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the origins of contemporary france-5-第13章

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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
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