I have been shown under the strictest promise of secrecy copies of several of the private letters that were intercepted after ye engagement of the 1st of August.[226] There is only one from Bonaparte. It places that extraordinary man in a far more amiable point of view than I had seen him in before. It is to his brother,[227] to whom he appears to be most tenderly attached; he describes himself as disgusted with life and mankind, that at 29 he has exhausted the _attraits_ of ambition and glory, and that he has been deceived by those he trusted most in. He says, ‘Le voile est levé,’ and that his brother alone is left him to love, though he is unfortunate in being compelled to love a person ‘dans tous les cas.’ He desires him to get a small house in Burgundy, as his means are too slender for a large establishment, and that he hopes to be in Paris in two months, and that his ‘âme a besoin d’isolement.’ [Sidenote: INTERCEPTED LETTERS] This letter would be unintelligible without the key of Beauharnais’ letter to his mother. After much affection, he says the General has been _triste_ for many days, but more so since an ‘entretien particulier avec Berthier.’ His melancholy proceeds from ‘chagrins domestiques,’ aggravated by stories told him by Berthier, who informed him that Mde. Bonaparte had brought ‘Charles’ (who is he?) in her carriage from Plombières to within three posts of Paris, and that she had gone ‘au quatrième aux Italiens’ with him, and various other little trifles amounting to ‘confirmation, strong as proofs in Holy Writ,’ to a jealous mind. In short, it appears that Berthier has acted Iago, and that the conqueror of Italy is as jealous as a Turk. The son-in-law [_sic_] adds that the only difference in B.’s behaviour towards him is a _redoublement_ of kindness if possible. These letters are not to be published; it perhaps would be as handsome if the Ministers sent them to their respective addresses. _6th Nov., 1798._--Ld. H. has been laid up for 5 days by a very severe fit of the gout. It is a hard thing to suffer thus before five and twenty, and it is the more distressing as he lives at all times so reasonably that diet can do little for him in future. Strong exercise and frequent jaunts to a warm climate may mitigate future attacks. General Fitzpatrick and Mr. Hare are staying with us a few days; we have had the ladies constantly during this last week. In point of society it is impossible to be better than ours--enough, and that of the best sort, and yet not too numerous.