Glass 
 
 Book ,/\57 
 
ANECDOTES 
 
 (i 
 
 CHARACTERISTICS ~ 
 
 2VC® 
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 
 
 TRANSLATED AND COMPILED 
 
 FROM 
 
 WRITINGS OF NAPOLEON HIMSELF, AND FROM THE MEMOIRS AND 
 MILITARY WORKS OF 
 
 BOURRIENNE, LAS CASES, BERTRAND, ANTOMARCHI, WALTER SCOTT, MON- 
 
 THOLON, LAVALETTE, RAPP, SAVARY, MENEVAL, FAIN, THIBAUDEAU, 
 
 BIGNON, GOURGAUD, SOULT, REAL, MACDONALD, DAVOUST, 
 
 GOUVION, ST. CYR, SUCHET, GROUCHY, BERTHIER, 
 
 MATHIEU DUMAS, IOMINI, PELET, BELLIARD, 
 
 REYNIER, MIOT, CHAMBRAY, MARBOT, 
 
 SEGUR, &C. &C. &C. 
 
 BY AN AMERICAN. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY C. F. STOLLMEYER, No. 65 SOUTH THIRD STREET. 
 
 NEW YORK:— No. 112 FULTON STREET. 
 
 1840. 
 
Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1840, by 
 
 C. F. STOLL MEYER, 
 
 In the Clerk's office of the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern District of 
 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 STEREOTYPED BY S. DOUGLAS WYETH, 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
TO THE PUBLIC 
 
 A man, whose influence extends further than the confines 
 of his native land, belongs to the world, and must be arraigned 
 before its tribunal. — Historians of different nations have 
 attempted to draw the character of Napoleon Bonaparte, 
 but national prejudices have mostly prevented them from 
 judging him impartially. Walter Scott, the far-famed, saw 
 in Napoleon nothing but the French general, who was aiming 
 at the downfall of his, the poet's, country. Old England, 
 with her judges, wearing wigs, and her bishops of £.1 0,000 
 a year, trembled before the republican ideas of France, and 
 before every other innovation, like the princes of the conti- 
 nent, and was as mistrustful of the emperor of the revolu- 
 tion as she had been of the fallen Jaxobins. Opposed to her, 
 stand the French biographers of Napoleon, who, dazzled by 
 the glory of the arms of France, and imposed upon by the 
 appearance that Napoleon aimed at nothing but the hap- 
 piness and the greatness of France, strive to represent even 
 his failings and faults as virtues. The destruction of the 
 French republic they excuse by the sophistical dogma <k that 
 a great nation may be so situated that nothing but one 
 mighty arm can save it, and that, without this single arm, it 
 would perish." Napoleon is held up here as the single man, 
 and thus he is elevated to the position of redeemer of the 
 French nation. 
 
 The fallacy of this French dogma will be easily discovered 
 by every true republican ; he knows that a nation can never 
 be redeemed by a single man, but must at all times rely on 
 itself; for the nation which abandons itself, and places its 
 welfare in the hands of one man, is politically lost.* It risks 
 to become the toy of such a man, whose genius, even if the 
 most elevated, can never be weighed with the mass of Intel- 
 
 * Anarchy is a disease of the commonwealth, but despotism is its 
 death. — Machiavelli. 
 1* 
 
IV TO THE PUBLIC. 
 
 lectual and moral power developed by a general, political 
 activity of a nation, without being found wanting. 
 
 The German historians have done justice to Napoleon, 
 without being blind to his faults and errors. Rotteck, in his 
 "General History of the World," calls him "the spoiled 
 child of the French revolution ;" but, in the same work, he 
 proves that the German princes, who opposed the spirit of 
 the times, and were averse to the general advancement, had 
 deserved the rod with which Napoleon chastised them, and 
 that they are responsible for the endless misery which French 
 wars have brought upon Europe. 
 
 What has been created by the sword, must perish by the 
 sword. By the propagation of ideas of liberty ; by gaining 
 the neighbouring nations for political emancipation ; by the 
 abolition of all privileges and monopolies, and by a free choice 
 of occupation and association, the tory party of Great Britain 
 might have been overthrown, and the rising of a Russian 
 dictatorial power been prevented. France did not fulfil its 
 destiny, and should be a warning example for the republics 
 of the present day. 
 
 The object of this little work is not to give a description 
 of the French revolution, but to present an assemblage of 
 the traits and features of the character of him who has pro- 
 duced a lasting effect on the destiny of nations. To do this 
 conscientiously, the compiler has spared neither pains, time, 
 nor expense. 
 
 Subjects only have been selected, the authenticity of which 
 could be guarantied; the sffrinciple that the character and 
 spirit of a man shows itself in its truest colours in those acts 
 which accident seems to have called forth, has prevailed in 
 the selection of the anecdotes and characteristics. They 
 are, therefore, better adapted to give a correct idea of the 
 character of Napoleon than great and expensive biographies, 
 for the reading of which many have neither time nor incli- 
 nation. May the public reward, by a kind reception, the 
 labours of the compiler and translator. 
 
 THE PUBLISHER. 
 
ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 OF 
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 
 
 Napoleon's person has served as a model for the most skilful 
 painters and sculptors ; many ahle French artists have successfully 
 delineated his features, and yet it may be said that no perfectly 
 faithful portrait of him exists. His finely shaped head, his superb 
 forehead, his pale countenance, and his usual meditative look, have 
 been transferred to the canvass ; but the versatility of his expression 
 was beyond the reach of imitation. All the various workings of his 
 mind were instantaneously depicted in his countenance: and his 
 glance changed from mild to severe, and from angry to good hu- 
 moured, almost with the rapidity of lightning. It may truly be said 
 that he had a particular look for every thought that arose in his 
 mind. 
 
 Napoleon had beautiful hands, and he was very proud of them ; 
 while conversing he would often look at them with an air of self- 
 complacency. He also fancied he had fine teeth, but his pretension 
 to that advantage was not so well founded as his vanity on the score 
 of his hands. 
 
 When walking, either alone or in company with any one, in his 
 apartments or in his gardens, he had the habit of stooping a little, 
 and crossing his hands behind his back. He frequently gave an 
 involuntary shrug of his right shoulder, which was accompanied by 
 a movement of his mouth from left to right. This habit was always 
 
 (5) 
 
G ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 most remarkable when his mind was absorbed in the consideration 
 of any profound subject. It was often while walking that he dic- 
 tated his most important notes. 
 
 He could endure great fatigue, not only on horseback but on foot ; 
 he would sometimes walk for five or six hours in succession without 
 being aware of it. 
 
 When walking with any person whom he treated with familiarity, 
 he would link his arm into that of his companion, or lean on it. 
 
 Napoleon had two ruling passions, glory and war. He was 
 never more gay than in the camp, and never more morose than in 
 the activity of peace. Plans for the construction of public monu- 
 ments also pleased his imagination, and filled up the void caused by 
 the want of active occupation. He was aware that monuments form 
 part of the history of nations, of whose civilization they bear evidence, 
 for ages after those who created them have disappeared from the 
 earth, and that they likewise often bear false witness to remote pos- 
 terity of the reality of merely fabulous conquests. 
 
 Napoleon well knew that the fine arts entail lasting glory on great 
 actions, and consecrate the memory of princes who protect and en- 
 courage them. He would often say, " A great reputation is a great 
 noise : the more is made the farther off it is heard. Laws, insti- 
 tutions, monuments, nations, all fall ; but the noise continues and 
 resounds in after ages." This was one of his favourite ideas. " My 
 power," he would say, " depends on my glory, and my glory on my 
 victories. My power would fall, were I not to support it by new 
 glory and new victories. Conquest has made me what I am, and 
 conquest alone can maintain me." 
 
 This was then, and probably always continued, his predominant idea, 
 and that which prompted him continually to scatter the seeds of war 
 through Europe. He thought that if he remained stationary he 
 would fall, and he was tormented with the desire, of advancing 
 further forward. Not to do something great and decided was, in 
 his opinion, to do nothing. " A newly born government," he would 
 say, " must dazzle and astonish — when it ceases to do that, it falls." 
 He did not esteem mankind, whom he despised more and more in 
 proportion as he became acquainted with them. In him this unfa- 
 vorable opinion of human nature was justified by many glaring 
 examples of baseness, and he used frequently to repeat, " There are 
 two levers for moving man : interest and fear." 
 
 As soon as Napoleon arose, his valet-de-chambre shaved him and 
 dressed his hair — while some person would read to him. He paid 
 
OF NArOLEON BONAPARTE. 7 
 
 little attention to any but the German and English papers. " Pass 
 over all that," he would say of the French papers ; " I know it 
 already. They say only what they think will please me." It was 
 often surprising that his valet did not cut him, for, whenever he 
 heard any thing interesting, he would turn quickly round towards 
 the reader. 
 
 When Napoleon had finished his toilette, which he did with great 
 attention, for he was scrupulously neat in his person, he went down 
 stairs to his cabinet. There he signed the orders on important 
 petitions, which had been analyzed by his secretary on the preceding 
 evening. On reception and parade days he was particularly exact 
 in signing these orders, because he would be likely to see most 
 of the petitioners, and they would ask him for answers. He next 
 perused letters, ranging -them according to their importance. He 
 occasionally wrote the answers himself, but not often. He generally 
 took breakfast at ten, the repast being exceedingly simple. 
 
 Napoleon drank little wine, always either claret or Burgundy, 
 and the latter in preference to the former. After breakfast as well as 
 after dinner, he took a cup of strong coffee. All that has been said 
 about Napoleon's immoderate use of snuff, has no more foundation 
 in truth than his pretended partiality for coffee. It is true, that at 
 an early period of his life, he began to take snuff, but it was very 
 sparingly, and always out of a box ; and if he bore any resemblance 
 to Frederick the Great, it was not by filling his waistcoat-pockets 
 with snuff; for as it has been observed, he carried his notions of 
 personal neatness to a fastidious degree. 
 
 He used often to say when young, " how temperate and how thin 
 I am, but, in spite of that, I cannot help thinking that at forty I shall 
 become a great, eater, and get very fat. I forsee that my constitution 
 will undergo a change. I take a great deal of exercise ; but yet I 
 feel assured that my presentiment will be fulfilled." This idea gave 
 him great uneasiness. 
 
 His partiality for the bath he mistook for a necessity. He would 
 usually remain in the bath two hours at a time, having persons to 
 read to him. 
 
 Napoleon was exceedingly temperate, and averse to all excess. 
 He knew the absurd stories that were circulated about him, and he 
 was sometimes vexed at them, it has been repeated, over and over 
 again, that he was subject to attacks of epilepsy ; but those who have 
 been most intimate with him pronounce it false. His health was 
 good and his constitution sound. If his enemies, by way of reproach, 
 have attributed to him a serious periodical disease, his flatterers, pro- 
 bably under the idea that sleep is incompatible with greatness, have 
 
8 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 evinced an equal disregard of truth in speaking of his night watching. 
 Napoleon made others watch, but he himself slept, and slept well. 
 His orders were to his secretary, that he should call him every 
 morning at seven, but frequently when awoke he would turn himself 
 and say " let me lie a little longer." He, generally, in his latter 
 days, slept seven hours out of the twenty-four, besides taking a short 
 nap in the afternoon. Among the private instructions which 
 Napoleon gave his secretary, one was very curious : — " During the 
 night," said he, " enter my chamber as seldom as possible. Do not 
 awake me when you have any good news to communicate ; with 
 that there is no hurry. But when you bring bad news, rouse me 
 instantly ; for then there is not a moment to be lost. This was a 
 wise regulation, and Bonaparte found his advantage in it. 
 
 One of Napoleon's greatest misfortunes was that he neither be- 
 lieved in friendship, nor felt the necessity of loving. 
 
 He has often been heard to say, "Friendship is but a name; 1 
 love nobody. I do not even love my brothers. Perhaps, Joseph, a 
 little, from habit, and because he is my elder ; and, Duroc, I love him 
 too. But why 1 because his character pleases me. He is stern and 
 resolute ; and I really believe the fellow never shed a tear. For my 
 part I know very well that I have no true friends. As long as I 
 continue what I am, I may have as many pretended friends as I 
 please. Leave sensibility to women ; it is their business. But men 
 should be firm in heart and in purpose, or they should have nothing 
 to do with war or government." 
 
 In his social relations, Bonaparte's temper was bad, but his fits of 
 Jl-humour passed away like a cloud, and spent themselves in words. 
 His violent language and bitter imprecations were frequently pre- 
 meditated. When he was going to reprimand any one, he liked to 
 have a witness present. He would then say the harshest things, 
 and level blows, against which few could bear up. But he never 
 gave way to those violent ebullitions of rage, until he acquired un- 
 doubted proofs of the misconduct of those against whom they were 
 directed. 
 
 When Napoleon was paying his addresses to Madame de Beau- 
 harnais, neither one nor the other kept a carriage ; and, therefore, 
 Napoleon frequently accompanied her when she walked out. One 
 day they went together to the notary Raguideau, one of the shortest 
 of men. Madame Beauharnais placed great confidence in him, and 
 went there on purpose to acquaint him of her intention to marry the 
 young general of artillery — the protege of Barras. Josephine went 
 
OF NAPOLEON BQNAPAKTE. 9 
 
 alone into the notary's cabinet, while Napoleon waited for her in an 
 adjoining room. The door of Raguideau's cabinet did not shut close, 
 and Napoleon plainly heard him dissuading her from her projected 
 marriage : " you are going to take a very wrong step," said he, 
 " and you will be sorry ibr it. Can you be so mad as to marry a 
 young man who has nothing but his cloak and sword V Napoleon 
 never mentioned this to Josephine, and she never supposed that he 
 had heard what fell from Raguideau. Years went on. And when 
 Josephine was dressed in the imperial robes on the coronation day, 
 he desired that Raguideau might be sent for, saying that he wished 
 to see him immediately ; and when Raguideau appeared, he said to 
 him ; " Well ! have I nothing but my cloak and my sword now V 
 
 Napoleon was insensible to the charms of poetic harmony. He 
 had not even sufficient ear to feel the rhythm of poetry, and he never 
 could recite a verse without violating the metre : yet the grand ideas 
 of poetry charmed him. He absolutely worshipped Corneille ; and 
 was known to say " if a man like Corneille were living in my time, 
 I would make him a prince." 
 
 Gallantry to woman was by no means a trait in Napoleon's 
 character. He seldom said anything agreeable to females, and he 
 frequently addressed to them the rudest and most extraordinary re- 
 marks. To one he would say, " Heavens, how red your elbows 
 are !" to another, " What an ugly head-dress you have got !" At 
 another time he would say, " Your dress is none of the cleanest. 
 Do you never change your gown ? I have seen you in that twenty 
 times." He showed no mercy to any who displeased him on these 
 points. He often gave Josephine directions about her toilette, and 
 the exquisite taste for which she was distinguished might have helped 
 to make him fastidious about the costume of other ladies. At first, 
 he looked to elegance above all things ; at a later period, he admired 
 luxury and splendour ; but he always required modesty. He fre- 
 quently expressed his disapproval of the low necked dresses which 
 were so much in fashion at the beginning of the consulate. 
 
 Napoleon, after he became emperor, said one day to the beautiful 
 Duchess de Chevereuse, in the presence of all the circle at the 
 Tuilleries : " Ah ; that's droll enough ! your hair is red !" Perhaps 
 it is, Sire," replied the lady ! " but this is the first time a man ever 
 
10 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 Napoleon paid his own private bills very punctually; but he was 
 always tardy in settling the accounts of the contractors. In his 
 opinion, the terms contractor and rogue were synonymous. 
 
 On the night of the 10th Nivose, the Rue Chantereine, in which 
 Bonaparte had a small house, received, in pursuance of a decree of the 
 department, the name of Rue de la Victoire — the cries of " Vive 
 Bonaparte !" and the incense prodigally offered up to him, did not, 
 however, seduce him from his retired habits. Lately, the conqueror 
 and ruler of Italy, and now under men for whom he had no respect, 
 and who dreaded him as a formidable rival, he said to Bourrienne, 
 one day, " The people of Paris do not remember anything. Were I 
 to remain here long, doing nothing, I should be lost. In this great 
 Babylon one reputation displaces another — let me be seen but three 
 times at the theatre, and 1 shall no longer excite attention ; so I shall 
 go there but seldom." When he went he occupied a box shaded 
 with curtains. The manager of the opera wished to get up a repre- 
 sentation in honour of him ; but he declined the offer. 
 
 Bonaparte having one day visited a school, said, on departing, to 
 the scholars, to some of whom he had been putting questions, " My 
 lads, every hour of lost time is a chance of future misfortune." 
 
 Whilst Napoleon was on board the Orient, on his expedition to 
 Egypt, he called Admiral Brueys, to ascertain what summit was 
 in view, the Admiral immediately pronounced it. the Alps ; at the 
 mention of this word, he stood for a long time motionless ; then, sud- 
 denly bursting from his trance, he exclaimed, " No ! I cannot behold 
 the land of Italy without emotion ! There is the East ! and there I 
 go ! a perilous enterprise invites me ! Those mountains command 
 the plain where I so often had the good fortune to lead the French to 
 victory ! With them we will conquer again !" 
 
 Accidents often occurred of persons falling overboard. On lose 
 occasions nothing was more remarkable than the great humanly of 
 the man who has since been so prodigal of the blood of his Jlow- 
 creatures on the field of battle, and who was about to shed ri . ers of 
 it in Egypt. When a man fell into the sea, the general-in-chief was 
 in a state of agitation till he was saved. He instantly made the ship 
 be laid to, and exhibited the greatest uneasiness until the unfortunate 
 individual was recovered. He ordered those to be rewarded who had 
 ventured their lives in this service. Amongst these, was a sailor 
 who had incurred punishment for some fault. He not only exempted 
 
OF NAFOLEON BONArARTE. 11 
 
 him from the punishment, but also gave him some money. One 
 dark night a noise was heard, like that occasioned by a man falling 
 into the sea. Napoleon instantly caused the ship to be laid to until 
 the supposed victim was rescued from certain death. The men 
 hastened from all sides, and at length they picked up, what? — the 
 quarter of a bullock, which had fallen from the hook to which it was 
 hung. He ordered the sailors who had exerted themselves on this 
 occasion, to be rewarded even more generously than usual, saying, 
 " It might have been a sailor, and these brave fellows have shown 
 as much activity and courage as if it had." 
 
 Napoleon, on arriving at Alexandria, after learning from the 
 French consul, that Nelson had been on the coast, resolved to dis- 
 embark immediately. Admiral Brueys represented the difficulties 
 and dangers of disembarkation — the violence of the surge — -the dis- 
 tance from the coast, &c. The Admiral, therefore, urged the 
 necessity of waiting till next morning ; that is to say, to delay the 
 landing twelve hours. He observed that Nelson could not return 
 from Syria for several days. Bonaparte listened to these represen- 
 tations with impatience and ill-humour. He replied peremptorily, 
 " Admiral, we have no time to lose. Fortune gives me but three 
 days ; if I do not profit by them, we are lost." He relied much on 
 fortune : this chimerical idea constantly influenced his resolutions. 
 
 In September, 1798, when in Egypt, Napoleon ordered to be 
 brought to the house of Elfy Bey, half a dozen Asiatic women, whose 
 beauty he had heard highly extolled. However, their ungraceful 
 obesity displeased him, and they were immediately dismissed. A 
 few days after, he fell violently in love with Madame Soures, the 
 wife of a lieutenant of infantry. She was very pretty, and her 
 charms were enhanced by the rarity of seeing a woman, in Egypt, 
 who was calculated to please the eye of a European. Napoleon 
 en-aged for her a house adjoining the palace of Elfy Bey, which he 
 occupied. He frequently ordered dinner to be prepared there. This 
 connexion soon became the subject of gossip at head-quarters. 
 Th? § gh a feeling of delicacy to M. Soures, the general-in-chief gave 
 him a ; mission to the directory. He embarked at Alexandria, and 
 the ship was captured by the English, who being informed of the 
 cause of his mission, were malicious enough to send him back to 
 Egypt, instead of keeping him prisoner. Napoleon wished to have 
 had a child by Madame Soures, but this wish was not realized. 
 
12 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 In general, Napoleon was not fond of cards, but if he did play, vingt- 
 et-un was his favourite game, because it is more rapid than many 
 others, and because, in short, it afforded him an opportunity of 
 cheating. For example, he would ask for a card, if it proved a bad 
 one he would say nothing, but lay it down on the table, and wait till 
 the dealer had drawn his. If the dealer produced a good card, then 
 Napoleon would throw aside his hand, without showing it, and give 
 up his stake, if on the contrary, the dealer's card made him exceed 
 twenty-one, Napoleon also threw his cards aside, without showing 
 them, and asked for the payment of his stake. He was much 
 diverted by these little tricks, especially when they were played off 
 undetected; but, however, he never appropriated to himself the fruit 
 of these dishonesties ; for at the end of the game he gave up all his 
 winnings, and they were equally divided. Gain, as may readily, be 
 supposed, was not his object, but he always expected that fortune 
 would grant him an ace or a ten at the right moment, with the same 
 confidence with which he looked for fine weather on the day of a 
 battle. If he were disappointed he wished nobody to know it. 
 
 Napoleon also played at chess, but very seldom, because he was 
 only a third rate player, and he did not like to be beaten at that 
 game, which is said to bear a resemblance to the grand, game of 
 war — at this latter game, Napoleon certainly feared no adversary. 
 
 When Napoleon was leaving Passeriano, he announced his inten- 
 tion of passing through Mantua. He was told that the commandant 
 of that town, General Beauvoir asked him to point out any particular 
 pawn with which he would be check mated ; adding, that if the 
 pawn were taken, he, Napoleon, should be declared the winner. 
 Napoleon pointed out the last pawn on the left of his adversary. A 
 mark was put upon it, and it turned out that he actually was check 
 mated with that very pawn. Napoleon was not very well pleased 
 with this. Generally as soon as a game was decided in his favour, 
 he declined playing any longer, preferring to rest on his laurels. 
 
 On Napoleon's return to France from his Egyptian campaign, 
 about two days after leaving the Gulf of Ajaccio, just at sunset, an 
 English squadron of fourteen sail hove in sight. The English, having 
 advantage of the light, saw the French better than they could see 
 them. They recognised the two frigates as Venetian built ; but 
 luckily for the French, night come on, for they were not far apart. 
 They saw the signals of the English for a long time, and heard the 
 report of the guns more and more to the left ; and they thought it 
 was the intention of the cruisers to intercept them on the south-east. 
 Under these circumstances Napoleon had reason to thank fortune ; 
 for it was very evident that had the English suspected the two 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 13 
 
 frigates of coming from the east, and going to France, they would 
 have shut them out from land by running between them and it, 
 winch to them was very easy. Probably they took them for a convoy 
 of provisions going .from Toulon to Genoa ; and it was to this error 
 and the darkness that they were indebted for escaping with no worse 
 consequences than a fright. 
 
 During the remainder of the night, the utmost agitation prevailed 
 on board the Muiron — Gantheaume, especially, was in a state of 
 anxiety, which it is impossible to describe, and which it was painful 
 to witness; he was quite beside himself, for a disaster appeared 
 inevitable. He proposed to return to Corsica. " No, no :" replied 
 Napoleon, imperiously. " No : spread all sail : every man at his 
 post i To the north-west ! To the north-west !" This order saved 
 them, and it was affirmed, that in the midst of almost general alarm, 
 Napoleon was solely occupied in giving orders. The rapidity of his 
 judgment seemed to grow in the face of danger. 
 
 The presentation of sabres and muskests of honour, originated at 
 the Luxemburg ; and this practice was without doubt, a preparatory 
 step to the foundation of the legion of honour. A grenadier ser- 
 geant, named Leon Aune, who had been included in the first distri- 
 bution, easily obtained permission to write to the first consul to thank 
 him. Napoleon, sent him the following answer. 
 
 "I have received your letter, my brave comrade. You needed not 
 to have told me of your exploits, for you are the bravest grenadier 
 in the whole army, since the death of Benezete. You received one 
 of the hundred sabres I distributed to the army, and all agreed you 
 most deserved it. I wish very much to see you. The war minister 
 sends you an order to come to Paris." 
 
 In 1800 the English had refused to comprehend in a cartel for the 
 exchange of prisoners seven thousand Russians taken in Holland. 
 Napoleon having in the meantime, discovered the chivalrous and 
 somewhat eccentric character of Paul I., thought the moment a pro- 
 pitious one to attempt breaking the bands which united Russia and 
 England. He ordered them all to be armed, and clothed in new 
 uniforms appropriate to the corps to which they belonged, and sent 
 them back to Russia, without ransom, without exchange, or any, 
 condition whatever. This judicious munificence was not thrown i 
 away. Paul showed himself deeply sensible of it, and closely allied' 
 as he had lately been with England, he now all at once, declared 
 himself her enemy. This triumph of policy delighted Napoleon. 
 Thenceforth Napoleon and the czar became the best friends possible. 
 
14 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 They strove to outdo each other in professions of friendship, and it 
 may be believed that Napoleon did not fail to turn this contest of 
 politeness to his advantage. He so well worked upon the mind of 
 Paul, that he succeeded in obtaining a direct influence over the 
 cabinet of St. Petersburg. 
 
 Napoleon's mother, who was possessed of great bodily, as well 
 as mental vigour, and who had braved the dangers of war during 
 her pregnancy, wished to attend mass on account of the solemnity 
 of the day, it being the Ascension day ; she was, however, taken ill 
 at church, and on her return home was delivered before she could 
 be conveyed to her chamber. The child, as soon as it was born, 
 was laid on the carpet, which was an old fashioned one, representing 
 at full length, the heroes of fable, or, perhaps, of the Iliad : — this 
 child was Napoleon. 
 
 In his boyhood, Napoleon was turbulent, adroit, lively, and agile, 
 in the extreme. He had gained, he used to say, the most complete 
 ascendency over his elder brother, Joseph. 
 
 It is proved, though, in contradiction to many assertions, that he 
 was, when first at the military school at Brienne, mild, quiet, and sus- 
 ceptible. One day, the quarter-master, who was a man of harsh 
 disposition, and who never took the trouble of considering the physi- 
 cal and moral shades of character in each individual scholar, con- 
 demned Napoleon, by way of punishment, to wear the serge coat, 
 and to take his dinner on his knees, at the door of the refectory. 
 Napoleon, who had a vast share of pride and self-conceit, was so 
 mortified by this disgrace, that he was seized with violent retchings, 
 and suffered a severe nervous attack. The head master of the 
 school happening accidentally to pass by, relieved him from the 
 punishment, reproving the quarter- master for his want of discern- 
 ment. 
 
 On attaining the age of puberty, Napoleon's temper became mo- 
 rose and reserved ; his passion for reading was carried to excess ; 
 and he eagerly devoured the contents of every book that fell in his 
 way. Pichegru was at this time his quarter-master, and his tutor 
 in the four rules of arithmetic. 
 
 While Napoleon was quite young, he conceived an attachment for 
 Mademoiselle du Colombier, who, on her part, was not insensible to 
 his merits. It was the first love of both; and it was that kind of 
 love which might be expected to arise at their age, and with their 
 education. " We were the most innocent creatures imaginable," 
 the emperor used to say, " we contrived little meetings together ; 1 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 15 
 
 well remember one which took place on Midsummer morning, just 
 as daylight began to dawn. It will scarcely be believed that all our 
 happiness consisted in eating cherries together." 
 
 The death of this lady happened about the time of the breaking 
 out of the Revolution. The emperor never spoke of Madame du 
 Colombier, but with expressions of the tenderest gratitude ; and he 
 did not hesitate to acknowledge that the valuable introductions and 
 superior rank in society which she procured for him, had great in- 
 fluence over his destiny. 
 
 When reviewing the second regiment of horse chasseurs, at Lo- 
 benstein, two days before the battle of Jena, Napoleon, addressing 
 the colonel, said : " How many men are there here ?" " Five hun- 
 dred," replied the colonel ; " but there are many raw troops among 
 them." " What signifies that," said the emperor, in a tone which 
 denoted surprise at the observation, " are they not all Frenchmen ?" 
 Then turning to the regiment, " My lads," said he, « you must not 
 fear death. When soldiers brave death, they drive him into the 
 enemies' ranks." He here made a motion with his arm, expressive 
 of the action to which he alluded. At these words a sudden move- 
 ment among the troops, accompanied by a murmur of enthusiasm, 
 seemed to foretell the memorable victory of Rosbach, which took 
 place forty-eight hours after. 
 
 At the battle of Lutzen the army was chiefly composed of con- 
 scripts, who had never been in any engagement. It is said that in 
 the heat of the action, Napoleon rode along the rear of the third rank 
 of infantry, supporting and encouraging the young troops. " This is 
 nothing, my lads," said he " stand firm. France has her eye on 
 you. Show that you can die for your country." 
 
 Two days before the battle of Austerlitz a portion of the army 
 was stationed in an unfavourable position, and the general who oc- 
 cupied it exaggerated its disadvantages. However, when the council 
 was assembled, he not only admitted that the position was tenable, 
 but he even promised to defend it. " How is this marshal," said the 
 grand duke of Berg. " What has become of the doubts you expressed 
 but a short while ago. What signifies flattering, when we have 
 met for the purpose of deliberating," said Marshal Lannes in his 
 turn. " We must represent things in their true light to the emperor ; 
 and I leave him to do what he may deem expedient." " You are right" 
 said Napoleon ; " those who wish to win my crood graces must not 
 deceive me. 
 
16 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 One evening, after the battle of Wagram, Napoleon and his 
 officers were playing at vingt-et-un. Napoleon was very fond of 
 this game ; he used to try to deceive those he was playing with, and 
 was much amused at the tricks he played. He had a great quantity 
 of gold spread out upon the table before him. " Rapp," said he, 
 " are not the Germans very fond of these little Napoleons." " Yes, 
 Sire, they like them much better than great ones." " That, I sup- 
 pose," said he, " is what you call German frankness." 
 
 The activity of Napoleon's mind seldom admitted of an interval 
 between the conception and the execution of a design; but when he 
 reflected coolly on the first impulses of his imperious will, his judg- 
 ment discarded what was erroneous. The best way to serve the 
 emperor, was never to listen to the suggestions of his first ideas, 
 except on the field of battle, where his conceptions were as happy as 
 they were rapid. M. de Talleyrand was almost the only one among 
 the ministers, who did not flatter the emperor, and he was, certainly, 
 the minister who best served him. When Napoleon said to M. de 
 Talleyrand, " Write so and so, and send it off by a courier imme- 
 diately," that minister was never in a hurry to obey the order, 
 because he knew the character of the emperor well enough to dis- 
 tinguish between what his passion dictated and what his reason 
 would approve; in short," he appealed from Philip drunk to Philip 
 sober. When it happened that M. de Talleyrand suspended the 
 execution of an order, Napoleon never evinced the least displeasure. 
 When the day after he had received any hasty and angry order, 
 M. de Talleyrand presented himself to the emperor, the latter would 
 say — " Well, did you send off the courier ?" " No," the minister 
 would reply, " I took care not to do so before I showed you my 
 letter." Then the emperor would usually add — "Upon second 
 thoughts, I think it would be best not to send it." This was the 
 way to deal with Napoleon. When Talleyrand postponed sending 
 off despatches, which had been dictated by anger, and had emanated 
 neither from his heart nor understanding, he would say, " It was 
 right — quite right — you understand me. This is the way to serve 
 me : the others do not leave me time for reflection. They are too 
 precipitate." 
 
 Although Napoleon was by no means averse to profit by treason, 
 when it served his purpose, yet the traitor was at all times to him 
 an object of dislike. When in the campaign of 1806, the citadel of 
 
 E , which, if the advice of an old general had been taken, 
 
 would have proved a considerable obstacle to the progress of the 
 
OP NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 17 
 
 French army — was surrendered by the Governor, the latter, some 
 weeks after the capitulation had been signed, applied for a commis- 
 sion in the French army. Napoleon assured him, that for consis- 
 tency's sake, he could not employ foreigners on his staff, as all his 
 officers had served from the ranks and become gray in his service. 
 He now requested to be employed in the Commissariat Department, 
 but met with a similar refusal. At last he applied to General 
 Davoust praying for his intercession. 
 
 The general, although aware of the emperor's ideas on the sub- 
 ject, took the first favourable opportunity to speak to him on behalf 
 of the ex-governor ; describing his distress, and asked whether some- 
 thing might not be done for him. Napoleon was dismayed at the 
 intercession, and said peevishly : " General, do you want me to put 
 a foreign rascal into a situation which might be held by an honest 
 Frenchman? How can I assist him without fearing evil conse- 
 quences? If I take him into the army he may treat France as he 
 has treated his own country, and if I employ him in the Commis- 
 sariat he will cheat the army, neither of which ought to take place, 
 therefore, not a word more about him." 
 
 Some years later, Napoleon, who had notwithstanding allowed 
 him a small sum, scarcely sufficient to support him, passed some 
 
 time in E . The ex-governor wrote a memorial full of 
 
 lamentations, praying for an increased allowance or some trifling 
 situation, describing his situation as very distressing. Napoleon 
 returned the memorial, with these words at the bottom : 
 
 " Bravery and fidelity alone will ever be rewarded by 
 
 Napoleon." 
 
 After having given any one an important mission, or traced out 
 the plan of any great enterprise, Napoleon used frequently to say, 
 " Come, sir, be speedy, use despatch ; and do not forget that the 
 world was created in six days." On occasions of this kind, he con- 
 cluded by observing to the individual whom he was addressing, 
 "Ask me for whatever you please, except time; that's the only 
 thing that is beyond my power." 
 
 When in a good humour, Napoleon's usual token of kindness 
 consisted in a little rub on the head or a slight pinch of the ear. In 
 his most friendly conversations with those whom he admitted into 
 his intimacy, he would say, " You are a fool," — " a simpleton," — 
 " a ninny," — " a block head." These and a few other words of like 
 import, enabled him to vary his catalogue of compliments ; but he 
 2 
 
18 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 never employed them angrily, and the tone in which they were 
 uttered sufficiently indicated that they were meant in kindness. 
 
 Nai»oleon had many singular habits and tastes. Whenever he 
 experienced any vexation, or when any unpleasant thought occupied 
 his mind, he would hum something which was far from resembling 
 a tune, for his voice was very unmusical. He would at the same 
 time, seat himself before the writing table, and swing back in his 
 chair so far, that he was often in danger of falling. He would then 
 vent his ill humour on the right arm of his chair, mutilating it with 
 his pen-knife, which he seemed 'to keep for no other purpose. 
 
 The ringing of bells always produced in Napoleon sensations, 
 which were not easy to account for. When he was at Malmaison, 
 and walking in the alley leading to the plain of Ruel, he would 
 stop, lest the noise of his footsteps should drown any portion of the 
 delightful sound. He was almost angry with his friends, if they did 
 not experience the impressions he did.i So powerful was the effect 
 produced upon him by the sound of these bells, that his voice would 
 falter, as he said — "Ah! that reminds me of the first years that I 
 spent at Brienne; I was then happy!" When the bells ceased, he 
 would resume the course of speculations, carry himself into futurity, 
 place a crown on his head and dethrone kings. 
 
 The Prefect and the Emperor. — Beugnot was prefect during the 
 reign of the emperor, and like his colleagues devoted much of his 
 time to statistics, as a means to please the emperor. When Napo- 
 leon was travelling through Beugnot's province, he was told that it 
 was impossible to puzzle the prefect, who had an answer for every 
 question. " We shall see," said Napoleon, and at the first oppor- 
 tunity, he asked him with his most sarcastic smile : — " Prefect, how 
 many birds of passage have you had this year in your province '/" 
 Beugnot answered without being the least disconcerted : " One, 
 your majesty, an eagle." 
 
 A citizen of the suburbs of Saint Germain, had lost a lawsuit, 
 which was for him of great importance. Being unable to pay the 
 costs, and having made use of some rather harsh expressions as to 
 the decision, he was condemned to one months' imprisonment. In 
 the meantime he learned that his lawyer had received a bribe from 
 his opponent, he immediately informed the judge of the tribunal of 
 this circumstance, and requested another trial, which was, however, 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 19 
 
 refused. Having no means to appeal the case to a higher tribunal, he 
 went to the emperor and related to him the circumstances. Napoleon 
 sent for the judge and inquired into the matter. The judge said that 
 he did not consider deception impossible, and that, according to the 
 statement of the citizen, he thought it probable that something of a 
 similar nature had taken place. Napoleon now gave orders for a 
 new trial and told the judge to pay the costs himself. The trial 
 re- commenced, and the result showed that the poor citizen had been 
 infamously imposed upon and reduced to beggary, this, as well as 
 the condemnation of the lawyer, was communicated to Napoleon. 
 He immediately ordered the judge to dismiss the lawyer from the 
 bar, and to declare him forever incapable of holding any public situ- 
 ation, in addition to the imprisonment awarded to him, which was 
 four months imprisonment, payment of all cost, and indemnification 
 of the citizen for the loss he had suffered. Napoleon signed the 
 verdict himself, which was but rarely the case. 
 
 Napoleon was seen to less advantage in a drawing room, than 
 at the head of his troops. His military uniform became him much 
 better than the handsomest dress of any other kind. 
 
 His waistcoats and small clothes were always of white cassimere. 
 He changed them every morning, and never wore them after they 
 had been washed three or four times. He never wore any but white 
 silk stockings. His shoes, which were very light, and lined with 
 silk, were ornamented with gold buckles of an oval form, either plain 
 or wrought. He also, occasionally, wore gold knee-buckles. Dur- 
 ing the empire he was never known to wear pantaloons. 
 
 Napoleon never wore jewels. In his pockets he carried neither 
 purse nor money ; but merely his handkerchief, snuff-box, and bon- 
 boniere (or sweetmeat-box). He usually wore only two decorations, 
 viz. — the cross of the legion of honour, and that of the iron crown. 
 Across his waistcoat, and under his uniform coat, he wore a cordon- 
 rough, the two ends of which were scarcely perceptible. When he 
 received company at the Tuilleries, or attended a review, he wore 
 the grand cordon on the outside of his coat. His hat was of an ex- 
 tremely fine and light kind of beaver. The inside was wadded and 
 lined with silk. It was unadorned with either cord, tassel, or feather, 
 its only ornament being a silk loop, fastening a small tri-coloured 
 cockade. 
 
 Napoleon used to relate, " one of my comrades, who lodged 
 above me, unluckily took a fancy to learn to play the horn, and 
 made such a hideous noise as completely disturbed the studies of 
 
 2* 
 
20 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 those who were within hearing ; we met each other one day on the 
 stairs ; ' Are you not tired of practising the horn V said I. ' Not 
 at all,' he replied. ' At any rate, you tire other people.' * I am 
 sorry for it.' < It were better if you went to practise elsewhere.' « I 
 am master of my own apartment !' * Perhaps you may be taught 
 to entertain a doubt on that point.' 'I scarce think any one 
 will be bold enough to attempt to teach me that.' A challenge 
 ensued ; but before the antagonists met, the affair was submitted to 
 the consideration of a council of the cadets, and it was determined 
 that the one should practise the horn at a greater distance, and that 
 the other should be more accommodating. 
 
 More than one conspiracy was formed to carry away the flags to 
 Alexandria, and other things of the same sort. The influence, the 
 character, and the glory of the general, could alone restrain the 
 troops. One day, Napoleon, losing his temper, in his turn, rushed 
 among a group of discontented generals, and addressing himself to 
 the tallest, "you have held mutinous language," "said he with vehe- 
 mence, " take care that 1 do not fulfil my duty ; your height should 
 not save you from being shot in a couple of hours." 
 
 During the campaign of Russia, Napoleon one day rode by a 
 burning village, and found a light-horseman of the Dutch guard, who 
 stood only a few paces from a house which was nearly burnt to the 
 ground, and who was about tying a coffee-kettle to a long pole. 
 Napoleon, who could not imagine what the light-horseman intended 
 to do, asked him : " Comrade ! what are you doing there ?" " Sire !" 
 answered the soldier, " I am going to boil my coffee." Napoleon 
 laughed aloud at this new method of boiling coffee, and said that it 
 was not probable that any family in Paris boiled their coffee by so 
 extravagant a fire as this light-horseman did in Russia. 
 
 Poor Josephine paid dearly for the splendour of her station ! She 
 had been long aware of the calumnious reports circulated respecting 
 the supposed connexion between Hortense and Napoleon, and that 
 base accusation cost her many tears. Napoleon, however, dazzled 
 by the affection which was manifested towards him from all quar 
 ters, aggravated the sorrow of his wife, by a silly vanity. He en- 
 deavoured to persuade her that these reports had their origin only in 
 the wish of the public that he should have a child ; so that these 
 seeming consolations, offered by self-love to maternal grief, gave 
 force to existing conjugal alarms, and the fear of a divorce returned 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 21 
 
 with all its horrors. Under the foolish illusion of his vanity, Napo- 
 ieon imagined that France was desirous of being governed even by a 
 illegitimate, if supposed to be a child of his. 
 
 On one occasion, Napoleon commissioned a person to execute 
 some important business, which he expected would be finished in the 
 course of the same day. It was not, however, completed until late 
 on the following day. At this, the emperor manifested some 
 degree of dissatisfaction ; and the individual, in the hope of excusing 
 himself, said that he had worked all day. " But had you not the 
 night also ?" replied Napoleon. 
 
 Long Noses. — Napoleon was in the habit of saying : " When I 
 required a man for head work, I always take one with a long nose, 
 if I can find one who has the necessary qualifications. He breathes 
 boldly and freely, and his brain, heart, and lungs, are cold and clear. 
 In my study of human nature, I have almost invariably found that 
 a long nose and a good head are inseparable." 
 
 In the year 1808, the empress Josephine, advised by several 
 ladies of the court, had ordered for herself and her family Turkish 
 shawls and other finery, by mail from Vienna, among which there 
 were some English manufactures. They were addressed to a lady 
 of the court. The parcel, which was very valuable, was seized in 
 Strasburg by the custom-house officers, and the occurrence reported 
 to the lady by a friend. The lady communicated this intelligence 
 to the empress, who applied to Napoleon for the restoration of the 
 articles, requesting him to send an order to that effect to the custom- 
 house as no attention had been paid to the application of the lady, 
 who had stated that these things did not belong to herself, but to her 
 imperial mistress. Napoleon shrugged his shoulders, smiled, and 
 said — " Madam, I can do nothing in this case, I cannot violate the 
 laws ; you may be very well satisfied to lose nothing but the goods, 
 for if it is found out that you are the proprietor, your name will 
 appear on the list of smugglers." Some time after the emperor's 
 mother, who also had some articles of value in the parcel, spoke to 
 him on the subject ; but he was immovable, and a month or two 
 after, all these fine things were sold at Strasburg for the benefit of 
 the custom-house officers and the state, the latter receiving two- 
 thirds. Napoleon used frequently to laugh at the female smugglers 
 of his family, and remind them of their criminal proceedings. 
 
22 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 Such was the extent and variety of Napoleon's genius, that he 
 soared without effort to the loftiest abstractions of the art of govern- 
 ing, and descended with the same facility to the minutest details of 
 management. He woidd cause an account of the number of work- 
 men and the produce of their labour, to be delivered to him every 
 morning. He knew how long it took a tailor to finish a! soldier's 
 dress, a wheelright to construct a carriage, or an armourer to fit up 
 a musket. He knew the quantity of arms, in a good or bad state, 
 contained in the arsenals. " You will find," he wrote to the minis- 
 ter of war, " in such an arsenal so many old muskets, and so many 
 broken up. Set a hundred men at work there, and arm me five 
 hundred men a week." 
 
 Josephine one day, having entered the cabinet without being 
 announced, which she sometimes did, when from the good humour 
 exhibited at breakfast, she reckoned upon its continuance, ap- 
 proached Napoleon softly, seated herself on his knee, passed her 
 hand gently through his hair and over his face, and thinking the 
 moment favourable, said to him in a burst of tenderness, " I entreat 
 of you Bonaparte, do not make yourself a king ! It is that Lucien 
 who urges you to it. Do not listen to him." Napoleon replied, 
 without anger, and even smiling as he pronounced the last words, 
 " You are mad, my poor Josephine. It is your old dowagers of the 
 Faubourgh St. Germain, your Rochefoucaulds, who tell you all 
 
 these fables ! Come, now, you interrupt me — leave me 
 
 alone." 
 
 Napoleon often resorted to a species of charlatanism to augment 
 the enthusiasm of his troops. He would say to one of his aids-de- 
 camp, " Ascertain from the colonel of such a regiment, whether he 
 has in his corps a man who has served in the campaigns of Italy, 
 or the campaigns of Egypt. Ascertain his name, where he was 
 born, the particulars of his family, and what he has done. Learn 
 his number in the ranks, and to what company he belongs, and fur- 
 nish me with the information." 
 
 On the day of the review Napoleon, at a single glance could per- 
 ceive the man who had been described to him. He would go up to 
 him as if he recognised him, address him by his name, and say — 
 " Oh ! so you are here ! You are a brave fellow — I saw you at 
 Aboukir — how is your old father 1 What ! have you not got the 
 cross? Stay, I will give it to you." Then the delighted soldiers 
 would say to each other, " You see the emperor knows us all ; he 
 knows our families ; he knows where we have served." What a 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 23 
 
 stimulus was this to soldiers, whom he succeeded in persuading, that 
 they would all, sometime or other, become marshals of the empire. 
 
 General Kleber was assassinated by a fanatical Mussulman, 
 named Soleyrnan Halely, who stabbed him with a dagger, which he 
 had kept concealed under his cloak, and repeated the blows until 
 Kleber fell to the ground. Thus was France deprived of two of her 
 most distinguished generals : for on that same day Dessaix fell at 
 the battle of Marengo. 
 
 When Napoleon first received the unexpected intelligence of 
 Kleber's death, he was deeply affected, and on reading the particu- 
 lars of the assassination, he instantly called to mind how often he 
 had been in the same situation as that in which Kleber was killed. 
 The death of his lieutenant afflicted him the more, because it almost 
 totally deprived him of the hope of preserving a conquest which had 
 cost France so dear, and which was his work. One day, when he 
 was in the trench at St. Jean d' Acre, standing up, and by his tall 
 stature exposed to every shot, Napoleon called to him. " Stoop down, 
 Kleber, stoop down!" " Why," replied he, " your confounded trench 
 does not reach to my knees. 
 
 Napoleon, it is said, often talked a great deal, and sometimes a 
 little too much ; but no one could tell a story in a more agreeable 
 and interesting way. His conversation rarely turned on gay or 
 humourous subjects, and never on trivial matters. He was so fond 
 of argument, that in the warmth of discussion it was easy to draw 
 from him secrets which he was most anxious to conceal. Some- 
 times, in a small circle, he would amuse himself by relating stories 
 of presentiments and apparations. For this he always chose the 
 twilight of evening, and he would prepare his hearers for what was 
 coming by some solemn remark. On one occasion of this kind, he 
 said in a very grave tone of voice : " When death strikes a person, 
 whom we love, and who is distant from us, a foreboding almost 
 always denotes the event, and the dying person appears to us at the 
 moment of his dissolution." He then immediately related the fol- 
 lowing anecdote : " A gentleman of the court of Louis XIV., was in 
 the gallery of Versailles at the time that, the king was reading to mV 
 courtiers the bulletin of the battle of Friedlingen, gained by Villars. 
 Suddenly the gentleman saw, at the further end of the gallery, the 
 ghost of his son, who served under Villars. He exclaimed, « My son 
 is no more ; 5 and the next moment, the king named him among the 
 dead." 
 
24 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 When travelling, Napoleon was particularly talkative. In the 
 warmth of his conversation, which was always characterised by 
 original and interesting ideas, he sometimes dropped hints of his 
 future views, or at least, he said things which were calculated to dis- 
 close what he wished to conceal. He frankly avowed this want of 
 caution, when at St. Helena. 
 
 A French author, who had made several unsuccessful attempts to 
 get into the good graces of Napoleon, at last wrote a book in which 
 he abused several princes, then at war with Napoleon, and dedicated 
 it to the emperor. Napoleon, who was already acquainted with the 
 contents of the book, when the author presented it to him with a 
 dedication couched in the most flattering terms, turned over some of 
 the leaves, put his hand in bis pocket, and gave the author — one 
 franc, saying : "Your book is full of falsehoods ; when you write 
 one without any, you shall receive as many, \ Napoleon d'ors,' as you 
 have 4 centimes' now." The author wanted to excuse himself, but 
 Napoleon requested him to go away, assuring him that his time 
 was regularly divided, and that no alteration could be made in 
 this division. 
 
 When at Paris, Napoleon used frequently to ride to St. Denis, 
 partly to visit the grand and magnificent church, in which his 
 mausoleum was being built, which, unfinished as it was, presented 
 already a splendid piece of workmanship, and partly to review the 
 young guards, who were in the barracks of the place. During one 
 of these excursions, when he was only accompanied by a few staff- 
 officers, and had left St. Denis later than usual, one of his officers 
 observed on the side of the road a white object. He pointed it out 
 to Napoleon, who ordered him to examine it more closely. The 
 officer obeyed, and Napoleon was not a little astonished, when the 
 officer returned with the intelligence that it was a young child, 
 which, wrapt in white clothes, was lying on a blanket. Napoleon 
 ordered it to be taken up. As it was already pretty dark, and the 
 clothes which were wrapt around the child, began to flutter from the 
 motion of the horses, the horses became so shy that the adjutant, 
 who had more confidence in the steadiness of the one he rode, took 
 it from the person who had held it ; but his horse also became shy, so 
 that he was scarcely able to manage it, and had not Napoleon, who 
 was riding along side of the adjutant, seized the child, at the mo- 
 ment when the horse reared, it would no doubt have been thrown 
 with the adjutant and been killed. Whilst the child was in Napoleon's 
 arms, his horse remained perfectly quiet, and as they were not far 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 25 
 
 from Paris, he kept it until they came to the barrier ; they had 
 wished to take it from him, but he assured them, that he would have 
 to accustom himself to nursing (his lady was about this time enciente), 
 and that this was no doubt a very good opportunity, it being at the 
 same time a work of charity. At the barrier the child was taken 
 from Napoleon, and he ordered it to be brought immediately to the 
 palace, which was done. He took it in his arms and brought it to 
 the empress, saying, that this was no doubt a good omen, and that, 
 as the foundling was a boy, he did not doubt but that, he would soon 
 have a prince. Napoleon seems actually to have received this as a 
 good sign, for not long after the birth of his son, he said to one of 
 his officers, who had been present at the scene above described, that 
 he (Napoleon) had been quite right, and that the event had proved 
 to have been a good omen, for that his horse alone had remained 
 quiet, and that nothing could pacify the others. Thus this great 
 man also had his prejudices. 
 
 At Waterloo, one man was seen, whose left arm was shattered 
 by a cannon ball, to wrench it off with the other, and throwing it up 
 intheair,heexclaimed to his comrades, " Vive Vempereur, jusqifa 
 la mort /" 
 
 When Napoleon took his final farewell of France, all wept, but 
 particularly Savary, and a Polish officer who had been exalted from 
 the ranks by Bonaparte. He clung to his master's knees : wrote a 
 letter to Lord Keith, entreated permission to accompany him, even 
 in the most menial capacity, which could not be admitted. 
 
 Napoleon entertained a profound dislike of the sanguinary men 
 of the revolution, and especially the regicides. He felt, as a painful 
 burden, the obligation of dissembling towards them. He spoke in 
 terms of horror of those whom he called the assassins of Louis XVI., 
 and he was annoyed at the necessity of employing them, and treating 
 them with apparent respect. He would often say to Cambaceres, 
 pinching him by the ear, to soften by that habitual familiarity, the 
 bitterness of the remark, " My dear fellow, your case is clear ; if 
 ever the Bourbons come back, you will be hanged." A forced smile 
 would then relax the livid countenance of Cambaceres, and was, 
 usually, the only reply of the second consul, who, however, on one 
 occasion said to Napoleon, "Come, come, have done with this 
 joking." 
 
26 ANECDOTES ANT> .CHAEACTEBISTICS 
 
 One tiling which gave Napoleon great pleasure, when in the 
 country, was to see a tall, slender woman, dressed in white, walking 
 beneath an alley of shady trees. He detested coloured dresses, and 
 especially dark ones. To fat women he had an invincible antipathy, 
 and he could not endure the sight of a pregnant woman ; it therefore 
 rarely happened that a female in that situation was invited to his 
 parties. He possessed every requisite for being what is called in 
 society, an agreeble man, except the will to be so. His manner was 
 imposing, rather than pleasing, and those who did not know him 
 well, experienced, in his presence, an involuntary feeling of awe. 
 In the drawing-room, where Josephine did the honours with so much 
 grace and affability, all was gaiety and ease, and no one felt the 
 presence of a superior ; but on Napoleon's entrance, all was changed, 
 and every eye was directed towards him, to read his humour in his 
 countenance, whether he intended to be silent or talkative, dull or 
 cheerful. 
 
 On Napoleon's return to Paris, after the battle of Marengo, he 
 said exultingly, " well a few more events like this campaign, and I 
 may go down to posterity. In "less than two years I have won 
 Cairo, Paris, and Milan ; but for all that, were I to die to-morrow, I 
 should not, at the end of ten centuries, occupy half a page of general 
 history." 
 
 Napoleon saw Madame Grassinni at a concert, at Milan, and 
 was struck with her beauty. He was introduced to her, and at the 
 expiration of a few weeks, the conqueror of Italy counted one con- 
 quest more. Madame Grassinni proceeded to Paris, where she, sub- 
 sequently, became one of the singers of the court concerts. 
 
 On the 30th of November 1809, the emperor and Josephine were 
 dining together as usual, she had uttered not a word during dinner, 
 and he had broken silence only to ask one of the servants what 
 o'clock it was. As soon as Napoleon had taken his coffee, he dis- 
 missed all the attendants, and Josephine remained alone with him. 
 Josephine saw, in the expression of his countenance, what was pass- 
 ing in his mind ; and she knew that her hour was come. Napoleon 
 approached her, took her by the hand, pressed it to his heart, and after 
 gazing at her a few moments in silence, uttered these fatal words : 
 " Josephine ! My dear Josephine ! you know how I have loved you ! . . . 
 ... To you, to you alone, I owe the only moments of happiness I have 
 tasted in this world. But, Josephine, my destiny is not to be con- 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 27 
 
 trolled by my will. My dearest affections must yield to the interest 
 of France !•" " Say no more !" exclaimed Josephine, " I understand 
 you : I expected this, but the blow is not the less severe." She 
 had not power to say more. She shrieked, and fell to the floor, and 
 was carried to her room insensible. Upon recovery, she exclaimed, 
 " Alas ! I had good reason to fear ever becoming an empress !" 
 
 Napoleon had a great dislike to reconsider any decision, even 
 when it was acknowledged to be unjust. In little as well as great 
 things he evinced his repugnance to retrograde. An instance of this 
 occurred in the affair of General Latour-Foissac. Napoleon felt 
 how much he wronged that general : but he wished some time to 
 elapse before he repaired his error. His heart and his conduct were 
 at variance ; but his feelings were overcome by what he conceived 
 to be political necessity. 
 
 Napoleon was never known to say, "I have done wrong": his 
 usual observation was, " I begin to think there is something wrong." 
 In. spite of this sort of feeling, which was more worthy of an ill- 
 humoured philosopher than the head of a government. Napoleon 
 was considered neither malignant nor vindictive. 
 
 Durino the campaign of 1809, before the battle of Regensburg, 
 a Tyrolese was brought in a prisoner. He had fought bravely, and 
 had only been compelled to surrender to a superior numerical power. 
 Napoleon heard this, and wanted to see the soldier himself; but his 
 many wounds prevented him from leaving his quarters without 
 exposing him to great danger. This was reported to the emperor, 
 who, when he w T as asked whether he persisted in his demand, 
 answered, " certainly ; but I suppose the emperor of Austria likes 
 his brave soldiers as well as I do mine, therefore, to be careful of 
 him, I shall go and see him." 
 
 The day after Napoleon visited the Tyrolese, who was in quarters 
 with a farmer, and who was very weak. He spoke German to him, 
 but could only understand his answers in part. The emperor asked 
 him " whether all his countrymen defended themselves as he had 
 done 1" To which the Tyrolese answered, " that if the emperor 
 would go to Tyrol, he would not so easily get out again." Napoleon 
 who had not understood him, had these words translated, and said 
 jokingly to the brave rifleman : " If your countrymen are as bad as 
 you say, I shall take care not to go there : it will therefore be your 
 fault, if I go straight to Vienna and pay a visit to your emperor." 
 To which the soldier replied very laconically, " Surely, Francis will 
 
28 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 not be over-pleased at that." When this answer was translated to 
 Napoleon, he laughed aloud at the simplicity of the soldier, and 
 made him a present of some money. 
 
 It was asked one day, in Napoleon's presence, how it hap- 
 pened that misfortunes, that were yet uncertain, often distressed us 
 more than miseries we had already suffered. " Because," observed 
 the emperor, " in the imagination, as in calculation, the power of 
 what is unknown is incommensurable." 
 
 A celebrated man-milliner, who was a very insolent fellow, had 
 the presumption at one time, to call Napoleon's conduct in question. 
 He did what no man in France except himself, would have ventured 
 to do ; he began, with great volubility, to prove to Napoleon that he 
 did not grant a sufficient allowance to the Empress Josephine ; and 
 that it was impossible she could pay for her clothes out of such a 
 sum. He soon put an end to his impertinent eloquence. He stopped 
 him short with a look, and left him transfixed. 
 
 The day before Napoleon passed Wilna, he reviewed his grena- 
 dier guards who formed the rear. The weather was dreadful, this 
 having been no doubt the coldest day which the French army expe- 
 rienced in Russia ; notwithstanding the old guards-men stood as firm 
 as a wall, not showing the least symptoms of cold. Napoleon ad- 
 dressed an old grenadier from whose beard and eyebrows long 
 icicles were pending : " grenadier it is very cold." " Yes, Sire, you 
 are right, it is cold enough here, but only show us the enemy and 
 you will see that your grenadiers do not feel cold ; they would burn 
 at the very north pole, to die for thee and for the glory of France." 
 " Brave grenadiers," replied Napoleon, " I am proud to own you ; 
 there is but one noble guard in the world." 
 
 Speaking of military eloquence, Napoleon said, " When in the 
 heat of the battle, passing along the line, I used to exclaim, ' Soldiers, 
 unfurl your banners, the moment is come ;' our Frenchmen abso- 
 lutely leaped for joy. 1 saw them multiply a hundred fold. I then 
 thought nothing impossible." 
 
 On the evening after the battle of Austerlitz Napoleon passed 
 along the whole line where the different regiments of the army had 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 29 
 
 fought, it was already dark ; he had recommended silence to all who 
 accompanied him, that he might hear the cries of the wounded ; he 
 immediately went to the spot where they were, alighted himself, and 
 ordered a glass of brandy to be given them from the canteen which 
 always followed him. He remained very late on the field of battle ; 
 the squadron of his escort passed the whole night upon it in taking 
 the cloaks from the Russian dead, for the purpose of covering the 
 wounded with them. He himself ordered a large fire to be kindled 
 near each of them, sent about for a muster-master, and did not re- 
 tire until he had arrived ; and, having left him a picket of his own 
 escort, he enjoined him not to quit these wounded t'ill they were all 
 in the hospital. These brave men loaded him with blessings, which 
 found the way to his heart much better than all the flatteries of 
 courtiers. It was thus that he won the affection of his soldiers, who 
 knew that when they suffered it was not his fault ; and, therefore, 
 hey never spared themselves in his service. 
 
 The double battle of Ostrowna and Wisebsk, having been entirely 
 lost by the Russians, and the king of Naples pursuing them closely, 
 with his cavalry, so that the roads were covered with caps, knap- 
 sacks, and other accoutrements, thrown away by the Russians on 
 their rapid retreat, flags of truce used to arrive daily at the French 
 head-quarters, demanding a cessation of arms for a few hours, under 
 all sorts of pretexts. The king of Naples had constantly refused 
 them ; at last, several days after the battle, a flag of truce came to 
 Napoleon himself, demanding a cessation of arms of two hours, to 
 inter, as the bearer pretended, several staff-officers, who had been 
 killed. Napoleon, who happened to be in a good humour, very 
 politely observed to the bearer of the flag of truce, u Sir, please to 
 tell the prince that we are in a great hurry to arrive in Moscow this 
 winter. 1 would willingly grant his request, but it is out of my 
 power ; he has, however, to do with Frenchmen, therefore let them 
 put these honourable remains at some place or other, we shall take 
 care that they are buried with the same honours as if it had been 
 done by the Russian army." 
 
 The bearer of the flag, who saw that Napoleon would not grant 
 the cessation of arms, observed, however, that the journey to Mos- 
 cow would not be so easily accomplished, assuring Napoleon that 
 they, the Russians, had, besides their army, a large corps of reserve 
 at Smolensk. Napoleon asked : " how high do you rate your army V 
 the officer stated an out of the way number of cavalry and infantry, 
 so that Napoleon could not refrain from laughing at his exaggeration, 
 and exclaimed : " My friend, if you have no more than (stating the 
 immense number which the officer had mentioned) I can have a 
 
30 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 drummer tied to the tail of every one of your horses, from the infi- 
 mense number of troops which are following me ; but if you should 
 perhaps have an army in the moon, you may take care of them, lest 
 my detachment in the sun should make it too hot for them." 
 
 " No series of great actions," says Napoleon, " is the mere work 
 of chance and fortune ; it is always the result of reflection and 
 genius. Great men rarely fail in the most perilous undertakings. 
 Look at Alexander, Csesar, Hannibal, the great Gustavus, and others ; 
 they always succeeded. Were they great men merely because they 
 were fortunate ? No ; but because, being great men, they possessed 
 the art of commading fortune. When we come to inquire into the 
 causes of their success, we are astonished to find that they did 
 every thing to obtain it." 
 
 One of Napoleon's officers lost a beautiful watch. He made it 
 publicly known by a bell man of the place. An hour after, a 
 young lad, belonging to the village, brought the watch, saying he 
 had found it on the high road, in a wheel-rut. The circumstance 
 was related, the same evening, to Napoleon, who was so struck 
 with this instance of honesty, that he directed that information be 
 procured respecting the young man and his family. Learning that 
 they were poor but honest peasants, Napoleon gave three brothers 
 of this family employment ; and, what was most difficult to per- 
 suade him to, he exempted the young man, who brought the watch, 
 from the conscription. 
 
 At the capitulation of Ulm, then one of the free cities of the 
 German empire, which was delivered up by the Austrians who 
 were sent there to defend it. A French general, passing before the 
 ranks of his men, said to them, " Well, comrades, we have prisoners 
 enough here. " Yes, indeed," replied one of the soldiers ; " we 
 never, saw so many collected together before." Napoleon was much 
 displeased when he heard of this, and remarked that it was " atro- 
 cious to insult brave men, to whom the fate of arms had proved 
 unfavourable." 
 
 Napoleon, who was so violently irritated by any obstacles which 
 opposed him, and who treated with so much hauteur whoever ven- 
 tured to resist his inflexible will, was no longer the same man, when, 
 a conqueror, he received the vanquished generals. He condoled 
 
OP NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 31 
 
 with them on their misfortunes ; and this was not the result of a feel- 
 ing of pride, concealed beneath a feigned hypocrisy. Although he 
 profited by their defeat, he pitied them sincerely. He frequently 
 observed, " How much to be pitied is a general on the day after a 
 lost battle." He had himself experienced this misfortune, when he 
 was obliged to raise the siege of St. Jean d'Acre. At that moment 
 he would have strangled Dsezzar ; -but if Dsezzar had surrendered, 
 he would have treated him with the same attention which he showed 
 to Mack and the other generals of the garrison of Ulm. These 
 generals were seventeen in number, and among them was Prince 
 Lichstenstein, who, the day before had been so surprised at seeino- 
 the emperor. There were also General Klenau, Baron de Giulay* 
 wfco had acquired considerable military reputation in the preceding 
 wars, and General Frcsnel, who stood in a more critical situation 
 than his companions in misfortune, for he was a Frenchman and an 
 emigrant. They bowed respectfully to the emperor, having Mack 
 at their head. They preserved a mournful silence, and Napoleon 
 was the first to speak, which he did in the following terms : " Gen- 
 tlemen, I feel sorry that such brave men as you are, should be the 
 victims of the follies of a cabinet which cherishes insane projects, 
 and which docs not hesitate to compromise the dignity of tjie Aus- 
 trian nation, by trafficing with the services of brave generals. Your 
 names are known to me — they are honourably known wherever you 
 have fought. Examine the conduct of those who have compromised 
 you. What could be more iniquitous than to attack me without a 
 declaration of war '? The alliance which your cabinet has formed 
 will appear monstrous in history. It is the alliance of dogs, shep- 
 herds and wolves, against sheep. It is fortunate for you that I have 
 not been defeated in the unjust struggle to which I have been pro- 
 voked : if I had, the cabinet of Vienna would have soon perceived 
 its error, for which, perhaps, it will one day pay dearly." 
 
 One day when General Rapp was soliciting Napoleon for the 
 promotion of two officers, he said, " 1 will not make so many pro- 
 motions ; Berthier has already made me do too much in that way." 
 Then turning to Louriston; "Louriston," said he, " we did not get 
 on so fast in our time; did we? I continued for many years in the 
 rank of lieutenant." " That may be, Sire, but you have since 
 made up famously for your lost time." Napoleon laughed at the 
 repartee, and the request was granted. 
 
 In the month of August, 1802, when the consulate for life was 
 discussed in the counsel of state, with which was connected that of 
 
32 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 hereditary right, Napoleon thus expressed himself: "Hereditary 
 right is absurd, irreconcilable with the sovereingty of the people and 
 impossible in France." 
 
 This declaration was voluntary, for he had not been called upon 
 to explain his principles, yet two years had scarcely elapsed before 
 he ascended the throne, and revived in favour of his own family 
 that hereditary right, absurd and impossible in France. 
 
 Rait tells an amusing story of the interview of the pope at the 
 coronation of Napoleon, he says. — " After the emperor and the pope 
 had well embraced, they went into the same carriage ; and, in order 
 that they might be upon a footing of equality, they were to enter at 
 the same time by opposite doors. All that was settled upon ; but at 
 breakfast the emperor had calculated how he should manage, with- 
 out appearing to assume anything, to get on the right-hand side 
 of the pope, and every thing turned out as he wished." 
 
 When on the retreat from Moscow, Napoleon one day saw a 
 lancer, who was leading six or seven small Russian horses laden 
 with provisions, come across a field towards the highway. Napo- 
 leon stopped for a moment and waited for the horseman. When he 
 came up, he said : " Well, comrade, where do you come from ?" 
 " Sire !" replied the Pole, " I have been levying horses, some of my 
 comrades had lost theirs, and I went to obtain the requisite number. 
 I did not like to let the horses go empty, and so loaded them with pro- 
 visions ; if your majesty is in want of any, part of them is at your 
 service — however, I must hasten to return to my comrades, whose 
 appetites must be pretty well sharpened by this time." Napoleon 
 laughed at the serious manner in which the Pole had delivered him- 
 self of this speech, and ordered a bottle of brandy for him, which he 
 immediately emptied to the health of the emperor, and in his pre- 
 sence, saying : " Well, emperor, when we meet again I shall treat 
 you." He then clapped spurs to his horse and rode off with his 
 levy of horses. Napoleon looked after him, saying : " If I had but 
 100,006 Poles like this fellow, I would pay a visit to the king oT 
 Persia within four months, making my way through Russia, spite of 
 all obstacles." 
 
 An officer of the 3d regiment of Chasseurs, who was married to a 
 beautiful and accomplished lady from Mecklenburg, committed 
 some great blunder when on duty. According to military law, a 
 severe punishment awaited him. His wife, who had in vain applied 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 33 
 
 to the commander of the regiment and the general of the brigade, 
 determined at last to go to the emperor who was in quarters, at a 
 distance of only a few miles, and to implore his mercy. Napoleon 
 received the lady very condescendingly, but made many difficulties 
 when he had learned her want ; she was not however to be refused, 
 and he at last yielded, and pardoned the husband. 
 
 The lady thanked the emperor in the most affecting terms, but im- 
 plored him to remove her husband who had served a long time, had 
 always proved a good soldier, and who wore the cross of the legion of 
 honour, to the Commissariat Department. First, the emperor looked 
 somewhat blank, but the winning manner of this lovely woman was 
 finally attended with success. Napoleon told general Davoust who was 
 present, to see his orders executed, and then turned to the handsome 
 petitioner, saying : " Madam ! you see that I have granted all your 
 requests, and I am certain that you will not now refuse me one 
 favour, which is, to leave me immediately, for if you remain longer 
 I fear you will make your husband Prefect of Paris." The lady, 
 who was perfectly satisfied, took her leave, and the emperor observed 
 laughing to those who surrounded him : "It is lucky that but few 
 of my soldiers are married else I should have none but petticoat- 
 generals." 
 
 During the consular government, about the time when so much 
 was said in the royalist circles about the possible return oftthe Bour- 
 bons, the publication of a popular book contributed not a little to 
 direct the attention of the public to the most brilliant period of the 
 reign of Louis XIV. This book was the historical romance of 
 Madame de la Valliere, by Madame de Genlis, who had recently 
 returned to France. Napoleon read it and seemed to be pleased 
 with it. It was not until some time after that he complained of the 
 effect which was produced in Paris by this publication, and especially 
 by engravings representing scenes in the life of Louis XIV., and 
 which were exhibited in the shop windows. He immediately gave 
 orders to have the prints suppressed. Fouche saw the absurdity of 
 interfering with trifles. 
 
 Immediately after the creation of the legion of honour, it being 
 summer, the young men of Paris indulged in the whim of wearing a 
 carnation in a button-hole, which, at a distance, had rather a decep- 
 tive effect. Napoleon took this very seriously. He. sent for Fouche, 
 and desired him to arrest those who presumed thus to turn the new 
 order into ridicule. Fouche merely replied, that he would wait till 
 autumn, and Napoleon understood that trifles were often rendered 
 matters of importance by being honoured with too much attention. 
 
34 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 Shortly after the Russian campaign, when Napoleon had returned 
 to the capital, he heard that there was a man in Paris, who resembled 
 him very much, both in figure and features. Napoleon was curious 
 to see this living Likeness, and sent for him. The man came. The 
 emperor found the resemblance very striking, ordered him to put on 
 a uniform, altogether similar to that which he wore, placed himself 
 with his image before a looking glass, and had a hearty laugh at the 
 second Napoleon. He inquired into the situation and circumstances 
 of the man, who was somewhat younger than himself, and learned 
 that he was clerk in a commercial house in Paris, but that he did not 
 feel any predilection for his present occupation. In the course of 
 the conversation, Napoleon discovered that this man, who so strongly 
 resembled him in person, had not one feature of the mind in common 
 with him. He was dull, and his understanding very limited. His 
 simplicity amused Napoleon for some time, and when he was tired 
 of his conversation, he told him to ask some favour. M. La Fouche 
 — the name of this copy of Napoleon — replied, that he had a favour 
 to ask, but that probably Napoleon would not grant it. Napoleon, 
 however, assured him that if it was not unreasonable, he would grant 
 it, on his word of honour. Encouraged by this assurance, he begged 
 to obtain a lieutenants' commission in a regiment of lancers, then in 
 Paris. Napoleon laughed at the strange request, but granted it, 
 saying : " What will my soldiers say when they see two Napoleons, 
 with one head f " 
 
 This La Fouche, who was afterwards called de La Fouche, re- 
 mained in the army till the dissolution of the old French army, in 
 1814. It is said that he has sometimes been obliged to play the part 
 of Napoleon, but under proper control. The resemblance was, in- 
 deed, very striking, particularly when he was dressed like the empe- 
 ror. He had, however, nothing else in common with his great pro- 
 totype, was very proud of his person, and otherwise exceedingly 
 stupid. He had never been on active service, because he was inca- 
 pable, and was often laughed at by the private soldiers. When 
 dressed in his imperial costume, which bore no resemblance to the 
 uniform of his regiment, the soldiers often cried, " Vive Vemperear" 
 at which he was always delighted. 
 
 After Napoleon had been sent to Elba, some wags used to amuse 
 themselves by making him believe that he was about to be arrested, as 
 the authorities knew for certain that he was the real Napoleon, and that 
 M. La Fouche was at Elba* He sometimes remained months in his 
 room, as he believed for certain that his person would create a tumult. 
 
 Says Napoleon, infantry charged by cavalry, should fire from a 
 distance, instead of firing closely, according to the present practice. 
 
OF NAPOLEON, BONArARTE. 35 
 
 Infantry and cavalry, left to themselves, without artillery, will pro- 
 cure no decisive result, but with the aid of artillery, all things else 
 equal, cavalry might destroy infantry. Artillery really decides the 
 fate of armies and nations ; men now fight with blows of cannon 
 balls, as they fought with blows of fists ; for in battles, as in sieges, 
 the art consists in making numerous discharges converge on one and 
 the same point, and he who has sufficient address amidst the conflict 
 to direct a mass of artillery suddenly and unexpectedly on any par- 
 ticular point of the enemy's force is sure of the victory. This has 
 been my grand secret, and my grand plan of tactics." 
 
 When the progress of the French army, after the battle of Os- 
 trawna was arrested at Wisebsk, by the Russians, Napoleon rode up 
 to a battery, and ordered a round to be fired at the enemy. It was 
 done, but without much effect. The emperor turned to the nearest 
 artillery r man, observing that his ball had not taken effect. " Sire !" 
 replied the artillery-man, " I'll bet a napoleon d'or* on each shot." 
 " Done," said Napoleon, and pointed out to him an officer of the 
 Russian red huzzars, who stood opposite the battery, " do you see 
 that officer ?" « Yes, Sire !" " Well, we'll see who wins the bet." 
 The artillery-man pointed the gun, fired, and missed. " You have 
 lost comrade," said the emperor, " give me my napoleon d'or." 
 " Sire !" replied the artillery-man, " double or quits, I will knock the 
 buttons off of that rifleman's uniform." Napoleon assented. The 
 artillery man loaded anew, aimed, fired, and the rifleman fell from 
 his horse. "We are quits, Sire," said the artillery- man, drily. 
 Napoleon laid his hand on his shoulder, gave him several napoleon 
 d'ors, and said to him in a friendly manner, " Do not forget to drink 
 my health, when we get to Moscow." 
 
 Of the prisoners of war, several detachments passed, after the 
 conclusion of the peace, within a few miles of Paris, and as no order 
 had been issued to prevent officers from leaving the detachment, 
 many of them took an opportunity of seeing the capital. It happened 
 that one of these officers was in an inn to take some refreshments, 
 when a soldier of the grenadier guard entered. He sat down at no 
 great distance from the officer, and they began to converse. The 
 conversation soon turned to their profession, and then to the cam- 
 paigns, &c. Perhaps that the young man's head was overheated with 
 liquor, which, in connexion with his youth, caused the old guards- 
 man to overlook several foolish assertions. But, finally, they talked 
 
 * A gold coin struck during the reign of Napoleon. 
 
 3* 
 
36 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 of the last campaign, in which the officer had been made prisoner, 
 and where the old guard had covered itself with new laurels. The 
 officer boasted of the bravery of his countrymen, and the guards- 
 man, whether from conviction or out of politeness, agreed to what he 
 said, contradicting only such statements as he knew from personal 
 experience to be incorrect. The young man grew irritated at the 
 contradiction, from one whom he looked upon as a common soldier, 
 — for to him it might appear unheard of that a private should open 
 his lips when an officer had spoken — and, therefore, made some 
 unhandsome observations, which only caused the old soldier to laugh. 
 Still more enraged at the indifference and equanimity of the soldier, 
 the officer at last commenced to speak in doubtful terms of the old 
 guard, asserting that their fame was after all only imaginary, that 
 he had already seen them run. This, at last, aroused the guards- 
 man, he rose, walked up to the officer, and said : " Mr. Milk-sop, I 
 have quietly listened to your personal insults, but your basely in- 
 sulting my comrades shall be punished. Draw! I will show you 
 how the old guard runs !" The officer, who was rather taken aback, 
 pretended that his rank prevented him from meeting a private sol- 
 dier ; but a French officer in civil clothes, who was present, assured 
 him that as he was here not as an officer, but as a private individual, 
 he could not help accepting the challenge, as a man of honour. The 
 remainder of the officers acted as seconds, and the result was, as 
 might have been anticipated, the officer was mortally wounded, and 
 died forty-eight hours after the combat. 
 
 The whole story, which could not long remain a secret, was re- 
 ported to the emperor, before the persons who had been present at 
 the duel, had been. discovered. The landlord, who alone might have 
 given a true account of the affair, related the circumstances, but 
 pretended not to know any of the parties concerned, and Napoleon 
 heard the story in the same manner. He sent for the landlord, and 
 inquired into all the particulars. This person assured him that the 
 guards-man could not have acted otherwise, that he had remained 
 cool for a long time, and that, not until the officer had abused the 
 old guards, and said that he had seen them run, had he got up and 
 called him out. Napoleon dismissed the landlord, to whom he made 
 a present, and, on the same day, visited the barracks of the old 
 guards. He ordered the regiments to parade, one after another, and 
 addressed them. " Comrades ! one of my grenadiers of the guards has 
 had a quarrel in an inn. Certain of the honour of my guards, I call 
 upon him to appear before me, to relate the circumstances and to 
 make his defence." 
 
 He had scarcely spoken these words to his brave grenadiers, when 
 the soldier stepped out of the ranks and presented himself to Napo- 
 leon. Napoleon asked him, sternly, why he had commenced a row 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 37 
 
 in an inn. " Sire !" said the old grenadier, " ask my officers whether 
 I have ever been a bully. Fifteen years I have followed your ban- 
 ners faithfully, and have always done my duty. Not one of my 
 fellow-soldiers can come forward and accuse me of ever having been 
 intoxicated, even in the smallest degree. I was willing to forgive 
 that coward his personal insults, as he was young, and a stranger, 
 but to insult a corps in which I have served for the last nine years, 
 which all France esteems, to say that he had seen this corps run, 
 this was too much, your majesty ! I could not let it pass : 1 have 
 done wrong, and am willing to undergo every punishment, should it 
 be that of death, for the honour of my regiment. 1 do not implore 
 your mercy, emperor ! A man who has been fifteen years a soldier, 
 and nine years in the guards, has learned how to die, but not how to 
 bee." Napoleon, who was already convinced of the innocence of 
 the man, and only wanted to see what influence he had over his 
 soldiers, shook hands with him, and said : " Grenadier ! if I did not 
 want ray guards badly, every grenadier should be a general ! Return 
 to the ranks, you are worthy of the situation you fill, I cannot give 
 you a greater reward ; you are already in the old guards of France. 
 Tears trickled over the foxy mustachio of the old grenadier, he made 
 right about face, and returned to his place, whilst the voices of several 
 thousand heroes shouted .: " Vive notre empereur." 
 
 On the subject of religion, Napoleon's ideas were very vague. 
 " My reason," said he, " makes me incredulous respecting many 
 things ; but the impressions of my childhood and early youth throw 
 me into uncertainty." He was very fond of talking of religion. 
 He readily yielded up all that was proved against religion, as the 
 work of men and time ; but he would not hear of materialism. At 
 one time, when in argument upon the subject of materialism, Na- 
 poleon raised his hands to heaven, and pointing to the stars, said, 
 " You may talk as long as you please, gentlemen, but who made all 
 that ?." The perpetuity of a name in the memory of man was to 
 him the immortality of the soul. He was perfectly tolerant towards 
 every variety of religious faith. 
 
 Madame Murat gave a grand fete in honour of Napoleon, at 
 her residence in Neuilly. At dinner, Napoleon sat opposite Madame 
 Murat, at the principal table, which was appropriated to the ladies. 
 He eat fast, and talked but little. However, when the dessert was in- 
 troduced, he put a question to each lady. This question was to inquire 
 their respective ages. When Madame Bourrienne's turn came, he 
 
38 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 said to her, "Oh! I know yours." This was a great length for 
 his gallantry, and the other ladies were far from being pleased at it. 
 
 Napoleon attached great importance to the opinion of the English 
 people respecting any misconduct that was attributed to him. The 
 following will afford an example of Napoleon's disposition to employ 
 petty and roundabout means to gain his ends. He gave a ball at 
 Malmaison, when Hortense was in the seventh month of her preg- 
 nancy. He disliked to see women in that situation, and, above all, 
 could not endure to see them dance. Yet, in spite of this antipathy, 
 he himself asked Hortense to dance at the ball of Malmaison. She 
 at first declined, but Napoleon was exceedingly importunate ; and 
 said to her in a tone of good-humoured persuasion, " Do, I beg of 
 you ; I particularly wish to see you dance — come, stand up to 
 oblige me." Hortense consented. The motive will be explained : 
 
 On the day after the ball, one of the newspapers contained some 
 verses on Hortense's dancing. She was exceedingly annoyed at 
 this ; and when the paper arrived at Malmaison, she expressed dis- 
 pleasure at it. Even allowing for all the facility of the newspaper 
 wits, she was, nevertheless, at a loss to understand how the lines 
 could have been written and printed respecting a circumstance which 
 only occurred the day before. Napoleon smiled, and gave her no 
 distinct answer. Upon inquiry, she ascertained, what indeed was 
 the fact, that the ball had been prepared for the verses, and that it 
 was only for the appropriateness of their application, that the first 
 consul had pressed her to dance. He adopted this strange contri- 
 vance for contradicting an article which appeared in an English 
 journal, announcing that Hortense was delivered. Napoleon was 
 highly indignant at this premature announcement, which he clearly 
 saw was made for the sole purpose of giving credit to the scanda- 
 lous rumours of his imputed connexion with Hortense. Such were 
 the petty machinations which not unfrequently found their places in 
 a mind in which the grandest schemes were revolving. 
 
 Napoleon having unexpectedly broken in upon Josephine's morn- 
 ing circle, he found a celebrated milliner, whom he had expressly 
 forbidden to go near the empress, as she was ruining her by extra- 
 vagant demands. His unlooked for entrance occasioned great dis- 
 may in the academie sitting. He gave some orders, unperceived, to 
 the individuals who were in attendance ; and, on the lady's departure, 
 she was seized and conducted to the Bicetre. A great outcry was raised 
 among the higher circles in Paris. It soon became the fashion to 
 visit the milliner in her confinement, and there was daily a file of 
 
OP NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 39 
 
 carriages at the gate of the prison. The police informed him of these 
 facts. " All the better," said Napoleon ; — " but I hope she is not 
 treated with severity — not confined in a dungeon." " No, Sire, she 
 has a suite of apartments and a drawing-room." " Oh, well, let her 
 be. If this measure is pronounced to be tyrannical, so much the 
 better ; it will be a diapason stroke for a great many others, — very 
 little will serve to show that I can do more." 
 
 Napoleon could not sing, because nature had given him the most 
 untunable voice imaginable. He was, however, very fond of hum- 
 ming any airs or fragments of musical composition which pleased 
 him, and which he happened to recollect. These little reminiscences 
 usually came across his mind in the morning, while dressing. The 
 air which he most frequently hummed, though in a very imperfect 
 way, was the " Marseillaise Hymn." He also used to whistle tunes, 
 occasionally ; and whenever he whistled the air of " Marlbrook," 
 his servants would take it as a sure prognostic of his approaching 
 departure for the army. It is said that he never whistled so much, 
 nor appeared so cheerful, as when on the eve of his departure for 
 the Russian campaign. 
 
 Nowhere, except on the field of battle, was Napoleon more happy 
 than in the gardens of Malmaison. At the commencement Gf the 
 consulate, he used to go there every Saturday evening, and stay the 
 whole of Sunday, and sometimes Monday. Napoleon used to 
 spend a considerable part of his time in walking and superintending 
 the improvements which he had ordered ; — but the reports of the 
 police disturbed his natural confidence, and gave him reason to fear 
 the attempts of concealed royalist partisans. 
 
 At the time of the explosion of the infernal machine, a person 
 who had just heard of the news, called at a house in a certain quarter 
 of the capital, and hastily entering the drawing-room, in which a 
 party was assembled, he informed the company that Napoleon was 
 no more ; and after having given an account of the event that had 
 just taken place, he concluded by saying : " He is fairly blown up." 
 " He blown up ?" exclaimed an old Austrian officer, who had eagerly 
 listened to all that was said, and who had been a witness to many 
 of the dangers which the young general of the army of Italy had 
 so miraculously escaped ;-" he blown up? Ah ! you know a great 
 deal about it. I venture to say that he is, at this very moment, as 
 well as any of us. I know him and all his tricks of old !" 
 
40 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 When the king of Prussia found himself -defeated at every point, 
 he bitterly repented having undertaken a war which had delivered 
 his states into Napoleon's power in less time than in which Austria 
 had fallen the preceding year. He wrote to the emperor, soliciting 
 a suspension of hostilities. " It is too late," said Napoleon, " but 
 no matter, I wish to stop the effusion of blood ; I am ready to agree 
 to any thing which is not prejudicial to, the honour or interest of the 
 nation. Then calling Duroc, he gave him orders to visit the wounded, 
 and see that they wanted for nothing. He added, " Visit every man 
 on my behalf; give them all the consolation of which they stand in 
 need ; — afterwards, find the king of Prussia, and if he offers reason- 
 able proposals, let me know them." 
 
 Duroc, who, as it will appear, stood high in his master's regard 
 and confidence, was struck by a cannon-ball, as he was reconnoitring 
 the position for a night encampment of the army, and his bowels 
 fell to the ground, when he had the extraordinary resolution to col- 
 lect and replace them with his own hands, on the spot. In this 
 hopeless state, he was removed to a neighbouring cottage, where he 
 survived twenty-four hours. A mortification soon took place, and a 
 very offensive smell began to issue from his body, which continued 
 to increase. After he had been sometime in this state, the emperor 
 came to visit and console him. The dying man, after expressing 
 his acknowledgments to his master for this gracious act of kind- 
 ness, which he accompanied with sentiments of the utmost loyalty 
 and devotion, recommended his wife and daughter to the imperial 
 protection ; and then entreated him to depart, lest, the effluvia pro- 
 ceeding from him might be attended with infection. Napoleon's 
 grief was perfeotly romantic — he lay a whole night on the stone 
 which covered the grave of his friend. 
 
 " I love the Poles," said Napoleon to the deputation from War- 
 saw ; " their enthusiastic character pleases me. I should like to 
 make them independent; but that is a difficult matter. Austria, 
 Russia, and Prussia, have all had a slice of the cake. When the 
 match is once kindled, who knows where the conflagration may 
 stop. My first duty is towards France,' which I must not sacrifice 
 to Poland ; we must refer this matter to the sovereign of all things 
 — time : he will presently show us what we must do." 
 
 The French troops used to say that the four following words con- 
 stituted the whole language of the Poles ; — " Kleba ? niema ; vota ? 
 sara;" — (some bread 1 there is none ; some water? we will go and 
 fetch it.) This was all that was to be heard in Poland. Napoleon 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 41 
 
 one day passed by a column of infantry in the neighbourhood of 
 Nasielsk, where the troops were suffering the greatest privations, on 
 account of the mud, which prevented the arrival of provisions. — 
 "Papa, Kleba']" exclaimed a soldier. " Niema," replied the em- 
 peror. The whole column burst into a fit of laughter ; they asked 
 for nothing more. 
 
 Napoleon and all the French officers, paid their tribute of admi- 
 ration to the charms of the fair Poles. There was .one whose 
 powerful fascinations made a deep impression on the emperor's 
 heart. He conceived an ardent affection for her, which she cordially 
 returned. She received with pride the homage of a conquest which 
 was the consummation of her happiness ; and her attachment re- 
 mained unshaken amidst every danger, and at the period of Napo- 
 leon's reverses, she continued his faithful friend. 
 
 When Napoleon was at Tilsit, for the purpose of a treaty with 
 the emperor Alexander, of Russia, and the king of Prussia, the 
 Queen received him, he said, like Mademoiselle Duchenois, in the 
 character of Chimene, thrown back into a grand attitude, demanding, 
 calling aloud for justice. In one word, it was altogether a theatri- 
 cal scene; the representation was truly tragic. He was unable 
 to speak for an instant, and thought the only way of extricating 
 himself was that of bringing back -the business to the tone of regu- 
 lar comedy, which he attempted by presenting her with a chair, and 
 gently forcing her to be seated. She did not, however, discontinue 
 the most pathetic expresions. " Prussia," she exclaimed, " had been 
 blindfolded with respect to her power ; — she had dared to contend 
 with a hero, to oppose herself to the destinies of France, to neglect 
 his auspicious friendship : she was deservedly punished for it. The 
 glory of the great Frederick, his memory, and his inheritance had 
 puffed the pride of Prussia, and had caused her ruin, &c. &c." She 
 solicited, supplicated, and implored. The emperor kept his ground 
 as well as he could. Fortunately, the husband made his appear- 
 ance. The queen reproved, with an expressive look, the unsea- 
 sonable interruption, and showed some pettishness. In fact, the king 
 who attempted to take part in the conversation, spoiled the whole 
 affair, and " I was," said Napoleon, " set at liberty." At din- 
 ner the queen was seated at table between the two emperors, who 
 rivaled each other in gallantry. She was placed near Alexander's 
 best ear : with one he can scarcely hear. The evening came, and 
 the queen having retired, Napoleon, who had shown the most 
 engaging attention to his guests, but who had, at the same time, been 
 often driven to an extremity, resolved to come to a point. He sent 
 for M. de Talleyrand, and Prince Kourakin, talked big to them, and 
 
42 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 letting fly some hard words, observed, " that after all, a woman and a 
 piece of gallantry ought not to alter a system conceived for the 
 destiny of a great people, and that he insisted upon the immediate 
 conclusion of the negotiations and the signing of the treaty ;" which 
 took place according to his orders. The queen of Prussia wept, 
 and was indignant, when she heard that the treaty was signed, and 
 determined to see the emperor, Napoleon, no more. She would not 
 accept an invitation to dinner. Alexander was himself obliged to 
 prevail upon her. She complained most bitterly, and maintained, 
 that Napoleon had broken his word. But Alexander had been 
 always present. He had even been a dangerous witness, ready to 
 give evidence of the slightest action or word on the part of Napo- 
 leon, in her favour. "He had made you no promise," was his 
 observation to her ; " if you can prove the contrary, I here pledge 
 myself as between man and man, to make him keep his promise." 
 " But he has given me to understand," said she. " No," re- 
 plied Alexander, " and you have nothing to reproach him with." 
 She at length came. Napoleon, who had no longer any occa- 
 sion to be on his guard against her, redoubled his attentions. She 
 played off, for a few moments, the airs of an offended coquette, 
 and when the dinner was over, and she was about to retire, Napoleon 
 presented his hand, and conducted her to the middle of the staircase, 
 where he stopped. She squeezed his hand, and said with a kind 
 of tenderness, " Is it posssible, that after having had the honour of 
 being so near to the hero of the century and of history, he will not 
 leave me the power and satisfaction of being enabled to assure him, 
 that he has attached me to him for life." "Madame," replied the 
 emperor in a serious tone, "I am to be pitied, it is the result of my 
 unhappy stars." He then took leave of her. When she reached 
 her carriage, she threw herself into it in tears ; sent for Duroc, 
 whom she highly esteemed, renewed all her complaints to him, and 
 said, pointing to the palace : " There is a place in which I have been 
 cruelly deceived !" ^ 
 
 Almost every day at Tilsit, the two emperors and the king rode 
 out on horseback together : " But," said Napoleon, " the latter was 
 always awkward and unlucky." The Prussians felt it very visibly. 
 Napoleon was constantly between the two sovereigns, but either the 
 king fell behind, or jostled and incommoded Napoleon. 
 
 Napoleon and Alexander met again some time after at Erfurt, and 
 exchanged the most striking testimonies of affection. Alexander 
 expressed with earnestness the sentiments of tender friendship and 
 real admiration which he entertained for Napoleon. They passed 
 some days together in the enjoyment of the charms of perfect 
 intimacy and of the most familiar communications of private life. 
 
 Napoleon had sent for the most distinguished performers of the 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 43 
 
 French theatre. A celebrated actress, Mademoiselle B , at- 
 tracted the attention of his guest, who had a momentary fancy to 
 get acquainted with her. He asked his companion whether any 
 inconvenience was likely to be the result. — " None," answered Napo- 
 leon, "only," added he, intentionally, "it is a certain and rapid 
 mode of making yourself known to all Paris." The danger of such 
 a kind of publicity appeased the monarch's rising passion ; " for," 
 said Napoleon, " he was very circumspect with regard to that point, 
 and he recollected, no doubt, the old adage, when the mask falls, the 
 hero disappears." 
 
 Napoleon has said, that, had it been his wish, Alexander would 
 certainly have given his sister in marriage ; his politics would have 
 dictated the match, even had his inclination been against it. He 
 was petrified when he heard of the marriage with Austria, and 
 exclaimed — " This consigns me to my native forests." If he seemed 
 at first to shift about, it was because some time was necessary to 
 enable him to come to a decision. His sister was very young, and 
 the consent of his mother was requisite. This was settled by Paul's 
 will, and the empress' mother was one of Napoleon's greatest ene- 
 mies. She was also the dupe of all the absurdities, all the ridicu- 
 lous stories which had been circulated on his personal account. 
 " How," she exclaimed, " can I marry my daughter to a man who 
 is unfit for a husband? Shall another man take possession of my 
 daughter's bed, if it be necessary, that she should have children 1 
 She is not formed for such a fate." " Mother," said Alexander, 
 " can you be so credulous as to believe the calumnies of London 
 and the insinuations of the saloons of Paris ? If that be the only 
 difficulty, if it be that alone which gives you pain, I answer for him, 
 and many others have it in their power to answer for him with me." 
 
 Jerome never fulfilled the wishes of his brother, who always 
 called him a little profligate. From his earliest years, his conduct 
 was often a source of vexation to his brother and his family. 
 
 When Jerome was at Brest, in 1802, in the rank of Enseigne de 
 Vaisseau, he launched into expenses far beyond what his fortune or 
 his pay could maintain. He often drew on Napoleon for sums of 
 money, which he paid with much unwillingness. One of his letters, 
 in particular, excited Napoleon's anger. The epistle was filled with 
 accounts of the entertainments Jerome was giving and receiving, 
 and ended by stating his wish to draw for seventeen thousand francs. 
 To this Napoleon wrote the following reply : 
 
 " I have read your letter, Monsieur L' Enseigne de Vaisseau : 
 
44 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 you are studying, on board your corvette, a profession which you 
 ought to consider as your road to glory. Die young, and I shall 
 have some consolatory reflection ; but if you live to sixty, without 
 having served your country, and without leaving behind you any 
 honourable recollections, you had better not have lived at all." 
 
 The following words were actually delivered from the pulpit : 
 " God in his mercy has chosen Napoleon to be his representative on 
 earth. The queen of Heaven has marked, by the most magnificent 
 of presents, the anniversary of the day which witnessed her glorious 
 entrance into her domains. Heavenly Virgin ! as a special testi- 
 mony of your love for the French, and your all powerful influence 
 with your son, you have connected the first of your solemnities with 
 the birth of the great Napoleon. Heaven ordained the hero should 
 spring from your sepulchre !" 
 
 At the height of his glory and power, Napoleon was so suspicious, 
 that the veriest trifle sufficed to alarm him. When Colonel Burr, 
 formerly vice-president of the United States, arrived at Altona, the 
 minister of police ordered vigilant measures to be taken, which were 
 equivalent to persecution — and it was with the greatest difficulty that 
 he obtained a passport to go to Paris. 
 
 One day at St. Cloud, at the grand audience which was held on 
 each Sunday, a sub-prefect, or some other public officer of Piedmont, 
 who was standing by, addressed the emperor in a loud tone of voice, 
 and with the utmost emotion, calling for justice, asserting that he 
 had been falsely accused, and unjustly condemned and dismissed 
 from the service. " Apply to my ministers," answered the emperor. 
 " No, Sire, I wish to be judged by you." " That is impossible; my 
 time is wholly absorbed with the general interests of the empire, and 
 my ministers are appointed to take into consideration the particular 
 cases of individuals." " But they will condemn me." " For what 
 reason?" "Because everybody is against me." "Why?" "Be- 
 cause I love you — to love you, Sire, is a sufficient motive to inspire 
 every one with hatred." All the bystanders were disconcerted at 
 this answer, and red with confusion ; but the emperor replied with 
 the utmost calmness : " This is rather a strange assertion, sir, but I 
 am willing to hope that you 'r mistaken ;" and he passed on to the 
 next person. 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 45 
 
 Before he fought a battle, Napoleon thought little about what he 
 should do in case of success, but a great deal about what he should 
 do in case of a reverse of fortune. Napoleon was thoroughly con- 
 vinced of the truth, that trifles often decided the greatest events ; 
 therefore, he watched, rather than provoked, opportunity, and when 
 the right moment approached, he suddenly took advantage of it. 
 
 It is curious, that, amidst all the anxieties of war and government, 
 the fear of the Bourbons incessantly pursued him ; and the Fau- 
 bourg Saint Germain was to him always a threatening phantom. 
 
 Napoleon entertained a high regard for the Germans. " I levied 
 many millions of imposts on them, it is true," said he — " that was 
 necessary ; but I should never have insulted them, or treated them 
 with contempt. — I esteemed the Germans." 
 
 On the reception of the news of the death of Washington, Napo- 
 leon addressed the following letter to the consular guard and the 
 army : 
 
 " Washington is dead ! that great man who fought against 
 tyranny, and consolidated his country* 8 freedom. His memory 
 will be always dear to Frenchmen, and to all freemen in both 
 worlds — but especially to the French soldiers, who, like him and 
 the American soldiers, have contended for liberty and equality. 
 The first consul, therefore, orders, that for ten days black crape 
 shall be suspended, from all the flags and standards of the re- 
 public" 
 
 Once, only, did Murat show himself under the influence of fear, 
 and the reader shall see in what circumstance it was that he ceased 
 to be himself. 
 
 When Napoleon, in his first Italian campaign, had forced Wurm- 
 ser to retreat into Mantua, with twent}r-eight thousand men, he di- 
 rected Miollis, with only four thousand men, to oppose any sortie 
 that might be attempted by the Austrian general. In one of these 
 sorties, Murat, who was at the head of a very weak detachment, was 
 ordered to charge Wurmser. Fie was afraid, — neglected to execute 
 the order, and, in a moment of confusion, said he was wounded. 1 
 Murat immediately fell into disgrace with the general -in-chief, \h 
 whose aide-de-camp he was : but as the ladies, with whom he was a f 
 great favourite, were not devoid of influence with the minister of r 
 war, Murat was, by their interest, attached to the engineer corps, in r 
 the expedition to Egypt. On board the Orient, he remained in the 
 
46 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 most complete disgrace. Napoleon did not address a word to him 
 during the passage; and in Egypt, the generai-in-chief always treated 
 him with coldness, and often sent him from the head-quarters on 
 disagreeable services. However, the general-in-chief having op- 
 posed him to Murad Bey, Murat performed such prodigies of valour, 
 in every perilous encounter, that he effaced the transitory stain, 
 which a momentary hesitation under the walls of Mantua had left 
 on his character. Finally, Murat's charge with grenadiers, on the 
 19th Brumaire, in the Hall of the Five Hundred, dissipated all the 
 remaining traces of dislike. 
 
 When Murat applied to Napoleon for the hand of his sister in 
 marriage, he heard him with unmoved gravity, said that he would 
 consider the matter, but gave no positive answer. This affair was, 
 as may be supposed, the subject of conversation in the evening, in 
 the saloon of the Luxembourg. Madame Bonaparte employed all 
 her powers of persuasion to obtain the first consul's consent ; and 
 her efforts were seconded by Hortense, Eugene, and M. de Bour- 
 rienne. " Murat," said he, " is an inn-keeper's son. In the ele- 
 vated rank where glory and fortune have placed me, I never can 
 mix his blood with mine ; besides there is no hurry : I shall see, 
 by and by." 
 
 At last, by their redoubled entreaties, he consented, saying " you 
 ought to be satisfied, and so am I, too, every thing considered. 
 Murat is suited to my sister, and then no one can say that I am 
 proud, or seek grand alliances. If I had given my sister to a noble, 
 all your Jacobins would have raised a cry of counter revolution. 
 Besides, I am very glad that my wife is interested in this marriage. 
 Since it is determined on, I will hasten it forward — we have no time 
 to lose. If 1 go to Italy, I will take Murat with me. I must strike 
 a decisive blow there." 
 
 At the time of the marriage of Murat, Napoleon had not much 
 money, and therefore only gave his sister a dowry of thirty thou- 
 sand francs. Still thinking it necessary, however, to make her a 
 marriage present, and not possessing the means to purchase a suit- 
 able one, he took a diamond necklace, which belonged to his wife, 
 and gave it to the bride. Josephine was not at all pleased with this 
 mark of generosity. 
 
 About the commencement of the year 1802, Napoleon began to 
 feel acute pains in his right side. He would often, when sitting up 
 at night, lean against the right arm of his chair, and, unbuttoning 
 his coat and waistcoat, exclaim, " what pain I feel !" He frequently 
 used to say at this time, " I fear that when I am forty, I shall become 
 a great eater : I have a foreboding that I shall grow very corpulent." 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 47 
 
 The pain Napoleon suffered augmented his irritability, and in- 
 fluenced many acts of that period of his life. He would often 
 destroy in the morning what he had dictated overnight. 
 
 Some days before his entrance into Vienna, Napoleon, who was 
 riding on horseback along the road, dressed in his usual uniform of 
 chasseurs of the guard, met an open carriage, in which were seated 
 a lady and a priest. The lady was in tears, and Napoleon could 
 not refrain from stopping to ask her the cause of her distress. " Sir," 
 she replied, for she did not know the emperor, " 1 have been pillaged 
 at my estate, two leagues from here, by a painty of soldiers, who 
 have murdered my gardener ; I am going to seek your emperor, 
 who knows my family, to whom he was once under great obliga- 
 tions." " What is your name?" inquired Napoleon. " De Bunny," 
 replied the lady : I am the daughter of M. de Marboeuf, formerly 
 governor of Corsica." " Madame," exclaimed Napoleon, " I am 
 delighted to have the opportunity of serving you." The emperor 
 showed every attention to Madame de Bunny. He consoled her, 
 pitied her, and almost apologized for the misfortune she had sus- 
 tained. " Will you have the goodness, Madame," said he, " to go 
 and wait for me at my head-quarters 1 I will join you speedily ; 
 every member of M. de Marbceuf's family has a claim on my re- 
 spect." The emperor immediately gave her a picquet of chasseurs 
 of his guard to escort her. He saw her again during the day, when 
 he loaded her with attentions, and liberally indemnified her for the 
 losses she had sustained. 
 
 Napoleon had no faith in medicine, or the efficacy of medical 
 remedies. He spoke of medicine as an art entirely conjectural, 
 and his opinion on this subject was fixed and incontrovertible. 
 His vigorous mind rejected all but demonstrated proofs. 
 
 Napoleon had little memory for proper names : but he had a won- 
 derful recollection of facts and places. 
 
 Napoleon had some singular habits; among them was one of 
 seating himself on any table of a suitable height for him, and swing- 
 ing his left leg while dictating to his officers. 
 
 The emperor directed particular attention to the improvement and 
 embellishment of the markets of the capital. He used to say, " The 
 market-place is the Louvre of the common people." 
 
48 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 The coronation of Napoleon took place on the second December, 
 1804. Sixty thousand registers had been opened in different 
 parts of France ; at the offices of the ministry, the prefects, the 
 mayors of the communes, notaries, soliciters, &c. France, at that 
 time, contained one hundred and eight departments ; and there were 
 three millions, five hundred and seventy-five thousand, eight hundred 
 and ninety-eight voters. Of these, only two thousand five hundred 
 and sixty nine, voted against hereditary succession. Napoleon or- 
 dered a list of the persons who had voted against the question, to be 
 sent him, and he often consulted it. They proved to be not royalists, 
 but, for the most part, staunch republicans. Many deputies arrived, 
 and with them a swarm of those presidents of cantons. They be- 
 came the object of all sorts of witticisms and jests. The obligation 
 of wearing swords, made their appearance very grotesque. Many 
 droll stories were told of them. One of these anecdotes was so ex- 
 ceedingly ludicrous, that though it was probably a mere invention, 
 yet it is well worth relating. 
 
 A certain number of these presidents were one day selected to be 
 presented to the pope ; and, as most of them were very poor, they 
 found it necessary to combine economy with the etiquette necessary 
 to be observed under the new order of things. To, save the expense 
 of hiring carriages, they therefore proceeded to the pav^lon de Flore, 
 on foot, taking the precaution of putting on gaiters, to preserve their 
 white silk stockings from the mud, which covered the streets. On 
 arriving at the Tuilleries, one of the party put his gaiters into his 
 pocket. It happened that the pope delivered such an affecting 
 address that all present were moved to tears, and the unfortunate 
 president who had disposed of his gaiters in the way just mentioned, 
 drew them out instead of his handkerchief, and smeared his face 
 over with mud. Napoleon made Michot, the actor, relate it to the 
 empress, one evening, after a court performance. 
 
 At the time of the treaty of Tilsit, Napoleon wrote to the empress 
 Josephine as follows : " The queen of Prussia is really a charming 
 woman. She is fond of coquetting with me ; but do not be jealous. 
 I am like a cere cloth, along which everything of this sort slides, 
 without penetrating. It would cost me too dear to play the gallant." 
 
 On this subject, an anecdote was related in the saloon of Josephine. 
 It was said that the queen of Prussia one day had a beautiful rose in 
 her hand, which the emperor asked her to give him. The queen hesi- 
 tated for a few moments, and then presented it to him, saying, 
 " Why should I so readily grant what you request, while you remain 
 deaf to all my entreaties 1" She alluded to the fortress of Magden- 
 burg, which she had earnestly solicited. 
 
OP NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 49 
 
 The following prophetic remark, was made by M. Lemercier, in 
 a conversation with Napoleon, a few days before the foundation of 
 the empire : " If you make up the bed of the Bourbons, general, you 
 will not lie in it ten years." Napoleon lay in it nine years and 
 nine months. 
 
 When intelligence was brought to Napoleon that Marshal Lannes 
 had just had his legs carried off by a cannon-shot, he was affected 
 to tears at the news ; and at the moment he was listening to the par- 
 ticulars of that sad event, he perceived a litter coming from the field 
 of battle with Marshal Lannes stretched upon it. He ordered him 
 to be carried to a retired spot, where they might be alone and unin- 
 terrupted. With his face bathed in tears, he approached and em- 
 braced his dying friend. Exhausted by the great loss of blood, 
 Marshal Lannes said to him in broken accents — " Farewell, Sire ; 
 spare a life dear to all; and bestow a passing thought upon the 
 memory of one of your best friends, who in two hours will be no 
 more !" This deeply affecting scene created in the emperor a pow- 
 erful emotion. The loss of Marshal Lannes was felt by the whole 
 army, and completed the disasters of that fatal day. A few days 
 after, the emperor was at the gates of Vienna ; but, on this occa- 
 sion, his afccess to the Austrian capital was not so easy as it had 
 been rendered in 1805, by the ingenuity and courage of Lannes. 
 The Archduke Maximilian, who was shut up in the capital, wished 
 to defend it although the French army already occupied the princi- 
 pal suburbs. In vain were flags of truce sent one after the other to 
 the archduke. They were not only dismissed unheard, but were 
 even ill-treated, and one of them was almost killed by the populace. 
 The city was then bombarded, and would speedily have been 
 destroyed, but that the emperor being informed that one of the arch- 
 duchesses remained in Vienna on account of ill-health, ordered the 
 firing to cease. By a singular caprice of Napoleon's destiny, this 
 archduchess was no other than Maria Louisa. 
 
 JuNOT,said Napoleon, was one of the most extravagant of men. 
 The sums given him almost exceeded belief, and yet he was always 
 in debt ; he had squandered treasures without credit to himself, with- 
 out discernment or taste, and, too frequently, the emperor added, in 
 gross debauchery. 
 
 He has been seen more than once after having taken a most copi- 
 ous and substantial breakfast, in his magnificent hotel at Paris, fired 
 with anger at the most trifling demand made by the most insignifi- 
 cant creditor, to threaten to liquidate the debt with his sword. Everv 
 4 
 
50 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 time he saw the emperor, said Napoleon, it was to hint at some 
 fresh embarrassment, be reprimanded and assisted. In the cam- 
 paign of Austerlitz, he came to the emperor at Schoenbrun ; but this 
 time, said Napoleon, it was not to intercede precisely for himself. 
 He took at this period a most lively interest in the beautiful Madame 
 Recamier. He had just arrived from Paris, and began his conver- 
 sation with the emperor by a most virulent philippic against M. de 
 Marbois, then minister of the treasury, who had been base enough, 
 he said, to refuse M. Recamier a loan of only two millions, to save 
 him from bankruptcy. All Paris was indignant. This Marbois, he 
 added, was a wicked man, an unworthy servant, who did not love 
 the emperor. He, Junot, had gone to him and had used every 
 endeavour to persuade him, but to no purpose. He had represented 
 to him the enormity of his conduct, and had assured him (and such 
 added Junot was the general opinion in Paris), that if the emperor 
 had been in the capital he would have immediately ordered the 
 money to be given to M. Recamier. He was on a wrong scent, 
 said the emperor, for I coolly replied to this passionate lover who 
 was almost out of his senses ; " You and Paris are both mistaken, 1 
 should not have ordered even two thousand sous to be given ; and I 
 should have been very much displeased with De Marbois if he had 
 acted otherwise than he has done. I am not Madame Recamier's 
 lover, and I do not come forward to the assistance of merchants who 
 keep up an establishment of six hundred thousand francs per annum. 
 Know that, M. Junot, and learn also, that the treasury does not lend 
 money to those whom it knows to have been long since on the road 
 to bankruptcy; it has other claims to satisfy. Junot," added the 
 emperor, " was obliged to calm his emotion, thinking probably that 
 there were hard-hearted people at Vienna as well as at Paris." 
 
 Junot travelled as fast as the emperor himself; he had his inn- 
 relays, said Napoleon, hundreds of horses, and other extravagances 
 of the kind. 
 
 The emperor added, that, not so much in his capacity as sove- 
 reign, but as being fond of Junot, and actuated also by a sort of 
 feeling derived from the similarity of birth-place, he being also 
 originally from Corsica, he had one day sent for Madame Junot in 
 order to give her some paternal admonitions on the subject of the 
 extravagance of her husband's expenditure, the profusion of dia- 
 monds which she herself had inconsiderately displayed after her 
 return from Portugal, and her intimate connections with a certain 
 foreigner, which might give umbrage in a political point of view, 
 &c, &c. But she rejected this advice, dictated alone by concern 
 for her interest. "She grew angry," said the emperor, "and 
 treated me like a child ; nothing then remained for me to do, but to 
 send her about her business, and abandon her to her fate. She fan- 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 51 
 
 cied herself a princess of the family of the Commenes ; and Junot 
 had heen made to believe it when he was induced to marry her. 
 Her family was from Corsica, and resided in the neighbourhood of 
 mine; they were under great obligations to my mother, not merely 
 for her benevolence towards them, but for services of a more posi- 
 tive nature." The emperor then gave the following explanation : 
 
 " The Genoese, in evacuating the Morea, had formerly carried a 
 colony of Muniotes to Corsica and settled them in the neighbourhood 
 of Ajaccio. M. de Vergennes, while he was ambassador at Constan- 
 tinople married a Greek woman; and on his return to France, 
 being greatly in favour with Louis XVI., he took it into his head 
 that he must have married a princess. It so happened that some 
 political circumstances occurred to favour his wish ; the downfall 
 of Constantinople was believed in at that moment, and it would have 
 suited France to advance some pretensions to a portion of that 
 empire. A man of the name of Commene, a relation of Madame 
 de Vergennes, was therefore sent for from the Greek colony near 
 Ajaccio, and having been brought to Versailles was soon after by 
 virtue of letters patent of Louis XVI., acknowledged a descendant 
 from the emperors of Constantinople. This said Commene was a 
 good farmer, whose sister had unexpectedly married, some years 
 before, a Frenchman, a clerk in the victualling department named 
 P . After the elevation of the family, and through the inte- 
 rest of M. de Vergennes, this P , clerk in the victualling de- 
 partment, had become a man of great consequence, having had the 
 contract for supplying the whole army of Rochambeau. The daugh- 
 ter of the clerk was this very Madame Junot, duchess of Abrantes." ., 
 
 "Junot in the campaign 'of Russia gave me great cause of dissat- 
 isfaction," said the emperor; " he was no longer the same man, and 
 committed some great errors which cost us dear." 
 
 After the return from Moscow, Junot, in consequence of the dis- 
 satisfaction he had given, lost the governorship of Paris ; and the 
 emperor sent him to Venice. However that species of disgrace was 
 almost immediately softened, by his appointment as governor-gene- 
 ral of Illyria ; but the blow was struck. The frequent incoherences 
 which had been observed in Junot's behaviour for some time past, 
 and which had arisen from the excesses in which he had indulged, 
 broke out at last into complete insanity. They were obliged to seize 
 him, and convey him home to his paternal mansion, where he died 
 miserably shortly after, having mutilated his person with his own 
 hands. 
 
 On the 2d of April, 1805, Napoleon, accompanied by the em- 
 press Josephine, left Paris for Milan, to go through the ceremony of 
 
52 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 a second coronation. On arriving at Troyes, attended only by two 
 or three officers, he visited Brienne. Here, among the scenes of his 
 boyhood, he forgot, for twenty-four hours, the empire of France and 
 the kingdom of Italy. He went over every place, and remembered 
 every one connected with the military school, even to the old ser- 
 vants, whose visible decay in their advancing years affected him 
 much. 
 
 The emperor Napoleon — after long absence, employed in rapidly 
 alternating scenes of revolutions, wars, deep policies, enlarged de- 
 signs, splendours, and triumphs, and now on his way to the assump- 
 tion of a second regal diadem — visits the scenes of his early youth, 
 and feels a saddened wonder at every trifling event and local change 
 which has occurred to them, during the same interval. The slight- 
 limbed, spare-bodied, diminutive boy at Brienne, with lean and 
 thoughtful face, and long straight hair, bearing — beneath a cold, 
 uncommunicative, solitary habit and demeanour — the secret germ of 
 fiery ardours and concentric will, presented the subject for a portrait 
 such as rarely occurs to task the artist's hand ; an adequate repre- 
 sentation, perhaps, defying the powers of any single point of view, 
 might have required the several labours of both painters and sculp- 
 tors, more especially in latter years. Of the early periods, how- 
 ever, no sort of authentic likeness or sketch is probably extant ; 
 and we are, therefore, left to imagine from vague verbal accounts, 
 and from subsequent portraitures, what the face and general expres- 
 sion must have been, of the youth who was destined to revolutionize 
 the greater part of Europe and change the chronological emblems 
 seated upon so many of her thrones. The next phase in the per- 
 sonal appearance of Napoleon, may be viewed with his first posses- 
 sion of command, and successful display of character and military 
 genius and skill, at the siege of Toulon. We should think that 
 figure in the engraving of " Batterie des Homines sans Peur," must 
 present a very close approximation to his external appearance at 
 the time. This figure represents a slight, sharp-cut outline, hard as 
 if shaped from steel — the attenuated bodily substance seeming 
 almost as impermeable — with a set look of will, fixed in its view 
 and purpose, as though it had settled into a metallic defiance of all 
 possible consequences, and seeking by its very spirit (the passionate 
 strength of self- deceiving mortality !) to overcome the destiny which 
 is poured in a ball of death-shot upon the heads of all around, in 
 their frightfully close opposition to the enemy's batteries. Again, 
 we find a change in the personal appearance of Napoleon when he 
 had become general of the army of Italy ; but not so much in 
 figure or face as in expresssion. To the cool self-possession, and 
 settled purpose of look and bearing, for which he was previously 
 remarkable, was added the ease, no less than the distant air of 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAFAETE. 53 
 
 habitual and unquestionable authority, in one who bad ceased to 
 lend his hand, except on extraordinary occasions, to the details of 
 war, or open his mind to share its councils. But, without any 
 essential change in physiognomical and general external appearance, 
 a considerable difference, in a pictorial sense, was presented by 
 Napoleon during the campaign in Egypt. Up to this time, he had 
 worn his hair long, and, if we are to credit the various portraits, in 
 loose ringlets or careless waves ; but the terrible heat of the climate 
 quickly warned him of the disadvantage as to comfort, besides the 
 dangers of a brain fever, and his long locks were forthwith cut close 
 to his head. He ever after wore his hair very short : its subsequent 
 thin quantity, indeed, would lead us to conjecture that the influence 
 of the climate of Egypt had rendered his future appearance, in this 
 respect, involuntary. Napoleon was extremely spare-bodied and 
 sinewy, up to about the age of five or six-and-thirty ; but, after attaining 
 the imperial dignity, his presentiment as to corpulency began to be 
 realized. Notwithstanding this tendency, however, no less unfavour- 
 able to symmetry than health, his person was greatly admired by 
 artists, as displaying many fine proportions, especially in the beauty 
 of the hands, and the legs and feet. Of the fine classical character 
 of his head and features, little need be said, as the pictures, and 
 particularly the busts of him, may be considered sufficiently correct 
 data for the studies of physiognomists, and for general judgment; 
 there can be no doubt, however, of the truth of the statements of 
 several who were long accustomed to be near him, under many ex- 
 traordinary, no less than ordinary circumstances, that of the rapid 
 versatility and marked characters of expression, no painter or sculp- 
 tor could convey any adequate idea. But of his power, under pecu- 
 liar circumstances, of " discharging all expression from his face," 
 and thus presenting a pale and solemn blank to the scrutinizer, as 
 of something past, an "unknown" sculptor from the antique would 
 perhaps be the best comparison ; while of his habitual, fixed calm, 
 amidst great tumults, the mask, taken from his face after his death, 
 may give, we should imagine, a tolerably correct impression ; and 
 one — by its countless associations, no less than its isolated fact — not 
 easily to be forgotten. 
 
 Proceeding to Lyons, the emperor and empress were received with 
 all the magnificence that rich city, the trade of which had been 
 raised by Napoleon from something like ruin, could display in their 
 honour/ At Turin, they were met by the pope, and remained there 
 some days. They also rested for a short time at Alessandria ; and, 
 while there, Napoleon formed the resolution, which he afterwards 
 carried into effect, to convert that city into a great military depot 
 
54 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 and fortified place, of immense strength, for which its natural advan- 
 tages afforded every facility. On the route to Milan, the emperor 
 visited the field of battle on which he had re-conquered Italy five 
 years before. He collected all the troops in that part of the country, 
 to the number of thirty thousand, on the plain of Marengo, and ap- 
 peared among them on horseback, in the same coat and hat which 
 he had worn in the action, and which — with that strong tendency to 
 experience pleasure in the association of memory, thought, and feel- 
 ing, with visible and tangible objects, place and time, for which he 
 was remarkable — he had brought from Paris for this express pur- 
 pose. It was observed that the moths had paid no more respect to 
 the dress thus suggestive of heroic deeds, than to any common-place 
 garment, for it was musty and full of holes ; but this did not prevent 
 Napoleon from wearing it. He reviewed the troops, and distributed 
 crosses of the legion of honour, with the same ceremonies which had 
 been observed on the Champ de Mars, and the same return of enthu- 
 siastic devotion on the part of the troops. Fresh recollections of 
 Desaix, the friend whom he had lost on this very spot, arose with 
 the scene. He had already erected a monument in the hospital of 
 the great St. Bernard, to the memory of the brave who fell at Maren- 
 go. He now resolved that the remains of Desaix should be carried 
 to the same spot, and deposited beneath the monument, on the occa- 
 sion of its solemn inauguration, which he intended should take place 
 under the direction of Denon. He gave orders to this effect, and formed 
 a small column of men, chosen from every regiment of Italy, together 
 with a civil deputation of Italians, to carry the honoured remains from 
 Milan to St. Bernard. Savary alone, to whom Napoleon had con- 
 fided the charge of embalming the body, after the battle, knew where 
 it had since remained ; he, therefore, together with Denon, went to 
 the monastery in Milan, which he well recollected, and where, in a 
 sacristy, they found it, " in the same place," says Savary, " and in 
 the same state in which I had left it some years before, after having 
 had it embalmed, then put into a leaden coffin, then into one of cop- 
 per, and lastly the whole enclosed in a wooden one. Since that 
 time, the remains of General Desaix have reposed on the summit of 
 the Alps." 
 
 On the 8th of May, the emperor made his third grand entry into 
 Milan. He was received with acclamations, and the greatest de- 
 monstrations of joy. The first event of importance after his arrival 
 was the incorporation of Genoa with the French empire, an enlarge- 
 ment of its territory which excited the indignation of all the hostile 
 powers of the continent. This acquisition, like that of the crown 
 of Italy, was made to appear a gift. A deputation, headed by Dur- 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 55 
 
 azzo, the Doge of Genoa, waited on Napoleon, with a request that 
 he would incorporate the Ligurian republic with his empire. 
 The political reasons by which he justified his acceptance of this 
 request, will be found in portions of his reply : " The spread of liberal 
 ideas could alone have given to your government that splendour 
 which encircled it for many years ; but I have already attained the 
 conviction that you are unable, alone, to do anything worthy of your 
 forefathers. Everything has changed ; the new principles of the 
 dominion of the seas which the English have adopted, and forced 
 other nations to adopt ; the right of blockade, which they are able 
 to extend at their pleasure, and which is only another term for ex- 
 tinguishing at their will the commerce of all the people ; these cir- 
 cumstances offer you nothing but isolation in your independence. 
 Where maritime independence is no longer possessed by a commer- 
 cial people, the necessity of ranging themselves under a more pow- 
 erful flag commences. I will realize your wish. I will unite you 
 with my great people." The union was immediately effected, and 
 the Doge of Genoa became a Senator of France. 
 
 The coronation took place in the cathedral of Milan, (which owed 
 its completion to Napoleon) on the 26th of May : Cardinal Daprara 
 officiating on this occasion, as the emperor did not think fit to exact 
 another act of condescension from the pope, to whom the near 
 neighbourhood of so powerful a sovereign could not be a matter of 
 gratulation. The iron crown of the Lombard kings was used on the 
 occasion. Napoleon, as he had done at Paris, took it with his own 
 hand from the altar, and, placing it on his head, uttered the appointed 
 form of words with which it was always assumed by its ancient 
 owners. " God has given it me ; let him beware who would touch 
 it." The order of the iron crown, with these words for its motto, 
 arose out of this ceremony. 
 
 The emperor remained at Milan until the 10th of June ; when 
 (leaving Eugene Beauharnais, now his adopted son, as viceroy) he 
 left the city, and, accompanied by the empress, proceeded to visit 
 the principal scenes of his former triumphs in Italy. Marshal Jour- 
 dan, with forty thousand men, waited his arrival at the camp of 
 Castiglione ; and here he made another distribution of crosses of the 
 legion of honour to that division of the army. Proceeding by Pes- 
 chiera, Verona, and the impregnable Mantua, the emperor arrived at 
 Bologna. Here the Marquis de Gallo met him, and made, on the 
 part of Naples, fresh solicitations for a neutrality, and protestations 
 of its strict observance. Here also the state of Lucca became, by 
 
56 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 solicitation, an appendange to the imperial family. Napoleon gave 
 it for sovereign, his eldest sister, the Princess Eliza, afterwards Grand 
 Duchess of Tuscany. She was a woman of strong talents and great 
 energy of disposition ; considerably resembling her brother. She 
 had offended him by marrying Bacciochi, a native of Corsica, and 
 only a captain of artillery : but seeing the thing was done, Napoleon 
 promoted her husband, and gave these extensive territories to his 
 sister, to whom he well knew he might safely confide them. Bac- 
 ciochi shared her honours, but without interfering with her authority* 
 She is acknowledged to have governed both with vigour and benefi- 
 cence, having carried out important improvements in works of utility, 
 and encouraged education and the arts. She retained her sove- 
 reignty until the downfall of the empire. The chief accusations 
 against her are, that she was too fond of luxury, and encouraged a 
 plurality of lovers ; so that she acquired the name of the " Semira- 
 mis of Lucca." After visiting Turin, where he organised the uni- 
 versity, the emperor and empress turned towards France, and reached 
 Fontainebleau on the 11th of July ; whence they proceeded to Paris, 
 
 " When one of my ministry," said Napoleon, " or some other 
 great personage had been guilty of a fault of so grave a nature, that 
 it became absolutely necessary for me to be very angry, I always 
 took care, in that case, to have a third person present to witness the 
 scene that was to ensue ; for it was a general maxim with me, that 
 when I resolved to strike a blow, it must be felt by many at the 
 same time. The immediate object of my resentment did not feel 
 more incensed against me on that account; and the bystander^ 
 whose embarrassed appearance was highly ludicrous, did not fail to 
 run and circulate, most discreetly, as far as he could, all that he had 
 seen and heard. A salutary terror ran thus from vein to vein 
 through the body social ; — a new impulse was given to the march 
 of affairs. 1 had less to punish, and a great deal of public good 
 was obtained without inflicting much private hardship." 
 
 Nafoleon was not very partial to Madame de Stael. Speaking 
 of her at one time, he said, " I do not like women, who make men 
 of themselves, any more than I like effeminate men. There is a 
 proper part for every one to play in the world. What does all this 
 vagrancy of imagination mean ? What is the result of it ? Nothing I 
 It is all sentimental metaphysics and disorder of the mind. I can- 
 not endure that woman ; for one reason, that 1 cannot bear women 
 who make a set at me ; and God knows how often she has tried to 
 cajole me." 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 57 
 
 When Napoleon was at Cutekie, in the midst of the desert, he 
 said to Monge, his mathematician, " What do you think of all this, 
 citizen Monge V 7 " Why, citizen general," answered Monge, " I 
 think, if there are ever seen in this place as many equipages as at 
 the opera-house, there must be some wonderful revolutions on the 
 globe." Monge had a carriage with six horses on the spot. It was, 
 unquestionably, the first of the kind that travelled over the desert, 
 and accordingly it very much surprised the Arabs. 
 
 One day, the counsellor of state, General Gassendi, taking part 
 in the discussion of the moment, dwelt much upon the doctrines of 
 economists. The emperor, who was much attached to his old artil- 
 lery comrade, stopped him, saying, " My dear general, where did 
 you gain all this knowledge 1 Where did you imbibe these princi- 
 ples V Gassendi, who very seldom spoke in the council, after de- 
 fending himself, driven into his last entrenchments, replied, that he 
 had, after all, borrowed his opinions from Napoleon himself. — 
 " How !" exclaimed the emperor, with warmth. " What do you 
 say ? Is it possible ! From me, who have always thought, that if 
 there existed a monarchy of granite, the chimeras of political eco- 
 nomists would reduce it to powder." And after some other remarks, 
 partly ironical and partly serious, he concluded : — " Go, general ! 
 You must have fallen asleep in your office, and have dreamed all 
 this." Gassendi, who was rather irascible, replied, " Oh, as for 
 falling asleep in your offices, Sire, I defy any one to do that with 
 you — you plague us too much for that." All the council burst into 
 a fit of laughter, and the emperor laughed louder than any one. 
 
 The clergy did not disappoint the expectations of the first consul. 
 They owed him much already, and hoped for still more from him. 
 The letter to the bishops, &c, was the signal for a number of com- 
 munications, full of eulogies on Napoleon. 
 
 These compliments were far from displeasing the consul, who had 
 no objection to flattery, though he despised those who merely made 
 themselves the medium of conveying it to him. Duroc once said, 
 that they had all great difficulty to preserve their gravity, when the 
 Cure of a parish in Abbeville addressed Napoleon, one day while he 
 was on a journey to the coast. " Religion," said the worthy Cure, 
 with ludicrous solemnity, " owes to you all that she is ; we owe to 
 you all that we are ; and I owe to you all that I am." 
 
58 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 " Poor Lannes," said Napoleon, " had passed the night which 
 preceded the battle, in Vienna, and not alone. He appeared on the 
 field without having taken any food, and fought the whole day. 
 The physician said that this triple concurrence of circumstances 
 caused his death, he required a great deal of strength after the 
 wound to enable him to bear it, and unfortunately nature was 
 almost exhausted before." 
 
 " It is generally said," the emperor observed, " that there are cer- 
 tain wounds, to which death seems preferable ; but this is very sel- 
 dom the case, I assure you. It is at the moment we are going to 
 part with existence that we cling to it with all our might. Lannes, 
 the most courageous of men, deprived of both his legs, would not 
 hear of death, and was irritated to that degree, that he declared that 
 the two surgeons who attended him, deserved to be hanged for 
 behaving so brutally towards a marshal. He had unfortunately 
 over-heard them whisper to each other, as they thought without 
 being heard, that it was impossible he could escape. Every mo- 
 ment the unfortunate Lannes called for the emperor ; he twined him- 
 self round me," said Napoleon, " with all he had left of life ; he 
 would hear of no one but me, he thought but of me, it was a kind of 
 instinct ! Undoubtedly he loved his wife and children better than me ; 
 yet he did not speak of them : it was he that protected them, whilst 1 
 on the contrary was his protector. 1 was for him something vague 
 and undefined, a superior being, his providence, which he implored !" 
 
 Somebody then observed, that the world had spoken very dif- 
 ferently on the subject; that it had been reported that Lannes 
 had died like a maniac, vociferating imprecations against the 
 emperor, at whom he seemed enraged ; and it was added, that he 
 had always had an aversion to the emperor, and had often mani- 
 fested it to him with insolence. " What an absurdity," said the 
 emperor, " Lannes on the contrary adored me. He was assuredly 
 one of the men on whom I could most implicitly rely. It is very 
 true that in the impetuosity of his disposition he has sometimes suf- 
 fered some hasty expressions against me to escape his lips, but he 
 would probably have broken the head of any person who chanced to 
 hear them." 
 
 When Napoleon was in Syria, it was a settled opinion at Cairo, 
 that he never would be seen there again, and he was troubled with 
 the thievery and impudence of a little Chinese, who was one of his 
 servants. He was a little deformed dwarf, whom Josephine once 
 took a fancy to at Paris. He was the only Chinese in France, and 
 was generally placed behind her carriage. She took him to Italy, 
 but as he was in the constant habit of pilfering, she wished to get 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 59 
 
 rid of him. With that view, Napoleon put him on board of his 
 Egyptian expedition. Egypt was a lift to him half way on his 
 journey. This little monster was entrusted with the care of his 
 cellar, and Napoleon had no sooner crossed the desert, than he sold, 
 at a very low price, two thousand bottles of delicious claret. His 
 only object was to make money, and he was convinced that Napo- 
 leon would never come back. He was not at all disconcerted at 
 Napoleon's return, but went eagerly to meet him, and acquainted 
 him, as he said, like a faithful servant, with the loss of his wine. 
 The robbery was so glaring, that he was himself compelled to con- 
 fess it. Napoleon was urged to have him hanged, but he contented 
 himself with discharging and sending him to Suez, where he was at 
 liberty to do what he pleased. 
 
 A man by the name of Bottot, a private agent of Barras, was 
 sent to Napoleon with secret instructions, to endeavour to penetrate 
 his views, and ascertain why he had not sent the three millions of 
 which the directory had stood so much in need 1 Bottot found the 
 French general at Passeriano, and began to intrigue right and left 
 with those who surrounded Napoleon ; but he found every one 
 warmly attached to the party that had triumphed ; and, having some 
 concerns of his own to arrange, he, at last, in the course of some 
 private conversations, confessed the secret of his mission, and the 
 vague suspicions entertained by the directory. He had been soon 
 disabused by the appearance of simplicity which distinguished Napo- 
 leon's establishment, by the frankness of Napoleon himself, and 
 above all, by the enthusiasm of the army, and of the whole of 
 Italy, in favour of the general. But even if the suspicion of the 
 directory had been founded, it would not have been difficult, with a 
 few marks of attention, and some frank and unaffected conversa- 
 tions, to remove from Bottot's mind, sorrounded as he then was, all 
 cause of umbrage. He wrote to Paris that the fears that had been 
 entertained were altogether groundless, and much less to be dreaded 
 than the perverseness of those who wished to inspire them — but the 
 three millions, it was objected to him, why were they refused 1 
 Napoleon had proved that the order sent by the directory was mys- 
 terious and irregular, and that, encompassed as it was by some 
 rogues, who had already plundered the public treasure, he had 
 thought it prudent to ascertain the truth ; that he had immediately 
 dispatched Lavalette, his confidential aide-de-camp, to Paris, and that 
 as soon as Lavalette had informed him of the true state of affairs, 
 he had prepared three millions, and was on the point of sending 
 them when the fate of the day was decided. 
 
60 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 " Murat" said Napoleon (at St. Helena) " determined the unfortu- 
 nate events of 1 SI 4. He is one of the principal causes of our being 
 here. But the fault is originally mine. There were several men 
 whom I had made too great, I had raised them above the sphere of 
 their intelligence. I was reading, some days since, his proclamation 
 on abandoning the viceroy, which I had not seen before. It is diffi- 
 cult to conceive any thing disgraced by a greater degree of turpi- 
 tude : he says in that document that the moment is come to choose 
 between two banners, that of crime, or that of virtue. It is my ban- 
 ner which he calls the banner of crime ! and it is Murat, my crea- 
 ture, the husband of my sister, the man who owed everything to me. 
 who would have been nothing without me, who exists by me, and 
 is known through me alone — it is Murat who writes this ! It is 
 impossible to desert the cause of misfortune with more unfeeling 
 brutality, and to run with more unblushing baseness to hail a new 
 destiny." 
 
 From that moment, Madame (mother of the emperor) refused to 
 have anything more to do with either Murat or his wife; to all their 
 entreaties she invariably answered, that she held traitors and 
 treachery in abhorrence. As soon as she was at Rome, after the 
 disasters of 1814, Murat hastened to send her eight magnificent 
 horses out of his stables at Naples ; but Madame would not accept 
 them. She resisted in like manner every effort of her daughter 
 Caroline, who constantly repeated that, after all, the fault Was not 
 hers ; that she had no share in.it ; that she could not command her 
 husband. But Madame answered, like Clytemnestra,— " If you 
 could not command him, you ought at least to oppose him : — but 
 what struggles have you made 1 what blood has flown ? At the 
 expense of your own life you ought to have defended your brother, 
 your benefactor, your master, against the sanguinary attempts of 
 your husband." 
 
 " On my return from Elba," said the emperor, " Murat's head was 
 turned on hearing that 1 had landed in France. The first intelli- 
 gence he received of this event informed him that I was at Lyons. 
 He was accustomed to my great returns of fortune ; he had more 
 than once seen me placed in most extraordinary circumstances. 
 On this occasion he thought me already master of all Europe, and 
 determined to endeavour to wrest Italy from me ; for that was his 
 object, the aim of all his hopes. It was in vain that some men of 
 the greatest influence amongst the nations which he attempted to 
 excite to rebellion, threw themselves at his feet and assured him that 
 he was mistaken ; that the Italians had a king on whom alone they 
 had bestowed their love and their esteem. Nothing could stop him ; 
 he lost himself, and contributed to lose us a second time ; for Aus- 
 tria, supposing that he was acting at my instigation, would not be- 
 
OP NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 61 
 
 lieve my professions, and mistrusted me. Murat's unfortunate end 
 corresponds with his conduct. Murat was endowed with extraordi- 
 nary courage, and little intelligence. The too great disproportion 
 between those two qualifications explains the man entirely. It was 
 difficult, even impossible, to be more courageous than Murat and 
 Lannes; but Murat had remained courageous and nothing more. 
 The mind of Lannes, on the contrary, had risen to the level of his 
 courage : he had become a giant. However," said the emperor, in 
 ending the conversation, " the execution of Murat is nevertheless 
 horrible. It is an event in the history of the morals of Europe ; an 
 infraction of the rules of public decorum. A king has caused an- 
 other king, acknowledged by all the others, to be shot ! What a 
 spell he has broken !" 
 
 Napoleon took great pleasure in dramatic performances. He 
 liked to see plays acted by persons with whom he was familiar. 
 
 Lucien, at one time, invited Napoleon and all the inmates at Mal- 
 maison, to witness a theatrical representation. " Alzier" was the 
 piece performed. Eliza played Alzier, and Lucien, Zamore. The 
 warmth of their declarations, the energetic expression of their ges- 
 tures, the too faithful nudity of costume, disgusted most of the spec- 
 tators, and Napoleon more than any other. When the play was 
 over, he was quite indignant. " It is a scandal," he said, in an 
 angry tone ; " I ought not to suffer such indecencies. I will give 
 Lucien to understand that I will have no more of it." 
 
 When his brother had resumed his own dress, and came into the 
 saloon, he addressed him publicly, and gave him to understand, that 
 he must, for the future, desist from such representations. " What !" 
 said he, " when I am endeavouring to restore purity of manners, 
 my brother and sister must needs exhibit themselves upon a plat- 
 form, almost in a state of nudity. — It is an insult." 
 
 After Napoleon's return from Elba, some grenadiers of the 
 royal ex- volunteers, indulged in threats and imprecations against 
 him. This was enough to terrify some of the alarmists of the 
 court ; and they requested Napoleon to mix a few battalions of his 
 guards in the review,, by way of precaution. The emperor rejected 
 their entreaties, and was angry at their fears ; nevertheless, they 
 caused him to be attended, without his knowledge, by ten or a dozen 
 grenadiers, who were directed not to lose sight of him for a moment. 
 
 While the emperor was walking his horse along the ranks, his 
 escort had followed him without his paying any attention to it : but 
 when he set off at a gallop, he perceived that his grenadiers were 
 
62 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 galloping after him, and stopped. " What do you do there ?" said 
 he, to one of them. " Go about your business." The old grum- 
 bler (a nickname given by Napoleon to one of his old grenadiers), 
 who knew that apprehensions were entertained for the life of his 
 general, appeared disposed not to obeyy The emperor then took 
 hold of him by his hairy cap, and giving it a hearty shake, repeated 
 with a smile, his order to him to retire. " Go all of you away. I 
 am surrounded by none but good Frenchmen. I am safe with them 
 as with you." The national guards, who heard these words, cried 
 out, spontaneously, " Yes, yes, Sire, you are right ; we would all 
 defend your life at the expense of our own. Long live the nation ! 
 Long live the emperor !" 
 
 Napoleon, in speaking of Gall, said, " He, and all who resem- 
 ble him, had a great attachment to materialism, which was calculated 
 to strengthen their theory and influence. But nature is not so bar- 
 ren. VVere she so clumsy as to make herself known by external, 
 forms, we should go to work more promptly and acquire a greater 
 degree of knowledge. Her secrets are more subtle, more delicate, 
 more evanescent, and have hitherto escaped the most minute re- 
 searches. We find a great genius in a hunchback, and a man with 
 a fine commanding person, turns out to be a stupid fellow. A big 
 head with a large brain is sometimes destitute of a single idea, while 
 a small brain is found to possess a vast understanding. And ob- 
 serve the imbecility of Gall. He attributes to certain protuberances, 
 propensities and crimes which are not inherent in nature, which 
 arise solely from society and the compact of mankind. What be- 
 comes of the protuberance denoting thievery, where there is no pro- 
 perty to steal ; — of that indicating drunkenness, where there is no 
 fermented liquors ; and of that characterising ambition, where there 
 is no social establishment 1" 
 
 "The same remarks apply to. that egregious character, Lavater, 
 with his physical and moral relations. Our credulity lies in the 
 defect of our nature. It is inherent in us to wish for the acquisition 
 of positive ideas, when we ought, on the contrary, to be carefully 
 on our guard against them. We scarcely look at a man's features, 
 before we undertake to ascertain his character. We should be wise 
 enough to repel the idea, and to neutralize those deceitful appear- 
 ances. I was robbed by a person who had gray eyes, and from 
 that moment am I never to look at gray eyes without the idea of the 
 fear of being robbed 7 It was a weapon that wounded me, and of 
 that I am apprehensive wherever I see it ; but was it the gray eyes 
 that robbed me ? Reason and experience, and I have been enabled 
 to derive great benefit from both, prove, that we cannot be too strictly 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPAKTE. 63 
 
 on our guard against them ; and that the only true way of appreci- 
 ating and gaining a thorough knowledge of mankind is by trying and 
 associating with them. After all, we meet with countenances so 
 hideous, it must be allowed that the most powerful understanding 
 is confounded, and condemns them in spite of itself." 
 
 On the same day that Napoleon was to have been assassinated 
 by a young man from Schwerin, a German officer who was in the 
 French army, came accidentally with a despatch to the emperor. 
 After he had made his report, Napoleon asked the officer, who spoke 
 with a foreign accent, from what country he was. " I am from 
 
 • Sire," replied he. 
 
 Napoleon. " From 1 Then you may speak with your 
 
 countryman, who had the intention of sending me to-day to the 
 i world to come. Do you know him or his family ?" 
 
 Officer. " I know neither him nor his family, nor have I ever 
 
 heard his name, and as I hear he is from he is consequently 
 
 not my countryman." 
 
 Napoleon. " Well, you do not want to have it said that one of 
 your countrymen has made a fool of himself, and you are right ; but 
 when you write home, you may tell your friends that I am not dis- 
 pleased with the people of on account of this business, that, 
 
 on the contrary, [ love , and that this poor town shall be 
 
 restored to its former flourishing state. The university shall rise, 
 there is room for 3,000 students, and in the citadel I will found a 
 military academy for my German subjects. But how did you get 
 among the Poles ?" 
 
 Officer. " I was in O 's corps, but, to serve immediately under 
 
 the eye of your majesty, I obtained my discharge, and went into the 
 third regiment of chasseurs, whence I was removed to the Polish 
 light horse, and had the good luck to be made adjutant of a brigade." 
 Napoleon. " Do you like the Polish army V 
 Officer. " So well that I would not like to leave it." 
 Napoleon. " I am glad of it, and I believe that every one of my 
 soldiers thinks the same ; I am certain that the Poles do ; but will 
 you do nothing for your countryman V 
 Officer. " Not that I know, Sire !" 
 
 Napoleon. " Well, go and see him, and tell him that I pardon his 
 folly, and that I will restore him to liberty as soon as he shall have 
 recovered his senses." 
 
 The officer went to the young man, who received him very coolly. 
 He introduced himself as his countryman, and informed him of the 
 intention of the emperor. The young man showed neither joy nor 
 sadness, thanked the officer for the trouble he had taken, and observ- 
 
64 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 ed that he was determined to kill Napoleon, and that if he was 
 really to set him free, he would, notwithstanding, seize every oppor- 
 tunity to effect his purpose. That he would please to bring this 
 answer to Napoleon. " That death was perfectly familiar to him, 
 and that he would only request him that on writing home, he would 
 send his love to his parents and request them to pardon his deed. 
 That he had had a call from the Lord, who had also revealed his 
 fate to him."' 
 
 All this was reported by the officer, and Napoleon expressed his 
 displeasure in the following manner. " It is rare for any one to 
 refuse such mercy; I am sorry for this young enthusiast, but what 
 else can I do but leave him to his fate, obstinate as he is. This man 
 is either a great man or a great fool." 
 
 Two days after this conversation he was shot, without the emperor 
 having heard any thing more about it. 
 
 As little as Bonaparte troubled himself about any particular reli- 
 gion, yet he was too much of a statesman not to see that religion 
 was a powerful lever in the hands of government, and served to quiet 
 and direct the minds of the people. With this view he favoured the 
 election of the bishop of Tmola, whose acquaintance he had made in 
 Italy, and who ascended the papal throne as his protegee, on the 9th 
 March, 1800. This was the same Pope Pius VII. with whom he 
 afterwards concluded the concordat. 
 
 " Some time before my coronation," says Napoleon, "the pope 
 wanted to speak to me in person, and insisted upon coming to see 
 me himself. He had made many concessions. He had come to 
 Paris to crown me ; had given up his right to place, himself, the 
 crown on my head ; had discharged me from publicly taking the 
 sacrament, immediately before the ceremony ; according to his own 
 opinion he had great rewards to expect for this condescension ; in 
 the beginning he had dreamed of Romagna, of Legations, &c, but 
 after some ill received attempts he commenced to think that he 
 would have to do without all these things. He now limited his de- 
 mands to a very trifling favour, as he called it, which consisted in 
 putting my signature to an old document, a worn out rag, which 
 his predecessors had received from Louis XIV. ' Do me this favour,' 
 
 said he ; " it is of no importance.' ' With pleasure, dearest 
 
 father, shall it be done, if it is practicable.' Now this worn out rag 
 was a declaration by which Louis XIV., towards the end of his life, 
 overcome by the pressing solicitation of Madame de Maintenon, or 
 persuaded by his confessors, had disapproved of the articles of 1682, 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 65 
 
 the fundamental principles of the celebrated liberties of the Gallican 
 church. I read the paper, and said ironically to Pius VII., that as 
 far as he was concerned, I had no personal objection, but that for 
 the sake of order, it would be as well to hear the opinions of the 
 bishops, and of the council ; to which the pope repeatedly replied 
 that this was not at all necessary, that the matter did not deserve so 
 much consideration. ' I shall never produce this signature,' added 
 he, 'just as little as that of Louis has been produced.' ( But if it 
 is so unimportant, why then my signature ? and if the matter is 
 important, I must absolutely consult the doctors.' This was not to 
 be contradicted, and, confused and ashamed, he pressed the matter 
 no further." 
 
 The pope had dispensed with the public communion in Napoleon's 
 favour. He also held a congregation of cardinals for the purpose 
 of settling the ceremonial. The greater number warmly insisted 
 upon his taking the communion in public, asserting the great in- 
 fluence of the example on the people, and the necessity of his holding 
 it out. The pope, on the contrary, fearful lest Napoleon should fulfil 
 that duty as if he were going through one of the articles of M. de Se- 
 gur's programme, looked upon it as a sacrilege, and was inflexible in 
 opposing it. " Napoleon," he observed, " is not perhaps a believer ; 
 the time will, no doubt, come, in which his faith will be established, 
 and, in the meantime, let us not burthen his conscience or our 
 own." 
 
 Napoleon often conversed with the pope about religion in a pleasant 
 and friendly manner. His influence over the pope was such, that 
 he drew from him, by the mere power of his conversation, the 
 famous concordat of Fontainebleau, in which he renounced the 
 temporal sovereignty, an act, on account of which, he has since 
 shown that he dreaded the judgment of posterity. 
 
 At a skirmish, near Poserna, Marshal Bessieres, who was the 
 leader of Napoleon's household troops, from the time they bore the 
 humble name of Guides, until now that they were the Imperial 
 Guard, and he their colonel-general, coming up to see how the action 
 went, was killed by a cannon-shot. His body was covered with a 
 white sheet, and the loss concealed as long as possible from the 
 guards, who were much attached to him. Upon a former occasion, 
 when his horse was killed, Napoleon told him he was obliged to the 
 bullet for making it known to him how much he was beloved, since 
 the whole guard had wept for him. His time was, however, now 
 come. He was sincerely lamented by Napoleon, who was thus, 
 5 
 
66 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 when the world was going harder against him than formerly, de- 
 prived of an early and attached follower. 
 
 " When the Italian army was encamped in the vicinity of swamps," 
 said Napoleon, " many suffered by fever, while I had not any com- 
 plaint, as I observed temperance, and generally abstemious balancing 
 between my appetite and the powers of my digestive organs. I had, 
 at the same time, exercise sufficient, both of the body and the mind. 
 On my return from Egypt, I was very thin, and, at that time, sub- 
 ject to a. bad cough. For my recovery I was indebted to doctor 
 Corvesart, who blistered me twice on the chest. At the siege of 
 Toulon, 1 commanded a small battery of two guns. One of the 
 English boats approached close to the shore, and firing their gun, 
 killed two cannoneers by my side. I seized a ram-rod when it fell 
 from the dead soldier's warm hand. The man, as it happened, was 
 diseased ; and I found myself in a very few days suffering under an 
 inveterate itch. I had recourse to baths for a cure, and that time 
 succeeded. Five years after, I had a return of the same complaint 
 with increased violence, and I presume it had lurked in my blood 
 during the whole interval — of that I was shortly cured, and have 
 never had any return." 
 
 Napoleon used to call Moreau "the retreating general," and 
 some of the troops in Napoleon's army seemed to imbibe similar 
 notions with regard to their general's rival. In this case, when a 
 soldier became transferred from the army of Napoleon to that of 
 Moreau, very much against his will, he appeared in the ranks with 
 his coat buttoned behind him, declaring that he had always been 
 trained to show his front to the enemv. 
 
 Napoleon, on his return from the Russian campaign, was so 
 struck by the courage and strength of mind displayed by Ney, that 
 he created him " Prince of the Moskowa ;" and he was often heard 
 to say, "I have two hundred millions in my coffers, and I would 
 give them all for Ney." 
 
 In conversation upon artillery, Napoleon said, that in general the 
 artillery did not tire sufficiently in a battle. The principal consider- 
 ation in war is, that there should be no want of ammunition. When 
 there is an actual scarcity, of course that forms an exception ; but 
 in every other case, it is necessary to fire incessantly. Napoleon, 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 67 
 
 who had himself often been nearly killed by spent balls, and who 
 knew how important such an event would have been to the fate of 
 the battle or the campaign, maintained the propriety of firing con- 
 tinually, without calculating expense. Moreover, he said, that if he 
 wished to avoid the post of danger, he would station himself at the 
 distance of 300 toises, rather than at 600. At the first mentioned 
 point, the balls frequently pass over the head ; but at the latter, they 
 must fall somewhere or other. 
 
 He remarked that it was impossible to make artillery fire on 
 masses of infantry, when they were themselves assailed by an op- 
 posite battery. " This arises from natural cowardice," said he, good- 
 humouredly, — " from the irresistible instinct of self-preservation." 
 An artillery officer who was among us, protested against this obser- 
 vation. " It is nevertheless true," continued the emperor. " You 
 immediately stand on your guard against the enemy who attacks 
 you. You seek to destroy him lest he should destroy you. You 
 often relinquish your firing, that he may cease to harrass you, and 
 direct his charge against the masses of infantry, who are of much 
 greater importance to the fate of the battle." 
 
 Napoleon, immediately after meeting Maria Louisa, from Vienna, 
 inquired what directions she had received from her illustrious rela- 
 tives with regard to him, personally. " To be entirely devoted to 
 you, and to obey you in all things," was the reply. 
 
 Napoleon and Maria Louisa returning from their journey in 
 Holland, arrived at Gevet on the Meuse, where several hundred 
 were at that time assembled. A sudden storm arose ; there was a 
 heavy fall of rain, the river overflowed its banks, and the pontoon 
 bridge was broken and rendered impassable. However, the emperor, 
 anxious to continue his journey, and not being in the habit of think- 
 ing anything impossible, resolved to cross the river at all hazards. 
 All the boatmen in the nio-hbourhood were collected together, but 
 not one would attempt to cross. "However," said Napoleon, "1 
 am determined to be on the other side of the river before noon." 
 He immediately ordered some of the principal English prisoners to 
 be brought to him. "Are there many of you here 1" said he; 
 " and are there any sailors among you ?" " There are 500 of us, 
 and we are all seamen," was the reply. " Well, I want to know, 
 whether you think it possible to cross the river, and whether you 
 will undertake to convey me to the opposite bank ?" It was ac- 
 knowledged to be a hazardous attempt ; but some of the veterans 
 undertook to accomplish it. Napoleon got into the boat with a de- 
 5 # 
 
68 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 gree of confidence that was truly surprising ; and he reached the 
 opposite bank in safety. He heartily thanked those who had ren- 
 dered him this act of service, and ordered that they should be pro- 
 vided with new clothes ; to this he added a pecuniary present, and 
 granted them their liberty. 
 
 In the course of the action, at the battle of Montereau, Napoleon 
 returned to his old profession of an artillery-man, and pointed several 
 guns himself, to the great delight of the soldiers. They trembled, 
 however, when the fire attracted the attention of the enemy, whose 
 balls began to be aimed at the French battery. " Go, my children," 
 said the emperor, ridiculing their apprehensions ; " the ball is not 
 cast that is to kill me." 
 
 Having taken the place by storm, Napoleon, dissatisfied with the 
 number of men he had lost, loaded with reproaches some of his 
 best officers. Montbrun was censured for want of energy, and 
 Digeon for the scarcity of ammunition with which the artillery was 
 served ; but it was chiefly on Victor, the duke of Belluno, that his 
 resentment discharged itself. He imputed to him negligence, in not 
 having attacked Montereau on the day before the action, when it 
 was unprovided for resistance ; and he ordered him to retire from 
 the service. The mareschal endeavoured to obtain a hearing in his 
 own defence, but for some time could not succeed in checking the 
 stream of reproaches. At length they were softened into a charge 
 of broken health, and the love of repose, incident to wounds and 
 infirmities. " The best bed," said the emperor, " which the quarters 
 afford, must now be sought out for the once indefatigable Victor i" 
 The mareschal felt the charge more severely in proportion as it be- 
 came moderated within what was probably the bounds of truth ; but 
 he would not consent to quit the service. 
 
 " I have not," he said, " forgot my original trade. I will take a 
 musket. Victor will become a private in the guard." Napoleon 
 could not resist this mark of attachment. He held out his hand 
 — " let us be friends," he replied. " 1 cannot restore you^ to your 
 corps d'armee, which I have given to Gerard, but I will place you at 
 the head of two divisions of the guard. Go, assume your com- 
 mand, and let there be no more of this matter betwixt us." 
 
 General Lamarque had been very much attached to Moreau, 
 and had for a long time served under him. Speaking of the differ- 
 ent tactics of Moreau and Napoleon, he said : — " Had their two 
 armies been in presence, and there had been sufficient time to move, 
 I would have entered the ranks of Moreau, which were sure to be 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 69 
 
 managed with the utmost regularity, precision, and calculation ; on 
 these points it was impossible to excel, or even to equal Moreau. 
 But if the two armies had approached within a hundred leagues of 
 each other, the emperor would have routed the enemy three, four, or 
 five times over, before the latter could have had time to reconnoitre 
 his forces." 
 
 The celebrated Madame V was long endeavouring to seek 
 
 the attention of Napoleon, but tired with losing her time, she low- 
 ered her pretensions to Berthier, who, from the first instant, lived 
 but for her. The commander-in-chief made him a present one day 
 of a magnificent diamond* worth more than one hundred thousand 
 francs. " Here," said he, " take that, we often play high, lay it up 
 against a rainy day." Four-and-twenty hours had scarcely elapsed, 
 when Madame Bonaparte came to tell her husband of a diamond 
 which was the subject of her admiration ; it was the present that 
 was to have been laid up against a rainy day, which had already 
 
 found its way from Berthier's hand to Madame V 's head. 
 
 He has since, in all the circumstances of his life, been uniformly 
 governed by her. 
 
 Napoleon having gradually heaped riches and honours upon 
 Berthier, pressed him often to marry, but he as constantly refused, 
 
 declaring that Madame V could alone make him happy. 
 
 The sen, however, of Madame V having got acquainted 
 
 with a duchess of Bavaria, who had come to Paris, with the hope 
 of obtaining a husband, through the emperor's favour, Madame 
 
 V thought she Was doing wonders, and advancing her son's 
 
 fortune by the marriage of her lover, and with this impression, she 
 prevailed upon Berthier to espouse the Bavarian princess. " But," 
 said Napoleon, " there is no project, however excellent, which does 
 not become the sport of fortune ; for scarcely was the marriage 
 
 concluded, when Madame V- 's husband died and left his wife 
 
 at liberty. That event proved to her and to Berthier the source of 
 real despair ; they were inconsolable. Berthier came, with tears in 
 his eyes, to communicate his wretche'd fate to the emperor, who 
 laughed at his misfortune. " To what a miserable condition," he 
 exclaimed, " was he reduced ; with a little more constancy Madame 
 
 might have been his wife." 
 
 A young man had been fortunate enough when yet very young 
 to attract the emperor's notice, by some signal proofs of his devoted- 
 ness; Napoleon asked him what profession he would wish to embrace, 
 and without waiting for his answer, pointed out one himself; the 
 
7U ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 young man observed that his fathers' fortune was not sufficient to 
 allow him to follow it ; "what has that to do with it," replied the 
 emperor, hastily, " am I not also your father V' 
 
 Napoleon, after his return from the army of Italy, found himself, 
 without knowing why , the object of the particular assiduity, the marked 
 attentions and flatteries of the Director, La Reveillere, who asked him 
 one day to dine with him, strictly enfamille, in order, he said, to be 
 more at liberty to converse together. The young general accepted the 
 invitation, and found, as .he had promised, nobody present but the 
 Director, his wife, and his daughter, who by the way, the emperor add- 
 I ed, were three farragoes of ugliness. After the dessert, the two ladies 
 retired, and the conversation took a serious turn. La Reveillere 
 descanted at length upon the disadvantages of our religion, upon the 
 necessity, however, of having one, and extolled and enumerated the 
 advantages of the religion which he wanted to establish, the Theo-phi- 
 lanthrophy. I was beginning to find the conversation rather long and 
 heavy, said the emperor, when on a sudden, La Reveillere, rubbing 
 his hands with an air of satisfaction, said to me affectedly, and with 
 an arch look : " How valuable the acquisition of a man like you 
 would be to us — what advantage, what weight would be derived from 
 your name — and how glorious that circumstance would be to you ! 
 Now what do you think of it ?"• The young general was far from 
 expecting to receive such a proposal; however, he replied with 
 humility, that he did not think himself worthy of such an honour ; 
 and his principles being, when treading an obscure path, to follow 
 the track of those who had preceded him in it, he was resolved to 
 act on the article of religion, as his father and mother had done. 
 This positive answer convinced the high priest that nothing was to 
 be done ; he did not insist, but from that moment there was an end 
 of all his attentions and flatteries towards the young general. 
 
 Napoleon was peculiarly fond, and frequently called for masked 
 balls. He was then always sure of a certain rendezvous which 
 never failed to take place. He was, it was said, regularly accosted, 
 every year, by the same mask, who reminded him of old intimacies, 
 and ardently entreated to be received and admitted at court. The 
 mask was a most amiable, kind, and beautiful woman, to whom 
 many persons were certainly much indebted. The emperor, who 
 continued to love her, always answered : " I do not deny that you 
 are charming, but reflect a little upon your situation ; be your own 
 judge and decide. — You have two or three husbands, and children 
 by several of your lovers. — It would have been thought a happiness 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 71 
 
 to have shared in the first fault ; the second would have caused 
 pain, but still it might be pardoned ; but the sequel — and then, and 
 then ! ... Be the emperor and judge ; what would you do in my place, 
 I who am bound to revive and maintain a certain decorum." The 
 beautiful suitor either did not reply, „ or said: — "At least do not 
 deprive me of hope ;" and deferred her claims of happiness to the 
 following year. 
 
 Napoleon took great pleasure in getting himself insulted at 
 masked balls. He laughed heartily at Cambaceres, one day, at 
 
 being told by a Madame de St. D ,. " that there were people 
 
 at the ball who ought to be turned out, and that they certainly could 
 not have got admittance without stolen tickets." Another time, he 
 forced the tender and timid Madame de Megrigny to rise and retire 
 in anger, and with tears in her eyes, complaining that the freedom 
 allowed at a masked ball, had, in her instance, been sadly abused. 
 The emperor had just put her in mind of a very remarkable favour, 
 which he had formerly granted to her, and added, " that every one 
 thought she had paid for it by the exercise of the lord's right." But, 
 although such was actually the report, it was certainly a falsehood. 
 The following is an account of the circumstance: — 
 
 When Napoleon was on his way to be crowned at Milan, he slept 
 at Troyes. The authorities were presented to him ; and with them 
 was a young lady, on the point of being married, with a petition, 
 entreating his protection and assistance. As the emperor was, 
 besides, desirous of doing something, which might produce a good 
 effect, and prove agreeable to the country ; the circumstance ap- 
 peared favourable, and he took advantage of it with all imaginable 
 grace. The young lady (Madame de Megrigny) belonged to the 
 iirst families of this province, but which had been completely ruined 
 by the emigration. She had scarcely returned to the miserable 
 abode of her parents, when a page arrived with the emperor's decree, 
 which put them in possession of 30,000 francs rent or more. The 
 effect of such a proceeding may be well imagined. However, as the 
 young lady was very charming, and perfectly handsome, it was 
 decided, that her fascinations had some share in his gallantry, al- 
 though he left the town a few hours afterwards, and never thought 
 more of the thing, but the general opinion was not a jot altered on 
 that account. 
 
 On Napoleon's return from the disastrous campaigns of Leipsic, 
 the emperor received the officers of his household at an unusual hour. 
 He presented himself with an air of melancholy. Stepping up to an 
 
72 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 individual, M. de Beauvea, whose son, yet a youth, had served in the 
 campaign, in the guard of honour, Napoleon said to him : " Your 
 son's conduct has been admirable. He has conferred honour on his 
 name. He has been wounded ; but what of that 1 He may proudly 
 boast of having, thus early, shed his blood for his country." 
 
 Napoleon was in the habit of taking snuff almost every minute. 
 This was a sort of mania which seized him chiefly during intervals 
 of abstraction. His snuff-box was speedily emptied, but still he 
 continued to thrust his fingers into it, or to raise it to his nose, par- 
 ticularly when he was himself speaking. Those chamberlains who 
 proved themselves most expert and assiduous in the discharge of 
 their duties, would frequently endeavour, unobserved by the emperor, 
 to take away the empty box and substitute a full one in its stead ; 
 for there existed a great competition of attention and courtesy among 
 the chamberlains who were habitually employed in services about 
 the emperor's person ; an honour which was very much envied. 
 These individuals were, however, seldom changed ; either because 
 they intrigued to retain their places^ or because it was naturally 
 most agreeable to the emperor to continue them in posts, with the 
 duties of which they were acquainted.. 
 
 One of Napoleon's chamberlains having observed, that the em- 
 peror, on going to the theatre, frequently forgot his opera-glass, of 
 which he made very great use, got one made exactly like it, so that 
 the first time he saw the emperor without his glass, he presented his 
 own to him, and the difference was not observed. On his return 
 from the theatre, the emperor was not. a little surprised to find that 
 he had got two glasses exactly alike, Next day he inquired how 
 the new opera-glass had made its appearance, and the chamberlain 
 replied that it was one he kept in reserve in case it might be wanted. 
 Napoleon always showed himself very sensible of these attentions. 
 He evinced sincere regard for the individuals of his household. 
 When he quitted Paris for St. Cloud, Malmaison, or any other 
 of his country residences, he usually invited the individuals of his 
 household to his private evening parties ; and thus was formed a 
 pleasant family circle, admittance to which was held to be a very 
 high honour. 
 
 One day, while at dinner at Trianon, being troubled with a severe 
 cold in his head, a complaint to which he was very subject, he found 
 himself in want of a handkerchief; the servants immediately ran to 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 73 
 
 fetch one : but, in the meanwhile, the chamberlain on duty, who 
 was a relation of Maria Louisa, drew a clean one, unfolded, from 
 his pocket, and wished to take the other from the emperor. " I 
 thank you," said Napoleon ; " but I will never have it said, that 1 
 
 allowed M to touch a handkerchief which I had used ;" and he 
 
 threw it on the ground. 
 
 Napoleon, one day, while describing one of his engagements in 
 Egypt, named, numerically, the eight or ten demi- brigades which 
 had been engaged. Upon being asked how, after so long a lapse 
 of time, he could possibly recollect all these numbers. " This is a 
 lover's recollection of his former mistresses," was his reply. 
 
 At Mont Saint-Michael, a woman particularly attracted Napoleon's 
 attention. She had a very pretty face, pleasing manners, and a 
 modest deportment. She had been imprisoned fourteen years, 
 having taken a very active part in the troubles of La Vendee, and 
 constantly accompanied her husband, who was the chief of a bat- 
 talion of insurgents, and whom she succeeded, after his death, in the 
 command. The wretchedness she suffered, and the tears she shed, 
 had sensibly impaired her charms. She had, by the kindness of 
 her manners and her other qualifications, created a kind of empire 
 over the vulgar and depraved women that were about her. She had 
 devoted herself to the care of the sick ; the prison infirmary was 
 entrusted to her, and she was beloved by every one. With the 
 exception of that woman, a few priests, and two or three old 
 Chouan spies, the rest exhibited but a filthy compound of disgusting 
 or extravagant depravity. 
 
 Napoleon met also with a married man, with an annual income 
 of 15,000 livres, evidently confined in consequence of his wife's in- 
 trigues, after the manner of the ancient letters de cachet ; and with 
 prostitutes, who assured him they were detained, not as a punish- 
 ment for the indiscriminate profusion of their favours, but out of 
 spite, for want of complaisance for a single person. Finally, he met 
 with an unhappy man, in a town of Belgium, who had married one 
 of those girls for whom the municipalities provided marriage por- 
 tions on great occasions. He was imprisoned for having stolen the 
 portion, because he had neglected to earn it. He was positively re- 
 quired to acquit himself of that important debt, and he as positively 
 refused. He was, perhaps, required to do that which was not in his 
 power. 
 
 Immediately upon the return of Napoleon to Paris, he called on 
 M. Real, prefect of police of the district he had just revisited, and 
 
74 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 communicated, in a friendly manner, the result of his observations. 
 M. Real thanked Napoleon, observing, that he was doing him a real 
 service, and assured him, that he would take immediate steps for 
 relieving and redressing the cases he had laid before him. 
 
 The following is a proof of the ascendency which Napoleon 
 could exercise over the human mind, and the sort of veneration with 
 which he was regarded. A general, who had been severely wounded 
 in the leg, attended one of the emperor's levees. Napoleon had 
 been informed that amputation was pronounced to be absolutely in- 
 dispensable, but that the unfortunate officer obstinately refused to 
 submit to it. " Why do you object to an operation that will preserve 
 your life ?" said Napoleon. " It cannot be want of courage, since 
 you have so often braved danger on the field of battle. Is it con- 
 tempt of life ? but does not your heart tell you, that even with the 
 remaining limb, you may be useful to your country, and render her 
 signal services ?" The officer was silent ; the expression of his 
 countenance was calm and placid, but still negative. The emperor 
 seemed sorry for him, and passed on to speak to some other persons, 
 when the officer, who had apparently formed a sudden resolution, 
 turned to the emperor, saying, " Sire, if your majesty orders me to 
 submit to the operation, I will immediately do so." " My dear sir," 
 replied the emperor, " I have no power to do that. I wished to move 
 you by persuasion ; but heaven forbid I should command you !" It 
 was said that the wounded officer on leaving the palace, submitted 
 to the operation. 
 
 During the battle of Arcis, the French cavalry had orders to 
 attack the light troops of the allies ; but these were instantly sup- 
 ported by whole regiments, and by cannon, so that the attack was 
 unsuccessful ; and the squadrons of the French were repulsed and 
 driven back on Arcis, at a moment, when, from the impediments in 
 the town and its environs, the infantry could, with difficulty, de bouche 
 from the town to support them. Napoleon showed, as he always 
 did in extremity, the same heroic courage which he had exhibited at 
 Lodi and Brienne. He drew his sword, threw himself among the 
 broken cavalry, called on them to remember their former victories, 
 and checked the enemy, by an impetuous charge, in which he and 
 his staff-officers fought hand to hand with their opponents, so that he 
 was in personal danger from the lance of a Cossac, the thrust of 
 which was averted by his aide-de-camp, Girardin. His Mameluke, 
 Rustan, fought stoutly by his ^ide, and received a gratuity for his 
 bravery. Arcis itself was set on fire by the shells of the assailants, 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 75 
 
 and night alone separated the combatants, by inducing the allies to 
 desist from the attack. 
 
 Napoleon, when at Saint Helena, said, " when I acquired the 
 supreme direction of affairs, it was wished that I might become a 
 Washington. Words cost nothing ; and, no doubt, those who were 
 so ready to express the wish, did so without any knowledge of times, 
 places, persons, or things. Had I been in America, I would wil- 
 lingly have been a Washington, and I should have had little merit 
 in so being ; for I do not see how I could reasonably have acted 
 otherwise. But had Washington been in France, exposed to disorder 
 within, and invasion without, I would have defied him to have been 
 what he was in America ; at least, he would have been a fool to 
 attempt it, and would only have prolonged the existence of evil." 
 
 The following account of Napoleon in his childhood, was given 
 by his mother : — " One night — one night — he was between eig 5rf 
 and nine years of age, I think — he was walking in our garden like 
 a man who is meditating some great thing ; he was a child then, I 
 tell you. It was raining violently : his brothers had sought shelter in 
 the saloon, where they were playing. I knocked at the window 
 several times, and made him signs to come to me. He shrugged 
 his shoulders, with an appearance of ill-humour, and continued his 
 walk. He Was drenched with the rain, but he did not mind the 
 storm, and continued his walk, with his head uncovered, and his 
 eyes fixed on the ground. Sometimes he stopped before the little 
 fountain in the garden, and appeared to delight in seeing it run, and 
 to arrest its precipitancy with his hand. Some claps of thunder 
 were heard, which caused him a nervous shudder, but it was not 
 fear. He then crossed his arms over his chest, and looked at the 
 heavens, courageously waiting for another peal of thunder. I sent 
 my servant to order him to come in. He said to him with cold- 
 ness, but respectfully, ' Tell my mother that it is warm, and 1 am 
 taking an airing.' When the servant again entreated, he pre- 
 cipitately turned his back on him, and accelerated his step. It was 
 only when the storm had ceased that he came in, wet to the skin. 
 
 " ' That was not right, my child,' 1 said to him ; ' you have dis- 
 obeyed me.' 
 
 " * I could not help disobeying,' he answered ; F I do not know 
 what kept me in that garden; but, if I am to be a soldier, I must 
 accustom myself to rain and to storms. I am not a girl, 1 am a 
 man.' . 
 
 44 * You are a child, my son, and a disobedient child. If you 
 
76 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 intend to be a soldier, you will learn that it is necessary for you to 
 obey.' 
 
 " ' But I will command,' said he, with an expression that much 
 excited our risible faculties. 
 
 " « Hefore you command,' I replied, 'you will be compelled to 
 obey, md for a long time. When you enter the service you will 
 not be made a general.' 
 
 " He advanced towards me, took my hand in his, and pressed it, 
 thus tacitly acknowledging that 1 was right, but not willing to con- 
 fess it. Already, at that age, he was so proud ! 
 
 " « What were you thinking about during your walk t I said to 
 him, whilst I pressed my lips to his wet hair. 
 
 " 1 1 do not know ; I do not remember. I was thinking of a great 
 many things. Ah ! I was endeavouring to recollect a dream I had 
 last night — a dream that pleased me very much. I dreamed that 1 
 was a bishop ; that is grand, is it not, a bishop? Do bishops go to 
 the wars V 
 
 " « No, my child, that is expressly forbidden them.' 
 
 " « Then I will be a soldier when I am no longer a child. At 
 fifteen you are no longer a child ; are you, mother?' 
 
 " « I think you are something of a child still.' 
 
 " Ho paused for a few moments, and, looking on the ground, he 
 said — 
 
 " ? At fifteen I will be a man.' 
 
 "Ho then extricated himself from my arms, and ran into the 
 garden." 
 
 After Napoleon's marriage with the princess of Austria, on 
 which occasion the inhabitants of every town and every village of 
 Franco, and of the countries then under the French government, had 
 illuminated, Napoleon read the newspapers, and was arrested by the 
 many congratulations which had been set forth in transparencies. 
 
 In a paper from E , a town which had formerly belonged to 
 
 Prussia, he found the following paragraph : 
 
 "A formerly Prussian, now French Accisa officer, who had 
 twelve children, had a beautiful transparency, with the following 
 words, — 
 
 * Napoleon and Louisa fair, 
 
 How happy is the lovely pair ! 
 
 May heaven to them as many children give, 
 
 As in this house of mine so happy live !' " 
 
 This wish amazed Napoleon much, and he said in great good 
 humour : " A beautiful wish — it can be easilv seen that it comes 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 77 
 
 from a Prussian, a Frenchman could have never thought of wishing 
 me twelve children." 
 
 When prince Poniasowski had found his grave with many brave 
 Poles in the river Pleusze, no one was willing to bring the intel- 
 ligence of this so irreparable loss for the army, to Napoleon, and 
 the day passed away in preparing him for this painful event. Not 
 until the following day was he made acquainted with it. After a 
 long pause, which he spent in perfect silence, he said, much moved : 
 " The brave prince. If I was not at this moment so necessary to 
 France, my death could be more welcome to me than this intelli- 
 gence ; I loved him much, he was good and brave; yet his loss 
 would not affect me, as it does, if he had breathed the last of his 
 heroic life amid the swords of the enemy ; but to be drowned in this 
 cursed brook ! this hero had deserved a better death." Napoleon's 
 mind had been so much disturbed by the death of the prince, that 
 he spent nearly the whole of the day in a pensive state, and he has 
 certainly long mourned over his loss with the most painful feelings of 
 a friend. 
 
 During the retreat from Moscow, NapoleOn saw a very splendid 
 state carriage, drawn by four miserable Russian horses, at a 
 short distance before him on the road ; he soon overtook it. The 
 wagon was exceedingly tastely and quite new. On each of the 
 horses sat a foot soldier, his gun strapped on his back, and flourish- 
 ing in his hand a kantshoe.* Napoleon asked the one who was 
 nearest to him, who was in the carriage. The answer was : " It is 
 our comrade, Corporal L — ■ — . ; his leg has been amputated at Maso- 
 isle, and he was sent to Moscow, whence we are going to take him 
 home. The wagon we have appropriated in Moscow." Napoleon, 
 who was much pleased to see this carriage and its drivers, praised 
 their affection for their comrade, and ordered a bottle of wine to be 
 given to the latter. 
 
 It is worth while to observe here that these people belonged to the 
 19th regiment of light infantry, and that their regiment had been 
 almost entirely destroyed, so that, when near Moscow, it consisted 
 only of a few men, and like many other regiments, who had met 
 with a similar fate, it dispersed entirely. Their . corporal they 
 transported, although not in a state carriage, but on a miserable 
 sleigh, as far as Marienburg, where, to their great mortification, he 
 fell sick, and died in the hospital of the same place. These brave 
 soldiers had deserved to be rewarded by the safe arrival of their 
 comrade in his native country. 
 
 * Kantshoe, a whip. 
 
78 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 In one of the campaigns of Italy, when Napoleon was yet a 
 general, a mounted rifleman saved him if not from death at least 
 from being a prisoner. Napoleon was surrounded by a strong de- 
 tachment of Austrians, who no doubt would have taken him pri- 
 soner, if a rifleman had not perceived the danger which threatened 
 his general, and had delivered him from his awkward situation. As 
 early as this, Napoleon was in the habit of rewarding every brave 
 man according to merit, and this rifleman was made a non-commis- 
 sioned officer, though he could neither read nor write ; he afterwards 
 never learnt any more than to write his name. This non-commis- 
 sioned officer, an eventually brave soldier, after this campaign in 
 Italy, was present at most of the later campaigns, constantly distin- 
 guishing himself by his heroic bravery, and as this happened several 
 times in the presence of Napoleon, he gradually advanced to the 
 rank of major in the crack corps of the mounted grenadiers of the 
 guards. 
 
 When the old French guards were disbanded, he was removed 
 with the same rank to the 6th regiment of Cuirassiers, in which he 
 served till the arrival of the emperor in France. As soon as he 
 learned the news of the arrival of Napoleon, he hurried to be one of 
 the first of his guard to salute him on his arrival, and he was imme- 
 diately appointed major general in the suite of Napoleon. 
 
 During the battle of Waterloo this old brave warrior fought where 
 the danger was the greatest, and was every where rousing the almost 
 discouraged soldiers to perseverance ; no where did he make the 
 attempt in vain. But when the battle was irretrievably lost, he hur- 
 ried to Napoleon to withdraw him from danger. Whilst he rode by 
 the side of Napoleon during the retreat, a shot tore away his right 
 arm, and he fell into the arms of an officer who rode alongside of 
 him. Napoleon rode up to him and said : " Poor fellow, must I 
 lose thee too !" " Do not trouble yourself," replied the gray- 
 headed soldier, who, besides having lost his arm, was bleeding from 
 several other wounds, "you lose nothing, only my country loses 
 this arm, but my heart remains yours for ever, and no god can 
 take it from you !" He died near Sedan, in the arms of the em- 
 peror, whom he would not leave even under these circumstances. 
 
 The progress of Napoleon on his route from Elba, was uninter- 
 rupted. It was in vain, that, at Lyons, Monsieur and the duke of 
 Orleans, with the assistance of the advice and influence of Marshal 
 MacDonald, endeavoured to retain the troops in their duty, and the 
 inhabitants in their allegiance to the king. The latter, chiefly man- 
 ufacturers, afraid of being undersold by those of England, in their 
 own market, shouted openly, "Vive V EmpereurJ" The troops of 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 79 
 
 the line remained silent and gloomy. " How will your soldiers be- 
 have?" said Monsieur, to the colonel of the 13th dragoons. The 
 colonel referred him to the men themselves. They answered can- 
 didly, that they would fight for Napoleon, alone. Monsieur dis- 
 mounted, and addressed the soldiers individually. To one veteran, 
 covered with scars, and decorated with medals, the prince said, 
 " A brave soldier like you, at least, will cry, Vive le Roi!" " You 
 deceive yourself," answered the soldier. " No one here will right 
 against his father — 1 will cry, Vive Napoleon!" 
 
 " In the deep silence of a beautiful moonlight night," said Napo- 
 leon, "as I was passing over the field of battle before the dead 
 bodies had been interred, a dog leaped suddenly from beneath the 
 clothes of his dead master, rushed upon us, and then immediately 
 returned to his hiding-place, howling piteously. He alternately 
 licked his master's hands and ran towards us, thus at once soliciting 
 aid and seeking revenge. Whether owing to my own particular 
 turn of mind at that moment," continued the emperor, " the time, 
 the place, or the action itself, 1 know not ; but certainly, no incident 
 on any field of battle ever produced so deep an impression on me. 
 I involuntarily stopped to contemplate the scene. This man, thought 
 I, perhaps has friends in the camp or in his company, and here he 
 lies, forsaken by all except his dog. What a lesson nature here 
 presents, through the medium of an animal ! What a strange being 
 is man, and how mysterious are his impressions. I had, without 
 emotion, ordered battles which were to decide the fate of the army. 
 I had beheld, with tearless eyes, the execution of those operations, 
 by which numbers of my countrymen were sacrificed ; and here 
 my feelings were roused by the mournful howling of a dog. Cer- 
 tainly, at that moment I should have been easily moved by a sup- 
 pliant enemy. I could very well imagine Achilles surrendering up 
 the body of Hector at the sight of Priam's tears." 
 
 About the end of August, 1814, a lady arrived at the Isle of 
 Elba, from Leghorn, with a boy about five or six years old. She 
 was received by Napoleon with great attention, but at the same time 
 with an air of much secresy, and was lodged in a small and very 
 retired villa, in the most remote corner of the island ; from whence, 
 after remaining two days, she re-embarked fcr Naples. The Elbese 
 naturally concluded that this must have been the empress Maria 
 Louisa and her son. But the individual was known, by those near 
 Napoleon's person, to be a Polish lady from Warsaw, and the boy 
 was the offspring of an intrigue betwixt her and Napoleon, several 
 
80 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 years before. The cause of her speedy departure might be delicacy 
 towards Maria Louisa, and the fear of affording the court of Vienna 
 a pretext for continuing the separation of which Napoleon com- 
 plained. 
 
 Never, in his bloodiest and most triumphant field of battle, had 
 the terrible ascendency of Napoleon's genius appeared half so pre- 
 dominant as during his march, or rather his journey, from Cannes 
 to Paris. He who left the same coast, disguised and weeping, re- 
 turned in grandeur, like that of the returning wave, which, the far- 
 ther it has retreated, is rolled back on the shore with the more ter- 
 rific and overwhelming violence. His look seemed to possess the 
 pretended power of northern magicians, and blunted swords and 
 spears. The bravest of the brave (Ney) who came determined to 
 oppose him as he would a wild beast, recognised his superiority, 
 when confronted with him, and sunk again into his satellite. 
 
 It was late in the evening ere Napoleon arrived in the same open 
 carriage which he had used since his landing. He entered amid 
 the shouts of armed columns. In the court of the Carousel, and 
 before the Tuilleries, all the adherents of the old imperial govern- 
 ment, and those who, having deserted Napoleon, were eager to ex- 
 piate their fault by now being first to acknowledge him. They 
 crowded round him so closely, that he was compelled to exclaim, 
 " My friends, you stifle me !" and his adjutants were obliged to sup- 
 port him in their arms up the grand staircase, and thence into the 
 royal apartments. 
 
 The night before the battle of Jena, Napoleon said he had run the 
 greatest risk. He might then have disappeared without his fate 
 being clearly known. He had approached the bivouacs of the 
 enemy, in the dark, to reconnoitre them ; he had only a few officers 
 with him. The opinion which was then entertained of the Prussian 
 army, kept every one on the alert : it was thought that the Prussians 
 were particularly given to nocturnal attacks. As the emperor re- 
 turned, he was fired at by the first sentinel of his camp ; this was a 
 signal for the whole line ; he had no resource but to throw himself 
 flat on his face until the mistake was discovered. But his principal 
 apprehension was that the Prussian line which was very near him, 
 would act in the same manner. 
 
 At Marengo, the Austrian soldiers had not forgotten the conqueror 
 of Castiglione, Arcole, and Rivoli ; his name had much influence 
 
OP NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 81 
 
 over them ; but they were far from thinking he was present ; they 
 believed he was dead ; care had been taken to persuade them that 
 he had perished in Egypt ; that the first consul, of whom they heard 
 talk, was only his brother. This report had gained so much credit 
 every where, that Napoleon was under the necessity of appearing 
 in public at Milan, in order to refute it. 
 
 When Napoleon was at Eylau, attended only by some officers of 
 his staff, a column of four or five thousand Russians came almost in 
 contact with him. The emperor was on foot ; the prince of Neuf- 
 chatel instantly ordered up the horses'; the emperor gave him a 
 reproachful look ; then sent orders to a battalion of his guard to 
 advance, which was a good way behind, and standing still, as the 
 Russians advanced, he repeated several times " What audacity ! 
 What audacity !" At the sight of the grenadiers of the guard, the 
 Russians stopped short. It was high time they should, as Bertrand 
 said. The emperor had never stirred ; all who surrounded him had 
 been much alarmed. 
 
 Talma, the celebrated tragedian, had frequent interviews with the 
 emperor, who greatly admired his talent, and rewarded him magnifi- 
 cently. When the first consul became emperor, it was reported all 
 over Paris, that he had Talma to give him lessons in attitude and 
 costume. The emperor, who always knew everything that was said 
 against him, rallied Talma one day on the subject, and finding him 
 quite disconcerted and confounded — « You are wrong,'' said he, " I 
 certainly could not have employed myself better, if I had had leisure 
 for it." On the contrary, it was Napoleon who gave Talma lessons 
 in his art : " Racine," said he to him, " has loaded his character of 
 Orestes with imbecilities, and you only add to their extravagance. 
 in the Mori de Pompee, you do not play Caesar like a hero : in 
 Britannicus you do not play Nero like a tyrant." Talma made 
 many corrections, afterwards, in his performances of these celebrated 
 characters. 
 
 Napoleon was no less original as a tactician than as a strategist. 
 His manoeuvres on the field of battle had the promptness and deci- 
 sion of the thunder-bolt. In the actual shock of conflict, as in the 
 preparations which he had made for bringing it on, his object was 
 to amuse the enemy upon many points, while he oppressed one by 
 an unexpected force of numbers. The breaking through the line, 
 the turning of a flank, which had been his object from the commence- 
 6 
 
82 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 merit of the fight, lay usually disguised under a great number of 
 previous demonstrations, and was not attempted until both the 
 moral and physical force of the enemy was impaired by the length 
 of the combat. It was at this period that he brought up his guards, 
 who, impatient of inactivity, had been held in readiness for hours, 
 and now, springing forward like wolf dogs from the leash, had the 
 glorious task, in which they rarely failed, of deciding the long sus- 
 tained contest. It may be added, as characteristic of his tactics, 
 that he preferred employing the order of the column to that of the 
 line, perhaps on account of the faith which he might rest in the 
 extreme valour of the French officers by whom the column was 
 headed. 
 
 When Napoleon passed the ruins of the beautiful little town of 
 Bischoffswerder, he expressed particular sympathy upon finding it 
 had been burnt by the French soldiery, after a rencounter near the 
 spot with a body of Russians. He declared that he would rebuild 
 the place, and actually presented the inhabitants with 100,000 
 francs towards repairing their losses. On other occasions, riding 
 where the recently wounded had not yet been removed, he expressed, 
 as indeed was his custom, for he could never view bodily pain with- 
 out sympathy, a very considerable degree of sensibility. «* His 
 wound is incurable, Sire," said a surgeon, upon whom he was laying 
 orders to attend to one of these miserable objects. " Try, how- 
 ever," said Napoleon ; and added in a suppressed voice, " There 
 will always be one fewer of them." 
 
 On the 15th of March, 1813, the emperor Alexander arrived at 
 Breslau : the meeting was affecting betwixt the two sovereigns, who 
 had been such intimate friends, and had always retained the same 
 personal attachment for each other, although the circumstances of 
 controlling necessity had made them enemies, at a period when it 
 was of importance to Russia to have as few foes as possible thrown 
 into the scale against her. The king of Prussia wept — " Courage, 
 my brother," said Alexander, " these are the last tears which Napo- 
 leon shall cause you to shed." On the next day after, Prussia 
 declared war against France. Napoleon received that declaration 
 of war with the calmness of one by whom it had been for some 
 time expected. " It was better," he said, " to have a declared enemy 
 than a doubtful ally." 
 
 In one of the evening parties at the Tuilleries, Napoleon, convers- 
 ing aside with three or four individuals of the court, who were 
 grouped around him, closed a discussion on a great political question, 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 83 
 
 with the following remarkable words : — " For my part, I am fun- 
 damentally and naturally favourable to a fixed and moderate govern- 
 ment." And observing that the countenance of one of the interlo- 
 cutors expressed surprise, " you don't believe me !" continued he ; 
 " why not 1 Is it because my deeds do not seem to accord with my 
 words '! My dear sir, how little you know of men and things. Is 
 the necessity of the moment nothing in your eyes 1 Were I to 
 slacken the reins only for a moment, we should have line disorder ; 
 neither you nor I would, probably, sleep another night at the Tuilleries. 
 
 While on board the Undauntd, (on his passage to Elba,) Napo- 
 leon spoke with great freedom of the facility with which he had 
 outwitted and defeated the allies during the last campaign. " The 
 Silesian army," he said, " had given him most trouble. The old 
 devil, Blucher, was no sooner defeated than he was willing to fight 
 again." But he considered his victory over Schwartzenberg as 
 certain, save for the defection of Marmont — Much more he said, 
 with great apparent frankness, and seemed desirous to make himself, 
 in every respect, agreeable to his companions on board. Even the 
 seamen, who at first regarded him with wonder, mixed with sus- 
 picion, did not escape the charms of his affability, by which they 
 were soon won over, all excepting the boatswain, Hinton, a tar of 
 the old school, who could never hear the emperor's praises without 
 muttering the vulgar, but expressive, phrase, " humbug" 
 
 As Napoleon approached Grenoble, on his return from Elba, he 
 came into contact with the out-posts of the garrison, who drew out, 
 but seemed irresolute. Napoleon halted his own little party, and 
 advanced almost alone, exposing his breast, as he exclaimed, " He 
 who will kill his emperor, let him now work his pleasure." The 
 appeal was irresistible — the soldiers threw down their arms, crowded 
 round the general who had so often led them to victory, and shouted 
 " Vive V empereur." 
 
 Napoleon had sometimes entertained thoughts of bringing Murat 
 to the army, but was afraid of shocking the French soldiers, who 
 would have felt disgust and horror at seeing the man who had be- 
 trayed France. " I did not," he said, " think I could carry him 
 through, and )^et he might have gained us the victory; for there 
 were moments during the battle (of Waterloo,) when to have forced 
 two or three of the English squares might have insured it, and 
 6* 
 
84 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 Murat was just the man for the work — In leading a charge of cavalry, 
 never was there an officer more determined, more brave, and more 
 brilliant." 
 
 " The dangers incurred by the military commanders of ancient 
 times," said Napoleon, " were not to be compared to those which 
 attend the generals of modern times. There was," he observed, " no 
 position in which a general might not now be reached by artillery; 
 but anciently a general run no risk, except when he himself charged, 
 which Caesar did only twice or thrice." 
 
 " We rarely," said Napoleon, " find, combined together, all the 
 qualities necessary to constitute a great general. The object most 
 desirable is, that a man's judgment should be in equilibrium with 
 his physical character or courage. If," continued he, " courage be 
 a general's predominating quality, he will rashly undertake what he 
 cannot execute; and, on the other hand, he will not venture to 
 carry any measure into effect, if his character or courage be inferior 
 to his judgment." 
 
 Napoleon, on his return from the isle of Elba, arrived at the 
 Tuilleries very late in the evening. His levee of the following day, 
 was, as may be supposed, exceedingly numerous. The emperor ap- 
 peared the same as usual ; just as though he had never left the palace, 
 and had held a levee but yesterday ; his countenance, attitude, 
 dress, manners, all were unaltered. The force of sentiment pre- 
 vailed over respect ; and all rushed forward to meet him. The 
 emperor himself was visibly moved ; and he embraced several of 
 the most distinguished persons. He then commenced his circuit as 
 usual. His voice was mild, his countenance placid, and his manner 
 affable ; he spoke with kindness to every one. " How," said he, ad- 
 dressing a certain individual, in a mingled tone of pleasantry and affec- 
 tion, " do 1 see the Major-General of the white army within two paces 
 of me 1" Several of the individuals present seemed to be labouring 
 under a little embarrassment, owing to the extraordinary events that 
 had just taken place; as for Napoleon,- he appeared as though 
 nothing had happened. He did not forget that he had freed them 
 all from their allegiance at Fontainebleau. 
 
 }j M. de Chateaubriand has been alternately seen, it was added, 
 amongst the adherents and opponents of Napoleon ; and the em- 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 85 
 
 peror charges him, when in the service, with malevolence and dis- 
 loyalty, — particularly at the time of his embassy to the old king of 
 Sardinia, at Rome. 
 
 During the disastrous events of 1814, he made himself conspi- 
 cuous by writing pamphlets, so outrageously violent and virulent, 
 and disgraced by such barefaced calumnies, that they excited feel- 
 ings of disgust. He, no doubt, must regret having been the author 
 of them, and would not now degrade his talents by such writings. 
 
 Some years before his disasters, Napoleon, reading, one day, 
 some fragments of this author's works, expressed his surprise that 
 he was not a member of the institute. These words acted as a 
 powerful recommendation in favour of M. de Chateaubriand, who 
 hastened to put himself in the list, as a candidate, and was almost 
 unanimously chosen. 
 
 According to one of the invariable rules of the instiute, the can- 
 didate newly chosen was to make a speech in praise of the member 
 to whom he was then succeeding ; but M. de Chateaubriand, per- 
 suaded, that for a man who had once occupied the attention of the 
 public, the surest way to acquire celebrity, was to leave the beaten 
 track, and strike through a new path to fame, reversed this custom 
 by devoting part of his speech to stigmatise the political principles 
 of M. Chenier, his predecessor, and proscribe him as a regicide. 
 His speech was a complete political argument, discussing the resto- 
 ration of monarchy, and the judgment and death of Louis XVI. 
 The whole institute was in an uproar ; some of the members re- 
 fusing to listen to a speech which appeared to them indecorous, and 
 others, on the contrary, insisting upon its being read. 
 
 From the institute the dispute spread rapidly through the different 
 circles of Paris, which were full of the debate, and divided in opin- 
 ion on the subject, and at last reached the ears of the emperor, to 
 whom everything was carried, and who wished to be informed of 
 everything. He ordered the speech to be shown to him, pronounced 
 it to be extravagant in the extreme, and instantly forbade its publica- 
 tion. It so happened that one of the members of the institute, who 
 had taken a lively part in the discussion, and voted for the reading 
 of the speech, was also one of the great officers of the emperor's 
 household ; and the emperor took advantage of this circumstance to 
 manifest his opinion, by addressing him in the following manner at 
 one of his couchers : — " How long is it, sir," said he, with the 
 utmost severity, " since the institute has presumed to assume the 
 character of a political assembly ? The province of the institute is to 
 produce poetry and to censure faults of language ; let it beware how 
 it forsakes the domain of literature, or I shall take measures to bring 
 it back within its limits. And is it possible that you, sir, have sanc- 
 tioned such an intemperate harangue by your approbation 1 If M. 
 
86 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 Chateaubriand is insane, or disposed to malevolence, a mad-house 
 may cure him, or a punishment correct him. Yet it may be that 
 the opinions he has pronounced, are conscientiously his own, and he 
 is not obliged to surrender them to my policy, which is unknown to 
 him; but with you the case is totally different-— you are constantly 
 near my person, you are acquainted with all my acts, you know my 
 will ; there may be an excuse in M. de Chateaubriand's favour, 
 there can be none in yours. Sir, 1 hold you guilty. I consider 
 your conduct as criminal : it tends to bring us back to the days of 
 disorder and confusion, anarchy and bloodshed. Are we then ban- 
 ditti? and am I but an usurper? 'Sir, I did not ascend the throne 
 by hurling another from it ; 1 found the crown ; it had fallen ; 1 
 snatched it up, and the nation placed it on my head ; respect the 
 nation's act. 
 
 "Have 1 then lost the fruit of all my care? have all my efforts 
 been of so little avail, that as soon as my presence no longer restrains 
 you, you are quite ready to bathe once more in each other's blood?" 
 And, in speaking thus, he paced the room with rapid strides, and 
 striking his forehead with his hand, exclaimed : " Alas ! poor France, 
 long yet must thou need the guardian's care." 
 
 This reprimand was so severe, that the person to whom it was 
 addressed, a man of honour and delicate feelings, determined, upon 
 asking an audience the next day, in order to tender his resignation. 
 He was admitted to the presence of the emperor, who immediately 
 said to him : " My dear sir, you are come on account of the conver- 
 sation of yesterday ; you felt hurt on the occasion, and I have felt 
 no less so ; but it was a piece of advice which I thought it right to 
 give to more than one person ; if it has the desired effect of producing 
 some public good, we must not either of us regret the circumstance ; 
 think no more about it." And he spoke of something else. 
 
 On one occasion, on the parade, a young officer stepped out of the 
 ranks in extreme agitation, to complain that he had been ill-used, 
 slighted, and passed over, and that he had been five years a lieu- 
 tenant, without being able to obtain promotion. " Calm yourself," 
 said the emperor ; " I was seven years a lieutenant, and yet, you 
 see, that a man may push himself forward for all that." Every body 
 laughed ; and the young officer, suddenly cooled by these few words, 
 returned to his place. Nothing, indeed, was more common, than to 
 see private individuals attack the emperor, and hold out against him ; 
 and he has often been thus sharply and warmly disputed with, and, 
 unable to silence his oponent, give up the contest, by addressing 
 another person, or by turning the conversation to another subject. 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 87 
 
 The following is Napoleon's laconic, English account of his son. 
 The boy, he says, resembles him only in the upper part of his form. 
 " He has one grand, big head." 
 
 On leaving Moscow, Napoleon consigned the wrecks of his army 
 to the care of his most distinguished generals ; to Murat, who had 
 so ably commanded the cavalry, but who abandoned the army to 
 return to Naples ; and to Ney, the hero, rather than the Prince of 
 the Moskowa, whose name will be immortal in the annals of glory, 
 as his death will be eternal in the annals of party revenge. Amidst 
 the general disorder, Eugene, more than any other chief, maintained 
 a sort of discipline among the Italians ; and it was remarked, that 
 the troops of the south, engaged in the fatal campaign of Moscow, 
 had endured the rigour of the cold better than those troops who were 
 natives of less genial climates. 
 
 When first informed of Murat's treason, by the viceroy, the em- 
 peror refused to believe it. " No !" he exclaimed, to those about 
 him. " It cannot be ! Murat, to whom I have given my sister ? 
 Murat, to whom I have given a throne 1 Eugene must be misin- 
 formed ; it is impossible that Murat has declared himself against 
 me !" It was, however, not only possible, but true. 
 
 Napoleon's conduct towards the refugees who found their way 
 to Elba, may be judged from the following sketch : — On the 11th of 
 July, Colomboni, commandant of a battalion of the 4th regiment of 
 the line, in Italy, was presented to the emperor as newly arrived. 
 " Well, Colomboni, your business in Elba 7" " First, to pay my 
 duty to your majesty ; secondly, to offer myself to carry a musket 
 among your guards." " That is too low a situation ; you must 
 have something better," said Napoleon ; and instantly named him 
 to an appointment of 1200 francs yearly, though it appears the em- 
 peror himself was then in great distress for money. 
 
 About the time Napoleon was preparing for the invasion of 
 Russia, when at Dantzic, he invited Murat, Berthier, and others, to 
 supper. When they first sat down to the table, they were all very 
 dull, for the emperor observed silence ; and under such circum- 
 stances, not even Murat himself dared to be the first to speak to him. 
 At length, Napoleon, addressing Rapp, inquired how far it was from 
 Cadiz to Dantzic 1 " Too far, Sire," replied Rapp. " I understand 
 you, Monsieur le General ; but in a few months the distance will be 
 still greater." " So much the worse, Sire." Here there was another 
 
88 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 pause. Neither Murat nor Berthier, on whom the emperor fixed a 
 scrutinizing glance, uttered a word ; and Napoleon again broke 
 silence, but without addressing any one of us in particular. " Gen- 
 tlemen," said he, in a solemn and rather low tone* of voice, "I see 
 plainly, that you are none of you inclined to fight again. The king 
 of Naples does not like to leave the climate of his dominions. Ber- 
 thier wishes to enjoy the diversion of the chase, at his estate at 
 Grosbois ; and Rapp is impatient to be back to his hotel in Paris. 
 Neither Murat nor Berthier said a word in reply. 
 
 Napoleon's court was, in every relation, much more magnificent 
 than anything seen up to that period, and yet the expenses were 
 said to be infinitely less. That vast difference was caused by the 
 suppression of abuses, and by the introduction of order and regu- 
 larity into the accounts. His hunting and shooting establishment, 
 with the exception of some useless and ridiculous particulars, as that 
 of falconry and some others, was as splendid, as numerous, and as 
 striking, as that of Louis XVI., and the annuH ^Vhnrsp.njent was 
 but four hundred thousand francs, while the King & amounted to 
 seven millions. His table was regulated according to the same 
 system. Duroc had, by his regularity and strictness, done wonders 
 in that respect. . Under the kings, the palaces did not continue fur- 
 nished, and the same articles were transferred from one place to 
 another ; the people belonging to the court had no furniture allowed 
 them, and every one was obliged to look out for himself. Under him, 
 on the contrary, there was not a person in attendance, who did not 
 find himself provided as comfortably, or even more so, with every- 
 thing that was necessary or suitable in the apartment assigned to 
 him, than in his own house. 
 
 Napoleon's mews cost three millions ; the expense of the horses 
 was averaged at three thousand francs a horse, yearly. A page 
 cost from six to eight thousand francs. That establishment was, 
 perhaps, the most expensive belonging to the palace, and, accordingly, 
 the education of the pages and the care taken of them, were the 
 subject of just encomium. The first families of the empire were 
 solicitous to place their children in it, and the inducements were 
 irresistible. 
 
 At Dresden, Napoleon was much occupied in business, and Maria 
 Louisa, anxious to avail herself of the smallest intervals of leisure to 
 be with her husband, scarcely ever went out, lest he should miss 
 them. The emperor Francis, who did nothing, and tired himself 
 all day with going about the town, could not at all comprehend this 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 89 
 
 family seclusion ; he fancied that it was to affect reserve and impor- 
 tance. The empress of Austria endeavoured greatly to get Maria 
 Louisa to go out ; she represented to her that her constant assiduity 
 was ridiculous. She would willingly have given herself the airs of 
 a step-mother with Maria Louisa, who was not disposed to suffer it; 
 their age being nearly the same. She came frequently, in the 
 morning to her toilet, ransacking among the luxurious and magnifi- 
 cent objects displayed there, she seldom went out empty handed. 
 
 The empress of Austria was. particularly attentive to Napoleon > 
 and took great pains to make much of him while he was present ; 
 but no sooner was his back turned, than she endeavoured to detach 
 Maria Louisa from him by the most mischievous and malicious insin- 
 uations ; he was vexed that she could not succeed in obtaining some 
 influence over her. She had, however, address and ability, and 
 that sufficient to embarrass her husband, who had acquired a con- 
 viction that she entertained a poor opinion of him. Her countenance 
 was agreeable, engaging, and had something very peculiar in it. 
 
 When Napoleon was at Elba, a mason employed in some build- 
 ings which were to be constructed by the emperor's orders, had fallen 
 and hurt himself. Napoleon, wishing to encourage him, assured him 
 that it would be of no consequence, " I have had," said he, " a much 
 worse fall than yours ; but look at me, I am on my legs, and in 
 good health." 
 
 Napoleon perceiving, at one of those grand Sunday audiences, 
 which were very numerously attended, the Archbishop of Tours (de 
 Barral), addressed him in a very elevated tone ; " Well, your grace, 
 how do our affairs with the Pope go on V " Sire, the deputation 
 of your bishops is about to set out for Savona." "Very well; 
 endeavour to make the Pope listen to reason ; prevail upon him 
 to conduct himself with prudence; otherwise, the consequences 
 will be unpleasant. Tell him plainly, that he is no longer in the 
 times of the Gregories, and that I am not a Debonnaire. He has 
 the example of Henry the VIII., and without his wickedness. I 
 posses more strength and power than he had. Let him know, that 
 whatever part I may take, I have 600,000 Frenchmen in arms, who, 
 in every contingency, will march with me, for me, and as myself. 
 The peasantry and mechanics look to me alone, and repose unlimited 
 confidence in me. The prudent and enlightened part of the inter- 
 mediate class, those who take care of their interest, and wish for 
 
90 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 tranquility will follow me ; the only class favourable to him will be 
 the meddling and talkative, who will forget him at the end of ten 
 days, to chat upon some fresh subject." 
 
 And as the archbishop, who betrayed his embarrassment by his s 
 countenance, was about to stammer out some words, the emperor 
 added, in a very softened tone, " You are unacquainted with all this : 
 1 participate in your doctries ; I honour your piety ; I respect your 
 character." 
 
 It was said, that Napoleon was sincerely attached to Maria 
 Louisa ; that a fond look from her eye would command anything 
 from his heart. And that though she might possess his more per- 
 manent affection, her majesty was known to suspect the possibility 
 of his straying into an occasional infidelity. 
 
 A young man of the name of Osselin was Talleyrand's confiden- 
 tial secretary, charged with inspecting and transacting the minister's 
 private financial < speculations, until Midsummer 1802, when, in 
 reward for his zeal and honesty, he obtained the lucrative place of 
 a receiver-general of the contributions in Piedmont. He then fell 
 into the snares of some male and female sharpers, and became a de- 
 faulter for several millions of livres. When this was discovered, 
 general Murat, Napoleon's vice-regent at Turin, had Osselin arrested, 
 and sent under an escort of gens-d'armes to Paris, where he was 
 confined in the temple. Here Fouche examined him ; and, upon 
 promise of procuring him liberty, obtained from him every neces- 
 sary and useful information for a rival favourite to be acquainted 
 with. This statement was immediately printed, and circulated se- 
 cretly by Fouche's spies; and of the copies disseminated in the 
 castle of the Tuilleries, one fell into the hands of Napoleon, who 
 showed it to Talleyrand, at the same time smiling maliciously and 
 saying : " Should this account be correct, your private property is 
 greater than what I and all the members of my family possess to- 
 gether." " Sire," answered Talleyrand, " my enemies arc more 
 malicious than dexterous; they might as easily, and with equal truth, 
 have added a couple of cyphers (zeros) more to each article, and 
 made me at once richer than all the sovereigns of Europe en masse" 
 
 At the heights of Reichembach, the Russian rear-guard made a 
 halt, and while the currassiers of the guards disputed the pass with 
 the Russian lancers, the French General Bruqeres was struck down 
 by a bullet. He was a veteran of the army of Italy, and favoured 
 
OP NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 91 
 
 by Napoleon, as having been a companion of his early honours. 
 But fortune had reserved for that day a still more severe trial of 
 Napoleon's feelings. As he surveyed the last point on which the 
 Russians continued to make a stand, a ball killed a trooper of his 
 escort close by his side. " Duroc," he said to his old and faithful 
 follower and confidant, now the grand master of his palace, " for- 
 tune has a spite at us to-day." 
 
 Some time afterwards, as the emperor with his suite rode along a 
 hollow way, three cannon were fired, one ball shivered a tree close 
 to Napoleon, and rebounding, killed General Rirchenner, and mor- 
 tally wounded Duroc. 
 
 A heavy German officer, who, taken prisoner at the opening of 
 *he campaign of Italy, complained that a young, conceited fellow, 
 (meaning Napoleon) had been sent to command against them, who 
 spoiled the profession, and made it intolerable. The bulletins of 
 [Jim and Jena operated upon him like so many revulsions of bile. 
 He was far from admiring Napoleon. He had, he frequently said, 
 made the campaigns of the Marshal de Saxe, which indeed were 
 prodigies in war, and had not been sufficiently appreciated. " War 
 was, no doubt, then an art, but now ! ! !" he remarked, shrugging up 
 
 his shoulders " In our time, we carried on war with great 
 
 decorum ; we had our mules ; we were followed by our canteens ; we 
 had our tents ; we lived well ; we had even plays performed at head 
 quarters; the armies approached each other; admirable positions 
 were occupied ; a battle took place ; a siege was occasionally carried 
 on, and afterwards we went into winter quarters, to renew our opera- 
 tions in the spring. That is," he exclaimed, with exultation, " what 
 may be called making war ! But now a whole army disappears be- 
 fore another in a single battle, and a monarchy is overturned ; a hun- 
 dred leagues are run over in ten days ; as for sleeping and eating, 
 they are out of the question. Truly, if you call that genius, I 
 am, for my own part, obliged to acknowledge, that I know nothing 
 about it ; and, accordingly, you excite my pity, when I hear you 
 call him a great man." 
 
 Napoleon, at one of his levees, having been obliged to wait some 
 time for one of his officers, attacked him, on his arrival, openly, in 
 the presence of all. It happened to be precisely at the time when 
 five or six kings (and among others those of Bavaria, Saxony, and 
 Wurtemburg,) were at Paris. "Sire," replied the guilty courtier, 
 " I have, no doubt, a million of excuses to make to your majesty, but 
 at this time, one is not at perfect liberty to go through the streets as 
 he pleases. I just now had the misfortune to get into a crowd of 
 
92 • ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 kings, from which 1 found it impossible to extricate myself sooner. 
 This, Sire, was the cause of my delay." Every one smiled, and 
 the emperor contented himself with saying, in a very softened tone 
 of voice : "Whatever, Sir, may be the cause, take proper precautions 
 in future, and, above all, never make me wait again." 
 
 Leaving the empress at Fontainbleau, Napoleon made an excur- 
 sion to Brienne, purposely, as emperor, to view the scenes of his 
 boyhood, which he had not visited from the time of leaving college. 
 The principal seat of his early studies, indeed, had been dismantled, 
 but even revolutionary rage had been able to work little change on 
 nature. Napoleon seemed to enjoy unmixed pleasure in recalling 
 her features ; walking before those who attended him, delighting to 
 be the first to point out and name the several spots which had been 
 his favourite resorts. After passing the night in the chateau de 
 Brienne, he got up early in the morning to visit La Rothiere, for- 
 merly a holiday haunt, and the cottage of dame Marguerite, a wo- 
 man who lived in the forest, and at whose abode the collegians, in 
 their rambles, were wont to be supplied with eggsj cakes, and milk.. 
 On such occasions, each paicl his share, and the good dame had not, 
 it seems, forgotten, that regular payment might be depended on when 
 young Napoleon was of the party. The emperor had inquired 
 about the old Woman over-night, and heard, with equal surprise and 
 pleasure, that she still lived. Galloping almost alone through the 
 alleys of the forest, he alighted at a little distance, and entered the 
 cottage. " Good morning, dame Marguerite ; so you have no curi- 
 osity to see the emperor ?" — " Yes, indeed, good master, I am very 
 anxious to see him, and here is a basketful of fresh eggs I am to 
 carry to the chateau, and then I will try to get a sight of the em- 
 peror ; I shall easily know him, for I have seen him often before 
 now, when he came to taste my milk ; he was not emperor then, 
 but o' my troth, he knew how to manage his comrades ; my milk, 
 eggs, cakes, and broken plates, were sure to be paid for when he 
 was present : he began by paying his own score, and saw that every- 
 one else paid." — " So, dame Marguerite," replied the emperor with 
 a smile, "you have not then forgotten Bonaparte?" — " Nay, nay, 
 my good master, people don't soon forget a young man of his stamp ; 
 we all remember that he was cautious, serious, and sometimes even 
 melancholy, but always good to the poor. I am no great witch, but 
 could have told that he would have made his way." — " He has done 
 pretty well, has he not?" asked Napoleon, laughing. — " O' my troth, 
 master, that he has," said the old woman, to whom Napoleon, during 
 this short dialogue, had approached quite close, but keeping his back 
 to the door, and, consequently, to the principal light. Turning now 
 
OP NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 93 
 
 suddenly round, the light streamed full upon his countenance — the 
 good dame started, blessed herself, and seemed striving to collect her 
 reminiscences of the past. To help her memory, Napoleon, rubbing 
 his hands, and assuming the tones and manners of his youth, called 
 out, " So, ho ! dame Marguerite, some milk and fresh eggs ; we are 
 all dying of hunger." The old woman, not quite assured, began to 
 examine the emperor very attentively. " Ah, dame Marguerite," 
 said the latter, " time has changed us both ; and you perceive it 
 would not have been so easy, as you just now thought, to recognise 
 the emperor ; but you find we are old acquaintances." The poor 
 creature dropped upon her knees — Napoleon raised her with an ex- 
 pression of the utmost kindness, saying, " Of a truth, my good 
 mother, I am as hungry as a student — have you nothing to give me ?" 
 Eggs and milk were got ready, Napoleon helping himself, for joy 
 had almost put the old woman beside herself. Having thus made a 
 hearty repast, the emperor rose to depart, and giving his ancient 
 hostess a purse of gold, said, " You know, dame Marguerite, I like 
 everybody to pay their score. — Adieu, I will not forget you." 
 
 After Napoleon had resigned the throne in favour of his son, 
 and was passing through France, on his way to his intended abode, 
 he came to the small town of B . He had alighted at the post- 
 office with the officers of the allied troops who accompanied him, 
 and conversed with a great deal of animation, when an old man, 
 whose hair was as white as snow, pressed through the crowd to- 
 wards Napoleon just as he was going to re-enter the carriage. 
 
 "Sire!" said he, "they take you away from France, which loves 
 and honours you ; two of my sons and their children have faithfully 
 followed your banners, they have all sacrificed their life to their 
 country and to you ; my soul has been much grieved at this loss, 
 but 1 thank God that they are no more to see their country dis- 
 graced. Be happy, Sire ! the hearts of many thousand brave 
 Frenchmen, whom you have so often led to victory, follow you. 
 You will easily forget France, which in part has ached with ingrati- 
 tude towards you, but France will ever miss you." 
 
 Here the old man seized the hand of Napoleon, covered it with 
 tears, and disappeared. 
 
 In the battle of Jena a soldier of the 8th regiment of riflemen 
 had distinguished himself very much. On the field of battle he 
 was already made a non-commissioned officer, and recommended by 
 his comrades to receive the cross of the legion of honour. Napo- 
 leon, himself, was a witness to the bold deeds of the young French- 
 man, who was from Boug a Chartre near Rouen. 
 
94 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 Napoleon stopped for a few moments in W , where the 
 
 regiment of the young hero, who had now been twenty-four hours a 
 non-commissioned officer, was passing. He sent for him, and asked 
 him, among other things, who his parents were ? " My father is 
 the Baron de Treville, and I followed the banners of France to gain 
 my spurs, as my ancestors have done. Yesterday's work was my 
 first specimen, which, by the by, did not deserve any great reward, 
 for who can fight an enemy that is running away ?" Napoleon, 
 who was much pleased with the ardour of this hero of eighteen, replied 
 that he would find opportunities enough in his army to gain fame, 
 and at the end of the conversation he asked whether he had perhaps 
 any favour to ask for his parents, or any other dear relation, or 
 whether he had himself any particular wish that was not gratified ? 
 " Sire !" answered the young soldier, whose enthusiasm was raised 
 by the satisfaction of his emperor, "I and my family have no 
 wants; I pant for glory, which I feel myself strong enough to 
 acquire in the army; I have no favours to ask. My only wish is 
 to die the death of a hero for thee and for France, and to gain the 
 name of a French soldier under Napoleon." 
 
 Napoleon took his own cross of the legion of honour from his 
 breast, and gave it to the young enthusiast. "You are worthy," 
 said he, " to be a Frenchman, and to wear the cross of your 
 emperor." 
 
 Napoleon used to get his hair cut very frequently, both when in 
 the field and when at home. This operation was generally per- 
 formed by his valet de chambre, who was also in the habit of shav- 
 ing him. The valet, however, had not returned from Russia, and 
 the court hair-dresser, a man already advanced in" years and very 
 nervous, had to perform this operation. 
 
 Whilst the hair-dresser was exercising his art on the head of 
 Napoleon, the latter continued to talk to several persons, jumped up 
 from his chair, dictated to several secretaries, so that his head was 
 in perpetual motion. This made the hair-dresser still more nervous, 
 he was just occupied near the ear, when Napoleon suddenly turned 
 his head and the scissors cut his ear so as to make it bleed. The 
 poor hair-dresser, timid by nature, was so frightened, that he could 
 not open his lips to make an apology, but stood like a statue. 
 
 Napoleon, who could not help laughing at the poor wretch,^ took 
 out his pocket handkerchief, applied it to his ear and said, turning to 
 the hair-dresser : " I see, you want to put me in mind of my long 
 ears, you should have done this before I went to Russia, it might 
 have been of some use then." 
 
OP NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 95 
 
 The wonderful energies of Napoleon's mind, and the influence 
 which he could exert over the minds of others, were never so 
 striking as at the period of his reign after his return from Moscow. 
 He had returned to his seat of empire at a dreadful crisis, and in a 
 most calamitous condition. His subjects had been ignorant, for six 
 weeks, whether he was dead or alive ; and a formidable conspiracy, 
 which was all but successful, had, at once, shown that there was an 
 awakening activity amongst his secret enemies, and an apathy and 
 indifference amongst his apparent friends. When he arrived, it 
 was to declare a dreadful catastrophe, of which his ambition had 
 been the cause ; the loss of five hundred thousand men, with all 
 their arms, ammunition, and artillery ; the death of so many child- 
 ren of France as threw the whole country into mourning. He had 
 left behind him cold and involuntary allies, changing fast into foes ; 
 and foes, encouraged by his losses and his flight, threatening to com- 
 bine Europe in one great crusade, having for its object the demoli- 
 tion of his power. No sovereign ever presented himself before his 
 people in a situation more precarious, or overclouded by such cala- 
 mities, arrived or in prospect. 
 
 Yet Napoleon came, and seemed but to stamp on the earth, and 
 armed legions arose at his call ; the doubts and discontents of the 
 public disappeared as mists at sun rising, and the same confidence 
 which had attended his prosperous fortunes revived in its full extent, 
 despite of his late reverses. 
 
 Napoleon, when young, though warmly attached to the sex, en- 
 tertained but a mean opinion both of the talents and virtue of women, 
 and on rare occasions only, attempted to be pleasing in their society. 
 When taxed by Josephine with the carelessness of his address, he 
 would repeat, " Josephine, compared with you, all are nought." 
 
 At the time of Napoleon's marriage, he had employed Isabey to 
 paint, in the exquisite style of that artist, a miniature of Josephine. 
 This, in battle and in march, he constantly wore about his person. 
 In " the rough and stirring course" upon which he was now 
 launched, it could not, to ordinary feelings, be matter of marvel, if 
 accident should occur to the portrait. But the feelings of the youth- 
 ful conquerer of Italy were not, either for good or evil, of a common 
 character. The glass, covering the miniature, was found to have 
 been broken ; how, he knew not. From this simple occurrence, he 
 immediately conceived a presentiment of the death of the original, 
 and enjoyed no peace of mind till the return of a courier, despatched 
 express to bring him tidings of Josephine. 
 
96 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 When at Fontainebleau, previous to the departure of Napoleon for 
 the Isle of Elba, his valet-de chambre, in the night, betwixt the 12th 
 and 13th of April, heard him arise and pour something into a glass 
 of water, drink, and return to bed. In a short time afterwards, the 
 man's attention was called by sobs and stifled groans. An alarm 
 took place in the chateau ; some of the -principal persons were 
 aroused, and repaired to Napoleon's chamber. Yvan, the surgeon, 
 who had procured him the poison, was also summoned ; but hearing 
 the emperor complain that the operation of the potion Was not quick 
 enough, he was seized with a panic terror, and fled from the palace 
 at full gallop. Napoleon took the remedies recommended, and a 
 long fit of stupor ensued, with profuse perspiration. He awakened, 
 much exhausted, and surprised at finding himself still alive. He 
 said aloud, after a few moments' reflection : " Fate will not have it 
 so;" and afterwards appeared reconciled to undergo his destiny, 
 without similar attempts at personal violence. 
 
 Napoleon said, that being at Bayonne, at the Chateau de Mar- 
 rach, when the city of Bourdeaux gave him a fete, he saw by the 
 side of the empress Josephine, a charming countenance, of the most 
 perfect beauty, with which he was forcibly struck. The impres- 
 sion she made did not pass unperceived. She had been instructed 
 and prepared before hand by some one nearly related to her ; and 
 " God knows," said the emperor, " with what intentions." She was 
 a new reader to the empress Josephine, whom she attended to the 
 Chateau de Marrach, and might very possibly have had great sue- 
 cess. She already occupied Napoleon's thoughts, when M. de Lava- 
 lette, who was at the head of the secret department of the post-office, 
 destroyed the charm. He sent, direct to the emperor, a letter 
 addressed to this young lady. It was from her mother or her aunt, 
 an Irishwoman, and contained minute directions for the part she 
 was to play, and particularly urged her by all means to contrive to 
 secure such a living pledge as might prolong her empire, or at least 
 secure her great influence. " On this perusal," said the emperor, 
 " all illusion vanished. The coarseness of the intrigue, the turpi- 
 tude of the details, the style, the hand which had written the letter ; 
 but above all her being a foreigner, produced immediate disgust ; 
 and the pretty little Irish girl was in fact, put into a post chaise and 
 suddenly packed off to Paris." 
 
 A fine gentleman, who had formerly been a captain of cavalry, 
 and who seemed perfectly satisfied with his own person and accom- 
 plishments, was introduced to a society of select persons. " I come," 
 
OP NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 97 
 
 he said, " from the plain des Sablong ; I have just seen our Ostro- 
 goth (meaning Napoleon) manoeuvre. He had two or three regi- 
 ments which he threw into confusion upon each other, and they 
 were all lost in some bushes. [ would have taken him and all his 
 men prisoners, with fifty maitres (formerly troopers) only. An 
 usurped reputation!" he exclaimed. "Accordingly Moreau was 
 always of opinion that he would fail in Germany. A war with 
 Germany is talked of; if it take place, we shall see how he will 
 extricate himself. He will have justice done to him." 
 
 The war took place, and Napoleon sent in a very few days the 
 bulletin of Ulm and that of Austerlitz, &c. The fine gentleman 
 again made his appearance in that same company, and for the 
 instant, they could not, notwithstanding their malevolence, help cry- 
 ing out ail in the same breath, " And your fifty maitres !" " Oh ! 
 truly," said he, " it is impossible to comprehend the thing ; this man 
 triumphs over every obstacle ; fortune leads him by the hand, and 
 besides, the Austrians are so awkward ; such fools !" 
 
 One day, at one of Napoleon's grand audiences, he. attacked a 
 colonel with the utmost vehemence, and quite in a tone of anger, 
 upon some slight disorders of which his regiment had been guilty 
 towards the inhabitants of the countries they had passed through in 
 returning to France. During the reprimand, the colonel, thinking 
 the punishment out of all proportion to the fault of which he was 
 accused, repeatedly endeavoured to excuse himself; but the emperor, 
 without interrupting his speech, said to him in an undertone, " Very 
 well, but hold your tongue ; I believe you ; but say nothing :" and 
 when he afterwards saw him in private, he said to him : " When I 
 thus addressed you, I was chastising, in your person, certain gene- 
 rals whom I saw near you, and who, had I spoken to them direct, 
 would have been found deserving of the lowest degradation, and 
 perhaps of something worse." 
 
 The following conversation took place at Saint Helena, between 
 Napoleon and a gentleman of the British navy. This author, as 
 well as Paul, whose letters are under a feigned name, gives very 
 interesting particulars of Waterloo. " It will, I think, make you 
 smile, general, when I tell you that your guide, La Coste, is not for- 
 gotten. He is represented as having been most dreadfully frighten- 
 ed." « Frightened ! at what ?" " At the balls, sir, that were flying 
 about him. It is said, also, thai you, at the time, rallied and con- 
 soled him with the assurance that it was much more honourable to 
 receive a ball in the breast than in the back. Besides, he is made to 
 complain that he was very inadequately recompensed for the labour 
 and dangers of the day ; that a single Napoleon was his only reward." 
 7 
 
98 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 Napoleon instantly replied, with an intelligent smile, " It might as 
 well have been said five hundred." The gentleman continued : — 
 " Mr. Boyce appears to me to have been very attentive to accuracy 
 in his report of the two contending armies." " What number," 
 Napoleon instantly asked, " does he give to that of France ?" " He 
 quotes from an officer, and makes them to have been seventy thou- 
 sand." Napoleon replied, " 1 had seventy-one thousand ; and how 
 many English is it stated there were in the field ?" " Including the 
 German legion, I understand there were thirty thousand British 
 troops ; which, united with the Belgians, Hanoverians, and Bruns- 
 wickers, formed a whole of sixty-eight thousand men." " How 
 many Prussians were there under Bulow? "About fifteen thou- 
 sand." " And how many on the arrival of Blucher, in the evening ?" 
 " I really dp not know ; but it is said that the duke of Wellington 
 acknowledges how very happy he felt at the appearance of his old 
 friend ; and that the person did not exist who could have been more 
 welcome to him in the course of the evening than Blucher." 
 
 Captain Brechtel of the fifth regiment of artillery, lost a leg 
 at Wagram, but went, notwithstanding, through part of the Spanish 
 campaign, after his recovery as "Chef de Bataillon" and, in 1812, 
 accompanied the division of the army, then in Spain to Russia. 
 His bataillon suffered much before it came to Moscow, and in the 
 battle of Smolensk, he lost his wooden leg. This circumstance 
 obliged him to leave his corps to get a new leg made. But having 
 lost it on the first day of the battle, and the sapars being too much 
 occupied in repairing wagons and gun carriages, he could not have 
 another made, and was prevented from being at the battle. This 
 made him almost furious, and he never ceased cursing and swearing 
 during the whole time. Laying behind a garden hedge, he was 
 an eye-witness of the battle, the favourable issue of which gave him 
 great pleasure. 
 
 Immediately after the battle a new leg was made for the lieutenant- 
 colonel; but to prevent a similar occurrence for the future, he had 
 four reserve legs made, which were always in one of the baggage 
 carts of his corps. On crossing the Beressisa he received an order 
 to have a battery thrown up to cover the floating bridge, which was 
 executed. Napoleon himself was present and encouraged the artil- 
 lery-men. Scarcely had the battery commenced to fire, when the 
 lieutenant-colonel leaped from his horse, and, with an activity pecu- 
 liar to himself, went to every piece, pointed it, hastened the soldiers, 
 and encouraged the wounded. 
 
 Napoleon had just returned to the battery with some officers, when 
 a ball carried away one of the colonel's legs. The emperor said to 
 his suite the poor devil has lost a leg, and immediately dismounted 
 and hastened to his assistance. But, scarcely had the colonel re- 
 
OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 99 
 
 covered somewhat from the shock, when he sat up, and said, laugh- 
 ing, to the emperor, who now perceived that it was his wooden leg, 
 that he had lost, " Do not be uneasy, emperor, I have a stock of 
 them, and as soon as the pain which the shock has occasioned me 
 shall abate, I shall be at my post again. Go," cried he to an ar- 
 tillery-man, " bring me from the baggage wagon, No. 1, another 
 leg." The man went on his errand. Napoleon laid his hand on 
 the shoulder of the wounded officer, and said : " Your wooden leg 
 ought to have one of the first places in. the museum, that our descen- 
 dants may have one proof more, what heroes have fought the battles 
 of France. 
 
 One of the most delightful excursions which even Italy offers, is 
 from Milan to the Lakes. This was among the very first scenes 
 visited by Napoleon and Josephine in each other's company. After 
 seeing the Lake of Como, they drove through the rich fields and 
 vine-clad acclivities, across to Lake Maggiore. Embarking on this 
 magnificent expanse, whose waters reflect at once the gayest and 
 most stupendous objects, from the glittering villa to the hoary Alps. 
 They landed in succession on those fairy paradises, the Borromean 
 Islands : of these, the Isola Bella, with its numerous arcades, hang- 
 ing gardens, and anchorite palace, was Napoleon's favourite, — as 
 might naturally be supposed ; calculated, as it is, to excite the ima- 
 gination, rather than to gratify the taste. Here the party made 
 considerable stay. On ons of the marble terraces, a spendicl orange 
 tree was pointed out to the writer, as the scene of a little adventure. 
 Josephine, with one or two ladies, had taken her station under the 
 tree ; and while they were engaged in admiring the distant land- 
 scape, Napoleon slipped up unperceived, and by a sudden shake 
 brought down a shower of the golden fruit among the fair group. 
 All her companions ran off, screaming in affright ; Josephine alone 
 remained unmoved. This partial failure of his stratagem seemed 
 somewhat to pique the contriver. " Why, Josephine," he observed, 
 half ironically, " you stand fire, like one of my veterans." " And 
 should it be otherwise ?" was the appropriate reply ; " am 1 not the 
 wife of their commander ?" 
 
 Maria Louisa at one time consulted her confessor, the bishop of 
 Nantez, on the obligation of abstaining from meat on Fridays. " At 
 what table do you dine T' asked the bishop. " At the emperor's." 
 " Do you give all the orders there ?" " No." " You cannot, then, 
 make any alteration in it ; would he do it himself?" " I am inclined 
 to think not." " Be obedient, then, and do not provol^p a subject for 
 scandal. Your first duty is to obey, and make him respected ; you 
 
100 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 will not be in want of other means to amend your life, and to suffer 
 privations in the eyes of God. 
 
 An old dowager, who, to the day of her death, obstinately refused 
 to give credit to any of Napoleon's successes in Germany. , When 
 Uim, Austerlitz, and his entrance into Vienna, were mentioned in 
 her presence : — " So you believe all that," said she, shrugging up 
 her shoulders. " It is all his fabrication. He would not presume 
 to set a foot in Germany ; be assured that he is still behind the 
 Rhine, where he is perishing from fear, and sends us those silly 
 stories ; you will learn in time, that I am not to be imposed upon." 
 
 In speaking of his position at Saint Jean d' Acre, Napoleon ob- 
 served : — " The position which 1 occupied in the middle of Syria, with 
 12,000 men only, was, it must be admitted, a very enterprising mea- 
 sure. I was at the distance of 500 leagues from Desaix, who 
 formed the other extremity of my army. It has been related by 
 Sidney Smith, that I lost 18,000 men before Saint Jean d' Acre, al- 
 though my army consisted but of 12,000. An obscure person, 
 
 M , who had just gone through his exercises at college, as it 
 
 seemed, who knows nothing of what he describes, and whose only 
 talent is that of tacking some sentences together, with a view, no 
 doubt, of converting them to his emolument; the brother, how- 
 ever, of one, whom I have loaded with favours, and who was one 
 of my council of state, has recently published something on that sub- 
 ject, on which I have cast a glance, and which vexes me on account 
 of its silliness, and the gloomy tint it endeavours to shed on the 
 glory and exploits of that army, &c. Had I been master of the 
 sea, 1 should have been master of the East ; and the thing was so 
 practicable, that it failed only through the stupidity or bad conduct 
 of some officers of the navy." 
 
 When Napoleon left Brescia to commence the campaign against 
 Wurmser, Josephine accompanied him. Arrived at Verona, she had 
 witnessed the first shots that were fired. When she returned to 
 Castle-Nuovo, and saw the wounded as they passed, she was de- 
 sirous of being at Brescia ; but she found herself stopped by the 
 enemy, who was already at Ponte Marco. In the anxiety and 
 agitation of the moment, she was seized with fear, and wept a great 
 deal on quitting her husband, who exclaimed, when embracing her, 
 and with a kind of inspiration, "Wurmser shall pay dearly for 
 those tears which he causes thee !" She was obliged to pass in her 
 carriage, ver^close to the fortification of Mantua. She was fired 
 
OP NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 101 
 
 upon from the place, and one of her suite was even wounded ! She 
 traversed the Po, Bologna, Ferrara, and stopped at Lucca, attended 
 by dread, and the unfavourable reports which were usually spread 
 around our patriotic armies ; but she was internally supported by 
 her extreme confidence in her husband's good fortune. 
 
 It was most surprising that the man who, in the course of his 
 career, seems scarcely to have allowed himself time to sleep, while 
 he, for so many years, kept the world awake, had, while on his pas- 
 sage to Saint Helena, become the most decided sleeper on board the 
 ship. During the greater part of the day, Napoleon reclined on a 
 sofa, would quit the card-table at an early hour in the evening, and 
 Was seldom visible before eleven In the morning, and not unfrequently 
 took his breakfast in bed. But he had nothing to do, and a novel 
 Would sometimes amuse him. 
 
 Napoleon, when at Saint Helena, riding out one day with his 
 suite, began to talk English : and having thrown his arm half around 
 Madame Bertrand's neck, he exclaimed, » This is my mistress !" " O 
 not mistress !" while the lady was endeavouring to extricate herself, 
 and the count, her husband, bursting with laughter. He then asked 
 if he had made a mistake, and being informed of the English inter- 
 pretation of the word, he cried out, " O, no, no — I say my friend, 
 my love ; no, not my love, my friend, my friend." The fact was, 
 that Madame Bertrand had been indisposed for several days, and he 
 wished to rally her spirits, as well as to give an unreserved ease to 
 the conversation. In short, to use a well-known English phrase — 
 He was the life of the party. 
 
 It was admitted, without dispute, that the princess Pauline was 
 the handsomest woman in Paris. Napoleon said that the artists 
 were unanimous in considering her a perfect Venus de Medicis. 
 
 Some one ventured to observe to Napoleon, that Maria Louisa had 
 boasted, that whenever she desired any thing, no matter how dif- 
 ficult, she had only to weep. The emperor laughed at it, and said, 
 this was new to him. He might have suspected it of Josephine, but 
 he had no idea of it in Maria Louisa. 
 
102 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 In lack of other means of amusing himself, Napoleon had been 
 somewhat interested in the construction of a pond and fountain in 
 the garden of Longwood, which was stocked with small fishes. A 
 mixture of copperas in the mastic employed in cementing the basin, 
 had affected the water. It so happened, a short time before his 
 death, that the creatures, which had been in a good measure the 
 object of Napoleon's attention, began to sicken and to die. He was 
 deeply affected by the circumstance, and, in language strongly re- 
 sembling the beautiful verses of Moore, expressed his sense of the 
 fatality which seemed to attach itself to him. " Every thing I love — 
 every thing that belongs to me," he exclaimed, " is immediately 
 struck. Heaven and mankind unite to afflict me." At other times 
 he lamented his decay of energy. The bed, he said, was now a 
 place of luxury, which he would not exchange for all the thrones in 
 the universe. The eyes, which formerly were so vigilant, could 
 now scarcely be opened. He recollected that he used to dictate to 
 four or five secretaries at once. " But then," he said, " 1 was Na- 
 poleon — now I no longer live, I only exist." Often he remained 
 silent for many hours, suffering, as may be supposed, much pain, 
 and immersed in profound melancholy. 
 
 A few days before Napoleon's death, he explained to the priest 
 (Vignali) the manner in which he desired his body should be laid 
 out in state, in an apartment lighted by torches, or what Catholics 
 call un chambre ardente. " I am neither," he said, in the same 
 phrase which we have formerly quoted, " a philosopher nor a phy- 
 sician. I believe in God, and am of that religion of my father. It 
 is not every body who can be an atheist. I was born a Catholic, 
 and will fulfil all the duties of the Catholic church, and receive the 
 assistance which it administers." He then turned to Dr. Antom- 
 marchi, whom he seems to have suspected of hetorodoxy, which the 
 doctor, however, disowned. "How can you carry it so far]" he 
 said. " Can you not believe in God, whose existence every thing 
 proclaims, and in whom the greatest minds have believed 1", 
 
 tinis. 
 
VALUABLE WORKS 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 C. F. STOLLMEYER, No. 65 SOUTH THIRD ST., PHILADA. 
 
 NEW YORK:— No. 112 FULTON STREET. 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE WORLD, 
 
 FROM THE 
 EARLIEST TIMES UNTIL THE YEAR 1831. 
 
 BY CHARLES VON ROTTECri", L. L. D. 
 
 Professor in the University of Freiburg, Aulic Counsellor, Member of the Chamber of 
 Deputies of the Grand Duchy of Baden, &c. &c. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN, AND CONTINUED TO 1840. 
 
 BY FREDERICK JONES, A. M. 
 
 Illustrated by twenty-four Historical Engravings, designed by Heideloff, 
 
 Dalbon, and others, engraved by J. Spittall. 
 
 IN FOUR VOLUMES. 
 
 FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. 
 
 The work now offered to the public is designed to fill up a great chasm 
 in one most important department of literature. To satisfy a want felt, 
 not only by the student, by the man left to himself for an education, 
 but also, by the intelligent of all classes of society. It will supply the 
 great mass of the public, who are at present almost necessarily in the 
 dark as to the past World and its destinies, with a complete picture of 
 all the great events relating to the World and to man, from the earliest 
 dawn of history down to recent times; and we indulge the hope that it 
 will satisfy the universal want of a good General History of the World. 
 We have works, entitled " Histories of the World," or " Universal His- 
 tories," it is true ; but all of thern (we mean those in a small form, and 
 such as are within the reach of the generality of readers) are sadly de- 
 ficient, ill-selected, and worse arranged : they could not, according to 
 the ideas of the author of this work, be considered, strictly speaking, 
 General Histories of the World. 
 
 The author of this History is celebrated throughout Europe, as a 
 scholar, as a statesman, and as a bold defender of liberty ; and this re- 
 putation will certainly be an excellent recommendation of his work to 
 the American public. Although born in Germany, educated in its far- 
 famed halls of learning, and breathing a German atmosphere, he is not 
 a German alone ; — he is a man whom the World may claim. He is no 
 mystic, full of unintelligible, useless theories; but a man devoted to 
 practicable objects, to the welfare of his race, and to pure Religion and 
 Morality. 
 
 His History has been extensively circulated in Europe {in the German, 
 French, Dutch, Swedish, and Danish languages,) and is the most 
 popular one that has ever been published. For, although he may be 
 ranked as the first historian of Europe, he has written, not for a particu- 
 lar class, but for people in general. In fine, his History is equally fitted 
 for the Student, the Merchant, the Farmer, the Mechanic, and the 
 Professional man. 
 
 The work is published in four volumes, octavo, and contains between 
 sixteen and seventeen hundred pages. It is printed on paper of the best 
 quality, and bound elegantly and substantially in muslin. 
 
SOCIAL DESTINY OF MAN, 
 
 OR. 
 
 ASSOCIATION 
 
 AND' 
 
 RE-ORGANIZATION OF INDUSTRY. 
 
 BY 
 
 ALBERT BRISBANE. 
 
 SOLD BY ALL THE PRINCIPAL BOOKSELLERS IN THE U. S. — PRICE $1.00. 
 
 Opinions of the Press. 
 
 The object of this work is, to present to the American public, the ideas 
 of the celebrated Charles Fourier upon the subject of a re-organization 
 of Society. It is a theme of some difficulty, but one — as far as we have 
 been able to judge by an examination of the work before us — which he 
 has handled with consummate skill. However much men may differ from 
 the author, as to the practicability of his theme, few, we predict, will 
 venture to question the talent of the writer. 
 
 The novelty of the ideas promulgated by Mr. Fourier, will procure for 
 this work a rapid sale — and we have no doubt he will make many con- 
 verts to his peculiar notions. The present is an age of inquiry, if not 
 of novelty,- — and whatever is adapted to advance the interests of man- 
 kind, finds speedy admirers. 
 
 Mr. Brisbane deserves great credit for the industry and talent displayed 
 in bringing the conceptions of Fourier before the American public in 
 their present form. We recommend the work to every inquiring mind. 
 — Saturday Evening Post, Philadelphia. 
 
 Besides glancing cursorily at its entire contents, we have read it 
 nearly all attentively, and can pronounce it well worthy of a careful 
 perusal. It treats with ability upon a most important, and to the philan- 
 thropist, we should think, a most interesting subject. 
 
 Its purpose is to exhibit in brief outline, and recommend to adoption, 
 the plan of Charles Fourier, for the re-organization of society on princi- 
 ples and in a mode which will combine the free developement of indi- 
 vidual character, and the full activity of individual energy ; the posses- 
 sion of private property, and the enjoyment of individual liberty, to a 
 degree now practically unknown in civilized life, with all the efficiency 
 and economy of large associations. Whatever may be thought of the 
 practicability of this scheme, the theory is, to our mind, beautifully 
 attractive. If it can be carried out successfully, the results will be glo- 
 rious beyond expression, to the whole family of man. 
 
 Among them will be the annihilation of poverty, vice, and crime ; the 
 elevation of all to equal privileges and means of mental and moral im- 
 provement ; the abolition of slavery, and every species of servitude, 
 properly so called ; the perfect equality of human rights, without refer- 
 ence to rank, wealth, physical peculiarities, sex, or condition ; the enno- 
 bling of labour, and the perfect erasure of the line of distinction between 
 the labouring and the " higher classes," by the conversion of all into 
 labourers in the highest sense voluntary, labourers engaging in produc- 
 tive industry as a pleasure, and not as a task, or merely as a duty ; the 
 absolutely free choice of employments, even in the case of children of 
 
ADVERTISEMENTS. 
 
 three years old ; the absence of physical coercion in every department 
 of life ; the beautifying and fertilizing of the earth, converting even its 
 most extensive and hitherto irreclaimable marshes and morasses, and its 
 widest and most barren deserts into regions of fruitful fields ; the im- 
 provement of climates ; the diminution of the causes of disease } the 
 consequent general diffusion and increase of health and vigour of body 
 and mind, and the prolongation of life to at least thrice its present 
 average duration. 
 
 This is verily a delightful picture to contemplate — almost too full of 
 glory for realization on this earth, so long denominated " a vale of tears." 
 The author of the work anticipates the objection that so much happiness 
 cannot be for man in his present state, and labours to remove it, by argu- 
 ments of much force, certainly, if not conclusive. To own the truth, 
 though we entered on this " enchanted ground," in a most incredulous 
 frame of mind — for our organ of marvellousness is somewhat of the 
 smallest — and expected to find it a land of empty and unsubstantial 
 visions, and all its splendid fabrics but so many air-castles, yet before our 
 journey through it was completed, we were almost persuaded that its 
 brightest and loveliest scenes were susceptible of full realization ; that 
 it was not the mere creation of a vivid fancy, but rather a region of firm 
 and solid earth, on which we might build in confidence our hopes and 
 anticipations. At all events, let what will be said of the author's plan 
 for their removal, he certainly delineates the evils of civilization with an 
 able hand, and in bold and striking colours, and exhibits the superior 
 economy of association, the greater efficiency and productiveness of in- 
 dustry in the "combined order," with a clearness and distinctness that 
 cannot fail to arrest attention and produce conviction that something 
 ought to be done to secure, if possible, such immense advantages. This 
 scheme may be visionary (we are far less inclined to pronounce it so 
 now, than before reading the book), but the presentation of it, and the 
 arguments for it, and the facts on which the author claims that it is 
 based, will, we doubt not, do good — will awaken attention, and elicit dis- 
 cussion and examination, and lead to the application of such tests of 
 experiment as, in aiming to settle this question, will either accomplish 
 the direct object, or open the way to some other useful discovery ; some 
 better mode of removing acknowledged evils, and introducing generally 
 desired improvements. 
 
 This work is evidently the product of no ordinary intellect. The 
 mind which devised and matured the system it delineates, was one, 
 which, in depth, power, originality, freedom, and boldness, is not often 
 excelled. — Pennsylvania Freeman, Philadelphia. 
 
 Its doctrine is, that "our evils are social, not political; — Political 
 evils are the result of the false organization of society." 
 
 The object of this work is to convince mankind that their best inter- 
 ests would be obtained by combined associations, of families numbering 
 twelve or fifteen hundred individuals. As, in proof of the theory, we 
 are referred to the prosperity of banking, insurance, mercantile, manu- 
 facturing, and other companies. The author explains wherein time, 
 money, and labour, would be saved if his system should be adopted — and 
 that a greater degree of happiness would be the result. 
 
ADVERTISEMENTS. 
 
 The spirit of emulation should be encouraged. 
 
 " Nothing developes such energy in the individual as corporate rivalry 
 or emulation ; this passion, so universal, is one of the most powerful 
 springs of action in the human soul. In the mechanism of the series, we 
 find first, emulation between members of groups, each of whom strives 
 to excel in his part ; — then come higher rivalries, the rivalry of group 
 with group, of serie with serie, of plialanx with phalanx, state even with 
 state, and nation with nation. Arrived at this point, we see these col- 
 lective emulations producing the most brilliant results. We find here 
 and there some examples of these national rivalries in the present order of 
 things : the nations of Europe strive to excel in the discipline and per- 
 fection of their armies ; and there exists a marked rivalry between 
 England and this country in ships and steamboats. 
 
 " The lustre imparted to the fine arts in Italy, in the sixteenth century, 
 is attributable in a great measure to this stimulant ; the leading cities 
 then had their schools of painting, each with its peculiar excellence, at 
 the head of which were the great painters of that day; Raphael at Rome; 
 Michael Angelo at Florence ; Titian at Venice ; and Leonardo Da Vinci 
 at Milan. These different schools were mutually benefited by studying 
 the particular excellence which each had attained ; and to this noble 
 emulation do we owe those magnificent works of art, which have been, 
 and ever will be, the admiration of the world. The dignity and eleva- 
 tion communicated to art by this collective rivalry, are well expressed in 
 the words of Corregio, who, on contemplating one of his grandest com- 
 positions, exclaimed : ' 1" also am a painter.'' " 
 
 We have not had an opportunity yet of investigating the author's 
 theory, but we would recommend it to the notice of those who possess 
 time and talent to do it justice. 
 
 One quotation more from his book will suffice for this time. 
 
 " This is the first, the only theory which has appeared upon Associa- 
 tion ; if you reject it, invent a better one ; and — if you cannot, before 
 condemning it, await its trial." — Philadelphia Visiter. 
 
 This work we have before briefly alluded to, as having proceeded from 
 the pen of Albert Brisbane, Esq. Since that time we have stolen an 
 hour to look into it a little more at length, and we are now satisfied that 
 the author not only does not advance the miserable doctrines of Owen 
 and other Socialists, but his entire labours are expressly adverse. Quoting 
 the matter under which he writes, he says our evils are " social, not poli- 
 tical." He contends that there must be a new species of association, 
 i. e. a re-organization of industry introduced before the physical toils of 
 society can either become pleasurable or profitable to the great mass. 
 
 No community of property is proposed. It is an association in which 
 an account is kept with every individual, who shall be paid thus : '• Five- 
 twelfths labour, four-twelfths to capital, three-twelfths to practical or 
 theoretical knowledge." Clothing is to be advanced to the poorer mem- 
 bers for one year by the council, and all are to labour in such vocations 
 as best pleases them, and to exchange labour so as not to render any 
 work burthensome or coercive. All are to receive according to their 
 skill, labour, and capital ; all working utensils as well as anything else 
 being classed, of course, as capital. Each member is to have shares in 
 the association, and if he does not toil, then he will not draw for more 
 
ADVERTISEMENTS. 
 
 than his capital. A person may be a member without being a stock- 
 holder, or a stockholder without being a member. In the latter case, he 
 receives no part of the profits, which are awarded to labour and skill. 
 
 The general idea is, that in association, labour may become far more 
 productive, as, for instance, a few persons comparatively might do the 
 whole cooking for an association, while, in the present division of society, 
 our households must be supplied with cooks, market servants, and other 
 attendants. This we name only as a specimen of Mr. Brisbane's plan, 
 which he thinks would make all who adopt it independent, without the 
 least fear of want, of the poor-house, prisons, sheriffs, and anything else.. 
 His work certainly embraces much that is novel, and will no doubt re- 
 ceive attention from all those who are seeking a new organization of the 
 social system. — Saturday Courier, Philadelphia. 
 
 This is a curious book. The author, or editor, or rather both editor 
 and author, commences his preface with the following statement of his 
 object : 
 
 " The object I have in view in publishing this volume, is to lay before 
 the American public, the profound and original conceptions of Charles 
 Fourier, on the subject of a re-organization of society." 
 
 The philosopher thus introduced is afterwards described as follows : 
 
 " Charles Fourier, the genius to whom is due the discovery of asso- 
 ciation, based on series of groups and attractive industry, was born at 
 Besancon, in France, on the 7th of April, 1772, and died at Paris, on the 
 10th of October, 1837, aged sixty-five years and six months. 
 
 " Fourier is to be ranked among those bold and original geniuses, like 
 Columbus, Copernicus, and Newton, who open new paths to human sci- 
 ence, and who appear upon the stage of the world to give it a new im- 
 petus, and exercise an influence, which is to be prolonged for ages." 
 
 Other statements of interest are annexed, respecting the studies and 
 publications of the man thus celebrated ; but we have no room for them 
 at present. The great proposition maintained in the work is thus de- 
 clared in the introduction : 
 
 " We assert, and will prove, that labour, which is now monotonous, 
 repugnant, and degrading, can be ennobled, elevated, and made honoura- 
 ble ; or, in other words, that industry can be rendered attractive !" 
 
 The practical tendency of this doctrine is thus stated : 
 
 " Let this great and practical reform be once effected, and three-fourths 
 of the evils which oppress mankind will be done away with as if by a 
 magic influence." 
 
 We will furnish one other illustration of its character : 
 
 " What does man require to be happy 1 Riches, and an ennobling and 
 pleasing activity. 
 
 "How is he to obtain riches, if labour, which is the source of all 
 wealth, be repugnant and degrading, and if its exercise has to be coerced 
 by poverty and want, or by the fear of the whip 1 With the present mise- 
 rable organization of labour, it is useless to think of general riches, that 
 is, of an abundance for all : poverty will continue to be the lot of the 
 great majority, so long as the present defective system of industry is 
 continued." 
 
 These extracts, we think, will sufficiently demonstrate that this book 
 is a curiosity. We confess that we feel both an attraction toward it, and 
 
ADVERTISEMENTS. 
 
 a prejudice against it. Yet, if spared, we will endeavour to consider its 
 develoj oments with all candour. The subject is certainly full of im- 
 portant \ We have long felt a deep interest in it, and are happy that 
 we hav : the opportunity of reviewing the results of the studies of one 
 who, it is reported, "devoted nearly forty years" to it. — Christian 
 Worlds Philadelphia. 
 
 We will venture to assert, that a more novel, and at the same time, a 
 more o iginal work than the above, has not for a long time been issued 
 from th 3 press. It proposes nothing more or less than an organic change 
 in the present system of society, and points out with confidence the 
 means jf effecting this Herculean undertaking, as the time had arrived 
 when f. ite had ordained it to be so. 
 
 The author asserts that the present system of society is false, that it 
 is devo d of economy, of combination, of foresight, of unity, and of order; 
 that th 're is a bad application of labour and capital, of sexes and ages to 
 industry of cultivation to soils, &c, and all is conflict and opposition, 
 enviom competition, over-reaching, and fraud. In this confusion of op- 
 posing interests and efforts, one half of the labour, capital, and talent of 
 society is wasted : none are happy, for those who are not harrassed by 
 povert} and want, are harrassed by anxiety, and thwarted in a thousand 
 ways. 
 
 In p: ice of such a state of things, a system of association is proposed, 
 which he author believes will remedy the evils that the great body now 
 labour ander. It would be impossible to give here any adequate idea of 
 the system proposed : the work itself must be read. We will, however, 
 remark, that no community of property exists. All the personal and 
 real es.ate of the association, that is, its edifices, lands, flocks, &c, are 
 represented by stock, divided into shares, which are owned by the in- 
 habitants of this association, according to their fortune. Equal social 
 advantages will be guarantied to all, which will not result in a monoto- 
 nous equality, but in a rich and varied developement of talents and capa- 
 cities. An entirely new system of education is proposed, which is 
 original and very striking. 
 
 " In a free system of association," says the author, " the passions could 
 be employed usefelly, and a good direction given them. Their restless 
 activity is now perverted in our societies, with their monotonous idleness 
 and conflicts and discords. It is only in association that man can hope 
 for happiness, that he can hope to attain his dignity, his liberty and in- 
 dependence." 
 
 The author contends strongly for the goodness of human nature and 
 the passions : it is society, he asserts, which perverts and misdirects them, 
 and he throws on our false social system the blame of the present degra- 
 dation of the race, of the vice and crime which exist. This is turning 
 the tables upon past doctrines, which condemn human nature to excul- 
 pate society. 
 
 The system of association, which is here proposed, was discovered by 
 Charles Fourier, who devoted nearly forty years to the subject, and who 
 died in 1837. The subject, however, is so entirely out of the common 
 sphere, that it is only lately that it has attracted much attention in Eu- 
 rope — it is now spreading to all parts of the world. Thanks to the work 
 of Mr. Brisbane, the American public can judge of the value of the new 
 social views of this great genius. 
 
ADVERTISEMENTS. 
 
 What the author seems most desirous to prove is, that labour, which, 
 as it at present is exercised, is monotonous, repugnant, but poorly re- 
 warded, and even degrading, can be ennobled, elevated, made honoura- 
 ble — in short, that industry can be rendered attractive. 
 
 A system of attractive industry is the foundation of the whole theory ; 
 the conception is original, and consistent with a wise and just Providence. 
 Labour is the source of all riches ; its products are necessary to c it phy- 
 sical comforts and happiness, and its occupations to our bodily health. 
 Unless it can be rendered attractive by connecting social advantages, 
 honours, emulation, ambition, preferments, and other incentives with it, 
 the condition of the great majority, whose lives are spent in it, can never 
 be effectually ameliorated. 
 
 The first part of the work contains an examination of the grc at eco- 
 nomy which would result from association; the middle part is devoted to 
 a study and analysis of the passions ; and the last part to the practical 
 organization of association. A variety of subjects are incidentally treated. 
 In~chapters sixteenth and twenty-fourth the author endeavours to explain 
 the cause of evil. In chapter seventeenth the destiny of man and his 
 function on the planet. The question of the immortality of the soul, of 
 the elevation of women, &c, is also touched upon. — New World, N. Y. 
 
 Social Destiny of Man. — Such is the title of a new work which has 
 just appeared — the practical object of which is to prove that by a better 
 organization of industry, and with the great economies which association 
 would produce the product of agriculture and manufactures, that is, the 
 real wealth of a country, could be immensely increased ; that poverty 
 could be remedied, and that while a good interest and a safe investment 
 could be guarantied to capital, the condition of the working classes 
 might be greatly ameliorated. 
 
 The author apprehends, and very truly, that the propasal of anj. reform 
 or change in the social system, as it at present exists, will be der ounced 
 as impracticable and visionary, and it is probable, for that reason, that he 
 has devoted the first half of the volume to the examination of prel minary 
 questions — whether the passions are good — whether human nature is 
 capable of harmony and justice, &c. — in order to counteract an/- unfa- 
 vorable impressions, which may arise in the mind of the reader. We 
 will say for the work, that its tendency is highly moral, and thit it is 
 characterized by true philanthrophy ; it condemns entirely all community 
 of property, and characterizes such a system as the grave of individual 
 liberty. It has not the most distant affinity with " Owenism," ar d other 
 doctrines of the same nature, which have cast an odium upon the ques- 
 tion of association. We are glad to see a work appear which takes the 
 stand it does, as it may counteract the false views which have b< en pro- 
 mulgated on the subject. We therefore recommend the work to the 
 scientific curious, and to those who take an interest in social questions. 
 
 We find in this work some novel chapters; for example, in chapters 
 sixteenth and twenty-fourth, the author undertakes to explain tl e cause 
 of evil, and why misery has so long existed on the earth ; in chapter 
 seventeenth, he examines the destiny of man upon the planet. Other 
 chapters are of a more practical nature ; in the nineteenth, twentieth and 
 twenty-first, the question is discussed where society is now tendmg, and 
 what is to be the result of the present political and financial movement, 
 which is agitating the world. 
 
ADVERTISEMENTS. 
 
 The most singular part of the work, we think, is that which relates to 
 the education of children. An entire new system of education, both in- 
 dustrial and scientific, is proposed, which is explained with sufficient de- 
 tail to give an insight into it. This part of the work will richly repay a 
 perusal. — Morning Courier and New York Enquirer, New York. 
 
 To all those who are combating in good faith for the great cause of 
 human liberty and social equality, we say : " Persevere." It is a noble 
 cause — a cause worthy of the noblest ambition — of the warmest philan- 
 throphy. Never was there a time when it was more important to stand 
 up for the eternal principles of right and justice than at present. The 
 grasping, the all absorbing money-making spirit of the age, is ready to 
 barter with, and sacrifice every sentiment of social equality and demo- 
 cracy to its idol. Human degradation, servitude and pecuniary depend- 
 ency are weighed in the same scales with gold, measured by its 
 measure, and compelled to subserve its interests. If some strong voices 
 be not raised for principles of social justice, for the rights of the .mass, 
 everything will be sacrificed to the selfish passion of the day, — the thirst 
 for gain. 
 
 The work before us is a strong appeal in favour of the suffering por- 
 tion of the human race, and for the realization of a better state of things 
 among men. It has been dictated, it is evident, by a strong desire to see 
 some effectual measures taken to ameliorate the condition of the labour- 
 ing mass, who compose the majority of mankind, and who suffer so much 
 and complain so little. To effect this object, the author asserts that a 
 social reform is necessary. To eradicate those long standing evils, which 
 have, since the beginning of historical records, accompanied man in his 
 social career, and which are now believed permanent and irremediable, 
 a fundamental change in the organization of society must take place. 
 The principles upon which our societies are founded, are false, says the 
 author, and cause to a greater or less degree the suffering of all classes, 
 both rich and poor. A system of society remains to be discovered, which 
 will elevate man socially far above his present condition, — the rich an 
 hundred fold, and the poor a thousand fold. ; 
 
 As the fear of being considered the advocate of an Utopian theory does 
 not stop the author, he has an unbounded field of innovation open before 
 him. He asserts that human nature and the passions are good, and capa- 
 ble of harmony, order, and justice, and that no true system of society 
 can be organized until their laws of action are studied and comprehended, 
 as a true social system should be founded upon and adapted to them. If 
 the passions appear bad at present, if they tend to discord, often to vice 
 and crime, it is because they are misdirected, perverted, harrassed and 
 are falsely developed in our societies. " The great error which has been 
 committed," says the author, "has been to confound the false develope- 
 ments, which the passions receive from our defective societies, with their 
 real essence — their true nature. The effect has been mistaken for the 
 cause." We would not condemn music because an unskilful hand pro- 
 duced discord ; the case is a parallel one ; we should not blame the pas- 
 sions, because a false social system deranges and perverts their action. 
 The whole system here maintained is founded upon the goodness of the 
 passions; for if they be naturally and inherently depraved, then social 
 discord, crime and degradation will externally exist — human reason can- 
 not harmonize what is inherently discordant. 
 
ADVERTISEMENTS. 
 
 To lay a surer foundation still, the author deems it necessary to ascer- 
 tain what the destiny of man is upon the planet — his function here, and 
 the end and aim of his creation. Man, says the author, is the overseer 
 of the globe which he inhabits ; it is a vast domain confided to his care ; 
 he was placed upon it to cultivate and embellish it, to regulate its 
 streams, fertilize its deserts, drain its swamps, perfect the animal and 
 vegetable kingdoms over which he presides — in short, to stamp upon the 
 material world the perfection of the intellectual world. This is a part 
 of his function ; but he has neglected it ; " he has ravaged and devastated 
 the earth, he has rendered it a scene of desolation and misery, and 
 degraded his own nature and the creations around him." From this 
 height the author descends to explain the practical organization of a 
 system, adapted to the nature of man, and capable of enabling him to 
 perform his trust of overseer. 
 
 The practical part of this work is clear enough ; it proposes an asso- 
 ciation of about two thousand persons upon a tract of land of six thousand 
 acres, or three miles square. No community of property exists for the 
 personal and real estate of the association ; that is, its lands, edifices, 
 flocks, &c, is represented by stock, divided into shares, which are owned 
 by the inhabitants according to their fortune. Each individual is paid 
 according to his labour, capital, and skill, and defrays the expense of his 
 own support. In the large edifice of the association there are rooms and 
 suites of rooms at different prices, suited to all fortunes ; there are tables, 
 also, at different prices, to which each person subscribes as his means or 
 inclination dictates; he can vary his company and tables daily if he 
 wish ; there must be in all relations, says the author, the most perfect 
 liberty and independence. The fields and gardens should be elegantly 
 laid out, the workshops handsomely fitted up, and every convenience and 
 facility lent to the exercise of industry. Occupations should be varied 
 five or six times a day to prevent monotony and uniformity, and industry 
 should be considered, with the arts and sciences, as the most noble 
 branch of human activity. In such a system, says the author, industry 
 can be elevated, ennobled, and rendered attractive. Connect with it the 
 same incentives that have been connected with war, the magistracy and 
 other functions — make it an avenue to fortune, rank and distinction, and 
 it can be rendered attractive. To elevate the condition of the labouring 
 mass, we must first elevate that industry to which they are destined. 
 
 A practical trial of association could be made with four hundred 
 children, or four hundred grown persons. In the first case a capital of 
 one hundred thousand dollars would be sufficient. An investment made 
 by a stock company in an agricultural association, would, the author 
 thinks, pay a large interest, and lead to a general imitation. 
 
 The principles of this new social science were, as we see by the 
 preface, discovered by Charles Fourier, born in Besancon, in France, 
 1772, and died at Paris in 1837. Fourier published his first work as early 
 as 1808, but his subject Was far in advance of the times, and it is only 
 within three or four years that the principles discovered by him are 
 gaining in all the countries of Europe, and in this country, warm and 
 ardent advocates. Fourier's works being in French, and of that profound 
 character which requires a serious study, a work in English was neces- 
 sary to render his views popular. Those who take an interest in social 
 matters can now investigate this new system. — Evening Post,N. Y. 
 
LEAg'26 
 
 NJ^