminaries of peace at Leoben signed by Bonaparte._
_April 18th._--Hoche crosses the Rhine at Neuwied.
_April 21st_.--Moreau at Kehl.
_April 23rd._--Armistice of two Rhine armies follows preliminaries of Leoben.
_May 16th.--Augereau enters Venice._
_June 28th._--French capture Corfu, and 600 guns.
_July 8th._--Death of Edmund Burke, aged sixty-eight.
_July 18th._--Talleyrand becomes French Minister of Foreign Affairs.
_September 4th._--Day of 18th Fructidor at Paris. Coup d'Etat _of Rewbell, Larevelliere-Lepeaux, and Barras, secretly aided by Bonaparte, who has sent them Augereau to command Paris_.
_September 18th._--Death of Lazare Hoche, aged twenty-nine, _probably poisoned by the Directory, which has recalled Moreau, retired Bernadotte, and will soon launch Bonaparte on the seas, so that he may find failure and Bantry Bay at Aboukir_ (Montgaillard).
_September 30th._--National bankruptcy admitted in France, _the sixth time in two centuries_.
_October 17th.---Treaty of Campo-Formio; Bonaparte called thereupon by Talleyrand "General Pacificator."_
_November 16th._--Death of Frederick William II., _King of Prussia, aged fifty-three_; _succeeded by his son, Frederick William III., aged twenty-seven_.
_December 1st.--Bonaparte Minister Plenipotentiary at Congress of Rastadt, and_
_December 5th.--Arrives at Paris._
_December 10th.--Bonaparte presented to the Directory by Talleyrand._
_December 27th.--Riots at Rome: Joseph Bonaparte (ambassador) insulted; General Duphot (engaged to Joseph's sister-in-law, Desiree) killed._
SERIES C
THE MARENGO CAMPAIGN, 1800
LETTERS OF THE FIRST CONSUL BONAPARTE TO HIS WIFE
_3rd Outlaw._ "By the bare scalp of Robin Hood's fat friar, This fellow were a king for our wild faction!
_1st Outlaw._ "We'll have him; sirs, a word.
_Speed._ "Master, be one of them, It is an honourable kind of thievery."
_The Two Gentlemen of Verona_,
## Act iv., Scene I.
SERIES C
(For subjoined Notes to this Series see pages 223-225.)
LETTER PAGE
Christmas Day, 1799 223
No. 3. Ivrea, May 29th 224 _M.'s_ 224 _Cherries_ 224
No. 4. _Milan_ 224
THE CAMPAIGN OF MARENGO, 1800.
EVENTS OF 1798.
NAPOLEONIC HISTORY.--_May 20th._--_Napoleon sails from Toulon for Egypt._
_June 11th.--Takes Malta; sails for Egypt (June 20th)._
_July 4th.--Captures Alexandria._
_July 21st.--Defeats Mamelukes at Battle of the Pyramids, and enters Cairo the following day._
_August 1st.--French Fleet destroyed by Nelson at the Battle of the Nile._
_October 7th.--Desaix defeats Mourad Bey at Sedyman (Upper Egypt)._
* * * * *
GENERAL HISTORY.--_January 4th._--Confiscation of all English merchandise in France. Commencement of Continental system.
_January 5th._--Directory fail to float a loan of 80 millions (francs), and
_January 28th._--Forthwith invade Switzerland, ostensibly to defend the Vaudois, under a sixteenth-century treaty, really to revolutionise the country, and seize upon the treasure of Berne.
_February 15th._--Republic proclaimed at Rome. French occupy the Vatican, and
_February 20th._--Drive Pope Pius VI. into exile to the convent of Sienna.
_March 5th._--Capture of Berne by General Brune.
_April 13th._--Bernadotte, ambassador, attacked at the French Embassy in Vienna.
_May 19th._--Fitzgerald, a leader in the Irish rebellion, arrested.
_August 22nd._--General Humbert and 1100 French troops land at Killala, County Mayo.
_September 8th._--Humbert and 800 men taken by Lord Cornwallis at Ballinamack.
_September 12th._--Turkey declares war with France, and forms alliance with England and Russia.
_November 19th._--Wolfe-Tone commits suicide.
_December 5th._--Macdonald defeats Mack and 40,000 Neapolitans at Civita Castellana.
_December 9th._--Joubert occupies Turin.
_December 15th._--French occupy Rome.
_December 29th._--Coalition of Russia, Austria, and England against France.
EVENTS OF 1799.
NAPOLEONIC HISTORY.--_January 23rd._--_Desaix defeats Mourad Bey at Samhoud (Upper Egypt). February 3rd.--Desaix defeats Mourad Bey at the Isle of Philae (near Assouan)--furthest limit of the Roman Empire. Napoleon crosses Syrian desert and takes El Arish (February 20th) and Gaza (February 25th), captures Jaffa (March 7th) and Sour, formerly Tyre (April 3rd). Junot defeats Turks and Arabs at Nazareth (April 8th), and Kleber defeats them at Mount Tabor (April 16th). Napoleon invests Acre but retires (May 21st), re-enters Cairo (June 14th), annihilates Turkish army at Aboukir (July 25th); secretly sails for France (August 23rd), lands at Frejus (October 9th), arrives at Paris (October 13th); dissolves the Directory (November 9th) and Council of Five Hundred (November 10th), and is proclaimed First Consul (December 24th)._
* * * * *
GENERAL HISTORY.--_January 10th._--Championnet occupies Capua.
_January 20th._--Pacification of La Vendee by General Hedouville.
_January 23rd._--Championnet occupies Naples.
_March 3rd._--Corfu taken from the French by a Russo-Turkish force.
_March 7th._--Massena defeats the Austrians, and conquers the country of the Grisons.
_March 25th._--Archduke Charles defeats Jourdan at Stockach.
_March 30th._--Kray defeats French (under Scherer) near Verona,
_April 5th._--And again at Magnano.
_April 14th._--Suwarrow takes command of Austrian army at Verona;
_April 22nd._--Defeats French at Cassano, with heavy loss.
_April 28th._--French plenipotentiaries, returning from Radstadt, murdered by men in Austrian uniforms--Montgaillard thinks by creatures of the Directory.
_May 4th._--Capture of Seringapatam by General Baird.
_May 12th._--Austro-Russian army checked at Bassignana.
_May 16th._--Sieyes becomes one of the Directory.
_May 20th._--Suwarrow takes Brescia,
_May 24th._--And Milan (citadel).
_June 5th._--Massena defeated at Zurich by Archduke Charles; and Macdonald (_June 19th_) by Suwarrow at the Trebbia.
_June 18th._--Gohier, Roger-Ducos, and Moulin replace Treilhard, Lareveillere-Lepeaux, and Merlin on the Directory.
_June 20th._--Turin surrenders to Austro-Russians.
_June 22nd._--Turkey, Portugal, and Naples join the coalition against France.
_July 14th._--French carry their prisoner, Pope Pius VI., to Valence, where he dies (_August 29th_).
_July 22nd._--Alessandria surrenders to Austro-Russians.
_July 30th._--Mantua, after 72 days' siege, surrenders to Kray.
_August 15th._--French defeated at Novi by Suwarrow. French lose Joubert and 20,000 men.
_August 17th._--French, under Lecombe, force the St. Gothard.
_August 27th._--English army disembark at the Helder.
_August 30th._--Dutch fleet surrendered to the British Admiral.
_September 19th._--Brune defeats Duke of York at Bergen.
_September 25th._--Massena defeats allies at Zurich, who lose 16,000 men and 100 guns. "Massena saves France at Zurich, as Villars saved it at Denain."--_Montgaillard._
_October 6th._--Brune defeats Duke of York at Kastrikum.
_October 7th._--French take Constance.
_October 16th._--Saint-Cyr, without cavalry or cannon, defeats Austrians at Bosco.
_October 18th._--Capitulation at Alkmaar by Duke of York to General Brune. "The son of George III. capitulates at Alkmaar as little honourably as the son of George II. had capitulated at Kloster-Seven in 1757."--_Montgaillard._
_November 4th._--Melas defeats French at Fossano.
_November 13th._--Ancona surrendered to the Austrians by Monnier, after a six months' siege.
_November 24th._--Moreau made commander of the armies of the Rhine (being in disgrace, has served as a volunteer in Italy most of this year); Massena sent to the army of Italy.
_December 5th._--Coni, the key of Piedmont, surrenders to the Austrians.
_December 14th._--Death of George Washington.
_December 15th._--Battle of Montefaccio, near Genoa. Saint-Cyr defeats Austrians.
EVENTS OF 1800.
_February 11th._--Bank of France constituted.
_February 20th._--Kleber defeats Turks at Heliopolis.
_May 3rd._--Battle of Engen. Moreau defeats Kray, who loses 10,000 men, and--
_May 5th._--Again defeats Austrians at Moeskirch.
_May 6th.--Napoleon leaves Paris._
_May 8th.--Arrives at Auxonne, and on the 9th at Geneva, from thence moves to Lausanne (May 12th), where he is delighted with reception accorded to the French troops, and hears of Moreau's victory at Bibernach (May 11th). On the 14th he hears of Desaix's safe arrival at Toulon from Egypt, together with Davoust, and orders the praises of their past achievements to be sung in the_ Moniteur. _The same day writes Massena that in Genoa a man like himself (Massena) is worth 20,000. On the 16th is still at Lausanne._
No. 1.
TO JOSEPHINE, AT PARIS.
_Lausanne, May 15, 1800._
I have been at Lausanne since yesterday. I start to-morrow. My health is fairly good. The country round here is very beautiful. I see no reason why, in ten or twelve days, you should not join me here; you must travel incognito, and not say where you are going, because I want no one to know what I am about to do. You can say you are going to Plombieres.
I will send you Moustache,[16] who has just arrived.
My very kindest regards to Hortense. Eugene will not be here for eight days; he is _en route_.
BONAPARTE.
No. 2.
TO JOSEPHINE, AT PARIS.
_Torre di Garofolo, May 16, 1800._
I start immediately to spend the night at Saint-Maurice. I have not received a single letter from you; that is not well. I have written you by every courier.
Eugene may arrive the day after to-morrow. I have rather a cold, but it will have no ill effects.
My very kindest regards to you, my good little Josephine, and to all who belong to you.
BONAPARTE.
_May 17th-19th.--At Martigny, "struggling against ice, snow-storms, and avalanches," and astonishing the great St. Bernard "with the passage of our 'pieces of 8,' and especially of our limbers--a new experience for it." On May 20th he climbed the St. Bernard on a mule, and descended it on a sledge. On May 21st he is at Aosta, hoping to be back in Paris within a fortnight. His army had passed the mountain in four days. On May 27th he is at Ivrea, taken by Lannes on the 24th._
No. 3.[17]
[_From Tennant's Tour, &c._, vol. ii.]
11 P.M.
I hardly know which way to turn. In an hour I start for Vercelli. Murat ought to be at Novaro to-night. The enemy is thoroughly demoralised; he cannot even yet understand us. I hope within ten days to be in the arms of my Josephine, who is always very good when she is not crying and not flirting. Your son arrived this evening. I have had him examined; he is in excellent health. Accept a thousand tender thoughts. I have received M.'s letter. I will send her by the next courier a box of excellent cherries.
We are here--within two months for Paris.--Yours entirely,
N. B.
_To Madame Bonaparte._ (Address not in Bonaparte's writing.)
* * * * *
_June 1st._--First experiments with vaccination at Paris, with fluid sent from London.
_On June 2nd Napoleon enters Milan, where he spends a week._
No. 4.
TO JOSEPHINE, AT PARIS.
_Milan._
I am at Milan, with a very bad cold. I can't stand rain, and I have been wet to the skin for several hours, but all goes well. I don't persuade you to come here. I shall be home in a month. I trust to find you flourishing. I am just starting for Pavia and Stradella. We are masters of Brescia, Cremona, and Placentia.
Kindest regards. Murat has borne himself splendidly.
* * * * *
_June 5th._--Massena gives up Genoa, but leaves with all the honours of war.
_June 7th._--Lannes takes Pavia, 350 cannon, and 10,000 muskets.
_June 9th.--Battle of Montebello. Bonaparte defeats Austrians, who lose 8000 men._
_June 14th.--Bonaparte wins Marengo, but loses Desaix--"the man I loved and esteemed the most." In his bulletin he admits the battle at one time was lost, until he cried to his troops "Children, remember it is my custom to sleep upon the battlefield." He mentions the charges of Desaix and Kellermann, and especially eulogises the latter--a fact interesting on account of the false statements made of his ignoring it. In the bulletin of June 21st he blames the "punic faith" of Lord Keith at Genoa, a criticism the Admiral repaid with usury fifteen years later._
_June 14th._--Assassination of Kleber, in Egypt.
_June 16th.--Convention of Alessandria between Bonaparte and Melas; end of the "Campaign of Thirty Days."_
_June 19th._--Moreau defeats Kray at Hochstedt, and occupies Ulm.
_June 23rd._--Genoa re-entered by the French.
_June 26th.--Bonaparte leaves Massena in command of the Army of Reserve, now united with the Army of Italy._
_July 3rd.--The First Consul is back in Paris unexpectedly--not wishing triumphal arches or such-like "colifichets" In spite of which the plaudits he receives are very dear to him, "sweet as the voice of Josephine."_
_September 5th._--Vaubois surrenders Malta to the English, after two years' blockade.
_September 15th._--Armistice between France and Austria in Germany.
_September 30th._--Treaty of Friendship and Commerce between France and U.S.--agreed that the flag covers the goods.
_October 3rd._--To facilitate peace King George renounces his title of King of France.
_November 12th._--Rupture of Armistice between France and Austria.
_December 3rd._--Moreau wins the battle of Hohenlinden (Austrian loss, 16,000 men, 80 guns; French 3000).
_December 20th._--Moreau occupies Lintz (100 miles from Vienna).
_December 24th.--Royalist conspirators fail to kill Bonaparte with an infernal machine._
_December 25th._--Armistice at Steyer between Moreau and Archduke Charles (sent for by the Austrians a fortnight before as their last hope).
FOOTNOTES
[16] Bonaparte's courier.
[17] The date of this letter is May 29, 1800. See Notes.
SERIES D
"The peace of Amiens had always been regarded from the side of England as an armed truce: on the side of Napoleon it had a very different character.... A careful reader must admit that we were guilty of a breach of faith in not surrendering Malta. The promise of its surrender was the principal article of the treaty."
_England and Napoleon in 1803._
(Edited for the R. Hist. S. by Oscar Browning, 1887.)
SERIES D
(For subjoined Notes to this Series see pages 225-231.)
LETTER PAGE Date 225
No. 1. _The blister_ 225 _Some plants_ 225 _If the weather is as bad_ 226 _Malmaison, without you_ 228
No. 2. _The fat Eugene_ 228
No. 3. _Your letter has come_ 229 _Injured whilst shooting a boar_ 229 "_The Barber of Seville_" 229
No. 4. _The Sevres Manufactory_ 230
No. 5. _Your lover, who is tired of being alone_ 230 _General Ney_ 231
JOSEPHINE'S TWO VISITS TO PLOMBIERES,
1801 AND 1802.
EVENTS OF 1801.
_January 1st._--Legislative Union of Great Britain and Ireland.
_January 3rd._--French under Brune occupy Verona, and
_January 8th._--Vicenza.
_January 11th._--Cross the Brenta.
_January 16th._---Armistice at Treviso between Brune and the Austrian General Bellegarde.
_February 9th._--Treaty of Luneville, by which the Thalweg of the Rhine became the boundary of Germany and France.
_March 8th._--English land at Aboukir.
_March 21st._--Battle of Alexandria (Canopus). Menou defeated by Abercromby, with loss of 2000.
_March 24th._--The Czar Paul is assassinated.
_March 28th._--Treaty of Peace between France and Naples, who cedes Elba and Piombino.
_April 2nd._--Nelson bombards Copenhagen.
_May 23rd._--General Baird lands at Kosseir on the Red Sea with 1000 English and 10,000 Sepoys.
_June 7th._--French evacuate Cairo.
_July 1st._--Toussaint-Louverture elected Life-Governor of St. Domingo. Slavery abolished there. The new ruler declares, "I am the Bonaparte of St. Domingo, and the Colony cannot exist without me;" and heads his letters to the First Consul, "From the First of the Blacks to the First of the Whites."
_July 15th.--Concordat between Bonaparte and the Pope, signed at Paris by Bonaparte, ratified by the Pope (August 15th)._
_August 4th._--Nelson attacks Boulogne flotilla and is repulsed.
_August 15th._--Attacks again, and suffers severely.
_August 31st._--Menou capitulates to Hutchinson at Alexandria.
_September 29th._--Treaty of Peace between France and Portugal; boundaries of French Guiana extended to the Amazon.
_October 1st._--Treaty between France and Spain, who restores Louisiana. Preliminaries of Peace between France and England signed in London.
_October 8th._--Treaty of Peace between France and Russia.
_October 9th._--And between France and Turkey.
_December 14th._--Expedition sent out to St. Domingo by the French under General Leclerc.
No. 1.
TO JOSEPHINE, AT PLOMBIERES.
_Paris the "27" ..., 1801._
The weather is so bad here that I have remained in Paris. Malmaison, without you, is too dreary. The fete has been a great success; it has rather tired me. The blister they have put on my arm gives me constant pain.
Some plants have come for you from London, which I have sent to your gardener. If the weather is as bad at Plombieres as it is here, you will suffer severely from floods.
Best love to "Maman" and Hortense.
BONAPARTE.
* * * * *
EVENTS OF 1802.
_January 4th.--Louis Bonaparte marries Hortense Beauharnais, both unwilling._
_January 9th.--The First Consul, with Josephine, leaves for Lyons, where,_
_January 25th.--He remodels the Cisalpine Republic as the Italian Republic, under his Presidency._
_March 25th._--Treaty of Amiens signed in London. French lose only Ceylon and Trinidad. Malta to be restored to the Order of Knights, reconstituted.
_May 7th._--Toussaint surrenders to Leclerc.
_May 19th._--Institution of the Legion of Honour.
No. 2.
TO JOSEPHINE, AT PLOMBIERES.
_Malmaison, June 19, 1802._
I have as yet received no news from you, but I think you must already have begun to take the waters. It is rather dull for us here, although your charming daughter does the honours of the house to perfection. For the last two days I have suffered slightly from my complaint. The fat Eugene arrived yesterday evening; he is very hale and hearty.