YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

MANUSCRIPT,

FOUND IN THE

PORTFOLIO OF LAS CASAS,

CONTAINING

MAXIMS and OBSERVATIONS

NAPOLEON,

COLLECTED DURING THE LAST TWO YEARS OF HIS RESIDENCE AT

ST. HELENA.

¦SftanslateU from the jF«mh.

LONDON :
PRINTED FOR ALEXANDER BLACK,
FOREIGN LIBRARY, VI, PALL-MALL.
1820.

.YALE

LONDON :
Printed by W. Clowes, Northumberland-court. Strand.

PREFACE,

BY THE FRENCH EDITOR.

IT is well known, that at the time when
Las Casas was the object of the cruel treat
ment of the English Ministry, and the Gover
nor at St. Helena, before his transportation to
the Cape of Good Hope, a considerable quan
tity of his papers were seized at Longwood.
Part of those which escaped attention, and
were conveyed by him to England, were de
tained by the Ministers, while he was not per
mitted to make an inventory of the contents.
The papers were transmitted to Lord Sidmouth,
and Las Casas himself was passed from Eng
land to the Netherlands.
We have strong reason to suspect, that the
production which is here published, owes its
appearance to the faithlessness of an agent of
the ministerial inquisition. It is said that
many of the papers belonging to this valuable
collection have been taken away ; and among

IV PREFACE.

them the manuscript now put out. Who the
depredator was, we are wholly ignorant ; and
the person from whose hands we received the
work, refused to give the slightest information
on the subject.
It appears to be a journal, occuyping a
space of eighteen months, without date or
arrangement, consisting of sentences, bon-mots,
and maxims, collected by Las Casas, in his
daily conversations with the prisoner Napoleon,
and committed to paper literally as he heard
them. We have since had an opportunity of
ascertaining that the manuscript was really
from the hands of that faithful servant.
However, we give it to the Public as we re
ceived it, and as it was submitted to the Eng
lish authorities, without any commentary ; for
the text has so much force, vigour, and preci
sion, that it requires none ; as to the style, prin
ciples, character, and expression, they are of
such a nature as must convince the most incre
dulous of the authenticity of the manuscript.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS,

I.
WHEN the bulk of a nation is cor
rupted, the laws are useless, without des
potism. II.
I have been praised with exaggeration,
like all sovereigns who have done extraor
dinary things ; but I always knew my own
intrinsic value. III.
The European Monarchs have modelled
their armies after mine. This is quite
natural ; but the thing is to know how to
lead them.

2 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
IV.
I care very little about the opinion of
the Parisians : they are like drones which
are always humming: they judge as gravely
as a monkey about metaphysics. V.
I desist from writing, till the London
clerks shall leave off reading niy letters.
VI.
From the moment I took the reins of
government in my hands, I had my council
in my head ; I was well off: I only began
blundering when I listened to counsellors.
VII.
They say that I have insulted the Queen
of Prussia. — No such thing. I told her,
" Woman, return to your needle ; stay at
home with your family." She felt the re-

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 3
mark, — that was not my fault. I set her
favourite Hatzfeld at liberty, who, without
her, would have been shot.
VIII.
We must confess that fate, which sports
with man, makes merry work with the affairs
of this world. IX/
Louis XIV. took the Franche-Comt6 in
winter, but he would not have fought a battle
near Moscow in the month of November.
X.
. Then the Allies are very much afraid of
me ? let them leave me my grandeur, but
let them not give me too much of it ; that
might injure them. XI.
I found at Potsdam the great Frederic's
sword, and the ribbon of his orders ; these
b 2

4 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
trophies I valued more than the hundred
millions which Prussia paid me.
XII.
Your subalterns will never well support
you, unless they know that you are in
flexible. XIII.
I know anecdotes' of the European courts,
which might amuse the contemporary world,
but I will have nothing to do with satire.
XIV.
The little time, which my pain and stu
dies have left me, I employ in reading
Machiavel over again, and I am ever more
convinced that he knows nothing.
XV.
My plan of landing in England was gi
gantic ; I was obliged to build the ports and
the'ships. Bruix shewed himself worthy of

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 5
assisting me in this enterprise ; he bore a
fiery mind in a weak body.
XVI.
The journals of Europe compare rather
unjustly the terrors of 1793, and of 1815 :
I do not see the least resemblance between
them : on one side all is gigantic, horrid and
sublime ; on the other all is mean, atrocious
and niggardly. In 1793, the heads of the
proscribers fell often enough at the same
time, with those of their victims ; in 1816
they were only cowards and scoundrels
slaughtering the conquered without danger,
and drinking blood merely for the plea
sure of drinking it. The system of 1793
has swallowed up its own children ; that of
1815 has kept them alive. I cannot per
ceive the good effects of this.
XVII.
Irresolution has the same effects on

O NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
princes, as the palsy has on the action ofthe
limbs. XVIII.
If Homer's Iliad had been written by a
contemporary, nobody would have liked it.
XIX.
My soldiers have not been in fault with
me, I have been in fault with them.
XX.
Those who seek for happiness in pomp
and dissipation, are like persons who pre
fer the splendor of wax-candles to the
light of the sun. XXL
I have done enough to live among pos
terity : I bequeath my fame to my son,
and monuments to Europe.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 7
XXII.
The vulgar seek the great, not for then-
persons, but for their power, and they
receive them from vanity, or because they
want them. XXIII.
The Abbe de Pradt has written homilies,
plans for campaigns, and histories ; he has
an excellent taste for romances, and is a
funny arch-bishop. XXIV.
There are advantages in the municipal
government. Its defect is, that it is not
monarchical. The subjects are too far se
parated from power ; it might do very well
for the ancient Gauls. Caesar was no loser
by it, when he conquered them.
XXV.
The just man is the image of God upon
earth.

8 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
XXVI.
We are weak from idleness or from mis
trust of ourselves ; woe to him who is so
from these two causes at once : if he is a
private individual, he will be nothing ; if he
is a king, he is lost. XXVII.
The journey to Saint-Cloud was only a
masquerade; the scum of the revolution,
and the parties could not wrestle with me
and with France. The factious were in the
minority ; they did the only thing of which
they were capable ; they fled. There were
then some people much puzzled in their
parts ; and some who had played Brutus,
were twenty four hours after, much obliged
to me, for having made them jump out of
the window. XXVIII.
The fool has a great advantage over the

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 9
well-informed man, he is always satisfied
with himself. XXIX.
If you will know how many friends you
have, get into misfortune. XXX.
Until Waterloo, I thought Wellington
was possessed of a military genius. Those
of the profession were surprised to see him
hold out at Mont-Saint-Jean : with this
joke not a single Englishman would have
escaped me. After Fortune, he ought to
thank the Prussians. XXXI.
Ancient Greece was renowned for seven
wise men ; I do not find one in Europe.
XXXIL
There is a greater space between wit and

10 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
common sense, than people are apt to
think. XXXIII.
In Europe they copy my laws, imitate
my institutions, finish my works, ape my
policy, even to the ton of my court : my
government must, then, not have been so
absurd and bad, as they say.
XXXIV.
Bravery is a conventional coin ; some
will boldly meet death in the ranks of the
enemies, who would tremble before the
executioner's axe. There are counterfeit
brave men, as well as counterfeit coins. In
a word, bravery is an innate quahty ; we
can not give it ourselves. XXXV.
The old varnished-up monarchies only

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 11
last as long as the people do not feel their
strength; such buildings are always de
stroyed in their foundations. XXXVI.
Those who seek honors are like lovers ;
the possession diminishes their value.
XXXVIL
I have committed many faults in my life
time ; the greatest was that of having de
livered my person to the English : I be
lieved in their honor. XXXVIIL
France is inexhaustible ; I had the trial
of it after the Russian war, and in 1815.
Strike against the ground, and you will
have treasures and armies spring up from
it. Such a country will never be subdued
or dismembered.

12 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
XXXIX.
The surest way of remaining poor is to
be an honest man. XL.
Ten people who speak, make more noise
than ten thousand that are silent ; this is
the mystery of the bawlers of the tribune,
(in the chambers.) . XLI.
Cheated kings and husbands are always
the last to perceive their ridiculous situation.
XLII.
A daring mind may undertake, but will
not accomplish every thing.
XLIII.
I conquered kings to the advantage of
royalty ; the kings conquered me to the

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 13
advantage of the nations : they have com
mitted a great fault by depriving me of
the throne. Let us wait for the end.
XLIV.
I prefer a powerful argument to elo
quence of style : things are better than
words. XLV.
In resolutions, there . are two sorts of
people, those who make them, and those
who profit by them. XLVI.
I like grandeur in the arts : there is no
medium ; they must be either sublime or
mean. XLVII.
The vengeance which we exercise upon
the wicked, is an homage paid to virtue.

14 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
XLVI1L
Sir Hudson Lowe is an uncivil gaoler ;
this is his business. By the manner in
which he treats me, one would think he
feels my worth. XLIX.
Man is like the sheep, he follows the
first who goes on. In government matters
we want companions, without them there
would be no end to the play.
L.
Strong minds resist voluptuousness, as
the sailor avoids the cliffs.
LL
Custom condemns us to many follies;
the greatest is to make one's self its slave.
LII.
If Corneille had lived in my time, I
should have made him my minister.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 15
LIII.
The dismissal of my army will be placed
by history among the greatest political
faults of the regal government. LIV.
An enlightened nation cannot be govern
ed by half measures ; it requires energy,
consequence, and unity in all public acts.
LV.
Whoever prefers riches to g}ory is a
spendthrift, who borrows upon usury, and
ruins himself by the interest.
LVI.
I have had three fine days in my life,
Marengo, Austerlitz, and Jena ; unless one
chooses to add as the fourth, the day when

16 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
I gave the Emperor of Austria an audience
in a ditch. LVII.
It is not the number which gives the
victory. Alexander conquered three
hundred thousand Persians, with twenty
thousand Macedonians. I had a particular
success in daring enterprises. LVIII.
The chamber of the representatives, that
I had called together, ended with me. It
might have saved France from the invasion
by intrusting me with the dictatorship.
Twenty factious men have lost the whole :
they made themselves so ridiculous as to
talk about the constitutions when Blucher
was encamped at Sevres. I thought I saw
the Greeks of the eastern empire with
Mahomed before them.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 17
LIX.
After my abdication in 1815, they might
have yet beaten the enemy. I offered to
take the command : they refused it. I had
no motive of personal interest in view.
J_*X.
Public worship is to religion, what
splendour is to power. The vulgar compute
the credit of a courtier by the number of
his footmen ; the mob judge of the divine
power by that ofthe priests.
LXI.
I never could read a page of Tacitus,
he is a talker; Polybius pleases and in
structs me, there is no declamation,
LXIL
My government was liberal because it
c

18 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
was firm and severe. I considered every
man merely as an instrument. I regarded
very little the party, provided the person
embraced my system. I played my cards
well, I raised a new system.
LXIII.
I enriched my officers ; I ought to have
known that when people are rich, they
have no desire to be killed.
LXIV.
Courage strengthens a throne ; when
cowardice and infamy shake it, it is
better to abdicate. LXV.
I always admired Mithridates thinking
of the conquest of Rome, when he was con
quered, and a fugitive. LXVI.
When I was a sovereign, I never made

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 19
use of my privilege of pardoning, without
having had cause to repent of it.
LXVII.
Tragedy is not founded upon the exact
imitation of nature ; I prefer the group of
Laocoon, to the end of Rodogune.
LXVIII.
Constitutional states have no energy ;
the action of government is too much con
fined, this gives them such a great inferi
ority when they fight with powerful and
absolute neighbours. The dictatorship
might hold them up, but the ram will bat
ter the gates of the capital before they are
in readiness. LXIX.
The emigrants, the noblemen and priests,
'who had lost their estates and privileges
c 2

20 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
during the revolution, thought they should
recover them at the return of the ancient
dynasty. They thought they were yet in
Coblenz ; they always looked at things on
the wrong side. They do not repulse the
light, they cry for their money.
LXX.
Old people who preserve the inclinations
of youth, lose in esteem, what they gain in
ridicule. LXXI.
A fool is only tiresome, a pedant is in
sufferable, I never could understand Bonald.
LXXI1.
The physical world is extremely narrow;
we must see for truth in the moral world,
if we wish to dive into politics and war.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 21
LXXIII.
The two parties now existing in France,
although enraged against each other, unite
not against the constitutional royalty, for
which they care very little, but against the
bulk of honest people, whose silence anni
hilates them. LXXIV.
When I appeared on the political stage,
there were only two kinds of men on it ;
the constitutional societies, who asked for
Agrarian laws in the name of Gracchus Ba-
boeuf; and the Fructidorians, who wanted
to govern with court-martials, transporta
tions, and bankruptcies. LXXV.
The present chiefs of the factions in
France, are dwarfs mounted upon stilts.
Few men of talent, many talkers.

22 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
LXXVI.
There has been a great outcry against
what they call my despotism ; however, I al
ways said that the nations are not the pro
perty of the person who governs them ;
the sovereigns, who have made themselves
constitutional, are of a differe nt opinion.
LXXVII.
When the lawyer Goyer, the apostate
Sieyes, the attorney Rewbel, and the old
clothesman Moulins, had made themselves
kings, I might well make myself consul ; I
had taken my license at Montenotti, Lodi,
Arcole, Chebreisse, and Aboukir.
LXXVIII.
The misfortunes of France, since 1814,
proceed from the circumstance, that idea
lists with high-flown speculation had been

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 23
suffered to get into government. These
people like a chaos, because it pervades
in their minds. They serve God and
mammon. LXXIX.
There will be no futurity for me, till I
am gone by. Calumny can only reach me
as long as I am alive. LXXX.
Chance is the only legitimate king in the
world. LXXXI.
Interest, which influences men from one
end of the world to the other, is a language
which they learn without a grammar.
LXXXII.
The surest lever of power, is a military
strength given by the law, and managed

24 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
by genius. Such was the conscription.
It is enough to reason about this strength,
the contradictions vanish, the power is
fixed. What is there, in fact, in all the
arguments of the sophists, when the com
mand is in its vigour? Those who obey
are obliged to keep within the line of order,
which is fixed for them. In time they ac
custom themselves to the yoke ; they draw
the sword, and the factious return to the
dust. LXXXIII.
The cyiiism of manners is the bane of
the body politic. LXXXIV.
Reason adapts itself to circumstance;
that of Diagoras consisted in denying God,
and that of Newton in admitting him ;
during a revolution you may be alteratcly

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 25
a hero or a robber, mount the scaffold, or
be immortalized. LXXXV.
Hobbes was the Newton of politics ; his
gospel is quite as good as some other.
LXXXVI.
When I put an end to the revolution, I
made myself the public opinion, and I suc
ceeded in it to the great surprise of the
revolutionists. LXXXVII.
There are many people who imagine that
they have the talent of governing, merely
because they do govern.
LXXXVIII.
The kings, who have trampled on their
crowns, to become demagogues, did not
foresee the consequences.

26 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
LXXXIX.
After my fall, fate bid me die, and honour
live. XC.
In a well-regulated country there ought
to be an established religion, and subjected
priests. The church ought to be in the
state, but not the state in the church.
XCI.
If Christianity, as its sectaries pretend,
could supply to man the place of every
thing else, it would be the most precious
gift, which heaven has bestowed upon them.
XCII.
The man of a superior order is naturally
impassible ; he cares very little whether he
be praised or blamed, he listens to his con
science.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 27
XCIII.
There are people, who do a favour as
others do an injury. We ought to beware
of them, or we should be obliged to de
mand satisfaction for their benefits.
XCIV.
Ambition is in man, what the air is in
nature : deprive morality of the one, and
the. physical world ofthe other, there will
be no motion. XCV.
Vices are as necessary to society, as
thunder-storms to the atmosphere. If the
balance between good and evil is destroyed,
harmony ceases, there will be a revolution.
XCVI.
Whoever only practises virtue in the
hope of acquiring fame, is near to vice. *

28 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
XCVIL
A handsome woman pleases the eyes, a
good woman pleases the heart ; the one is a
jewel, the other a treasure.
XCVIII.
Among those, who seek after death, there
are few who find it when it might be useful
to them. XCIX.
A sovereign ought to take special care
that wealth be not too unequally divided ;
for, then, he will neither have poor people
to keep in check, nor rich people to defend.
C.
I have been the richest sovereign in
Europe. Riches does not consist in the
possession of treasures, but in the use
which is made of them.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 29
CI.
If a prince has been stained by one crime
the world imputes to him all others ; false
hood accumulates, wrhich the anecdote-
makers lay hold of; the literary ravens rush
upon the corpse, malignity devours it ; the
improbable and scandalous imputations are
repeated by a thousand voices, believed in
time, received by posterity. It is Bazile's
calumny, it runs like wildfire.
CIL
There is too much written ; I should like
fewer books, and more common sense.
CHI.
A prince and a prime minister ought to
love glory. Some people say there is no
necessity for it : they argue like the fox
whose tail had been cut off.

30 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
CIV.
I was surprised when upon landing in
Egypt, I found nothing of the Egyptian
grandeur, but the pyramids and the chicken-
stoves. CV.
There are a great many flatterers, but
few among them know how to praise in a
noble and decent manner. CVI.
History will one day tell what France
was on my ascending the throne, and what
she was when I gave laws to Europe.
CVIL
Every connexion with crime becomes a
crime, on the part of the throne.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 31
CVIII.
I have always been surprised that the
murder of Pichegru was imputed to me ;
he was nothing better than the other
conspirators. I had a court to try, and
soldiers to shoot him. I never did any
thing that was useless. CIX.
The fall of prejudices has exposed the
source of power ; kings can no longer dis
pense with personal ability.
ex.
When I founded the legion of honour
I bound all the classes of society by the
same interest ; It is a durable institution,
which will by far outlive my system.

32 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
CXI.
There ought to be no partial responsi
bility in the administration : it only pro
motes misdemeanors, and neglect of the
laws. CXII.
The French are so fond of grandeur,
that they like even the appearance of it.
CXIII.
The first advantage which I reaped from
the continental system, was, that I distin
guished my friends from my enemies.
CXIV.
Ney's and Murat's fate did not surprise
me; they have died, such as they have
lived, as heroes ; such men do not want fu
neral sermons.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 33
CXV.
I have given a new impulse to the spirit
of commerce,' in order to give animation to
French industry. In the space of ten years
France improved remarkably. To fall
back she has nothing to do, but to recur to
her old plan of colonization and borrowing.
CXVI.
I committed the fault of entering
Spain, because I did not know the spirit
of the nation. The nobility called me,
and the rabble drove me back. This
country was not worthy of a prince of my
dynasty. CXVII.
On the day when the dethroned sove
reigns re-entered their palaces, human rea
son was turned out of doors. It is not
likely that they will give it a hearing.

34 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
CXVIII.
Since the discovery of printing, talent
has been called in aid of government, and
we govern in order to enslave it.
CXIX.
If the atheists of the revolution had not
made every thing doubtful, their Utopia
was not bad . CXX.
Nineteen out of twenty of those who go
vern, believe in no morality ; but it is their
interest to make the world believe that
they make a good use of their power ; this
makes them honest people.
CXXI.
The conspirators in Niv6se had not
written on their arrows, like the enemy of
Philip : " I aim at the Macedonian king's
left eye."

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 35
CXXII.
The coalition obtained a great victory,
when they had the old army dismissed.
They are not afraid of the novices ; they
have not been tried yet.
CXXIIL
When I refused the peace of Chatillon,
the Allies saw nothing but my imprudence,
and thought it a favourable moment for
opposing the Bourbons to me. I should
not have accepted a throne tributary to
foreigners. My glory is invulnerable.
CXXIV.
Instead of abdicating at Fontainbleau,
I might have fought ; my army remained
faithful ; I never wished to shed French
blood fbr my individual cause.
d2

36 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
CXXV.
When I landed at Cannes, there was
neither a conspiracy nor plot. I came
with the Parisian journals in my hands.
This expedition, which will be represented
in history as a daring one, was perfectly
rational. My grumblers* were badly dress
ed, but they had stout hearts.
CXXVI.
The glove is thrown out in Europe ; the
powers of the second and third rank, that
are not protected by the preponderating
states, will disappear. CXXVII.
I am told that the great critic FiSvSe
treats me with still less management, than
* A name given by Buonaparte to his Grenadiers. —
Transl.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 37
the natural philosopher* . The more he bawls
about my despotism, the more the French
will esteem me. He was the most insigni
ficant among the hundred and twenty, pre
fects of my empire. I do not know what
he means by his Correspondance Admi
nistrative. CXXVIII.
Philosophical definitions are nothing better
than Theological definitions. CXXIX.
I like Rivarol better for his epigrams,
than for his sense. CXXX.
Morality is a conjectural art, like antho
logy, it is the characteristic of a superior
mind.
* Mons. Delisle de Sales, M'ho died a few years ago.

38 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
CXXXI.
The most sublime things may be tra
vestied, and put into a ridiculous garb. If
Scarron had been employed in translating
the iEneid, he would have made a bur
lesque of Virgil. CXXXII.
Political freedom, closely examined, is a
received fable, invented by those who go
vern, to lull the vigilance of the governed
into sleep. CXXXIII.
If a people could be actually free, the
governed must be sages, and the gover
nors, must be gods. CXXXIV.
The Senate, which I named Conservatory,
signed its extinction with my own.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 39
CXXXV.
I reduced the art of war to stratagematical
manoeuvres, which gave me the superiority
over my adversaries : at last, they adopted
my method. Every thing wears out.
CXXXVI.
There is nothing which can be said to be
new in literature ; but in geometry, physic,
and astronomy, some progress may yet be
made, if it were but one step every cen
tury. CXXXVIL
The social system, bursting on all sides,
threatens its approaching downfall.
CXXXVIII.
Victory is always praiseworthy, whether
it is by fortune or ability that we obtain it.

40 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
CXXXIX.
My system of education was the same for
all Frenchmen; laws are not made for men,
but men for the laws. CXL.
I have been compared to many cele
brated men of ancient and modern times ;
but in reality I resemble no one.
CXLL
I never heard any music with so much
pleasure as Mehul's Tartar-march.
CXLII.
My project of landing in England was
serious. Nothing but the continental af
fairs prevented me from attempting it.
CXLIIL
It is said that my downfall has ensured the

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 41
tranquillity of Europe; they forget that it
is indebted to me for its repose. I brought
the Revolution to an end. Now the cabi
nets are steering without a compass.
CXLIV.
The English ministry has covered itself
with shame by seizing upon my person. I
was much surprised when I read in the
news-papers, that I had been made a pri
soner. I came by my own accord on board
the Bellerophon. CXLV.
When I wrote to the Prince Regent to ask
for his hospitality, he suffered a fair oppor
tunity of acquiring fame to escape.
CXLVI.
Every thing in life is subjected to calcu-

42 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
lation ; we ought to keep the balance be
tween the good and the evil.
CXLVII.
It is easier to make laws, than to put
them in execution. CXLVIII.
The legitimate strength of a government
consists in the unanimity of interests ; it
cannot put itself at variance with them,
without giving itself the death-blow.
CXLIX.
The Allies have proved that it was not
my person which they wanted to get at, but
my spoils, and the glory of France ; it is
for that they laid her under a contribution
of seven hundred millions. CL.
A congress is a fable concerted between

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 43
the diplomatists. It is Machiavel's pen
united to Mahomed's sword.
CLI.
I am sorry for Moreau's glory, that he
died in the ranks of the enemies. If he
had fallen for his country, I should have en
vied his fate. I have been reproached for
his banishment : people were wrong ; we
were two, and only one was wanted.
CLII.
I have given the French a code of laws,
which will last longer than the monuments
of my power. CLIII.
It is generally thought to be best that
young men should study war from books ;
it is a fair means of getting bad generals.

44 NAPOLEON MAM MS.
CLIV.
Brave, but inexperienced soldiers, are
best disposed to beat an enemy. Give them
besides a glass of eau devie, before you lead
them to battle, and you may be sure of
success. CLV.
Nothing is done well, but what we do
ourselves ; this I experienced within the
last years of my reign. CLVI.
The Italian army was disheartened, when
the Directory gave me the command of it;
they had neither bread, nor clothing ; I
shewed them the plains ofthe Milanese, I
ordered the attack, and Italy was con
quered. CLVII.
After my victories in Italy, not being

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 45
able to restore to France her royal pomp,
I gave her the splendor of conquests, and
the language of a master.
CLVIII.
Prussia, powerful on the map, is poli
tically and morally the weakest ofthe four
monarchies, which are now giving laws to
Europe. CLIX.
Spain has finished her part : she has no
thing left, but the inquisition, and rotten
ships. CLX.
Not one nation likes the yoke of the
English. The people always bear the do
minion of those islanders with impatience.
CLXI.
When I proposed the expedition to

46 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
Egypt, I had no intention of dethroning
the Great Sultan. Just en passant, and with
in twenty-four hours, I destroyed the gen
tlemen establishment of Malta, though it
had resisted the united force ofthe Ottoman
empire. CLXII.
I never saw such an enthusiasm among
the people as on my landing at Frejus.
They all told me, that fortune had brought
me back to France, and at last I believed
it myself. CLXIII.
If it had only been my wish to become
the head ofthe revolution, my part would
have been soon played. I became its master,
because I had a sword. CLXIV-
I will wager any thing, that neither the

NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
emperor of Russia, nor the emperor of
Austria, nor the king of Prussia, wish to
become constitutional monarchs ; but they
encourage the inferior princes to do it, be
cause they wish to make joists of them.
Caesar found it so easy to subdue the
Gauls, because he always found them divi
ded under the empire of a representative
government. CLXV.
The most important point in politics, is
to obtain one's object ; the means do not
enter into the question. CLXVI.
The Low Ceuntries are nothing but a
Russian colony, where the English mono
poly is carried on. CLXVII.
The political system of Europe is pitiful ;

48 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
the more it is examined, the more one is
surprised at the terrible consequences
which flow from it.
CLXVIII.
My last abdication has not been under
stood, because the reasons for it have not
been made known. CLXIX.
I always thought that it would be Tal
leyrand who would hang Fouche ; perhaps
they will go to the gallows together. The
bishop is a fox, the orator is a tiger.
CLXX.
Suicide is the greatest crime which can
be committed. What courage can a man
have who trembles at a reverse of fortune ?
True heroism consists in being above
the evils of life.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 49
CLXXI.
The patriotism of Vendee was mentioned
to me at Rochefort : there were yet soldiers
behind the Loire, but I always abhorred
civil war. CLXXII.
When an officer is no more obeyed, he
should resign his command.
CLXXIII.
The power of thinking seems to be the
attribute of the soul ; the more our reason
increases in perfection, the more the soul is
perfected, and the more man becomes
morally responsible for his actions.
CLXXIV.
Vulgar princes are never either despotic
or popular, with impunity.

50 NAPOLEON MAXIM!).
CLXXV.
The Allies know their Machiavel ; they
have meditated upon the book ofthe prince;
but we are no longer in the sixteenth cen
tury. CLXXVI.
There is an arbitrary proceeding which
can never be obliterated from the memory
of posterity ; it is my exile at St. Helena.
CLXXVII.
I did not form the plan of landing in
England, " because I had nothing else to
do," as it has been reported I said; I did not
collect 200,000 men upon the coast of Bou
logne, and spend eighty millions to amuse
the Parisian loungers ; the plan was serious,
the landing possible; but Villeneuve's fleet
unsettled the whole. Besides the English
cabinet hastened to rekindle the war on
the continent.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 51
CLXXVIIL
The feeling of national honor is never
more than slumbering amongst the French.
It requires only a spark to rekindle it.
CLXXIX.
From among all my generals Montebello
has renderedjme the greatest services, and
it was he whom I esteemed most.
CLXXX.
Dessaix had all the qualities of a great
man ; on his death he fixed his name to an
immortal victory. CLXXXI.
The most unheard-of capitulations in the
annals of war are those of Marengo and
Ulm. e 2

y? NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
CLXXXIL
The governments with counter-poises*
are only fit for a time of peace.
CLXXXIII.
The principles of the revolution have
taken root in Europe ; the question is, only
to understand how to regulate them . I had
the power and the strength for it.
CLXXXIV.
Ney was a man of courage. His death
is not less remarkable than his life. I am
sure that those who condemned him did
not dare to look in his face.
CLXXXV.
The English are a nation of traders; but
their power lies in their trade.
* The almost equal division of the right and left sides
of the Chamber, is here referred to.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 53
CLXXXVI.
Many base things have been written
about the deaths of the Duke d' Enghien
and Captain Wright; — the first was not
my work, and of the second I know no
thing; I could not prevent an Englishman
seized with the spleen, from cutting his
throat*. CLXXXVIL
I have slept fifteen years protected by my
sword. CLXXXVIH.
I founded the empire upon a strong
organization. The magistrates fulfilled
the laws punctually. I should not have

* The Duke d' Enghien had written to Napoleon, who
was willing to set the sentence aside ; but — - — did not
deliver the letter till after the execution ; this is the real
state ofthe business. L — — C  .

54 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
suffered interpretations, and indeed the
machine moved rapidly.
CLXXXIX.
For the finances, the best way of getting
credit, is not to make use of it; the system
of taxation strengthens, that of borrowing
ruins them. CXC.
The world is led by chance.
CXCI.
In the zenith of my greatness, I might
have got the princes of the house of Bourbon
delivered into my power, if I had wished it ;
but I respected their misfortune.
CXCII.
I had 500 Turks shot at Jaffa ; the
garrison had killed my parliamentary; these

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. DO
Turks were prisoners from Elarisch, who
had promised not to serve. My position
obliged me to maintain severely the right of
war. CXCIII.
Colonel Wilson, who has written at great
length about my campaign in Egypt, affirms
that I had the wounded soldiers of my army
poisoned. A general, who should be mad
enough to command such a deed, would find
no soldiers to fight for him. After Mr.
Wilson, this absurdity has been repeated all
through Europe. The fact is this : there
were about a hundred men laid hold of by
the plague who could not recover ; I was
obliged to abandon them, and they were in
danger of being killed by the Turks ; I
asked Dr. Desgenettes, if he could not give
them opium to shorten their sufferings ; he
replied, that his charge was to cure them ;

56 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
here the matter rested. A few hours after
they were actually butchered by the enemy.
CXCIV.
Physicians frequently mistake the dis
ease ; at one time they do too much, and
at another not enough. On one occasion
I gave sixty thousand francs to Corvisart ;
he is a clever man, the only infallible phy
sician I ever knew. CXCV.
I had at Waterloo 71,000 men in line of
battle ; the allies had nearly 100,000, and
I had nearly beaten them.
CXCVL
I took de Pradt with me to Spain, to make
war upon the monks ; in which he suc
ceeded tolerably well for an archbishop.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 57
CXCVII.
I formed the age for myself, such as I had
been formed for it.
CXCVIII.
Public order depends on justice. The
judges are in the first rank upon the scale
of society ; they cannot be surrounded with
too much honor and respect.
CXCIX.
The Prussians did not stand two hours
at Jena, and they surrendered places in
twenty-four hours which might have held
out for three months. CC.
I committed a fault by not striking out
Prussia from the map. CCI.
My continental system was to ruin

58 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
English trade, and give peace to the world.
Its only defect was, that it could not be
strictly executed : few people have under
stood this system. ecu.
The police is nothing but diplomacy
in rags. CCIII.
The follies of others never serve to make
us wise. CCIV.
Racine took his beauties from the Greeks,
but he has employed them so well, that one
does not know whether more talent was
requisite to create, or to transfer them into
the French language. ccv.
The world is a great comedy, where we
meet with ten Tartuffes for one Moliere.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 59
CCVL
If you preach virtue by her opposite
qualities, the evil will form the back-grounds
ofthe picture, and the good will only be
an accessary ; vice struggles against virtue.
I' doubt whether this be a moral object.
CCVII.
Some fanatical priests had a wish to
renew under my government the scandalous
scenes ofthe good old times ; I put a stop to
it, and it is said that I committed violence
against the pope. CCVIIL
The league of Augsbourg, and the thirty
years' war, were produced by the greediness
of a few monks. CCIX.
The battle of Marengo has proved that,

60 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
in the present method, success depends in
a great measure upon chance. The Aus
trians were victorious ; a last effort check
ed them, and they demanded a capitula
tion, although they had very superior forces
to oppose to me : It is true Melas lost his
head. CCX.
There are some kings who have made
themselves like the people, in order to cheat
them the better; like the wolf in the fable,
which became a shepherd, in order to devour
the sheep with more ease.
CCXL
I had the authors of the infernal machine
transported ; they were old practitioners in
conspiracies, of whom it was necessary to
cleanse France. Since that time I re
mained quite undisturbed. The bulk of
respectable people thanked me for it.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 6'1
CCXII.
Soldiers and magistrates are not generally
possessed of wealth; as an indemnity for
that, they should be considered and honored .
The respect which is entertained for them
feeds the feeling of honor, which constitutes
the real strength of a nation.
CCXIII.
Any thing which is not founded upon
bases that are physically and mathemati
cally correct, ought to be banished by
reason. CCXIV.
If the English government had thought
that their vessels could protect the country
from an invasion, they would not have so
carefully fortified the coasts, when I was in
my camp of Boulogne. My plan, on landing
upon the English shore, was to march to

62 NAPOLF.ON MAXIMS.
Chatham, Portsmouth, and the other princi
pal naval establishments. One or two bat
tles would have subdued the rest of the
island : in 1804 the moral strength of Eng
land was not what it is now.
CCXV.
The names and form of government sig
nify, in reality, very little. Provided that
justice be rendered to all citizens, that their
right to the protection, the burthens, the
sacrifices and rewards, be equal, the state
is well governed. CCXVI.
The unequal distribution of wealth is
anti-social and subversive of order ; it
crushes industry and emulation ; the aristo
cracy ofthe great estates was only good in
the feudal system.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 63
CCXVIL
If Augustus had not been fortunate, pos
terity would have ranked his name among
those ofthe great scoundrels.
CCXVIII.
The Allies have paid dearly for their suc
cess in 1814: I kept up the war for three
months in the plains of Champagne with the
remains of my old troops. If Paris had
held out twenty-four hours longer, they
would have been lost ; not a single German
would have returned over the Rhine.
CCXIX.
I hardly ever gave my generals any in
structions about the details, I onljr com
manded them to conquer. CCXX.
A king ought not to descend below
misfortune.

64 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
CCXXI.
Notwithstanding the long intrigues of
Talleyrand, Louis XVIII. could make
of him but a gilded slave, and his first do
mestic. CCXXIL
A party which can only be upheld by
foreign bayonets is already conquered.
* CCXXIII.
After the battle of Waterloo the French
were requested to deliver me to the enemies ;
but the French have respected misfortune
in me. CCXXIV.
I ought perhaps to have begun again the
revolution in 1815; I then stood in need of
the resources which they present, and I had
all that was required for it.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 65
CCXXV.
We may stop when we are rising, but never
when we are going downwards.
CCXXVI.
The first impulses of the people are pre
cious, one must know how to profit by
them. CCXXVII.
The plan of banishing me to St. Helena,
is rather old ; I knew of it at the isle of
Elba, but I trusted in Alexander's honesty.
CCXXVIIL
The most agreeable of all the conditions
which I have obtained from the Allies in
1814, for me, was the permission of taking
with me some of those old soldiers, with
whom I had run so many risks. I also
F

66 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
found men who cannot be discouraged by
misfortune. CCXXIX.
Charters are only good when they are
set a-going; the head of the state must not
be that of a party. CCXXX.
The social contract of Europe has been
broken by the invasion of Poland in 1772.
When I appeared on the political stage, the
system of dismembering was not new. The
balance of power is a dream which must
be forgotten for the future. Alexander will
keep Poland in the same way as I kept
Italy, because he has got the power ; this is
the whole secret. CCXXXI.
Flattery has always honoured weak go
vernments with the title of prudent, in the

NAT0LE0N MAXIMS. 67
same manner as the revolutionists call
vigour, despotism.
CCXXXII.
The abdication of a sovereign is an ironi
cal joke; he abdicates the very day when
his authority is neglected.
CCXXXIII.
At Moscow the whole world was present
to decide about my superiority ; the ele
ments cut the question short.
CCXXXIV.
There can be no republic in France ; the
honest republicans are idiots ; the others are
intriguers.
CCXXXV.
The empire was only sketched, I should
have enlarged the foundations of my insti-
e 2

68 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
tutions, if I could have restored peace to
the continent. CCXXXVL
No crown, since Charlemagne, has been
given with so much solemnity as that which
I received from the French people.
CCXXXVII.
I detest illusions ; for which reason the
world has always been for me in fact, but
not in right. CCXXXVIII.
The Jews had provided for my armies
in Poland ; I intended to give them again
a pohtical existence, as a nation and
citizens ; but I only found them fit to sell
old clothes; I was obliged to keep up the
laws against usury ; the Alsacian peasants
thanked me for it.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 69
CCXXXIX.
In the Russian army, I only found the
regular cavalry superior ; the Cossacks are
easily dispersed. The Prussians are bad
soldiers ; the English infantry did wonders
at Waterloo. CCXL.
As a consequence ofthe great events, of
which I have been the cause, none surprised
me more than when I saw Fouche, the
regicide, and finished revolutionist, a
minister to Louis XVIII, and deputy of
the chamber introuvable *.
CCXLI.
I always thought it a shame for the Eu
ropean monarchs to tolerate the existence
* So called by Louis XVIII. from the apparent im
probability of finding a sufficient number of men of
!o)alty and fidelity to form a Senate.

70 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
of the Barbary powers. When I was con
sul I made propositions on this subject,
to the English government ; I offered to
furnish the troops, if they would furnish the
ships and the ammunition. CCXLII.
Ferdinand VII, neither reigns by his
courage, nor by the grace of God, but by
chance. CCXLIIL
I did but seldom employ spies in my
campaigns ; I did all by inspiration ; I
guessed rightly, marched with swiftness,
fortune did the rest. CCXL1V.
I have seen many people who found my
orders impracticable ; I explained to them
sometimes what means I should have em
ployed, and they found that nothing was
easier.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 71
CCXLV.
There are now but two classes of people
in Europe : one which asks for privileges,
and the other which denies them.
CCXLVI.
If I had overcome the coalition, Russia
would have become as foreign to Europe
as the kingdom of Thibet. By these means
I should have freed the world from being
overrun by the Cossacks. CCXLVIL
Nothing strengthens the ranks so much
as success. CCXLVIII.
Courageous men are not to be found
among those that have any thing to lose.
CCXLIX.
During my campaign of 1814, 1 thought,

72 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
upon three occurrences, that nothing was
impossible for my soldiers ; they have
made themselves an immortal name. My
misfortunes have not been without glory.
CCL.
It was neither the royalists, nor the dis
affected that overturned me ; it was the
bayonets of the enemies. CCLI.
The history of my reign will make the
reputation of a new Thucydides.
CCLII.
The human mind is not yet matured
enough, for the governors to do what they
ought, and the governed, what they wish.
CCLIII.
There is no question about logic, when

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 73
the world is managed by bayonets, reason
does then not consist in heing just, but in
being strong. CCLIV.
Public opinion will at last refute the so
phistries of my slanderers. CCLV.
I had made Benjamin Constant a tribune,
I removed him when he was going to play
the orator : this was called elimener, and
the word got into currency. Benjamin is
reasonable in the manner of geometricians,
by theorems, and corollaries ; and a great
pamphlet- writer. CCLVI„
After the memorable 13th of Vendemi
aire, I gave vent to my republicanism for
twenty-four hours in Paris, to the great

74 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
edification of the brothers of the Company
of Babceuf, and the missionaries of the
Fructidor religion.
CCLVIL
Talleyrand and de Pradt have boasted
that it was they who had brought about
the re-establishment of the house of Bour
bon. This is a gasconade : this re-esta
blishment was the necessary consequence
ofthe events. CCLVIII.
I am only now a spectator of the age,
but I know better than any one else, into
what hands Europe has fallen.

CCLIX.
I only see stumbling-blocks laid in the
French government.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 75
CCLX.
Grouchy thought to whitewash himself
at my expense ; it is no less true that he
offered to deliver the Duke of Angouleme
into my hands at Paris, if I had wished it.
I treated the latter as a loyal enemy,
because I esteem him.
CCLXI.
The incorrigible rabble shews every
where the same spirit of madness.
CCLXII.
Among those who dislike being oppress
ed, there are many who like to oppress
themselves. CCLXIII.
The reason why public opinion has been
so strongly expressed against the charter
proposed in 1814 by the senate, is that

76 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
people saw nothing in it but upstarts sti
pulating for their own interest.
CCLXIV.
It is true, I have overstepped the boun
daries of the isle of Elba ; but the Allies
did not fulfil the conditions under which I
went there. CCLXV.
There is no longer any right of nations
in Europe, they only kill each other like so
many mad dogs. CCLXVI.
I see that in France liberty is in the char
ter, but slavery in the law.
CCLXVII.
The authors of the Censeur are visionary
people, who ought to be sent to Charenton*
* A mad-house.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 77
because they conscientiously sow hatred
and distrust. They are orators who should
be restricted and repressed.
CCLXVIIL
A sovereign should never make any pro
mises, but those which he wishes to keep.
CCLXIX.
The best distinction of power is this :
the electoral, legislative, executive and ju
diciary. I had well distinguished them in
the hierarchy of my empire.
CCLXX.
The duke de Feltre has shown himself
revengeful and oppressive, because, this
wras his only talent. He would have liked
to have obtained a name in our annals,
but they do not know him. I did not

78 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
want an eagle to direct the matters of war,
I took care of that myself; it is for that
reason that I chose him.
CCLXXI.
When I made war upon the Cortes, I
was very far from thinking that Ferdinand
would treat them as rebels.
CCLXX1I.
Theology is in religion, what poison is to
food. CCLXXIII.
I have made Paris more comfortable,
more clean, more healthy and finer than it
had been, during the wars which I had to
support ; the Parisians received these bene
fits singing : what concerns them most is
to provide Europe with dancers, cooks and
fashions. This I knew very well.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 79
CCLXXIV.
There are stragglers in the progress of
ages, as in the armies. CCLXXV.
A civil war, when the cause ofthe prince
is the pretext for it, may last a long time ;
but the mass of the people will carry it at
last. CCLXXVI.
The social order of a nation depends on
the choice ofthe men who are to preserve it.
CCLXXVII.
The people judge rightly when they are
not misled by orators. CCLXXVIII.
With the exception of a few cameleons,
which, like every where else, had crept into

80 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
my council of state, it was composed of
honest, and really meritorious men.
CCLXXIX.
My government was formed upon too
extensive a plan, to perceive any defect
in its mechanism ; nevertheless I have
reigned for fifteen years over forty-two
millions of people to the advantage of the
majority, and without much friction.
CCLXXX.
The most singular thing in my reign has
been, to see the Pope received upon the
borders of the empire by the renegado
Abdalla Menou, and at Paris by three apos
tate and married priests, viz., Talleyrand,
Fouche, and H  ve.
CCLXXXI.
The right ofthe sea belongs to all nations.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 81
The sea can neither be cultivated, nor
possessed : it is the only really public road,
and every pretension of a nation for an ex
clusive dominion over it, is a declaration
of war to all other nations.
CCLXXXII.
If the abdication of Charles IV. had not;
been a forced one, I should have acknow
ledged Ferdinand as king of Spain. The
transactions at Aranjuez could not be in
different to me : my troops were spread
all over the peninsula : as a sovereign and
neighbour I could not suffer such an act
of violence. CCLXXXIII.
The constitutionalists are snapping at
air ; in France all treaties have been vio
lated : the Lycurguses may do what they
G

82 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
please, they will always be violated. A
charter is nothing but a piece of paper.
CCLXXXIV.
The nation, the people, the army, the
French as a body, stand in no need of
forgetting the past: the past constitutes
their glory. CCLXXXV-
It is easier to form a republic without
anarchy, than a monarchy, without despo
tism. CCLXXXVI.
People that are masters in their own
houses will never persecute, wherefore a
king who is not contradicted is a good king.
CCLXXXVIL
Reformers, in general, are diseased peo-

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 83
pie, who are sorry that others are in good
health ; they defend dajnties of which
they do not partake. CCLXXXVIII.
I do not like the affectation which de
spises death ; it is the great law that we
should endure what is inevitable.
CCLXXXIX.
The coward runs away from the thief;
the weak is beaten by him who is strong ;
this is the origin of political right.
CCXC.
I see nothing in the Lacedemonians but
a bold and ferocious people ; the best ages
of Lacedemon are like the middle ages,
when all the Capuchins died in the odour
of sanctity. g 2

84 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
CCXCL
The senate did not recover its energy, till
I was overwhelmed. If I had been victo
rious, I should have received its approbation .
CCXCIL
Regnault had some eloquence ; it was
for that reason that I sent him often to
harangue in the chamber, and the senate.
The orators of the day are nothing but
dull talkers. CCXCIII.
Augereau betrayed me ; I always thought
him a profligate. CCXCIV-
Real managed my police pretty well.
When I was in good humour, I used to
remind him of the passage in his revo-

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 85
lutionary journal, in which he invited all
good patriots to unite on the 2 1st January to
eat a pig's-head. He did not eat any pigs'-
heads under my reign, but he made a great
deal of money. CCXCV.
Louis XVIII. has acted wisely with re
spect to the regicides; it was his duty to
pardon them, because it was a personal
affair with his own family; but treason,
exaction, and contempt of government, be
long to the high-court of national judicature;
I should not have pardoned them of this.
CCXCVI.
We only respect those in their fall, who
have respected themselves in their great
ness. CCXCVII.
Blucher allowed that he had been

86 NAPOLEON MAXIM'S.
fighting every day since he had passed the
Rhine in January, till he entered Paris in
1814. The Allies confess their loss, during
these three months, f6 have beefi 140,000
men ; I think it much greater. I attacked
them every morning, upon a line of a hun
dred and fifty leagues in extent. It was at
La Rothiere where Blucher fought best; my
horse was killed. The Prussian general was
only a good soldier; he did not know how
to make use of his advantage on that day.
My guard did wonders of bravery.
ccxevni.
The senate has accused me of having
altered its acts, that is to say, that I was a
forger. The whole world knows that I
did not want such tricks : a hint from
me was as good as an order; it always
did more than I asked. If I had despised

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 87
mankind, as the senate reproached me,
that body would have proved that I was
right in it. CCXCIX.
I had never to reproach myself with
having put honor in opposition to the hap
piness of France. CCC.
I have said that France was in me, and
not in the Parisian people. They have
made me say, " France is myself," which
would be an absurdity. CCCI.
In the eyes of many, the dethroned
prince is the usurper; he who has favours
and places at his disposal is the legitimate
king; Sosie's Amphitryon * is he with whom
he dines.

* See Moliere's Amphitryon.

88 NAPOLEON. MAXIMS.
CCCIL
There are people, who are virtuous be
cause they have no opportunity of being
otherwise. CCCIII.
The vulgar fancy God to be a king
holding council at his court.
CCCIV.
Pascal's thoughts are nothing but non
sense; it might be said of them, what the
lower orders say about quacks : "He must
certainly be right, because we do not understand
him." cccv.
The ambition of ruling over the mind is
one of the strongest passions.
CCCVI.
I don't think that the Bourbons under-

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 89
stood the monarchical interest better than I
did. As for those of their dynasty, we
shall see in the end : they have their root
in political considerations of a very high
description. CCCVII.
There were some revolutionists whose
actions were marked by grandeur and no
bleness; among these may be reckoned
Lanjuinais, La Fayette, Carnot, and some
others ; these are men who have survived
themselves ; their part is played, their career
ended, and their influence passed by. They
are very good instruments which one must
know how to use. CCCVIII.
I did not think the courtier De Cazes so
cunning. But in every thing we must
wait for the end.

90 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
CCCIX.
What is rather singular in my fate, is,
that I had reduced my enemies to serve
my glory or to die. CCCX.
In the late events, I think, that the catas
trophes were greater than the men.
CCCXI.
M. de Chateaubriand has honored me
with an eloquent, but rather incorrect phi
lippic. He has done much for the royal
cause. He is a man of genius.
CCCXIL
The treaty ofthe 20th of November, has
not been better kept, than the capitulation
of Paris ; I do not know whether the

napoleon Maxims. 91
foreigners, or the French ministry are to be
blamed for it. CCCXIII.
Who could have told me upon the field
of battle of* Friedland, and upofi the raft
on the Niemen, that the Russians would
speak as masters in Paris, and the Prussians
should encamp upon Mont-rriartre?
CCCXIV.
When the Prussians summoned me to
evacuate Germany within three weeks,
I had still six hundred thousand men at my
command. I thought their cabinet was
mad: success justifies every thing; but yet
it was folly in the Prussians, a sort of
rhodomontade. CCCXV.
The most unbearable tyranny is the
tyranny of subalterns.

92 napoleon maxims.
CCCXVI.
At the re-action in Thermidor, govern
ment merely suspended me from my com-
mand; but Aubry put me in prison. The
servants go always farther than their mas
ters. CCCXVII.
It is true, that when I fell, I left a large
debt upon France ; but there were my ex
traordinary domains : what have they done
with them ? CCCXVIII.
A man who could forget his pain by
amusements would not be long tormented
by them ; it is a remedy for little evils.
CCCXIX.
I never refused any thing to the empress
Josephine : I knew her penetration and
devotedness.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 93
cccxx.
I forbear mentioning the follies of some
sovereigns, as people conceal the favours
of their old mistresses. CCCXXL
The march of Grouchy from Namur to
Paris is one of the finest feats of arms of
1815. I thought him lost with his forty
thousand men ; if I had not, I might have
rallied my army behind Valenciennes and
Bouchain, supporting myself upon the
northern fortresses. I might have formed
there a system of defence, and disputed
every foot of ground. CCCXXII.
Ney and Labedoyere have suffered
themselves to be shot like children ; they

94 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
did not know that in revolutions, those that
gain time, are right at last.
CCCXXIIL
There are not four correct pages among
all that has been printed during these four
years about my reign, and the actions of
individuals. We perceive many libellers,
but not one Thucydides. CCCXXIV.
I always thought it a criminal action of a
sovereign to call in strangers to support his
authority in his own country.
CCCXXV.
I can well conceive how Fouche could
draw up lists of proscriptions ; but I don't
comprehend how the names ofthe persons
got there which I find in them.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 95
CCCXXVI.
The Spaniards could have not done any
thing better than to accept the constitution
which I proposed to them at Bayonne.;
unfortunately they were not yet ripe (I am
speaking of the bulk ofthe nation.)
CCCXXVII.
To unite the weight of talent6 in the four
classes of the Institute, was a fine idea.
Those must have been miserably inspired
who could mutilate this monument of na
tional glory. CCCXXVIII.
The human mind has made .three im
portant conquests, the jury, equality of taxes,
and liberty of conscience ; unless sovereigns
be mad, they can no longer attack these
three bases of the social contract.

96 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
CCCXXIX.
I often thought, when I read the Censeur,
that it was edited by Talleyrand or Pozzo di
Borgo. The book is anti-French, the au
thors are hollow-brained idealists ; they
make themselves ridiculous when they tutor
kings. CCCXXX.
When nations leave off complaining, they
leave off thinking. CCCXXXL
I did not treat for myself only at Fon-
tainbleau ; I acted in the name ofthe nation
and the army ; if I kept for myself the title
of emperor and the independence of a
sovereign, it was because I would not make
the brave men, who had served me, blush,
by exposing myself to the invectives of ene
mies.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 97
CCCXXXII.
There are thieves of a certain class, whom
the law does not lay hold of, and who steal
that which is most precious to man, — time.
CCCXXXIII.
There are people in France, who return
to the Charter when they are afraid ; just as
the gambler returns to his mistress when he
has lost. CCCXXXIV
Madame de Stael has written about the
passions, like a woman who has been fa
miliarized with her subject. Frequently
she mistakes declamation for the sublime,
and she is never so empty as when she
thinks she is profound. CCCXXXV.
The time for republics is gone by ; there
will soon be none left in Europe.
H

98 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
CCCXXXVI.
If in mechanics three quantities are once
known, the fourth will soon be found, (of
course, when one is a good mathematician.)
CCCXXXVII.
The bulk of the Spanish nation is fero
cious, ignorant, and barbarous ; whilst I
had the prisoners treated with humanity
at the dep6ts of Limoges, Perigueux, and
Moulins, they assassinated my soldiers,
tortured and executed them. The capi
tulation made with General Dupont at
Baylen was violated in a manner which
has no example in history.
CCCXXXVIII.
I can always elevate myself above those
who insult me, by pardoning them.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 99
CCCXXXIX.
Every faction is a compound of fools
and knaves. CCCXL.
When I landed at Cannes they wrote in
the Paris newspapers ; Rebellion of Buona
parte; five days after, General Buonaparte
has entered Grenoble ; eleven days af
ter, Napoleon has made his entry into
Lyons ; twenty days after The Emperor is
arrived at the Tuileries. After this, look for
public opinion in the newspapers !
CCCXLI.
After having had the treasures of Eu
rope at my, disposal, I embarked with two
hundred thousand francs. The English did
not find this was equal to my dignity;
the merchant who lighted a fire with a bond
h 2

100 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
for fifty thousand ducats which he had re
ceived from Charles V., shewed himself
greater than the emperor.
CCCXLII.
There are no mysteries in arithmetic or
in geometry. Of all the sciences they
are the best calculated to exercise the mind.
CCCXLIII.
Since my fall, the scribblers who used to
be in my pay call me an Usurper ; they
do not know that I could have made my
self the senior of the other sovereigns.
They write nothing but novels in France.
CCCXLIV.
Machiavel teaches how to secure a
conquest ; I only know one way for that ;
viz., to be the strongest. The secretary of
Florence is but a simpleton in politics.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 101
CCCXLV.
Popularity may be lost by a trifling
fault, as well as by a grand coup d'etat.
Any one who knows the art of governing
will not venture his credit, but upon good
grounds. CCCXLVI.
I did not take the trouble of negotiating
with the German princes ; after the victory
of Austerlitz, I carried them along with
me in my train ; they have sided with me
as long as I have been victorious. Alex
ander may do the same with them, when
he has beaten the Prussians and the
Austrians. CCCXLVII.
A sovereign does not avoid war when
he wishes it ; and when he is forced to it
he must hasten to draw the sword first, to

102 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
make a lively and quick irruption, without
which all the advantage will be on the
side of the aggressor. CCCXLVIII.
Locke defines well, but he is a poor
logician.

'B*

CCCXLIX.
If Tiberius had had Jacobins and Roy
alists in his empire, he would not have had
any time to lose in his frantic revellings.
CCCL.
The common-places of controversy have
gone out of fashion, they have made room
for common-places in politics.
CCCLI.
I re-established distinctions, such as I
conceive they ought to be ; that is to say,

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 103
I founded them upon titles and trophies ;
my nobility was not a feudal lumber;
of a corporal I made a baron.
CCCLII.
If I had been one of those princes
who let others act for them, and do no
thing themselves, I might have stipulated
for a kingdom behind the Loire.
CCCLIII.
I don't think that France ever knew
better what order was than under my reign.
CCCLIV.
An accomplished prince would have
Caesar's conduct, Julian's manners, and
Marcus Aurelius' virtues.
CCCLV.
Men should be led by the bridles they

104 NAPOLEON MAXIMS;
bear noAV, and not by those they bore for
merly. CCCLVI.
To ask how far religion may be neces
sary to political power, is asking how far a
dropsical person may be tapped ; all de
pends on the prudence of the physician.
CCCLVII.
The spouter Tacitus says, that it is
dangerous to leave those alive, whom one
has despoiled ; I have experienced this ! —
CCCLVIII.
After the misfortune of Moscow, I was
thought politically djsad ; my person and
my name remained; three months after, I
appeared again with two hundred thousand
men. CCCLIX.
My eighteenth of Brumaire was great in

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 105
its consequences ; it is on that day that
the social state was restored.
CCCLX.
When honours are scattered with a
plentiful hand, many unworthy people will
pick them up, and merit withdraws itself.
Nobody will go to fetch his commission on
the field of battle, if he can get it in the
ante- chamber. CCCLXI.
I found both the revolutionists and
the emigrants insatiably fond of riches
and favours. They were rivals in mean
ness. I should have liked to make nobles
of the new men ; but not being able to do
it, I raised them as much as possible from
the ranks of my soldiers.
CCCLXII.
During my campaigns in Italy, the di-

106 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
rectory was bawling ; they tried remon
strances : I sent them Madonas of solid
silver, which silenced them, and my army
carried the point. CCCLXIII.
Since Charlemagne, the infantry of
armies has always been bad. Under my
reign, there was not a French grenadier
who did not think himself capable of con
quering the enemy by himself.
CCCLXIV.
The law ought to be clear, fixed, uni
form ; interpreting it is corrupting it.
CCCLXV.
Those who receive the most images into
their memories, have the most lively ima
gination. CCCLXVI.
If the buccaneers could have been as

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 107
politic as they were brave, they would have
founded, in the sixteenth century, a great
empire in America. CCCLXVII.
It is strange that in this enlightened age
the sovereigns do not see the storm ap
proaching till it bursts out.
CCCLXVIII.
The word UbSral, which tickles so much
the ears ofthe idealists, is of my invention.
If I am an usurper, they are plagiarists.
CCCLXIX.
A weak and irresolute prince will fall
into contempt : but he will fare still worse,
if he is governed by a silly and despised
minister. CCCLXX.
Before my civil code, there were no

108 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
laws, but there existed about five or six
thousand volumes written upon the laws,
so that the judges could conscientiously
decide causes without understanding them,
CCCLXXI.
Marcus Aurelius lived and died honour
ed, because he had succeeded peaceably to
the empire under favourable circumstances.
This happiness was perhaps reserved for
my son. CCCLXXII.
I might, on the 1 8th of Fructidor, have
led the army of Italy to Paris, and played
the part of a Severus ; but the pear was
not yet ripe. CCCLXXIII.
When, on my return from Egypt, I
landed at Frejus, Barras and Sieyes were
just debating; the one wished to re-establish

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 109
the king, and the other to call the duke of
Brunswick : I made them agree.
CCCLXXIV.
Hobbes is a gloomy philosopher, and
Montesquieu a wit.
CCCLXXV.
The morality ofthe republicans is much
relaxed ; they allow themselves without
scruple what may be useful to their opinion
or party ; and indeed what might be virtue
in a republic, would be a crime in a mo
narchy. CCCLXXVI.
Rabelais imitated the first Brutus, who
pretended to bemad, in order to escape the
mistrust of Tarquinius. CCCLXXVII.
I did not stand in want of gold and silver,

110 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
but of sugar and coffee ; for which cause the
gossips could never forgive me the conti
nental system. CCCLXXVIII.
The real wealth of a state consists in the
number of its inhabitants, their labour and
industry. CCCLXXIX.
The spirit of the laws is a building with a
bad foundation, and of an irregular con
struction, in which there are fine rooms and
gilded wainscots. CCCLXXX.
The club-politicians, who are crying out
against standing armies, are extravagant.
Let a prince dismiss his troops, suffer his
fortresses to go into decay, and spend his

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. Ill
time in reading Grotius, he will not reign six
months. CCCLXXXI.
The most surprising inventions are not
those upon which the human mind can pride
itself; it is to a mechanical instinct and
to chance that we are indebted for the most
of our discoveries, and by no means to
philosophy. CCCLXXXII.
Many foolish things have been written
about the soul ; we ought to endeavour to
know, not what men have said upon this
subject, but what our reason can discover
to us, independently of their opinions.
CCCLXXXIII.
As for systems, we should always keep

112 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
to ourselves the right of laughing to-morrow
at our ideas of yesterday.
CCCLXXXIV.
I do not know what is meant by the divine
right ; it is the invention of some imbecile
theologians of Louvain. The Pope is
no more so, from divine right, than I am
born a member of the English parliament.
CCCLXXXV.
What is called the law of nature is only
that of interest and reason.
CCCLXXXVI.
Every party leader ought to know how
to profit by enthusiasm; there is no faction
without its demoniacs. The greatest ge
neral, with soldiers without enthusiasm, will
do nothing.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 113
CCCLXXXVII.
Why was Homer preferred by all the
nations of Asia ? Because he described the
most memorable war of the first people in
Europe, against the most flourishing nation.
His poem is almost the only monument of
that celebrated period.
CCCLXXXVIII.
I never saw Kleber on horse-back, with
out thinking of Homer's heroes. Nothing
was more beautiful than he on a day of
battle. CCCLXXXIX.
General Mack is very learned in theory,
he has studied the art of war deeply ; but
I would not intrust him with a battalion,
because he is not fortunate, and wants reso
lution. I was much surprised at his capitu-

114 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
lation at Ulm ; I thought he would have
overthrown me to reach the Inn again.
CCCXC.
God has ordained work as a guardian
to virtue. CCCXCI.
It requires only one scoundrel to ruin
his country ; we have had the proof of that.
CCCXCII.
I like Ossian's poetry; there are powerful
ideas, energy, and profound thoughts in it.
He is the Homer ofthe north ; he is a real
poet because he moves the soul and affects
the heart. CCCXCIII.
No exact history has yet appeared about
my campaign of 1814. It offers so extra-

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 115
ordinary a chain of events and military
combinations, that nobody but myself, who
have the knowledge of the facts, could
write it. CCCXCIV.
I like to see the great passions exhibited
on the stage, but it gives me pain, when
they outstep the rules of probability.
CCCXCV.
Drouot is a Cato ; I never knew any
body who felt Aristides so strongly. Brave
man ! CCCXCVI.
The capitulation of St. Cyr, at Dresden,
was the blunder of a school-boy; it is bears
a strong analogy to that of Mack at Ulm.
Rapp, Carnot, and Davoust, have shewn
how places are to be defended.
i2

116 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
CCCXCVIL
The poor Lorrainers have well seconded
me : why can I not rebuild their cottages ?
CCCXCVIII.
I like the rude common sense that one
meets within the. streets.
CCCXCIX.
Solon was right : we cannot judge ofthe
merit of a man, till after his death.
CCCC.
The question is not, whether the nation
in 1814, separated itself from me, or I
separated myself from it : it is certain
that I should have driven out the foreigners
by myself, which it ought not to have con
tested till after the victory. Family af
fairs ought always to be settled amongst
friends.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 117
CCCCI.
When we examine what is the essence
of glory, we shall see it reduced to a narrow
compass. There is nothing in being judged
by the ignorant, extolled by blockheads, ap
plauded or censured by the rabble, to make
a man proud. CCCCII.
Frederic took the trouble of refuting
Machiavel, before he was a king: he would
have done it better after it. This Machiavel
has only written for theatrical tyrants.
CCCCIII.
Seneca says, whoever cares little for his
own life, is master of that of others.
CCCCIV.
I am told that General Sarrazin has gone
mad ; his senses were not very good when

118 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
he ran away from Boulogne. He was a
good chief of the major staff, but had a
confused mind. CCCCV.
Wellington committed a great fault at
Toulouse: the English army would have
been taken prisoners, if Soult had known
how to profit by it, or if he had been better
informed of the position of the enemy.
CCCCVI.
History, which has preserved the name
of Themistocles, has not deigned to preserve
those of his enemies. CCCCVII.
When I took the government out of
the republicans' hands, I washed, and
retouched, an old painting of Raphael's,

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 119
which the varnish had rendered indis
tinct. CCCCVIII.
Beugnot thought to play a part under
the Bourbons, and he was mistaken, like
many others. He has tajent and firmness.
I made him counsellor of state, because
he had the courage to tell me the truth as
a prefect. He is wearing out.
CCCCIX.
I judge of genius by the way people
express themselves- CCCCX.
It is a principle that the authorities and
garrisons should be frequently changed.
The interest of the state requires that there
should be no situation immoveable : other-

120 NAPOLEON MAXIMS. t
wise there will soon be an establishment
of fiefs, and feudal justices.

CCCCXI.
There can be no longer any mercenary
militias in Europe, since the nations send
them into the field of battle.
CCCCXIL
In what romance shall we find a prince,
who thinks of his subjects, and whose hap
piness depends on their felicity.
CCCCXIII.
Machiavel may say what he pleases ;
fortresses are not as good as the favour of
the people. CCCCXIV.
The vulgar, without examination, like

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 121
to repeat every thing which others may
have said against a man of a great name.
CCCCXV.
Among a hundred of royal favourites I
find that ninety-five have been hung.
CCCCXVI.
Decazes has been my mother's secretary;
I noticed him some times in the crowd.
His place required no great talent. He as
well as the other ministers, are like persons
climbing up the long pole*.
CCCCXVII.
In 1805 I had eighty ships of the line,
without reckoning the frigates ; but I had

* Such as are to be seen at fairs, with different articles
at the (op, the reward of him who is able to climb up.

122 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
neither sailors nor officers : my admirals
played at hide and seek with the English ;
Linois distinguished himself. Villeneuve
was a good officer, nevertheless he made
nothing but blunders. He ran out of
Cadiz like a madman : the death of Nelson
could not make amends for the loss of my
fleet. Villeneuve killed himself at a ta
vern in Rennes; according to custom the
honour of it was attributed to me. Indeed
he had shewn signs of madness throughout
the journey. CCCCXVIII.
Ah, the liberty of the press ! unmuzzle
the Parisian journalists, and you will raise a
fine clatter! Every Vadius will meddle
with government, and the Caritides will
give their advice. The devil take the con
fusion !

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 123
CCCCXIX.
I rebuilt the edifices at Lyons, which
the revolution had destroyed : the people
have been thankful for it ; now we are even.
CCCCXX.
Princes who keep confessors stand in
contradiction with royalty-
CCCCXXL
There are few men whose minds are
strong enough to judge about me, without
passion and prejudice. CCCCXXII.
After my victories in Italy the different
factions came knocking at my door- I
remained deaf, because it did not suit me
to be the instrument of a party.

124 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
CCCCXXIIL
The battle of Eylau cost much on both
sides without producing any result. It
was one of those unforeseen actions, which
take place sometimes when one is quibbling
about the ground, and one begins fighting
without making any plan ; it was not [a
field of battle which I should have chosen.
CCCCXXIV.
The great politicians of the first of April
wanted nothing but the preservation of
their seats, which made them give up so
easily the territory to the Allies.
CCCCXXV.
I have been sometimes a philosopher in
the midst of reviews, cannons and bayonets ;
there are many critics who would not do so
much as that.

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 125
CCCCXXVI.
Common sense gives men their capacity ;
self-love is the wind, which swelling the
sails, carries them into port.
CCCCXXVII.
Cato was a great fool for having killed
himself from fear of seeing Caesar.
CCCCXXVIIL
If Hannibal had heard of the passage of
my army over the great St. Bernard, he
would not have thought much of his journey
over the Alps. CCCCXXIX.
Perhaps I ought to have imitated Henry
VIIL, by making myself alone the head of
the church of my empire ; sooner or later
the sovereigns wilL do it.

126 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
CCCCXXX.
The ball which killed Moreau before
Dresden was one of the last messengers of
my good fortune. CCCCXXXI.
After the day of Leipzic I might have
laid waste the country between the enemy
and myself, as Wellington had done in Por
tugal, and Louis XIV. in the Palatinate ;
the right of war justified me in doing it, but
I would not seek my safety by such means.
My soldiers, by defeating the Bavarians at
Hanau, shewed that I might rely on their
bravery. CCCCXXXII.
I never saw any thing more singular than
Mallet's prank, except Rovigo's imprison
ment and Pasquier's' flight. Every one's

t t * t

NAPOLEON- MAXIMS. 127
head was turned topsy turvy, arid those of
the conspirators first of any.
CCCCXXXIII.
My statue upon the Place Vendome, and
the pompous inscriptions of my reign have
been much criticised. Kings are obliged
to let artists do as they chose : Lewis XIV.
did not order the slaves to be put at the feet
of his statue, nor did he wish La Feuillade
to write, " to the immortal man," And if
there should be seen any where, " Napo
leon the great," people must know, that it
was not I who invented this title, and that
I only suffered the world to speak.
CCCCXXXIV.
I consulted the abbe Gr6goire about the
concordat of 1801. I thought his advice
very good, nevertheless I followed my own

128 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
opinion, and yielded on some points to the
clatter made by the priests ; a thing in which
I did wrong. CCCCXXXV.
Whoever is not desirous ofthe esteem of
his contemporaries is unworthy of it.
CCCCXXXVI.
Charles V. became childish when he was
fifty ; many kings are so throughout their
whole life. CCCCXXXVII.
I am told that Ftienne writes upon poli
tics, in my time he wrote plays ; he is a
very necessary man to the state.
CCCCXXXVIII.
I had no influence in the elevation of Ber-
nadotte to the Swedish throne : I might

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 129
have opposed it : Russia was very angry
with me about it, she imagined that it form
ed part of my system.
CCCCXXXIX.
When I wished to re-establish the recol
lections of antiquity, my enthusiasm did
not go so far as to re-establish the Athenian
democracy. I don't like the government
of the rabble. CCCCXL.
I am told that the French priests and
philosophers have got missionaries who
travel through the provinces. This must
be something like the dispute of the Augus
tine and Franciscan friars. There is then no
more government ?
CCCCXLI.
The London news-paper-writers have
romanced a great deal about my health and
K

130 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
my manner of living here. They have got
a poetical imagination. Every body must
live, even insects. CCCCXLII.
Kings are never without people to find
fault with them. I never countenanced
such criticism. From a physician we ask
the cure of the disease, not that he should
write a satire against it. Have you got any
remedy ? propose it : have you not ? be
silent. CCCCXLIIL
We must follow fortune in its whims,
and mend it when we can.
CCCCXLIV.
The independent and national spirit
which I have raised in Italy will survive the
revolutions of this age. I have done greater

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 131
wonders in that country than the Medici
family. CCCCXLV.
Every man is liable to do wrong, of
course princes too. Our opinions upon
the dead are tolerably equitable, but not
so upon the living. The war of succession
was condemned during the life-time of
Louis XIV. ; now justice is done to him :
every impartial judge must confess that it
would have been a cowardly trick on my
side if I had not accepted from Charles IV.
the renunciation of the throne of Spain.
i CCCCXLVI.
If one wishes to have any superiority in
war, its tactics should be altered every ten
years. CCCCXLVII.
The people of former times were not
k 2

132 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
better than they are now, but the scale of
argument has been enlarged.
CCCCXLV1IL
Nature ought to place genius in such a
manner, that the person who has been en
dowed with it may be able to make use of
it ; but it is often out of its place, like the
stifled grain which produces nothing.
CCCCXL1X.
One may adorn courtiers with ribands,
but we can not make men of them.
CCCCL.
The French Minerva is sometimes very
dull, and her arms much rusted. Now
Europe produces nothing ; it seems as if
she were reposing. CCCCLI.
The ground is the general's chess-board,

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 133
his choice of it must show his ability or
ignorance. CCCCLII.
I adopt the maxim of Epictetus : " If
evil is spoken of you which is true, amend
yourself; if false, laugh at it." I have
learned not to be startled : I go my way,
and don't care for the rockets that may
burst on the road. CCCCLIII.
A true hero will play a game of chess
after he has lost or won a battle.
CCCCLIV.
In business, there ought to be neither
passion nor prejudice: the only one that
may be allowed, is that for the public weal.
CCCCLV.
After the treaty of Presburg in 1806,

134 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
the conduct of the Prussians was such as
would have warranted my taking the road
to France by Berlin, but I preferred to
negotiate, and I repented of it.
CCCCLVI.
Most of our academicians are authors
whom we admire whilst we are yawning.
CCCCLVIL
They do me much honour in Europe in
speaking of me. The pamphlet-writers
must be in great want of matter, since they
employ my name to fill up their pages.
CCCCLVIII.
I was sure to be victorious before Paris,
if the command of the army had not been
refused to me. The Prussians had en
snared themselves when they passed the

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 135
Seine. I appeal to the opinion of military
men about this. CCCCLIX.
It was a part of my financial system to
diminish the direct taxes which weigh
upon the land, and to replace them by in
direct charges, which only fall upon luxury
and intemperance. CCCCLX.
I never said that the duke of Ragusa
had betrayed me ; I said that his capitula
tion of Essone was ridiculous, and fatal
to me. CCCCLXI.
The day after the battle of Jena, the
Prussian generals requested a truce of three
days to bury their dead ; I sent them the
answer. " Think ofthe living, and leave the

136 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
care of burying the dead to us ; this requires
no truce. CCCCLXII.
I have been reproached with injustice
toward the admiral Truguet. This sailor
was a republican like Carnot ; neither the
one nor the other wanted my favours ; and
I neither could nor would deprive them of
their glory. CCCCLXIII.
The English ministry and their gaoler
have found out the right way of shortening
my life. There is no necessity that fohould
live, but I must be occupied. My"' bod$£.
and mind must yield to their fate. Theser
trials will serve to promote my glory.
CCCCLXIV. ; '
I have built villages, drained marshes,
built sea-ports, rebuilt cities, established

NAPOLEON MAXIMS. 137
manufactories, united both seas, constructed
roads, and erected monuments ; and yet I
have been compared to Attila, the chief
of the Huns ! Well judged.
CCCCLXV.
That book would be a curious one which
contained no falsehood. CCCCLXVI.
The financiers ofthe king of France have
adopted a strange method ; they neither
confine their expenses nor their superfluity ;
they increase the taxes at an excessive rate ;
and every year, instead of saying, I have
so much revenue, and can spend so muchj^
they say, so much we want, we mus^have
the means. CCCCLXVII.
I have hit upon new and singular things

138 NAPOLEON MAXIMS.
in my government ; for instance, the decen
nial premiums. Whoever excels in an art
ought to be splendidly rewarded.
CCCCLXVIII.
Twice I had it in my power to overturn
the imperial throne of Austria, but I fixed
it again on its base. This must be ranked
among my faults ; but what should I have
done with Austria? I was strong enough to
believe in assurances. CCCCLXIX.
Perhaps Austria will help herself one
day to the dominions ofthe Holy See. As
I do not fix any period to this prophecy,
nobody can belie me.
THE END.

LONDON :
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