education; and, both from her charms and position in life, was one of the most admired women in Paris. Her marriage was not one of her choice; Napoleon obliged her to give her hand to his brother Louis. This match took place on the 4th. of January, 1802; and never was a wedding more gloomy! Louis was an honourable, an amiable, a cultivated man; Hortense, one of the most fascinating women; yet both were averse to the union. Neither could estimate the merits of the other.
In 1806, Louis Bonaparte was made King of Holland by Napoleon; but Louis cared little for the show and state of royalty, and after a few years of discontent, having abdicated his nominal sovereignty in favour of his eldest son, Napoleon Charles, he appointed his wife Hortense regent She had left him, and gone to Pads to enjoy the pleasures of the court circle.
After Holland was incorporated with France, Hortense was obliged to relinquish the title of queen, and was usually styled Countess of St. Leu; yet she was recognised as the Ex-queen of Holland by many of the French writers of that time; she bore her reverses better than her exaltation; was an affectionate mother, and a devoted daughter; for many of her errors, the peculiar circumstances in which she was placed, are a palliation, if not an excuse.
She had a talent for making occasional poems for society. Her romances, for which she also composed the music, have been published in a collected form; some of these obtained great popularity. She died in 1847.
Hortense had three children—the above-mentioned Napoleon Charles, who died in childhood; Napoleon Louis, who was killed at an insurrection at Romagna in 1832; and Charles Louis Napoleon, now Emperor of the French, whose career has been one of extraordinary vicissitude.
HOUDETOT, SOPHIE DE LA BRICHE, COUNTESS D',
Was born at Paris, in 1730. Her father was an officer of the government; and she married the Count d'Houdetot in 1748. This lady was the friend of St. Lambert, and was highly esteemed by Rousseau and Marmontel.
The power by which Madame d'Houdetot captivated the gay, handsome, dissipated St. Lambert, or kindled the imagination of Rousseau, was not that of beauty. Her face was plain, and slightly marked with the small-pox; her eyes were not good; she was extremely short-sighted, which made her often appear ungraceful; she was small in person, and, but for her warm kindness of heart and cheerful sunshine of spirit, would have been quite overlooked in the world. To her singular power of charming, Madame d'Houdetot added talents of no common order, though never much cultivated. She was a musician, a poet, a wit; but every thing "par la grace de Dieu" However, all these gifts, and her benevolence of her nature, will not make amends for her bad morals. She died in 1813, aged eighty-three. Her poems were only published as fugitive pieces.
HOWARD, ANNE, VISCOUNTESS IRWIN,
Was daughter of the Earl of Carlisle, and married first the Viscount Irwin, and afterwards Colonel Douglas. She was a poetess, and wrote in a very spirited style. She died in 1760. The best
