. THE FIRST BERN.ADOTTE QUEEN.
A Queen of Napoleon's Court : the Life-Story of Disires Bernadotte. By Catherine Bearne. Illustrated. (T. Fisher Unwin. 10s. 6d. net.)—Just as English readers have gained a new interest in Norway appears this Life of Desiree Clary, Queen of Sweden and Norway, grandmother of the present King of Sweden. The fact that this popular and kindly woman -died only in 1860 seems to bring Napoleon's times very near to 401120 of us. It is interesting to remember that the Clary family, -citizens of Marseilles in the late eighteenth century, were among the earliest French acquaintances of the young brothers Bona- parte. But even before they came on the scene, Bernadotte, a young private soldier, returning from Corsica with his regiment, was billeted on M. Clary, who, much offended, got him exchanged for an officer. Desiree was then five years old. After a string of -odd coincidences, she was engaged to Joseph Bonaparte, and then to Napoleon, who broke off with her when his growing ambition soared to a wife of better worldly position. Her elder sister -Julie, an exoellent woman, became the wife of Joseph. In 1798 Desiree married Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, seventeen years older than herself. Her chief reason was that he seemed a likely rival to Napoleon. He was a distinguished soldier and a good man, in appearance like the great Conde, and further greatness had been prophesied for him by an old clairvoyants. The whole story is one of those romances of a new world in the making, which have always, from their fairy-tale character, a certain fascination. When Bernadotte became Prince Royal of Sweden, Desiree journeyed north to join her husband. But she found Sweden unbearably cold and dull, and soon hurried back to Paris, where she remained, through Empire and Restoration, long after the death of Charles xm. of Sweden had made her husband King. At length she unwillingly went back to Sweden for her son's marriage, and finally made her home there, on excellent terms with her husband and everybody else, leading a cheerful and contented life in spite of being French and Parisian to her fingers' ends. Mrs. Bearne's amusing book gives a capital picture of Napoleon's France. The subject is inexhaustible. The Bona- parte family in all its first glory appears more disagreeable than ever; and as to the great Napoleon himself, every additional anecdote, every trait newly noticed, goes to prove the smallness of his character.
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