air the injuries which
he has inflicted upon me. He has regained my friendship and my
confidence: his assistance, if I were engaged in war, would be very
useful to me. He has little brains; he has nothing but hand and heart;
but his wife would direct him. The Neapolitans like him tolerably
well; and I have yet some good officers amongst them who would keep
them in the right way. As to England, we should have shaken hands from
Dover to Calais, if Mr. Fox had lived; but as long as that country
continues to be governed by the principles and passions of Mr. Pitt,
we must always be as hostile as fire and water.... From England I
expect no quarter, no truce.... England knows that the instant I place
my foot in France, her influence will be driven back across the seas
... as long as I live I will wage a war of extermination against her
maritime despotism. If the continental powers had seconded me; if they
had not been afraid of me; if they had understood my ambition, their
flags would have floated from the mast-head throughout the universe,
and the world would have enjoyed peace. All things considered, foreign
powers have great reasons to declare war against me; whilst there are
also great reasons to induce them to remain at peace with me. It is to
be feared, as I have already said to you, that they may turn the war
into an affair of vanity, or that they make it a point of honour. On
the other hand, it is possible that they may renounce their coalition,
which has now no longer any object, in order to watch their subjects;
preserving at the same time an armed neutrality, until I shall have
given them sufficient guarantees.

"Their determinations, whatever they may be, will not influence mine.
France speaks, and that is sufficient for me. In 1814 I had to deal
with all the powers in Europe, but they should not have laid down the
law to me if France had not left me to wrestle alone, against the
entire world. Now the French know my value; and, as they have regained
their courage and their patriotism, they will triumph over the enemies
who may attack them, just as they triumphed in the good days of the
revolution. Experience has shown that armies cannot always save a
nation; but a nation defended by the people is always invincible.

"I have not settled the day of my departure: by deferring it I should
have the advantage of allowing the Congress to run out; but then, on
the other hand, I should run the risk of being kept here as a