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diff --git a/3729.txt b/3729.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d21cb08 --- /dev/null +++ b/3729.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1780 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Quotations from Memoirs of Napoleon +#13 in our series of Widger's Quotations by David Widger + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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One of the advantages of +internet over paper publication is the ease of quick revision. + +All the titles may be found using the Project Gutenberg search engine +at: +http://promo.net/pg/ + +After downloading a specific file, the location and complete context of +the quotations may be found by inserting a small part of the quotation +into the 'Find' or 'Search' functions of the user's word processing +program. + +The quotations are in two formats: + 1. Small passages from the text. + 2. Lists of alphabetized one-liners. + +The editor may be contacted at <widger@cecomet.net> for comments, +questions or suggested additions to these extracts. + +D.W. + + + + + + +QUOTATIONS FROM THREE COLLECTIONS OF MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON + + + +Contents: + +Memoirs of Napoleon, V1, by Bourrienne [NB#01][nb01v10.txt]3551 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V2, by Bourrienne [NB#02][nb02v10.txt]3552 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V3, by Bourrienne [NB#03][nb03v10.txt]3553 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V4, by Bourrienne [NB#04][nb04v10.txt]3554 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V5, by Bourrienne [NB#05][nb05v10.txt]3555 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V6, by Bourrienne [NB#06][nb06v10.txt]3556 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V7, by Bourrienne [NB#07][nb07v10.txt]3557 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V8, by Bourrienne [NB#08][nb08v10.txt]3558 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V9, by Bourrienne [NB#09][nb09v10.txt]3559 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V10, by Bourrienne [NB#10][nb10v10.txt]3560 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V11, by Bourrienne [NB#11][nb11v10.txt]3561 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V12, by Bourrienne [NB#12][nb12v10.txt]3562 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V13, by Bourrienne [NB#13][nb13v10.txt]3563 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V14, by Bourrienne [NB#14][nb14v10.txt]3564 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V15, by Bourrienne [NB#15][nb15v10.txt]3565 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V16, by Bourrienne [NB#16][nb16v10.txt]3566 +Complete Memoirs of Napoleon, by Bourrienne[NB#17][nb17v10.txt]3567 + +Private Life of Napoleon, V1, by Constant [NB#18][nc01v10.txt]3568 +Private Life of Napoleon, V2, by Constant [NB#19][nc02v10.txt]3569 +Private Life of Napoleon, V3, by Constant [NB#20][nc03v10.txt]3570 +Private Life of Napoleon, V4, by Constant [NB#21][nc04v10.txt]3571 +Private Life of Napoleon, V5, by Constant [NB#22][nc05v10.txt]3572 +Private Life of Napoleon, V6, by Constant [NB#23][nc06v10.txt]3573 +Private Life of Napoleon, V7, by Constant [NB#24][nc07v10.txt]3574 +Private Life of Napoleon, V8, by Constant [NB#25][nc08v10.txt]3575 +Private Life of Napoleon, V9, by Constant [NB#26][nc09v10.txt]3576 +Private Life of Napoleon, V10, by Constant [NB#27][nc10v10.txt]3577 +Private Life of Napoleon, V11, by Constant [NB#28][nc11v10.txt]3578 +Private Life of Napoleon, V12, by Constant [NB#29][nc12v10.txt]3579 +Complete Life of Napoleon, V13, by Constant[NB#30][nc13v10.txt]3580 + +Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud, v1 [CM#55][cm55b10.txt]3892 +Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud, v2 [CM#56][cm56b10.txt]3893 +Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud, v3 [CM#57][cm57b10.txt]3894 +Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud, v4 [CM#58][cm58b10.txt]3895 +Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud, v5 [CM#59][cm59b10.txt]3896 +Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud, v6 [CM#60][cm60b10.txt]3897 +Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud, v7 [CM#61][cm61b10.txt]3898 +The Entire Memoirs of Court of St. Cloud [CM#62][cm62b10.txt]3899 + + + + + + + + NAPOLEON'S MEMOIRS BY BOURRIENNE + +Memoirs of Napoleon, V1, by Bourrienne [NB#01][nb01v10.txt]3551 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V2, by Bourrienne [NB#02][nb02v10.txt]3552 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V3, by Bourrienne [NB#03][nb03v10.txt]3553 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V4, by Bourrienne [NB#04][nb04v10.txt]3554 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V5, by Bourrienne [NB#05][nb05v10.txt]3555 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V6, by Bourrienne [NB#06][nb06v10.txt]3556 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V7, by Bourrienne [NB#07][nb07v10.txt]3557 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V8, by Bourrienne [NB#08][nb08v10.txt]3558 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V9, by Bourrienne [NB#09][nb09v10.txt]3559 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V10, by Bourrienne [NB#10][nb10v10.txt]3560 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V11, by Bourrienne [NB#11][nb11v10.txt]3561 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V12, by Bourrienne [NB#12][nb12v10.txt]3562 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V13, by Bourrienne [NB#13][nb13v10.txt]3563 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V14, by Bourrienne [NB#14][nb14v10.txt]3564 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V15, by Bourrienne [NB#15][nb15v10.txt]3565 +Memoirs of Napoleon, V16, by Bourrienne [NB#16][nb16v10.txt]3566 +Complete Memoirs of Napoleon, by Bourrienne[NB#17][nb17v10.txt]3567 + + + +MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V1, by Bourrienne +[nb01v10.txt]3551 + +His superiors, who were anxious to get rid of him +Josephine: Readily laughed at her own credulity +Not always agreeable that every truth should be told +Opinion of posterity is the real immortality of the soul +Passions are always bad counsellors + + + + +MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V2, by Bourrienne +[nb02v10.txt]3552 + +Bonaparte was a creator in the art of war +Leave ordinary letters for three weeks in the basket +Occupied with what he was thinking of than with what was said + + + + +MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V3, by Bourrienne +[nb03v10.txt]3553 + +Always meet your enemies with a bold face +Least benefit which accrues inspires the hope of a new +Look upon religions as the work of men +Napoleon loved only men with strong passions and great weakness +Religions a powerful engine of government +We never know what we wish for + + + + +MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V4, by Bourrienne +[nb04v10.txt]3554 + +Doctrine of indefinite perfectibility +Ideologues +Men were only to be governed by fear and interest +Moliere's--"I pardon you, but you shall pay me for this!" +Police, catch only fools +Trifles often decide the greatest events +Two levers for moving men,--interest and fear +Well-bred ladies can tell falsehoods without seeming to do so + + + + +MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V5, by Bourrienne +[nb05v10.txt]3555 + +Calumny has such powerful charms +Die young, and I shall have some consolatory reflection +Immortality is the recollection one leaves +Most celebrated people lose on a close view +Religion is useful to the Government +The boudoir was often stronger than the cabinet +To leave behind him no traces of his existence +Treaty, according to custom, was called perpetual + + + + +MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V6, by Bourrienne +[nb06v10.txt]3556 + +Ability in making it be supposed that he really possessed talent +Absurdity of interfering with trifles +Admired him more for what he had the fortitude not to do +Animated by an unlucky zeal +Ideologues +Put some gold lace on the coats of my virtuous republicans +Trifles honoured with too much attention +Were made friends of lest they should become enemies +Would enact the more in proportion as we yield + + + + +MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V7, by Bourrienne +[nb07v10.txt]3557 + +Malice delights to blacken the characters of prominent men +Manufacturers of phrases +More glorious to merit a sceptre than to possess one +Necessary to let men and things take their course + + + + +MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V8, by Bourrienne +[nb08v10.txt]3558 + +An old man's blessing never yet harmed any one +Buried for the purpose of being dug up +Kiss the feet of Popes provided their hands are tied +Something so seductive in popular enthusiasm + + + + +MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V9, By Bourrienne +[nb09v10.txt]3559 + +Always proposing what he knew could not be honourably acceded to +Cause of war between the United States and England +Conquest can only be regarded as the genius of destruction +Demand everything, that you may obtain nothing +Submit to events, that he might appear to command them +Tendency to sell the skin of the bear before killing him +When a man has so much money he cannot have got it honestly + + + + +MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V10, By Bourrienne +[nb10v10.txt]3560 + +I have made sovereigns, but have not wished to be one myself +Go to England The English like wrangling politicians +Let women mind their knitting + + + + +MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V11, By Bourrienne +[nb11v10.txt]3561 + +A sect cannot be destroyed by cannon-balls +Every time we go to war with them we teach them how to beat us +God in his mercy has chosen Napoleon to be his representative on earth +The wish and the reality were to him one and the same thing + + + + +MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V12, By Bourrienne +[nb12v10.txt]3562 + +Treaties of peace no less disastrous than the wars +Yield to illusion when the truth was not satisfactory + + + + +MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V13, By Bourrienne +[nb13v10.txt]3563 + +I almost fancy I am dreaming when I look back on the miraculous incapacity of +the persons who were then at the head of our Government. The emigrants, who, +as it has been truly said, had neither learned nor forgotten anything, came +back with all the absurd pretensions of Coblentz. Their silly vanity reminded +one of a character in one of Voltaire's novels who is continually saying, "Un +homme comme moi!" These people were so engrossed with their pretended +merit that they were blind to everything else. They not only disregarded the +wishes and the wants of France; which in overthrowing the Empire hoped to +regain liberty, but they disregarded every warning they had received. + +M. de Talleyrand, accompanied by the members of the Provisional Government, +several Marshals and general officers, and the municipal body, headed by the +prefect of the Seine, went in procession beyond the barrier to receive +Monsieur. M. de Talleyrand, in the name of the Provisional Government, +addressed the Prince, who in reply made that observation which has been so +often repeated, "Nothing is changed in France: there is only one Frenchman +more." + +This was the opinion which the mass of the people instinctively formed, for +they judged of the Emperor of Austria in his character of a father and not in +his character of a monarch; and as the rights of misfortune are always sacred +in France, more interest was felt for Maria Louisa when she was known to be +forsaken than when she was in the height of her splendour. Francis II. had not +seen his daughter since the day when she left Vienna to unite her destiny with +that of the master of half of Europe + + + + +MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V14, by Bourrienne +[nb14v10.txt]3564 + +The facility with which the Ministers of Finance and of the Treasury provided +for all these expenses astonished everybody, as it was necessary to pay for +everything in ready money. The system of public works was at the same time +resumed throughout France. "It is easy to see," said the workmen, "that 'the +great contractor' is returned; all was dead, now everything revives." + +One of the most important struggles of modern times was now about to commence-- +a struggle which for many years was to decide the fate of Europe. Napoleon and +Wellington at length stood opposite one another. They had never met; the +military reputation of each was of the highest kind. + +On one occasion he ordered his camp-bed to be displayed for the inspection of +the English officers. In two small leather packages were comprised the couch +of the once mighty ruler of the Continent. The steel bedstead which, when +folded up, was only two feet long, and eighteen inches wide, occupied one case, +while the otter contained the mattress and curtains. The whole was so +contrived as to be ready for use in three minutes. + + + + +MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V15, by Bourrienne +[nb15v10.txt]3565 + +In 1812 Jerome was given the command of the right wing of the Grand Army in its +advance against Russia, but he did not fulfil the expectations of his brother, +and Davoust took the command instead. Every king feels himself a born general: +whatever else they cannot do, war is an art which comes with the crown, and +Jerome, unwilling to serve under a mere Marshal, withdrew in disgust. In 1813 +he had the good feeling and the good sense to refuse the treacherous offer of +the Allies to allow him to retain his kingdom if he joined them against his +brother, a snare his sister Caroline fell into at Naples. + +Having returned to private life solely on account of Fouche's presence in the +Ministry, I yielded to that consolation which is always left to the +discontented. I watched the extravagance and inconsistency that were passing +around me, and the new follies which were every day committed; and it must be +confessed that a rich and varied picture presented itself to my observation. + +The reintroduction of much that was bad in the old system (one country even +going so far as to re-establish torture), the steady attack on liberty and on +all liberal ideas, Wurtemberg being practically the only State which grumbled +at the tightening of the reins so dear to Metternich,--all formed a fitting +commentary on the proclamations by which the Sovereigns had hounded on their +people against the man they represented as the one obstacle to the freedom and +peace of Europe. + + + + +MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V16, by Bourrienne +[nb16v10.txt]3566 + +Every one cannot be an atheist who pleases +Grew more angry as his anger was less regarded +I do not live--I merely exist +Strike their imaginations by absurdities than by rational ideas +Those who are free from common prejudices acquire others + + + + + +COMPLETE MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, by Bourrienne +[nb17v10.txt]3567 + +Always proposing what he knew could not be honourably acceded to +Cause of war between the United States and England +Conquest can only be regarded as the genius of destruction +Demand everything, that you may obtain nothing +Submit to events, that he might appear to command them +Tendency to sell the skin of the bear before killing him +When a man has so much money he cannot have got it honestly +I have made sovereigns, but have not wished to be one myself +Go to England The English like wrangling politicians +Let women mind their knitting +A sect cannot be destroyed by cannon-balls +Every time we go to war with them we teach them how to beat us +God in his mercy has chosen Napoleon to be his representative on earth +The wish and the reality were to him one and the same thing +Treaties of peace no less disastrous than the wars +Yield to illusion when the truth was not satisfactory +Every one cannot be an atheist who pleases +Grew more angry as his anger was less regarded +I do not live--I merely exist +Strike their imaginations by absurdities than by rational ideas +Those who are free from common prejudices acquire others + + + + + + + RECOLLECTIONS OF THE PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON BY JULES CONSTANT + + Private Life of Napoleon, V1, by Constant [NB#18][nc01v10.txt]3568 + Private Life of Napoleon, V2, by Constant [NB#19][nc02v10.txt]3569 + Private Life of Napoleon, V3, by Constant [NB#20][nc03v10.txt]3570 + Private Life of Napoleon, V4, by Constant [NB#21][nc04v10.txt]3571 + Private Life of Napoleon, V5, by Constant [NB#22][nc05v10.txt]3572 + Private Life of Napoleon, V6, by Constant [NB#23][nc06v10.txt]3573 + Private Life of Napoleon, V7, by Constant [NB#24][nc07v10.txt]3574 + Private Life of Napoleon, V8, by Constant [NB#25][nc08v10.txt]3575 + Private Life of Napoleon, V9, by Constant [NB#26][nc09v10.txt]3576 + Private Life of Napoleon, V10, by Constant [NB#27][nc10v10.txt]3577 + Private Life of Napoleon, V11, by Constant [NB#28][nc11v10.txt]3578 + Private Life of Napoleon, V12, by Constant [NB#29][nc12v10.txt]3579 + Complete Life of Napoleon, V13, by Constant[NB#30][nc13v10.txt]3580 + + + + +PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON, V1, by Constant +[nc01v10.txt]3568 + +"To paint Caesar in undress is not to paint Caesar," some one has said. Yet +men will always like to see the great 'en deshabille'. In these volumes the +hero is painted in undress. His foibles, his peculiarities, his vices, are +here depicted without reserve. But so also are his kindness of heart, his vast +intellect, his knowledge of men, his extraordinary energy, his public spirit. +The shutters are taken down, and the workings of the mighty machinery are laid +bare. + +Never did poet or novelist imagine scenes so improbable. The son of an obscure +lawyer in an unimportant island becomes Emperor of the French and King of +Italy. His brothers and sisters become kings and queens. The sons of +innkeepers, notaries; lawyers, and peasants become marshals of the empire. The +Emperor, first making a West India Creole his wife and Empress, puts her away, +and marries a daughter of the haughtiest and oldest royal house in Europe, the +niece of a queen whom the people of France had beheaded a few years before. +Their son is born a king--King of Rome. Then suddenly the pageantry dissolves, +and Emperor, kings, and queens become subjects again. + +The old woman who met him incognito climbing the hill of Tarare, and replying +to his assertion that "Napoleon was only a tyrant like the rest," exclaimed, +"It may be so, but the others are the kings of the nobility, while he is one of +us, and we have chosen him ourselves," + +Attached to the person of the Emperor Napoleon for fifteen years, I have seen +all the men, and witnessed all the important events, which centered around him. +I have seen far more than that; for I have had under my eyes all the +circumstances of his life, the least as well as the greatest, the most secret +as well as those which are known to history + + + + +PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON, V2, by Constant +[nc02v10.txt]3569 + + +He admitted, however, notwithstanding all his jokes, that he had never thought +himself so near death, and that he felt as if he had been dead for a few +seconds. I do not remember whether it was on this or another occasion that I +heard the Emperor say, that "death was only asleep without dreams." + +Mademoiselle Hortense was extremely pretty, with an expressive and mobile +countenance, and in addition to this was graceful, talented, and affable. +Kindhearted and amiable like her mother, she had not that excessive desire to +oblige which sometimes detracted from Madame Bonaparte's character. + +About this time she inspired a most violent passion in a gentleman of a very +good family, who was, I think, a little deranged before this mad love affected +his brain. This poor unfortunate roamed incessantly around Malmaison; and as +soon as Mademoiselle Hortense left the house, ran by the side of her carriage +with the liveliest demonstrations of tenderness, and threw through the window +flowers, locks of his hair, and verses of his own composition. When he met +Mademoiselle Hortense on foot, he threw himself on his knees before her with a +thousand passionate gestures, addressing her in most endearing terms, and +followed her, in spite of all opposition, even into the courtyard of the +chateau, and abandoned himself to all kinds of folly. + +The Archbishop of Milan had come to Lyons, notwithstanding his great age, in +order to see the First Consul, whom he loved with such tenderness that in +conversation the venerable old man continually addressed the young general as +"my son." The peasants of Pavia, having revolted because their fanaticism had +been excited by false assertions that the French wished to destroy their +religion, the Archbishop of Milan, in order to prove that their fears were +groundless, often showed himself in a carriage with General Bonaparte. + +The celebration of this sacrament at Notre Dame was a novel sight to the +Parisians, and many attended as if it were a theatrical representation. Many, +also, especially amongst the military, found it rather a matter of raillery +than of edification; and those who, during the Revolution, had contributed all +their strength to the overthrow of the worship which the First Consul had just +re-established, could with difficulty conceal their indignation and their +chagrin. + +"Why did you quit the service?" resumed the First Consul, who appeared to take +great interest in the conversation.--"My faith, General, each one in his turn, +and there are saber strokes enough for every one. One fell on me there " (the +worthy laborer bent his head and divided the locks of his hair); "and after +some weeks in the field hospital, they gave me a discharge to return to my wife +and my plow." + + + + +PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON, V3, by Constant +[nc03v10.txt]3570 + +Her sudden appearance astonished, and even alarmed, Roustan and myself; for it +was only an extraordinary circumstance which could have induced Madame +Bonaparte to leave her room in this costume, before taking all necessary +precautions to conceal the damage which the want of the accessories of the +toilet did her. She entered, or rather rushed, into the room, crying, "The +Duke d'Enghien is dead! Ah, my friend! what have you done?" Then she fell +sobbing into the arms of the First Consul, who became pale as death, and said +with extraordinary emotion, "The miserable wretches have been too quick!" He +then left the room, supporting Madame Bonaparte, who could hardly walk, and was +still weeping. The news of the prince's death spread consternation in the +chateau; and the First Consul remarked this universal grief, but reprimanded no +one for it. The fact is, the greatest chagrin which this mournful catastrophe +caused his servants, most of whom were attached to him by affection even more +than by duty, came from the belief that it would inevitably tarnish the glory +and destroy the peace of mind of their master. + +Women not residing in Boulogne were prohibited from remaining there without a +special permit from the minister of police. This measure had been judged +necessary on account of the army; for otherwise each soldier perhaps would have +brought a woman to Boulogne, and the disorder would have been indescribable. + +In spite of all these precautions, spies from the English fleet each day +penetrated into Boulogne. When they were discovered no quarter was given; and +notwithstanding this, emissaries who had landed, no one knew where, came each +evening to the theater, and carried their imprudence so far as to write their +opinion of the actors and actresses, whom they designated by name, and to post +these writings on the walls of the theater, thus defying the police. + +There were also traitors in Boulogne. A schoolmaster, the secret agent of +Lords Keith and Melville, was surprised one morning on the cliff above the camp +of the right wing, making telegraphic signals with his arms; and being arrested +almost in the act by the sentinels, he protested his innocence, and tried to +turn the incident into a jest, but his papers were searched, and correspondence +with the English found, which clearly proved his guilt. He was delivered to +the council of war, and shot the next day. + +About this time his Majesty was riding on horseback near his barracks, when a +pretty young girl of fifteen or sixteen, dressed in white, her face bathed in +tears, threw herself on her knees in his path. The Emperor immediately +alighted from his horse, and assisted her to rise, asking most compassionately +what he could do for her. The poor girl had come to entreat the pardon of her +father, a storekeeper in the commissary department, who had been condemned to +the galleys for grave crimes. His Majesty could not resist the many charms of +the youthful suppliant, and the pardon was granted. + + + + +PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON, V4, by Constant +[nc04v10.txt]3571 + +The Empress Josephine was of medium height, with an exquisite figure; and in +all her movements there was an airiness and grace which gave to her walk +something ethereal, without detracting from the majesty of the sovereign. Her +expressive countenance portrayed all the emotions of her soul, while retaining +the charming sweetness which was its ruling expression. In pleasure, as in +grief, she was beautiful, and even against your will you would smile when she +smiled; if she was sad, you would be also. Never did a woman justify better +than she the expression that the eyes are the mirror of the soul. Hers were of +a deep blue, and nearly always half closed by her long lids, which were +slightly arched, and fringed with the most beautiful lashes in the world; in +regarding her you felt yourself drawn to her by an irresistible power. It must +have been difficult for the Empress to give severity to that seductive look; +but she could do this, and well knew how to render it imposing when necessary. + +The Empress had a remarkable memory, of which the Emperor often availed +himself; she was also an excellent musician, played well on the harp, and sang +with taste. She had perfect tact, an exquisite perception of what was +suitable, the soundest, most infallible judgment imaginable, and, with a +disposition always lovely, always the same, indulgent to her enemies as to her +friends, she restored peace wherever there was quarrel or discord. When the +Emperor was vexed with his brothers or other persons, which often happened, the +Empress spoke a few words, and everything was settled. If she demanded a +pardon, it was very rare that the Emperor did not grant it, however grave the +crime committed; and I could cite a thousand examples of pardons thus solicited +and obtained. + +Before his departure for Russia, the Empress, distressed at this war, of which +she entirely disapproved, again redoubled her recommendations concerning the +Emperor, and made me a present of her portrait, saying to me, "My good +Constant, I rely on you; if the Emperor were sick, you would inform me of it, +would you not? Conceal nothing from me, I love him so much." + +His Majesty walked in advance of the persons who accompanied him, and took much +pleasure in being first to call by their names the various localities he +passed. A peasant, seeing him thus some distance from his suite, cried out to +him familiarly, "Oh, citizen, is the Emperor going to pass soon?"--"Yes," +replied the Emperor, "have patience." + + + + +PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON, V5, by Constant +[nc05v10.txt]3572 + +I left the Emperor at Berlin, where each day, and each hour of the day, he +received news of some victory gained, or some success obtained by his generals. +General Beaumont presented to him eighty flags captured from the enemy by his +division, and Colonel Gerard also presented sixty taken from Blucher at the +battle of Wismar. Madgeburg had capitulated, and a garrison of sixty thousand +men had marched out under the eyes of General Savary. Marshal Mortier occupied +Hanover in the name of France, and Prince Murat was on the point of entering +Warsaw after driving out the Russians. + +....since his Majesty took the lead, and left the others but little to say. +Such was often his habit; but no one thought of complaining of this, so +interesting were nearly always the Emperor's ideas, and so original and +brilliantly expressed. His Majesty did not converse, as had been truthfully +said in the journal which I have added to my memoirs, but he spoke with an +inexpressible charm. + +Thereupon the Emperor left the table, opened a little casket, took therefrom a +package in the shape of a long square, and handed it to Marshal Lefebvre, +saying to him, "Duke of Dantzig, accept this chocolate; little gifts preserve +friendship." + +This premature death was to her an inconsolable grief; and she shut herself up +for three days, weeping bitterly, seeing no one except her women, and taking +almost no nourishment. It even seemed that she feared to be distracted from +her grief.... + + + + +PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON, V6, by Constant +[nc06v10.txt]3573 + +When his Majesty returned to his apartment, I heard Marshal Berthier say to +him, "Sire, are you not afraid that the sovereigns may some day use to +advantage against you all that you have just taught them? Your Majesty just +now seemed to forget what you formerly told us, that it is necessary to act +with our allies as if they were afterwards to be our enemies." --"Berthier," +replied the Emperor, smiling, that is a good observation on your part, and I +thank you for it; I really believe I have made you think I was an idiot. You +think, then," continued his Majesty, pinching sharply one of the Prince de +Neuchatel's ears, "that I committed the indiscretion of giving them whips with +which to return and flog us? Calm yourself, I did not tell them all." + +The day after their arrival at Saint-Cloud, the Emperor and Empress went to +Paris in order to be present at the fetes of the 15th of August, which it is +useless to say were magnificent. As soon as he entered the Tuileries, the +Emperor hastened through the chateau to examine the repairs and improvements +which had been made during his absence, and, as was his habit, criticised more +than he praised all that he saw. + +By this arrangement the two Emperors found themselves in such a conspicuous +position that it was impossible for them to make a movement without being seen +by every one. On the 3d of October AEdipus was presented. "All the +sovereigns," as the Emperor called them, were present at this representation; +and just as the actor pronounced these words in the first scene: "The +friendship of a great man is a gift from the gods:"--the Czar arose, and held +out his hand with much grace to the Emperor; and immediately acclamations, +which the presence of the sovereigns could not restrain, burst forth from every +part of the hall. + +Those who traded in curiosities and objects of art liked him exceedingly, since +he bought their wares without much bargaining. However, on one occasion he +wished to purchase a telescope, and sent for a famous optician, who seized the +opportunity to charge him an enormous price. But Asker-Khan having examined +the instrument, with which he was much pleased, said to the optician, "You have +given me your long price, now give me your short one." + + + + +PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON, V7, by Constant +[nc07v10.txt]3574 + +The officers of the line, who had served in several campaigns and had gained +their epaulettes on the field of battle, held a very different position in the +army. Always grave, polite, and considerate, there was a kind of fraternity +among them; and having known suffering and misery themselves, they were always +ready to help others; and their conversation, though not distinguished by +brilliant information, was often full of interest. In nearly every case +boasting quitted them with their youth, and the bravest were always the most +modest. Influenced by no imaginary points of honor, they estimated themselves +at their real worth; and all fear of being suspected of cowardice was beneath +them. + +His Majesty passed the two months and a half of his stay working in his +cabinet, which he rarely left, and always unwillingly; his amusements being, as +always, the theater and concerts. He loved music passionately, especially +Italian music, and like all great amateurs was hard to please. He would have +much liked to sing had he been able, but he had no voice, though this did not +prevent his humming now and then pieces which struck his fancy; and as these +little reminiscences usually recurred to him in the mornings, he regaled me +with them while he was being dressed. The air that I have heard him thus +mutilate most frequently was that of The Marseillaise. + +His Majesty's, favorite singer were Crescentini and Madame Grassini. +I saw Crescentini's debut at Paris in the role of Romeo, in Romeo and Juliet. +He came preceded by a reputation as the first singer of Italy; and this +reputation was found to be well deserved, notwithstanding all the prejudices he +had to overcome, for I remember well the disparaging statements made concerning +him before his debut at the court theater. According to these self-appointed +connoisseurs, he was a bawler without taste, without method, a maker of absurd +trills, an unimpassioned actor of little intelligence, and many other things +besides. + + + + +PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON, V8, by Constant +[nc08v10.txt]3575 + +A short time after, my wife went to see the Empress Josephine at Malmaison; and +this lovely princess deigned to receive her alone in the little room in front +of her bedroom. There she seated herself beside her, and tried in touching +words of sympathy to console her, saying that this stroke did not reach us +alone, and that her grandson, too, had died of the same disease. As she said +this she began to weep; for this remembrance reopened in her soul recent +griefs, and my wife bathed with tears the hands of this excellent princess. +Josephine added many touching remarks, trying to alleviate her sorrow by +sharing it, and thus restore resignation to the heart of the poor mother. + +When this hilarity had somewhat subsided, Princess Stephanie returned to the +charge, saying, "It really is a pity that your Majesty does not know how to +waltz, for the Germans are wild over waltzing, and the Empress will naturally +share the taste of her compatriots; she can have no partner but the Emperor, +and thus she will be deprived of a great pleasure through your Majesty's +fault."--"You are right!" replied the Emperor; "well, give me a lesson, and you +will have a specimen of my skill." Whereupon he rose, took a few turns with +Princess Stephanie, humming the air of the Queen of Prussia; but he could not +take more than two or three turns, and even this he did so awkwardly that it +increased the amusement of these ladies. Then the Princess of Baden stopped, +saying, "Sire, that is quite enough to convince me that you will never be +anything but a poor pupil. You were made to give lessons, not to take them." + +Her Majesty the Queen of Naples had been sent to Brannan, by the Emperor to +receive the Empress. Queen Caroline, of whom the Emperor once said that she +was a man among her sisters, as Prince Joseph was a woman among his brothers, +mistook, it is said, the timidity of Marie Louise for weakness, and thought +that she would only have to speak and her young sister-in-law would hasten to +obey. + +No one could resemble the first Empress less than the second, and except in the +two points of similarity of temperament, and an extreme regard for the Emperor, +the one was exactly the opposite of the other; and it must be confessed the +Emperor congratulated himself on this difference, in which he found both +novelty and charm. He himself drew a parallel between his two wives in these +terms: "The one [Josephine] was all art and grace; the other [Marie Louise] +innocence and natural simplicity. + + + + +PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON, V9, by Constant +[nc09v10.txt]3576 + +Even the vessels and broom-handles were painted various colors, and cared for +like the remainder of the establishment; the inhabitants carrying their love of +cleanliness so far as to compel those who entered to take off their shoes, and +replace them with slippers, which stood at the door for this singular purpose. +I am reminded on this subject of an anecdote relating to the Emperor Joseph the +Second. That prince, having presented himself in boots at the door of a house +in Broek, and being requested to remove them before entering, exclaimed, "I am +the Emperor!" --"Even if you were the burgomaster of Amsterdam, you should not +enter in boots," replied the master of the dwelling. The good Emperor +thereupon put on the slippers. + +The Emperor in his tender moods was sometimes even more childish than his son. +The young prince was only four months old when his father put his three- +cornered hat on the pretty infant. + +The child usually cried a good deal, and at these times the Emperor embraced +him with an ardor and delight which none but a tender father could feel, saying +to him, "What, Sire, you crying! A king weeping; fie, then, how ugly that is!" +He was just a year old when I saw the Emperor, on the lawn in front of the +chateau, place his sword-belt over the shoulders of the king, and his hat on +his head, and holding out his arms to the child, who tottered to him, his +little feet now and then entangled in his father's sword; and it was beautiful +to see the eagerness with which the Emperor extended his arms to keep him from +falling. + +The Cossacks, in common with all races still in their infancy, believe in +magicians. A very amusing anecdote was told of the great chief of the +Cossacks, the celebrated Platoff. Pursued by the King of Naples, he was +beating a retreat, when a ball reached one of the officers beside him, on which +event the headman was so much irritated against his magician that he had him +flogged in presence of all his hordes, reproaching him most bitterly because he +had not turned away the balls by his witchcraft. This was plain evidence of +the fact that he had more faith in his art than the sorcerer himself possessed. + +The Emperor rode over the field of battle, which presented a horrible +spectacle, nearly all the dead being covered with wounds; which proved with +what bitterness the battle had been waged. The weather was very inclement, and +rain was falling, accompanied by a very high wind. Poor wounded creatures, who +had not yet been removed to the ambulances, half rose from the ground in their +desire not to be overlooked and to receive aid; while some among them still +cried, Vive l'Empereur!" in spite of their suffering and exhaustion. Those of +our soldiers who had been killed by Russian balls showed on their corpses deep +and broad wounds, for the Russian balls were much larger than ours. We saw a +color-bearer, wrapped in his banner as a winding-sheet, who seemed to give +signs of life, but he expired in the shock of being raised. The Emperor walked +on and said nothing, though many times when he passed by the most mutilated, he +put his hand over his eyes to avoid the sight. This calm lasted only a short +while; for there was a place on the battlefield where French and Russians had +fallen pell-mell, almost all of whom were wounded more or less grievously. And +when the Emperor heard their cries, he became enraged, and shouted at those who +had charge of removing the wounded, much irritated by the slowness with which +this was done. It was difficult to prevent the horses from trampling on the +corpses, so thickly did they lie. A wounded soldier was struck by the shoe of +a horse in the Emperor's suite, and uttered a heartrending cry, upon which the +Emperor quickly turned, and inquired in a most vehement manner who was the +awkward person by whom the man was hurt. He was told, thinking that it would +calm his anger, that the man was nothing but a Russian. "Russian or French," +he exclaimed, "I wish every one removed!" Poor young fellows who were making +their first campaign, being wounded to the death, lost courage, and wept like +children crying for their mothers. The terrible picture will be forever +engraven on my memory. + + + + +PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON, V10, by Constant +[nc10v10.txt]3577 + +"Viewed from a political standpoint, how would the papal government in these +days appear compared with the great kingdoms of Europe? Formerly mediocre men +succeeded to the pontifical throne at an age in which one breathes well only +after resting. At this period of life routine and habit are everything; and +nothing is considered but the elevated position, and how to make it redound to +the advantage of his family. +A pope now arrives at sovereign power with a mind sharpened by being accustomed +to intrigue, and with a fear of making powerful enemies who may hereafter +revenge themselves on his family, since his successor is always unknown. In +fine, he cares for nothing but to live and die in peace. In the seat of Sixtus +V. --[Sixtus V., originally Felix Peretti, born at Montalto, 1525, and in 1585 +succeeded Gregory XIII. as pope. He was distinguished by his energy and +munificence. He constructed the Vatican Library, the great aqueduct, and other +public works, and placed the obelisk before St. Peter's. Died 1589. ]--how +many popes have there been who have occupied themselves only with frivolous +subjects, as little advantageous to the best interests of religion as fruitful +in inspiring scorn for such a government! But that would lead us too far." + +The Emperor indicated every movement with admirable tact, and in such a manner +that it was impossible to be taken at a disadvantage. He commanded only the +troops as a whole, transmitting either personally, or through his staff +officers, his orders to the commander of the corps and divisions, who in their +turn transmitted or had them transmitted to the chiefs of battalions. All +orders given by his Majesty were short, precise, and so clear that it was never +necessary to ask explanations. + +It would have been said that the past was no longer anything to him; and living +ever in the future, he already saw victory perched again on our banner, and his +enemies humiliated and vanquished. + +As for myself, during the entire campaign I did not a single time undress to +retire to bed, for I never found one anywhere. It was necessary to supply this +deficiency by some means; and as it is well known that necessity is ever ready +with inventions, we supplied deficiency in our furnishings in the following +manner: we had great bags of coarse cloth made, into which we entered, and thus +protected, threw ourselves on a little straw, when we were fortunate enough to +obtain it;-- + +And when to this is added the neighing of horses, bellowing of cattle, rumbling +of wheels over the stones, cries of the soldiers, sounds from trumpets, drums, +fifes, and the complaints of the inhabitants, with hundreds of persons all +together asking questions at the same time, speaking German to the Italians, +and French to the Germans, how could it be possible that his Majesty should be +as tranquil and as much at his ease in the midst of this fearful uproar as in +his cabinet at Saint-Cloud or the Tuileries? This was nevertheless the case; +and the Emperor, seated before a miserable table covered with a kind of cloth, +a map spread before him, compass and pen in hand, entirely given up to +meditation, showed not the least impatience; and it would have been said that +no exterior noise reached his ears. But let a cry of pain be heard in any +direction, the Emperor instantly raised his head, and gave orders to go and +ascertain what had happened. The power of thus isolating one's self completely +from all the surrounding world is very difficult to acquire, and no one +possessed it to the same degree as his Majesty. + + + + +PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON, V11, by Constant +[nc11v10.txt]3578 + +These are the details which I learned in regard to Moreau; and, as is well +known, he did not long survive his wound. The same ball which broke both his +legs carried off an arm from Prince Ipsilanti, then aide-de-camp to the Emperor +Alexander; so that if the evil that is done can be repaired by the evil +received, it might be said that the cannon-shot which tore away from us General +Kirgener and Marshal Duroc was this day sent back on the enemy. But alas! it +is a sad sort of consolation that is drawn from reprisals. + +"Nothing has been interposed on my part to the re-establishment of peace; I +know and share the sentiments of the French people. I repeat, of the French +people, since there are none among them who desire peace at the expense of +honor. It is with regret that I demand of this generous people new sacrifices, +but they are necessary for their noblest and dearest interests. I have been +compelled to re-enforce my armies by numerous levies, for nations treat with +security only when they display all their strength. An increase of receipts +has become indispensable. The propositions which my minister of finance will +submit to you are in conformity with the system of finance I have established. +We will meet all demands without borrowing, which uses up the resources of the +future, and without paper money, which is the greatest enemy of social order." + +It was while speaking of this audacious attack of Vandamme that the Emperor +used this expression, which has been so justly admired, "For a retreating enemy +it is necessary to make a bridge of gold, or oppose a wall of brass." + +It would seem that this was well understood in Paris; for the day on which the +'Moniteur' published the reply of his Majesty to the senate, stocks increased +in value more than two francs, which the Emperor did not fail to remark with +much satisfaction; for as is well known, the rise and decline of stocks was +with him the real thermometer of public opinion. + +Within the palace itself I heard many persons attached to the Emperor say the +same thing when he was not present, though they spoke very differently in the +presence of his Majesty. When he deigned to interrogate me, as he frequently +did, on what I had heard people say, I reported to him the exact truth; and +when in these confidential toilet conversations of the Emperor I uttered the +word peace, he exclaimed again and again, "Peace! Peace! Ah! who can desire +it more than I? There are some, however, who do not desire it, and the more I +concede the more they demand." + + + + +PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON, V12, by Constant +[nc12v10.txt]3579 + +She was a brunette of ordinary height, but with a beautiful figure, and pretty +feet and hands, her whole person full of grace, and was indeed perfectly +charming in all respects, and, besides, united with most enticing coquetry +every accomplishment, danced with much grace, played on several instruments, +and was full of intelligence; in fact, she had received that kind of showy +education which forms the most charming mistresses and the worst wives. + +It has been said that no man is, a hero to his valet. It would give wide +latitude to a witty remark, which has become proverbial, to make it the +epigraph of these memoirs. The valet of a hero by that very fact is something +more than a valet. + +Affairs had reached a point where the great question of triumph or defeat could +not long remain undecided. According to one of the habitual expressions of the +Emperor, the pear was ripe; but who was to gather it? + +The princes of the imperial family also enjoyed the right to enter the +Emperor's apartment in the morning. I often saw the Emperor's mother. The +Emperor kissed her hand with much respect and tenderness, but I have many times +heard him reproach her for her excessive economy. Madame Mere listened, and +then gave as excuse for not changing her style of living reasons which often +vexed his Majesty, but which events have unfortunately justified. + + + + +COMPLETE PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON, V13, by Constant +[nc13v10.txt]3580 + +A sad sort of consolation that is drawn from reprisals +Act with our allies as if they were afterwards to be our enemies +Age in which one breathes well only after resting +All orders given by his Majesty were short, precise +As was his habit, criticised more than he praised +Borrowing, which uses up the resources of the future +Death is only asleep without dreams +Excessive desire to oblige +Fear of being suspected of cowardice was beneath them +For a retreating enemy it is necessary to make a bridge of gold +Frederick the Great: "No man is a hero to his valet" +Hair, arranged with charming negligence +His Majesty did not converse: he spoke. +Like all great amateurs was hard to please +Little gifts preserve friendship +Living ever in the future +Make a bridge of gold, or oppose a wall of brass +Most charming mistresses and the worst wives +Necessity is ever ready with inventions +No man is, a hero to his valet +Paper money, which is the greatest enemy of social order +Power of thus isolating one's self completely from all the world +Rise and decline of stocks was with him the real thermometer +Rubbings with eau de Cologne, his favorite remedy +Self-appointed connoisseurs +She feared to be distracted from her grief +The more I concede the more they demand +The friendship of a great man is a gift from the gods +The pear was ripe; but who was to gather it? +There are saber strokes enough for every one +Trying to alleviate her sorrow by sharing it +You have given me your long price, now give me your short one. +You were made to give lessons, not to take them. + + + + + + + MEMOIRS OF COURT OF ST. CLOUD + +Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud, v1 [CM#55][cm55b10.txt]3892 +Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud, v2 [CM#56][cm56b10.txt]3893 +Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud, v3 [CM#57][cm57b10.txt]3894 +Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud, v4 [CM#58][cm58b10.txt]3895 +Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud, v5 [CM#59][cm59b10.txt]3896 +Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud, v6 [CM#60][cm60b10.txt]3897 +Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud, v7 [CM#61][cm61b10.txt]3898 +The Entire Memoirs of Court of St. Cloud [CM#62][cm62b10.txt]3899 + + + +MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF ST. CLOUD, V1 +[cm55b10.txt]3892 + +Easy to give places to men to whom Nature has refused parts +Indifference of the French people to all religion +Prepared to become your victim, but not your accomplice +Were my generals as great fools as some of my Ministers +Which crime in power has interest to render impenetrable + + + + +MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF ST. CLOUD, V2 +[cm56b10.txt]3893 + +Bestowing on the Almighty the passions of mortals +Bow to their charlatanism as if it was sublimity +Cannot be expressed, and if expressed, would not be believed +Feeling, however, the want of consolation in their misfortunes +Future effects dreaded from its past enormities +God is only the invention of fear +Gold, changes black to white, guilt to innocence +Hail their sophistry and imposture as inspiration +Invention of new tortures and improved racks +Labour as much as possible in the dark +Misfortunes and proscription would not only inspire courage +My means were the boundaries of my wants +Not suspected of any vices, but all his virtues are negative +Nothing was decided, though nothing was refused +Now that she is old (as is generally the case), turned devotee +Prelate on whom Bonaparte intends to confer the Roman tiara +Saints supplied her with a finger, a toe, or some other parts +Step is but short from superstition to infidelity +Suspicion and tyranny are inseparable companions +Two hundred and twenty thousand prostitute licenses +Usurped the easy direction of ignorance +Would cease to rule the day he became just + + + + +MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF ST. CLOUD, V3 +[CM#57][cm57b10.txt]3894 + +As confident and obstinate as ignorant +Bonaparte and his wife go now every morning to hear Mass +Bourrienne +Distinguished for their piety or rewarded for their flattery +Extravagances of a head filled with paradoxes +Forced military men to kneel before priests +Indifference about futurity +Military diplomacy +More vain than ambitious +Nature has destined him to obey, and not to govern +One of the negative accomplices of the criminal +Promises of impostors or fools to delude the ignorant +Salaries as the men, under the name of washerwomen +"This is the age of upstarts," said Talleyrand +Thought at least extraordinary, even by our friends + + + + +MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF ST. CLOUD, V4 +[CM#58][cm58b10.txt]3895 + +All his creditors, denounced and executed +All priests are to be proscribed as criminals +How much people talk about what they do not comprehend +Thought himself eloquent when only insolent or impertinent + + + +MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF ST. CLOUD, V5 +[CM#59][cm59b10.txt]3896 + +Hero of great ambition and small capacity: La Fayette +Marble lives longer than man +Satisfying himself with keeping three mistresses only +Under the notion of being frank, are rude +Want is the parent of industry +With us, unfortunately, suspicion is the same as conviction + + + + +MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF ST. CLOUD, V6 +[CM#60][cm60b10.txt]3897 + +A stranger to remorse and repentance, as well as to honour +Accused of fanaticism, because she refused to cohabit with him +As everywhere else, supported injustice by violence +Bonaparte dreads more the liberty of the Press than all other +Chevalier of the Guillotine: Toureaux +Country where power forces the law to lie dormant +Encounter with dignity and self-command unbecoming provocations +Error to admit any neutrality at all +Expeditious justice, as it is called here +French Revolution was fostered by robbery and murder +He was too honest to judge soundly and to act rightly +Her present Serene Idiot, as she styles the Prince Borghese +If Bonaparte is fond of flattery--pays for it like a real Emperor +Its pretensions rose in proportion to the condescensions +Jealous of his wife as a lover of his mistress +Justice is invoked in vain when the criminal is powerful +May change his habitations six times in the month--yet be home +Men and women, old men and children are no more +My maid always sleeps with me when my husband is absent +Napoleon invasion of States of the American Commonwealth +Not only portable guillotines, but portable Jacobin clubs +Procure him after a useless life, a glorious death +Should our system of cringing continue progressively +Sold cats' meat and tripe in the streets of Rome +Sufferings of individuals, he said, are nothing +Suspicion is evidence +United States will be exposed to Napoleon's outrages +Who complains is shot as a conspirator + + + + +MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF ST. CLOUD, V7 +[CM#61][cm61b10.txt]3898 + +Complacency which may be felt, but ought never to be published +General who is too fond of his life ought never to enter a camp +Generals of Cabinets are often indifferent captains in the field +How many reputations are gained by an impudent assurance +Irresolution and weakness in a commander operate the same +Love of life increase in proportion as its real value diminishes +Opinion almost constitutes half the strength of armies +Presumptuous charlatan +Pretensions or passions of upstart vanity +Pride of an insupportable and outrageous ambition +Prudence without weakness, and with firmness without obstinacy +They ought to be just before they are generous +They will create some quarrel to destroy you +Vices or virtues of all civilized nations are relatively the same +We are tired of everything, even of our existence + + + + +THE ENTIRE MEMOIRS OF COURT OF ST. CLOUD +[CM#62][cm62b10.txt]3899 + +A stranger to remorse and repentance, as well as to honour +Accused of fanaticism, because she refused to cohabit with him +All his creditors, denounced and executed +All priests are to be proscribed as criminals +As everywhere else, supported injustice by violence +As confident and obstinate as ignorant +Bestowing on the Almighty the passions of mortals +Bonaparte and his wife go now every morning to hear Mass +Bonaparte dreads more the liberty of the Press than all other +Bourrienne +Bow to their charlatanism as if it was sublimity +Cannot be expressed, and if expressed, would not be believed +Chevalier of the Guillotine: Toureaux +Complacency which may be felt, but ought never to be published +Country where power forces the law to lie dormant +Distinguished for their piety or rewarded for their flattery +Easy to give places to men to whom Nature has refused parts +Encounter with dignity and self_command unbecoming provocations +Error to admit any neutrality at all +Expeditious justice, as it is called here +Extravagances of a head filled with paradoxes +Feeling, however, the want of consolation in their misfortunes +Forced military men to kneel before priests +French Revolution was fostered by robbery and murder +Future effects dreaded from its past enormities +General who is too fond of his life ought never to enter a camp +Generals of Cabinets are often indifferent captains in the field +God is only the invention of fear +Gold, changes black to white, guilt to innocence +Hail their sophistry and imposture as inspiration +He was too honest to judge soundly and to act rightly +Her present Serene Idiot, as she styles the Prince Borghese +Hero of great ambition and small capacity: La Fayette +How many reputations are gained by an impudent assurance +How much people talk about what they do not comprehend +If Bonaparte is fond of flattery__pays for it like a real Emperor +Indifference about futurity +Indifference of the French people to all religion +Invention of new tortures and improved racks +Irresolution and weakness in a commander operate the same +Its pretensions rose in proportion to the condescensions +Jealous of his wife as a lover of his mistress +Justice is invoked in vain when the criminal is powerful +Labour as much as possible in the dark +Love of life increase in proportion as its real value diminishes +Marble lives longer than man +May change his habitations six times in the month__yet be home +Men and women, old men and children are no more +Military diplomacy +Misfortunes and proscription would not only inspire courage +More vain than ambitious +My maid always sleeps with me when my husband is absent +My means were the boundaries of my wants +Napoleon invasion of States of the American Commonwealth +Nature has destined him to obey, and not to govern +Not suspected of any vices, but all his virtues are negative +Not only portable guillotines, but portable Jacobin clubs +Nothing was decided, though nothing was refused +Now that she is old (as is generally the case), turned devotee +One of the negative accomplices of the criminal +Opinion almost constitutes half the strength of armies +Prelate on whom Bonaparte intends to confer the Roman tiara +Prepared to become your victim, but not your accomplice +Presumptuous charlatan +Pretensions or passions of upstart vanity +Pride of an insupportable and outrageous ambition +Procure him after a useless life, a glorious death +Promises of impostors or fools to delude the ignorant +Prudence without weakness, and with firmness without obstinacy +Saints supplied her with a finger, a toe, or some other parts +Salaries as the men, under the name of washerwomen +Satisfying himself with keeping three mistresses only +Should our system of cringing continue progressively +Sold cats' meat and tripe in the streets of Rome +Step is but short from superstition to infidelity +Sufferings of individuals, he said, are nothing +Suspicion and tyranny are inseparable companions +Suspicion is evidence +They will create some quarrel to destroy you +They ought to be just before they are generous +This is the age of upstarts," said Talleyrand +Thought at least extraordinary, even by our friends +Thought himself eloquent when only insolent or impertinent +Two hundred and twenty thousand prostitute licenses +Under the notion of being frank, are rude +United States will be exposed to Napoleon's outrages +Usurped the easy direction of ignorance +Vices or virtues of all civilized nations are relatively the same +Want is the parent of industry +We are tired of everything, even of our existence +Were my generals as great fools as some of my Ministers +Which crime in power has interest to render impenetrable +Who complains is shot as a conspirator +With us, unfortunately, suspicion is the same as conviction +Would cease to rule the day he became just + + + + + + +THE ENTIRE NAPOLEON MEMOIRS SERIES: + +A sect cannot be destroyed by cannon-balls +A stranger to remorse and repentance, as well as to honour +A sad sort of consolation that is drawn from reprisals +Accused of fanaticism, because she refused to cohabit with him +Act with our allies as if they were afterwards to be our enemies +Age in which one breathes well only after resting +All priests are to be proscribed as criminals +All his creditors, denounced and executed +All orders given by his Majesty were short, precise +Always proposing what he knew could not be honourably acceded to +As everywhere else, supported injustice by violence +As confident and obstinate as ignorant +As was his habit, criticised more than he praised +Bestowing on the Almighty the passions of mortals +Bonaparte and his wife go now every morning to hear Mass +Bonaparte dreads more the liberty of the Press than all other +Borrowing, which uses up the resources of the future +Bourrienne +Bow to their charlatanism as if it was sublimity +Cannot be expressed, and if expressed, would not be believed +Cause of war between the United States and England +Chevalier of the Guillotine: Toureaux +Complacency which may be felt, but ought never to be published +Conquest can only be regarded as the genius of destruction +Country where power forces the law to lie dormant +Death is only asleep without dreams +Demand everything, that you may obtain nothing +Distinguished for their piety or rewarded for their flattery +Easy to give places to men to whom Nature has refused parts +Encounter with dignity and self_command unbecoming provocations +Error to admit any neutrality at all +Every one cannot be an atheist who pleases +Every time we go to war with them we teach them how to beat us +Excessive desire to oblige +Expeditious justice, as it is called here +Extravagances of a head filled with paradoxes +Fear of being suspected of cowardice was beneath them +Feeling, however, the want of consolation in their misfortunes +For a retreating enemy it is necessary to make a bridge of gold +Forced military men to kneel before priests +Frederick the Great: "No man is a hero to his valet" +French Revolution was fostered by robbery and murder +Future effects dreaded from its past enormities +General who is too fond of his life ought never to enter a camp +Generals of Cabinets are often indifferent captains in the field +Go to England The English like wrangling politicians +God is only the invention of fear +God in his mercy has chosen Napoleon to be his representative on earth +Gold, changes black to white, guilt to innocence +Grew more angry as his anger was less regarded +Hail their sophistry and imposture as inspiration +Hair, arranged with charming negligence +He was too honest to judge soundly and to act rightly +Her present Serene Idiot, as she styles the Prince Borghese +Hero of great ambition and small capacity: La Fayette +His Majesty did not converse: he spoke. +How many reputations are gained by an impudent assurance +How much people talk about what they do not comprehend +I do not live--I merely exist +I have made sovereigns, but have not wished to be one myself +If Bonaparte is fond of flattery__pays for it like a real Emperor +Indifference of the French people to all religion +Indifference about futurity +Invention of new tortures and improved racks +Irresolution and weakness in a commander operate the same +Its pretensions rose in proportion to the condescensions +Jealous of his wife as a lover of his mistress +Justice is invoked in vain when the criminal is powerful +Labour as much as possible in the dark +Let women mind their knitting +Like all great amateurs was hard to please +Little gifts preserve friendship +Living ever in the future +Love of life increase in proportion as its real value diminishes +Make a bridge of gold, or oppose a wall of brass +Marble lives longer than man +May change his habitations six times in the month__yet be home +Men and women, old men and children are no more +Military diplomacy +Misfortunes and proscription would not only inspire courage +More vain than ambitious +Most charming mistresses and the worst wives +My means were the boundaries of my wants +My maid always sleeps with me when my husband is absent +Napoleon invasion of States of the American Commonwealth +Nature has destined him to obey, and not to govern +Necessity is ever ready with inventions +No man is, a hero to his valet +Not suspected of any vices, but all his virtues are negative +Not only portable guillotines, but portable Jacobin clubs +Nothing was decided, though nothing was refused +Now that she is old (as is generally the case), turned devotee +One of the negative accomplices of the criminal +Opinion almost constitutes half the strength of armies +Paper money, which is the greatest enemy of social order +Power of thus isolating one's self completely from all the world +Prelate on whom Bonaparte intends to confer the Roman tiara +Prepared to become your victim, but not your accomplice +Presumptuous charlatan +Pretensions or passions of upstart vanity +Pride of an insupportable and outrageous ambition +Procure him after a useless life, a glorious death +Promises of impostors or fools to delude the ignorant +Prudence without weakness, and with firmness without obstinacy +Rise and decline of stocks was with him the real thermometer +Rubbings with eau de Cologne, his favorite remedy +Saints supplied her with a finger, a toe, or some other parts +Salaries as the men, under the name of washerwomen +Satisfying himself with keeping three mistresses only +Self-appointed connoisseurs +She feared to be distracted from her grief +Should our system of cringing continue progressively +Sold cats' meat and tripe in the streets of Rome +Step is but short from superstition to infidelity +Strike their imaginations by absurdities than by rational ideas +Submit to events, that he might appear to command them +Sufferings of individuals, he said, are nothing +Suspicion is evidence +Suspicion and tyranny are inseparable companions +Tendency to sell the skin of the bear before killing him +The more I concede the more they demand +The wish and the reality were to him one and the same thing +The friendship of a great man is a gift from the gods +The pear was ripe; but who was to gather it? +There are saber strokes enough for every one +They ought to be just before they are generous +They will create some quarrel to destroy you +This is the age of upstarts," said Talleyrand +Those who are free from common prejudices acquire others +Thought at least extraordinary, even by our friends +Thought himself eloquent when only insolent or impertinent +Treaties of peace no less disastrous than the wars +Trying to alleviate her sorrow by sharing it +Two hundred and twenty thousand prostitute licenses +Under the notion of being frank, are rude +United States will be exposed to Napoleon's outrages +Usurped the easy direction of ignorance +Vices or virtues of all civilized nations are relatively the same +Want is the parent of industry +We are tired of everything, even of our existence +Were my generals as great fools as some of my Ministers +When a man has so much money he cannot have got it honestly +Which crime in power has interest to render impenetrable +Who complains is shot as a conspirator +With us, unfortunately, suspicion is the same as conviction +Would cease to rule the day he became just +Yield to illusion when the truth was not satisfactory +You have given me your long price, now give me your short one. +You were made to give lessons, not to take them. + + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Widger's Quotations, +from The Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, by David Widger + |