书城公版The Origins of Contemporary France
19097600000895

第895章

[64] Pelet de la Lozère, 63, 64. (On the physiological differences between the English and the French.) - Madame de Rémusat, I., 273, 392: "You, Frenchmen, are not in earnest about anything, except, perhaps, equality, and even here you would gladly give this up if you were sure of being the foremost. . . . The hope of advancement in the world should be cherished by everybody. . . . Keep your vanity always alive The severity of the republican government would have worried you to death. What started the Revolution? Vanity. What will end it? Vanity, again. Liberty is merely a pretext." - III., 153"Liberty is the craving of a small and privileged class by nature, with faculties superior to the common run of men; this class, therefore, may be put under restraint with impunity; equality, on the contrary, catches the multitude." - Thibaudeau, 99: "What do I care for the opinions and cackle of the drawing-room? I never heed it. Ipay attention only to what rude peasants say." His estimates of certain situations are masterpieces of picturesque concision. "Why did I stop and sign the preliminaries of Leoben? Because I played vingt-et-un and was satisfied with twenty." His insight into (dramatic) character is that of the most sagacious critic. "The 'Mahomet' of Voltaire is neither a prophet nor an Arab, only an impostor graduated out of the école Polytechnique." - " Madame de Genlis tries to define virtue as if she were the discoverer of it." -(On Madame de Sta?l): "This woman teaches people to think who never took to it, or have forgotten how." - (On Chateaubriand, one of whose relations had just been shot) : "He will write a few pathetic pages and read them aloud in the faubourg Saint-Germain; pretty women will shed tears, and that will console him." - (On Abbé Delille) : "He is wit in its dotage." - (On Pasquier and Molé): "I make the most of one, and made the other." - Madame de Rémusat, II., 389, 391, 394, 399, 402; III., 67.

[65] Bourrienne, II., 281, 342: "It pained me to write official statements under his dictation, of which each was an imposture." He always answered: "My dear sir, you are a simpleton - you understand nothing!" - Madame de Rémusat, II., 205, 209.

[66] See especially the campaign bulletins for 1807, so insulting to the king and queen of Prussia, but, owing to that fact, so well calculated to excite the contemptuous laughter and jeers of the soldiers.

[67] In "La Correspondance de Napoleon," published in thirty-two volumes, the letters are arranged under dates. - In his '"Correspondance avec Eugène, vice-roi d'Italie," they are arranged under chapters; also with Joseph, King of Naples and afterwards King of Spain. It is easy to select other chapters not less instructive:

one on foreign affairs (letters to M. de Champagny, M de Talleyrand, and M. de Bassano); another on the finances (letters to M. Gaudin and to M. Mollien); another on the navy (letters to Admiral Decrès);another on military administration (letters to General Clarke);another on the affairs of the Church (letters to M. Portalis and to M.

Bigot de Préameneu); another on the Police (letters to Fouché), etc.

- Finally, by dividing and distributing his letters according as they relate to this or that grand enterprise, especially to this or that military campaign, a third classification could be made. - In this way we can form a concept of the vastness of his positive knowledge, also of the scope of his intellect and talents. Cf. especially the following letters to Prince Eugène, June II, 1806 (on the supplies and expenses of the Italian army); June 1st and 18th, 1806 (on the occupation of Dalmatia, and on the military situation, offensive and defensive). To Gen. Dejean, April 28, 1806 (on the war supplies);June 27, 1806 (on the fortifications of Peschiera) July 20, 1806 (on the fortifications of Wesel and of Juliers). - "Mes souvenirs sur Napoleon", p. 353 by the Count Chaptal: "One day, the Emperor said to me that he would like to organize a military school at Fontainebleau;he then explained to me the principal features of the establishment, and ordered me to draw up the necessary articles and bring them to him the next day. I worked all night and they were ready at the appointed hour. He read them over and pronounced them correct, but not complete. He bade me take a seat and then dictated to me for two or three hours a plan which consisted of five hundred and seventeen articles. Nothing more perfect, in my opinion, ever issued from a man's brain. - At another time, the Empress Josephine was to take the waters at Aix-la-Chapelle, and the Emperor summoned me. 'The Empress,' said he, 'is to leave to-morrow morning. She is a good-natured, easy-going woman and must have her route and behavior marked out for her. Write it down.' He then dictated instructions to me on twenty-one large sheets of paper, in which everything she was to say and to do was designated, even the questions and replies she was to make to the authorities on the way."[68] One French league equals approximately 4 km. 70,000 square leagues then equal 1,120,000 km.2, or 400,000 square miles or 11% of the United States but 5 times the size of Great Britain. (SR.)[69] Cf. in the "Correspondance" the letters dated at Schoenbrunn near Vienna, during August and September, 1809, and especially:

the great number of letters and orders relating to the English expeditions to Walcheren;the letters to chief-judge Régnier and to the arch-chancellor Cambacérès on expropriations for public benefit (Aug. 21, Sept. 7and 29);the letters and orders to M. de Champagny to treat with Austria (Aug.

19, and Sept. 10, 15, 18, 22, and 23);