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expeditions to Walcheren;
the letters to chief…judge Régnier and to the arch…chancellor
Cambacérès on expropriations for public benefit (Aug。 21; Sept。 7
and 29);
the letters and orders to M。 de Champagny to treat with Austria (Aug。
19; and Sept。 10; 15; 18; 22; and 23);
the letters to Admirable Decrès; to despatch naval expeditions to the
colonies (Aug。17 and Sept。 26);
the letter to Mollien on the budget of expenditure (Aug。 8);
the letter to Clarke on the statement of guns in store throughout the
empire (Sept。 14)。
Other letters; ordering the preparation of two treatises on military
art (Oct。 1); two works on the history and encroachments of the Holy
See (Oct。 3); prohibiting conferences at Saint…Sulpice (Sept。 15);
and forbidding priests to preach outside the churches (Sept。 24)。…
From Schoenbrunn; he watches the details of public works in France and
Italy; for instance; the letters to M。 le Montalivet (Sept。30); to
send an auditor post to Parma; to have a dyke repaired at once; and
(Oct。 8) to hasten the building of several bridges and quays at
Lyons。
'70' He says himself; 〃I always transpose my theme in many ways。〃
'71' Madame de Rémusat; I。; 117; 120。 〃1 heard M。 de Talleyrand
exclaim one day; some what out of humor; 'This devil of a man misleads
you in all directions。 Even his passions escape you; for he finds
some way to counterfeit them; although they really exist。'〃 … For
example; immediately prior to the violent confrontation with Lord
Whitworth; which was to put an end to the treaty of Amiens; he was
chatting and amusing himself with the women and the infant Napoleon;
his nephew; in the gayest and most unconcerned manner: 〃He is suddenly
told that the company had assembled。 His countenance changes like
that of an actor when the scene shifts。 He seems to turn pale at will
and his features contract〃; he rises; steps up precipitately to the
English ambassador; and fulminates for two hours before two hundred
persons。 (Hansard's Parliamentary History; vol。 XXVI; dispatches of
Lord Whitworth; pp。 1798; 1302; 1310。) … 〃He often observes that the
politician should calculate every advantage that could be gained by
his defects。〃 One day; after an explosion he says to Abbé de Pradt:
〃You thought me angry! you are mistaken。 Anger with me never mounts
higher than here (pointing to his neck)。〃
'72' Roederer; III。 (The first days of Brumaire; year VIII。)
'73' Bourrienne; III。; 114。
'74' Bourrienne; II。; 228。 (Conversation with Bourrienne in the park
at Passeriano。)
'75' Ibid。; II。; 331。 (Written down by Bourrienne the same evening。)
'76' Madame de Rémusat; I。; 274。 … De Ségur; II。; 459。 (Napoleon's
own words on the eve of the battle of Austerlitz): 〃Yes; if I had
taken Acre; I would have assumed the turban; I would have put the army
in loose breeches; I would no longer have exposed it; except at the
last extremity; I would have made it my sacred battalion; my
immortals。 It is with Arabs; Greeks; and Armenians that I would have
ended the war against the Turks。 Instead of one battle in Moravia I
would have gained a battle of Issus; I would have made myself emperor
of the East; and returned to Paris by the way of Constantinople。〃 … De
Pradt; p。19 (Napoleon's own words at Mayence; September; 1804): 〃Since
two hundred years there is nothing more to do in Europe; it is only in
the East that things can be carried out on a grand scale。〃
'77' Madame de Rémusat; I。; 407。 … Miot de Melito; II。; 214 (a few
weeks after his coronation): 〃There will be no repose in Europe until
it is under one head; under an Emperor; whose officers would be kings;
who would distribute kingdoms to his lieutenants; who would make one
of them King of Italy; another King of Bavaria; here a landmann of
Switzerland; and here a stadtholder of Holland; etc。〃
'78' 〃Correspondance de Napoleon I。;〃 vol。 XXX。; 550; 558。 (Memoirs
dictated by Napoleon at Saint Hélène。) … Miot de Melito; II。; 290。 …
D'Hausonvillc; 〃l'église Romaine et le Premier Empire;〃 passiM。 …〃
Mémorial。〃 〃Paris would become the capital of the Christian world; and
I would have governed the religious world as well as the political
world。〃
'79' De Pradt; 23。
'80' 〃Mémoires et Mémorial。〃 〃It was essential that Paris should
become the unique capital; not to be compared with other capitals。
The masterpieces of science and of art; the museums; all that had
illustrated past centuries; were to be collected there。 Napoleon
regretted that he could not transport St。 Peter's to Paris; the
meanness of Notre Dame dissatisfied him。〃
'81' Villemain; 〃Souvenir contemporaines;〃 I。; 175。 Napoleon's
statement to M。 de Narbonne early in March; 1812; and repeated by him
to Villemain an hour afterwards。 The wording is at second hand and
merely a very good imitation; while the ideas are substantially
Napoleon's。 Cf。 his fantasies about Italy and the Mediterranean;
equally exaggerated (〃Correspondence;〃 XXX。; 548); and an admirable
improvisation on Spain and the colonies at Bayonne。 … De Pradt。
〃Mémoires sur les revolutions d'Espagne;〃 p。130: 〃Therefore Napoleon
talked; or rather poetised; he Ossianized for a long time 。 。 。
like a man full of a sentiment which oppressed him; in an animated;
picturesque style; and with the impetuosity; imagery; and originality
which were familiar to him; 。 。 。 on the vast throne of Mexico and
Peru; on the greatness of the sovereigns who should possess them 。 。
。 。 and on the results which these great foundations would have on
the universe。 I had often heard him; but under no circumstances had I
ever heard him develop such a wealth and compass of imagination。
Whether it was the richness of his subject; or whether his faculties
had become excited by the scene he conjured up; and all the chords of
the instrument vibrated at once; he was sublime。〃
'82' Roederer; III。; 541 (February 2; 1809): 〃I love power。 But I
love it as an artist。 。 。 。 I love it as a musician loves his
violin; for the tones; chords; and harmonies he can get out of it。〃
CHAPTER II。 His Ideas; Passions and Intelligence。
I。 Intense Passions。
Personality and character during the Italian Renaissance and during
the present time。 … Intensity of the passions in Bonaparte。 … His
excessive touchiness。 … His immediate violence。 … His impatience;
rapidity; and need of talking。 … His temperament; tension; and faults。
On taking a near view of the contemporaries of Dante and Michael
Angelo; we find that they differ from us more in character than in
intellect。'1' With us; three hundred years of police and of courts of
justice; of social discipline and peaceful habits; of hereditary
civilization; have diminished the force and violence of the passions
natural to Man。 In Italy; in the Renaissance epoch; they were still
intact; human emotions at that time were keener and more profound than
at the present day; the appetites were ardent and more unbridled;
man's will was more impetuous and more tenacious; whatever motive
inspired; whether pride; ambition; jealousy; hatred; love; envy; or
sensuality; the inward spring strained with an energy and relaxed with
a violence that has now disappeared。 All these energies reappear in
this great survivor of the fifteenth century; in him the play of the
nervous machine is the same as with his Italian ancestors; never was
there; even with the Malatestas and the Borgias; a more sensitive and
more impulsive intellect; one capable of such electric shocks and
explosions; in which the roar and flashes of tempest lasted longer and
of which the effects were more irresistible。 In his mind no idea
remains speculative and pure; none is a simple transcript of the real;
or a simple picture of the possible; each is an internal eruption;
which suddenly and spontaneously spends itself in action; each darts
forth to its goal and would reach it without stopping were it not kept
back and restrained by force'2' Sometimes; the eruption is so sudden;
that the restraint does not come soon enough。 One day; in Egypt;'3'
on entertaining a number of French ladies at dinner; he has one of
them; who was very pretty and whose husband he had just sent off to
France; placed alongside of him; suddenly; as if accidentally; he
overturns a pitcher of water on her; and; under the pretence of
enabling her to rearrange her wet dress; he leads her into another
room where he remains with her a long time; too long; while the other
guests seated at the table wait quietly and exchange glances。 Another
day; at Paris; toward the epoch of the Concordat;'4' he says to
Senator Volney: 〃France wants a religion。〃 Volney replies in a frank;
sententious way; 〃France wants the Bourbons。〃 Whereupon he gives
Volney a kick in the stomach and he falls unconscious; on being moved
to a friend's house; he remains there i