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84
Recollections of
[Ch. VIII.

have induced him to listen to such a measure but political motives; no other reason could have persuaded him to separate himself from a wife whom he so tenderly loved. But he thanked God she had died in time to prevent her witnessing his last misfortune. She was the greatest patroness of the fine arts that had been known in France for a series of years; she had frequently little disputes with Denon, and even with himself, when she wanted to procure fine statues and pictures for her own gallery instead of the Museum. "But though I loved to attend to her whims, yet I always acted first to please the nation; and whenever I obtained a fine statue or valuable picture, I sent it there for the people's benefit. Josephine was grace personified; every thing she did was marked with it. She never acted inelegantly during the whole time we lived together. Her toilet was perfec-

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