The first consul now had leisure to enjoy the tranquillity which he had restored. The _jours de conge_, or _holydays_, on which, retiring to Malmaison, he threw off the cares of state, now came round more frequently. His visitors, on these occasions, were, besides the chief officers of state and of the army, the persons most distinguished for talent and for birth, the historic names of the olden time mingling with the new men of the revolution. Josephine received her visitors with elegance and grace, and with a simplicity which placed every one perfectly at his ease. The amusements were of the simplest kind. The favorite was the familiar, schoolboy game of "prison-bars." Bonaparte, in the selection of partisans, always chose Josephine, never suffering her to be in any camp but his own. When by chance she was taken prisoner, he seemed uneasy till she was released, making all exertions for that purpose, though a bad runner himself, often coming down, in mid career, plump upon the grass. Up again, however, he started, but usually so convulsed with laughter that he could not move, and the affair generally ended in his own captivity. But Josephine did not neglect the higher duties of her station. From the moment she had the power, her endeavors were used to alleviate the misfortunes of those whom the revolution had driven into exile, and a considerable portion of her income was devoted to their support. To the general act of amnesty, which the consul had issued on his access to power, there were many exceptions. To smooth the difficulties which lay in the way of the return of such, Josephine's influence and exertions were seldom denied, and rarely unsuccessful. "Josephine," as her husband remarked, "will not take a refusal; but, it must be confessed, she rarely undertakes a cause that has not propriety, at least, on its side."