No. 3
Your letter has come.—Possibly the one to Hortense quoted above, as Josephine was not fond of writing many letters.
Injured whilst shooting a boar.—Constant was not aware of this occurrence, and was therefore somewhat incredulous of Las Cases (vol. i. 289). The account in the “Memorial of St. Helena” is as follows:—“Another time, while hunting the wild boar at Marly, all his suite were put to flight; it was like the rout of an army. The Emperor, with Soult and Berthier,54 maintained their ground against three enormous boars. ‘We killed all three, but I received a hurt from my adversary, and nearly lost this finger,’ said the Emperor, pointing to the third finger of his left hand, which indeed bore the mark of a severe wound. ‘But the most laughable circumstance of all was to see the multitude of men, surrounded by their dogs, screening themselves behind the three heroes, and calling out lustily “Save the Emperor!55 save the Emperor!” while not one advanced to my assistance’” (vol. ii. 202. Colburn, 1836).
“The Barber of Seville.”—This was their best piece, and spectators (except Lucien) agree that in it the little theatre at Malmaison and its actors were unsurpassed in Paris. Bourrienne as Bartholo, Hortense as Rosina, carried off the palm. According to the Duchesse d’Abrantès, Wednesday was the usual day of representation, when the First Consul was wont to ask forty persons to dinner, and a hundred and fifty for the evening. As the Duchess had reason to know, Bonaparte was the severest of critics. “Lauriston made a noble lover,” says the Duchess—“rather heavy” being Bourrienne’s more professional comment. Eugène, says Méneval, excelled in footman’s parts.56 Michot, from the Theatre Français, was stage manager; and Bonaparte provided what Constant has called “the Malmaison Troupe,” with their dresses and a collection of dramas. He was always spurring them on to more ambitious flights, and by complimenting Bourrienne on his prodigious memory, would stimulate him to learn the longest parts. Lucien, who refused to act, declares that Bonaparte quoted the saying of Louis XVI. concerning Marie Antoinette and her company, that the performances “were royally badly played.” Junot, however, even in these days played the part of a drunkard only too well (Jung, vol. ii. 256).