The life of Napoleon Buonaparte, emperor of the French. By Sir Walter Scott.

240 LIFE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.
to the boldness and audacity of the revolutionary lies, his ideas were studiously moderate, and he
class, had, in their agony of extremity, recourse to expressed the strongest fear of, and aversion to, rethe army, and threw themselves upon the succour volutionary doctrines. He recommended the granting
of Hoche and of Bonaparte. equal rights and equal privileges to the nobles, as
WVe have elsewhere said, that Bonaparte at this well as to the indignant vassals and plebeians who
period was esteemed a steady republican. Pichegra had risen against them. In a word, lie advocated a
believed him to be such when he dissuaded the free set of institutions, without the intermediate
royalists from any attempt to gain over the General purgatory of a revolution. He was therefore, at this
of Iatly; and as he had known him at school at period, far from being a jacobin.
Brienne, declared him of too stubborn a character But though Bonaparte's wishes were thus wisely
to afford the least hope of success. Augereau was moderated by practical views, he was not the less
of the same opinion, and mistook his man so much, likely to be sensible that he was the object of fear,
that when Madame de Stail asked whether Bona- of hatred, and of course of satire and misrepresentaparte was not inclined to make himself King of tion, to that side of the opposed parties in France
Lombardy, he replied with great simplicity, " that which favoured royalty. Unhappily for himself, lihe
he was a young man of too elevated a character. "m was peculiarly accessible to every wound of this
Perhaps Bonaparte himself felt the same for a mo- nature, and, anxiously jealous of his fame, suffered
ment, when, in a dispatch to the Directory, he re- as much under the puny attacks of the journalists,
quests their leave to withdraw from the active as a noble steer or a gallant horse does amid his rich
service of the Republic, as one who had' acquired pasture, under the persecutions of insects, which, in
more glory than was consistent with happiness. comparison to himself, are not only impotent, but
" Calumny," he said, " may torment herself in vain nearly invisible. In several letters to the Directory,
with ascribing to me treacherous designs. My civil, he exhibits feelings of this nature which would have
like my military career, shall be conforming to re- been more gracefully concealed, and evinces an
publican principles." t irritability against the opposition prints, which we
The public papers also, those we mean on the think likely to have increased the zeal with which
side of the Directory, fell into a sort of rapture on he came forward on the republican side at this imthe classical republican feelings by which Bonaparte portant crisis.
was actuated, which they said rendered the hope of Another circumstance, which, without determinhis return a pleasure pure and unmixed, and pre- ing Bonaparte's condtuct, may have operated in included the possibility of treachery or engrossing creasing his good.will to the cause which he emideas on his side. "The factious of every class," braced, was his having obtained the clew of Pichethey said, " cannot have an enemy more steady, or gru's correspondence with the house of Bourbon. To
the government a friend more faithful, than he who, have concealed this would have made but a secondinvested with the military power of which he has rate merit with the exiled family, whose first thanks
made so glorious a use, sighs only to resign a situa- must have been due to the partisan whom he protion so brilliant, prefers happiness to glory, and now tected. This was no part for Bonaparte to play;
that the Republic is graced with triumph and peace, not that we have a right to say he would have acdesires for himself only a simple and retired life." cepted the chief' character had it been ofelbred to
But though such were the ideas then entertained him, but his ambition could never have stooped to
of Bonaparte's truly republican character, framed, any inferior place in the drama. In all probability,
doubtless, on the model of Cincinnatus in his clas- his ideas fluctuated betwixt tile example of Cromsical simplicity, we may be permitted to look a well and of WVashington-to be the actual liberator,
little closer into the ultimate views of him, who was or the absolute governor of his country.
admitted by his enemies and friends, avouched by His particular information respecting Pichegru's
himself, and sanlctioned by the journals, as a pure secret negotiations, was derived fiom an incident
and disinterested republican; and we think the fol- at the capture of Venice.
lowing changes may be traced. When the degenerate Venetians, more under the
Whether Bonaparte was ever at heart a real impulse of vague terror than from any distinct plan,
jacobin, even for the moment, may be greatly adopted in haste and tumult the rmleasuie of totally
doubted, whatever mask his situation obliged him surrendering their constitution and rights, to be newto wear. He himself always repelled the charge as modeled by the French general after his pleasure,
an aspersion. His engagement in the affair of the they were guilty of a gross and aggravated breach
sections probably determined his opinions as re- of hospitality, in seizing the person and papers of
publican, or rather thermidorien, at the time, as be- the Count d'Entraigues,* agent, or envoy, of the
came him by whom the republican army had been
led and corirmanded on that day. Besides, at the * This gentleman was one of the second emigration, who
head of an army zealously republican, -even his left France during Robespierre's ascendancy. He was
employed as a political agent by the court of Russia, after
power over their minds required to be strengthened, the affair of Venice, which proves that he was not at
for some time at' least, by -an apparent correspond- least convicted of treachery to the Bourbon princes. In
ence in political sentiments betwixt the troops and July, 1812, he was assassinated at his villa at Hackney,
the general. But in the practical doctrines of govern- near London, by an Italian domestic, who, having mureient which he recommended to the Italian Repub- tdered both the count and countess, shot himself through
the head, leaving no clew to discover the motive of his
/est trop bien glevi pour cela. villany. It was remarked that the villain used Count
5 J Monitecr, 1797, No. 224. d'Entraigues' own pistols and dagger, which, apprehensive