if our memory does not deceive us, we recollect to have before heard something,

"After Marengo," continued Napoleon, "Louis wrote a letter to me, which was delivered by the Abbé Montesquieu, in which he said, that I delayed for a long time to restore him to his throne; that the happiness of France could never be complete without him; neither could the glory of the country be complete without me; that one was as necessary to it as the other; and concluded by desiring me to chuse whatever I thought proper, which would be granted under him, provided that I restored him to his throne. I sent him back a very handsome answer, in which I stated that I was extremely sorry for the misfortunes of himself, and his family; that I was ready to do every thing in my power to relieve them, and would interest myself about providing a suitable income for them, but that he might abandon the thought of ever returning to France as a sovereign, as that could not be effected without his haying passed over the bodies of five hundred thousand French

men.

If the preceding statement be doubted by some readers, perhaps the following will appear equally suspicious:

He spoke about his having given himself up to the English, and observed, "My having given myself up to you is not so simple a matter as you imagine. Before I went to Elba, Lord Castlereagh offered me an asylum in England, and said, that I should be very well treated there, and much better off than at Elba." I said, that Lord Castlereagh was reported to have asserted, that he (Napoleon) had applied for an asylum in England, but that it was not thought proper to grant it. "The real fact," said Napoleon," is, that he first proposed it. Before I went to Elba, Lord Castlereagh said to Caulaincourt, Why does Napoleon think of going to Elba? Let him come to England. He will be received in London with the greatest pleasure, and will experience the best possible treatment. He must not, however, ask permission to come, because that would take up too much time; but let him give himself up to us, without making any conditions, and he will be received with the greatest joy, and be much better than at Elba.' This," added he, "had much influence with me afterwards."

2

On another occasion, he declared that, if he had finally been allowed to reside in England, he would have lived in the country, in entire privacy, under an assumed name, and have ocupiced himself almost wholly with books,

It has often been remarked that Napoleon ought not to have survived his defeat at Waterloo; a point on which he several times gave his sentiments, and seemed to agree that his career should then have terminated:

"My own opinion is, that I ought to have died at Waterloo; perhaps a little earlier. Had I died at Moscow, I should proba

bly

bly have had the reputation of the greatest conqueror ever known. But the smiles of fortune were at an end. I experienced little but reverses afterwards; hitherto I had been unconquered. I ought to have died at Waterloo. But the misfortune is, that when a man seeks the most for death he cannot find it. Men were killed around me, before, behind, every where, but no bullet for me.'

'General Gourgaud informed me,' says Mr. O'Meara, that at the close of the battle of Waterloo, when the charge made by the French had failed, and the English charged in their turn, a part of the cavalry of the latter, with some tirailleurs intermingled with them, approached to within a hundred or a hundred and fifty toises of the spot where the Emperor was standing, with only Soult, Drouot, Bertrand, and himself. Close to them was a small French battalion drawn up in a square. Napoleon ordered Gourgaud to fire some shots from two or three field-pieces which belonged to the battalion, to drive away the cavalry, which were approaching nearer. This was put into execution, and one of those shots carried away the Marquis of Anglesea's leg. Napoleon then placed himself with the column and wanted to charge, exclaiming, "Il faut mourir ici, il faut mourir sur le champ de bataille." At this time the English tirailleurs were firing at them, and they expected every moment to be charged. Labedoyère was galloping about like a madman, with his arms extended before him, seeking to be killed. Napoleon was prevented from throwing himself amongst the enemy by Soult, who laid hold of the bridle, exclaiming, that he would not be killed but taken prisoner; and with the aid of the others, finally succeeded in compelling him to leave the field at the time there was none other than the abovementioned small column to oppose the Prussians, who were advancing.'

We are told that, during the war, the English smugglers were of the greatest service to Napoleon; conveying him the only information from this country that he could procure, and transferring from France large quantities of merchandise, such as silks and brandy, to the annual amount of 40 or 50 millions, of livres, we suppose. They also brought over spies, assisted prisoners to escape from England, and offered several times to carry off to France Louis and the rest of the Bourbons, Dumouriez, Sarazin, and others: but, said Napoleon, "I despised them, and had no fear of them ;" and he added that he would not consent to the stipulation of the smugglers that, if they met with any accident or interruption in bringing over the Bourbons, they might be allowed to massacre them. We hope that we may be allowed to doubt this statement.

In the second volume, p. 287., a curious exposé is given of the official system of opening letters at the Post Offices in France that are written by foreign ambassadors, or are otherwise supposed to contain political intelligence; and it is stated that the same practice prevails in England.

We

We shall now open a gallery of portraits, to exhibit Napoleon's delineation of several conspicuous characters:

"Moreau," said he, "was an excellent general of division, but not fit to command a large army. With a hundred thousand men, Moreau would divide his army in different positions, covering roads, and would not do more than if he had only thirty thousand. He did not know how to profit either by the number of his troops, or by their positions. Very calm and cool in the field, he was more collected and better able to command in the heat of an action than to make dispositions prior to it.

"Of all the generals I ever had under me, Desaix and Kleber possessed the greatest talents; especially Desaix, as Kleber only loved glory, inasmuch as it was the means of procuring him riches and pleasures, whereas Desaix loved glory for itself and despised every thing else. Desaix was wholly wrapt up in war and glory. To him riches and pleasure were valueless, nor did he give them a moment's thought. He was a little black-looking man, about an inch shorter than I am, always badly dressed, sometimes even ragged, and despising comfort or convenience. When in Egypt, I made him a present of a complete field-equipage several times, but he always lost it. Wrapt up in a cloak, Desaix threw himself under a gun, and slept as contentedly as if he were in a palace. For him luxury had no charms. Upright and honest in all his proceedings, he was called by the Arabs, The just Sultan. He was intended by nature for a great general. Kleber and Desaix were a loss irreparable to France. Had Kleber lived, your army in Egypt would have perished."

I asked him,' says the author, if it were true that Desaix had, a little before his death, sent a message of the following purport to him. "Tell the First Consul, that I regret dying before I have done sufficient to make my name known to posterity." Napoleon replied, "It was true," and accompanied it with some warm eulogiums on Desaix.'

‹‹ Lasnes, when I first took him by the hand, was an ignorantaccio. His education had been much neglected. However, he improved greatly; and to judge from the astonishing progress he. made, he would have been a general of the first class He had great experience in war. He had been in fifty-four pitched battles, and in three hundred combats of different kinds. He was a man of uncommon bravery; cool in the midst of fire; and possessed of a clear, penetrating eye, ready to take advantage of any opportunity which might present itself.

"Massena," said he, "was a man of superior talent. He generally, however, made bad dispositions previous to a battle; and it was not until the dead began to fall about him that he began to act with that judgment which he ought to have displayed before. In the midst of the dying and the dead, of balls sweeping away those who encircled him, then Massena was himself; gave his orders, and made his dispositions with the greatest sang froid and judgment. This is, la vera nobiltà di sangue.* It was truly said

* True nobleness of blood.'

of

of Massena, that he never began to act with judgment until the battle was going against him. He was, however, un voleur. He went halves along with the contractors and commissaries of the army. —''

"Murat will not be pitied because he was a traitor. He never mentioned to me that he was determined to defend his kingdom; neither had I ever told him that my intentions were to unite the kingdoms of Italy and Naples, take them from him, and make him constable of the empire. I certainly made an instrument of him, to answer grand projects that I had in view for Italy, and intended, as I told you before, to have dispossessed Murat of the crown of Naples; but the time was not come; and besides, I would have given him a suitable indemnification. His letter to Macirone was ridiculous, and his enterprize that of a madman. What reason had he to complain of the Emperor of Austria, who had behaved generously, and offered him an asylum, wherever he pleased, in his dominions, subject to no other restriction than that of not quitting it without permission; which was very necessary. In the actual state of things, what more, in God's name, could he desire. I, myself, never should have expected more in England. It was a generous act on the part of the Emperor of Austria, and a return of good for evil, as Murat had endeavoured to deprive him of Italy; had published proclamations exciting insurrection amongst the Italians; attacked the Emperor's troops like a blockhead without reason; and like a madman engaged without judgment in an expedition without a plan, and so badly arranged, that he never had been able to unite even his own guard."

I asked his opinion of the Emperor Alexander, "C'est un homme extrêmement faux. Un Grec du bas empire," replied Napoleon. "He is the only one of the three* who has any talent. He is plausible, a great dissimulator, very ambitious, and a man who studies to make himself popular. It is his foible to believe himself skilled in the art of war, and he likes nothing so well as to be complimented upon it, though every thing that originated with himself relative to military operations was ill-judged and absurd. At Tilsit, Alexander and the King of Prussia used frequently to occupy themselves in contriving dresses for dragoons; debating upon what button the crosses of the orders ought to be hung, and such other fooleries. They fancied themselves on an equality with the best generals in Europe, because they knew how many rows of buttons there were upon a dragoon's jacket. I could scarcely keep from laughing sometimes, when I heard them discussing these coglionerie with as much gravity and earnestness as if they were planning an impending action between two hundred thousand men. However, I encouraged them in their arguments, as I saw it was their weak point. We rode out every day together. The King of Prussia was un bête, et nous a tellement ennuyé, that Alexander and myself frequently gallopped away in order to get rid of him."

* Alexander, Francis, and the King of Prussia.'

. I asked

< I asked him if he had ever said something of the following tenor relative to Metternich: "One or two lies are sometimes necessary, but Metternich is all lies. Nothing but lies, lies, lies, from him?" Napoleon laughed and said, "C'est vrai. He is composed of nothing but lies and intrigues." I asked if he were not a man of great talent?" Not at all,” replied he, " è bugiardo ed intrigante, intrigante e bugiardo.* That is the sum total of his

character.

"Lord Whitworth," continued Napoleon, "in that famous interview which he had with me, during which I was by no means violent, said on leaving the room, that he was well satisfied with me, and contented with the manner in which I had treated him, and hoped that all would go on well. This he said to some of the ambassadors of the other powers. A few days afterwards, when the English newspapers arrived with his account of the interview, stating that I had been in such a rage, it excited the astonishment of every body; especially of those ambassadors, who remonstrated with him and said, My Lord, how can this account be correct. You know that you allowed to us that you were well contented and satisfied with your reception, and stated your opinion that all would go on well.' He did not know what to answer, and said,

'But this account is also true.'"

"Un homme

'I asked him his opinion of Lord Whitworth. habile, un intrigant," said he," as far as I could observe him. A man of address, un bel homme. Your ministers had no reason to complain of him, for he answered their purposes well. The account which was published by your ministers of his interview with me was plein de faussetés. No violence of manner or impropriety of language was used by me.""

A great variety of matter yet remains unnoticed in these volumes, which it would be interesting to specify or to quote: but it is time for us to close both the work and this article. We have abstained from introducing any passages that relate to the personal conduct of Sir Hudson Lowe and his officers, and the invectives of Napoleon against them; and indeed it has frequently struck us with surprize that Mr. O'Meara has so unreservedly inserted them, though his own hard usage might stimulate him to take such freedoms with those by whom he has been made a sufferer. Whether any notice will be taken of his statements, time will shew.

A small engraving of Napoleon, from a cameo, is prefixed to vol. i.; and a larger portrait, from a medal, is given in vol. ii. The latter appears to us the best likeness, according to all others that we have seen.

* He is a liar and an intriguer—an intriguer and a liar.'

ART.