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174
Recollections of
[Ch. XV.

loud in our praises of the beauty of the child who could have furnished the sculptor with so attractive a subject for his classical art. Napoleon gazed on it with proud satisfaction, and was evidently much delighted at our warm encomiums upon its loveliness. My mother told him he ought indeed to exult at being the father of such a beautiful creature as that boy must be. Smiles seemed to light up his face, and my mother often said, she never saw a countenance at the time so interestingly expressive of parental fondness. The bust of the young Napoleon was the size of life, exquisitely chiselled in white marble; and on it was inscribed "Napoleon Francois Charles Joseph," &c., it bore the decoration of the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour. It was sent mysteriously to Napoleon, and arrived in charge of a sailor, who had received it through the orders of Marie Louise: the sculptor resided at Leghorn, and the empress had it conveyed to the gunner of a ship bound for St. Helena, (it