The fact that M. de Tascher and his family settled in St. Lucia after the Treaty of Paris, is too well established to require corroboration. The fact that his residence there extended from 1763 to 1771, is no less certain. While collecting materials some years ago for the history of St. Lucia, I met with the most authentic proofs of this circumstance; but having returned the books and documents to the several parties to whom they belonged, I am unable at this moment to give a special reference under this head. As regards the particular date of Mademoiselle De Tascher's birth, I am indebted for a knowledge of it to no less an authority than M. Sidney Daney, the author of a voluminous history of Martinique, who, while asserting that she was born on the paternal estate in that island, records the date in the following words:
"Cette année 1764 fut signalée par la naissance d'une femme qui, tout en parvenant à la plus glorieuse des destinées humaines, devait être à la fois le symbole le plus doux de cette divine charité. Le vingt-quatre Juin naquit aux Trois-Ilets, sur l'habitation de ses parens, Marie Josephine Rose Tascher de la Pagerie."
That the claim of St. Lucia to the honour of having given birth to that remarkable woman is no idle dream, no imaginary pretension, now set up for the first time, can be shown by many circumstances. From her coronation in 1804, to her death in 1814, there were several persons in St. Lucia who asserted their knowledge of the fact. Some of them were still living in 1825, when the late Sir John Jeremie came to St. Lucia and collected information on the subject. In 1831 that able judge published in a local newspaper a short historical notice of St. Lucia, in which he gives the following unequivocal testimony on this question. I quote from the St. Lucia Gazette and Public Advertiser of 23rd February, 1831:
"On the summit of one of its (St. Lucia's) highest mountains, the Paix-Bouche (a word which in Negro-French is significantly expressive of silence), on a spot surrounded by trees, apparently the growth of centuries, it might be supposed that here at least the very name of the extraordinary being who has given an impulse to the age of Napoleon had scarcely reached. A few yards from the almost impracticable and faintly traced path is the mouldering foundation of a decayed cottage. That was the birthplace of Josephine. The inhabitants of Martinique, with whom all the St. Lucia families are connected, lay claim to Josephine as their countrywoman. The fact is, however, as I have stated it; and this was admitted by one of her own family at Martinique to a lady of our island, but with the truly French addition, 'qu'elle n'avait fait qu'y naître.' The companion of her childhood was Mr. Martin Raphael, late a councillor of the royal court, who is still living, and who on visiting France was kindly received by her at Malmaison. Madame Delomel, who died but a few months ago at a very advanced age, knew her well."
On my arrival in St. Lucia in 1831, an old woman of colour, named Dédé, was pointed out to me as having been in the service of the Taschers at Morne Paix-Bouche. She was then residing with the family of Mr. R. Juge, the President of the Court of First Instance, and that gentleman assured me that nothing was more certain than that Josephine was born in St. Lucia. I afterwards had several conversations with Dédé on the subject, and she confirmed Mr. Juge's statement, adding that she was present at the time of Josephine's birth, and was employed as her bonne until the departure of the family for Martinique. Dédé was an intelligent old dame, then about eighty years of age, and was greatly respected by every one.
I am aware that all this is at variance with the biographical records of our time, which assign Martinique as the place of Josephine's birth. But this inaccuracy may be accounted for on the following grounds. 1st. St. Lucia is within a short distance of Martinique, and at the period of Josephine's birth was a dependency, a portion, as it were, of that colony. 2nd. The family had long been settled in Martinique before they came to St. Lucia, and all their predilections were for the former island. 3rd. Their sojourn in St. Lucia was not of long duration, and in a few years the circumstance of their having been there at all was probably forgotten by the public. 4th. There was no priest in St. Lucia in 1764, by whom the child might have been christened, and the place of her birth established beyond dispute. 5th. When at a subsequent period she was baptized in Martinique, it happened naturally enough that there was no one present who had any knowledge of her having been born in St. Lucia, or who felt any concern in the matter. 6th. M. De Tascher had now become a personage of some distinction, and he was probably not unwilling to efface the recollection of his having been, at one time, a needy planter in the wilds of St. Lucia. 7th. Facts which have since acquired an obvious importance, were of none at all in 1771. The suppression of such a circumstance, whether intentional or accidental, would have attracted no notice at that period of the history of the Taschers. It was not then anticipated that a member of the family would, at no very remote period, become associated with the greatest actor in the most extraordinary revolution in the world's history, and prove herself not unworthy of so exalted a destiny.
All that relates to the Empress Josephine receives an added degree of interest from recent occurrences. It would be strange if the wife who was discarded by Napoleon because she could not give him an heir for the imperial throne, should give him, if not an heir, his first successor, in the person of her grandson, Prince Louis Napoleon. As regards St. Lucia, too, there is a coincidence which may be worth mentioning. When Napoleon fell into our hands after the battle of Waterloo, St. Lucia was the place first selected for his exile; but in consequence of the dangers likely to arise frown its proximity to Martinique, the scheme was relinquished, and the preference given to St. Helena.
HENRY H. BREEN.
St. Lucia.