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

822 LIFE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.
the principal conspirators showed such symptoms of gnac and de Riviere, who, it is pretende.l, remained
homage and deference as are paid only to princes. uncovered in his presence? Lastly, On the volu"' He appeared," says Savary, "36 years of age, his minous trial of Georges, which was pulblished in the
hair was lair, his forehead open, of a middle stature Mlkoniteur, though several of his band were brought
and size When he entered the apartment, all pre- to bear witness against him, there was no evidence
sent, eve Messrs de Polignac and de Riviere, rose whatever of royal honours being rendered either to
and remained standing in his presence." The police him or any one else. So that the vahole legend
considered who this mysterious personage could be, seems to have been invented, ex postjaiect, as a
and agreed it must be the Duke d'Enghien. To screen, and a very frail one, behind which Napoleon
tihe impression this supposed discovery made on the might shelter himself. It is evident, indeed, even
nind of the first consul, was to be imputed, accord- by his own most improbable account, tliat if' the
ing to his own account and General Savary's, the Duke d'Enghien died in consequence of a blunder,
mission of the police officer to Strasburg, as already it was one which a morniet's consideration must
mentioned.'Phe report of the spy concerning the have led every one to doubt, and whlich a moment's
fiequent absences of the Duke d'Enghien from Et- inquiry would have explained, and that Napoleon's
tenheim, was held sufficient to identify hinm with the credulity can only be imputed to his determuinat'on
mysterious stranger at Paris-the resolution to kid- to be deceived. How Talleyrand could have co;onap him was formed and executed; and although no tributed to it, is not intiqmated; bhlt General Savary
circumstances occurred to show that he had been in informs us that the consul exclaiined-" All! wretchParis, or to identify him with the incognito above ed Talleyrand, what hast thou nmade me do!" This
alluded to, and although they were not even at the apostrophe, if made at all, must halve been intended
trouble of confronting the duke with the persons to support a future charge against his minister; for
who described that individual, to see if they could as to being led by the nose by Talleyrand, in a maItrecognize them to be one and the same; yet he was ter where his own passions were so deeply interestput to death, we are called upon to believe, upon ed, it is totally inconsistent with all that is recorded
the conviction that he was the visitor and friend of of Napoleon, as well as with the character, and even
Georges Cadoudal and the person in whose presence the private interest, of his linister.
all the world testified such profound respect. Hardly, After this tedious dissertation, the reader may
however, had the duke been huddled into his bloody perhaps desire to know the real cause of the extr;agrave than we are told it was discovered that the ordinary outrage. Napoleon's interest seenmed ro vay,
mysterious personage so often alluded to, was no or very slightly concerned, as the sufferer was, of
other than Pichegru; and the blame of keeping up all the Bourbon family, the farthest removed fiom
the mistake in the first consul's mind is imputed to the succession to the throne. Thie odium which the
Talleyrand, who is destined to be the scapegoat in deed was to occasion, without any corresponding
every version of the story which comes from Napo- advantage, was, it might have seemed, to the politic
leon or his favourers. and calculating spirit which Napoleon usually evincWe submit that no author of a novel or romance, ed, a sufficient reason for averting an unnecessary
when compelled, at the conclusion of his tale, to as- outrage; nor was his temper by any means of' that
sign a reason for the various incidents which he has ferocious quality which takes delight in causing
placed before the reader, ever pressed into his ser- misery, or in shedding blood.
vice a string of such improbable and inconsistent cir- All these things admitted, we must remind our
cumstances. Was it credible that a prince of the readers, that, as Napoleon was calmn and moderate
blood, supposing him to have ventured to Paris by policy, he was also by temperament fierce and
during tie consulate, and mingled with a band of ardent, and had in his blood a strain of the wild and
conspirators, would have insisted upon, or would revengeful disposition, for whiclh his native Corsica
have permitted, the honours of his rank, and thus has been fanlous since the days of the ancients.
have betrayed his character to those who did not The temptation was strong on the present occasion.
profess to know more.of hinm than from that circum- He felt himself exposed to the danger of assassinastance only? The very mention of a line of conduct tion, to which his nerves seem to have been peculiso improbable, ought to have made the legend sus- arly sensible; hlie knew that the blow would be aimed
pected at tile very outset. Secondly, How could a by the partisans of the royal family; and lie suspectmistake possibly occur betwixt the person of the ed that they were encouraged by the exiled princes.
Duke d'Enghllien and that of General Pichegru? In such a case, what is tile principle of the savage
The former was fthir, with light-coloured hair; the state, or that which approachecs next to it? A North
latter was dark, with a high coloured complexion, American Indian injured by one white trader who
and dark hair. Tile duke was slight and elegant in escapes his vengeance, retaliates on the first Eurohis forl; Pichegru was stout-made, robust, and ath- pean who falls within his power. A Scotch Highletic. The prince was but just turned of thirty; Pi- lander, wronged by an individual of another clan,
chegru was forty years of age and upwards. There took vengeance on the first of the sept whom he
was scarcely a point of similarity between them. happened to meet. The Corsicans are not less
Thirdly, Elow was it possible for those circumstances ruthless and indiscriminate in their feuds, which go
to have occurred which occasioned the pretended from fhther to son, and affect the whole family withmistake? Under what imaginable character was out the resentment being confined to the particular
Pichegru to have commanded the respects paid to a persons who have done thIe wrong. Upon this prinprince of the blood, and that not only from the ciple the first consul seems to have acted, when,
Chounan Georges, but from the Messieurs de Poli- conceiving his life aimed at by the friends of the