0 OF THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE; WITH COPIOUS HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS, AND ORIGINAL ANECDOTES, FROM THE MS. OF COUNT LABEDOYERE, INTERSPERSED WITH EXTRACTS FROM M. V. ARNAULT, COUNTS RAPP, MONTHOLON, LAS CASES, PRECEDED BY AN INTERESTING ANALYSIS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. "VERITAS SIMPLEX ORATIO EST." IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. J.// London: PUBLISHED BY GEORGE VIRTUE, 26, IVY-LANE, PATERNOSTER-ROW; BATH-STREET, BRISTOL, AND ST. VINCENT STREET, LIVERPOOL. AND SOLD BY JONES & CO. ACTON PLACE, KINGSLAND ROAD ; FISHER, SON, & co. PREFACE. No sooner has the eager and inquiring traveller set foot on the interesting soil of Egypt, than his mind's eye is instinctively directed to the far-famed pyramids. The novel manners and customs which he observes at Grand Cairo, appear as secondary considerations only; he pants to behold the sandy desart, whither he proceeds with a palpitating heart, wholly absorbed in contemplating the wonders which there await him. On approaching those stupendous vestiges of antiquity, the feelings of every stranger are more or less worked upon, as the colossal fabrics enlarge upon his view; and when arrived in their vicinity, every faculty becomes, as it were, stupefied at the immensity of the labour performed by human hands. If such are the sentiments that pervade our intellect, as regards inanimate masses, the same operation takes place when we contemplate the mighty efforts of genius predominating in the frame of a fellow creature; nor is the astonishment less awakened, by copiousness of intellect, than the towering edifice reared by art, or the magnificent Alpine steeps produced by the sublime operations of nature. In such a light may be considered the character of Napoleon Bonaparte, whose fertile and rapid genius was created to embrace those extremes of mental grandeur which pro duced a series of actions unparalleled in the history of the world. Volumes have been issued from the press, to record the deeds of pretended great men, whose entire lives were rendered remarkable only by a single trait, that would form a very scanty episode compared with the prodigious achievements accomplished by the subject of the present undertaking. How many pages, therefore, must the pen of History dedicate to inscribe the annals of this mighty genius, whose destiny was linked with that of the French people, rendered conspicuous, under the title of The Great Nation, by a series of victories, which, while they influenced the political movements extending to both hemispheres, confounded his very enemies by mingled sentiments of admiration and terror. Already have celebrated writers, indiscreet diplomatists, faithful attendants, and courtiers, become voluntary exiles; revealed the major part of the acts that characterise Napoleon's teeming life, both political and private: biographical notices, memoirs, and pamphlets, have succeeded one another with such rapidity, that from amidst this chaos of exaggeration, enthusiasm, and calumny, it may naturally be inferred an ardent desire is cherished to ascertain, as speedily as possible, the entire truth, without any alloy of hatred or flattery. While the traces of Bonaparte's ambition were still apparent in Europe, from Saragossa to the frigid climes of Moscow, it is but reasonable to imagine, that the remembrance of so many recent events of a conflicting nature,— the result of a conqueror's passage,—should have instigated some writers to overleap the boundaries prescribed by moderation and justice. Such was the period of recriminations, and consequently of libels, whose virulence provoking replies equally imprudent in their style and tendency, gave birth to a series of apologies marked by the most flagrant inroads on consistency and candour. The time is at length arrived when, irritation having subsided, praise and reprehension enter the sage limits prescribed, and faithful History in turn assumes her wonted mastery. We may deplore those calamities which an insatiable thirst for power and conquests brought upon the enemies of France, as well as herself; we may be led to condemn, without indulgence, those acts which tarnished the brilliancy of a reign for ever memorable; and, while advocating the cause of morality and freedom, we may deprecate the excesses of despotism, however splendid the veil by which they are enveloped, as being no more than the accomplishment of an imperious and sacred duty. But, in order that such duty may |