nemies of the continent, to make use of his
favorite expression; he would reduce man to force and cunning, and
designate every thing else as folly or stupidity. The English
particularly irritate him, as they have found the means of being
honest, as well as successful, a thing which Bonaparte would have us
regard as impossible. This shining point of the world has dazzled
his eyes from the very first days of his reign.

I do not believe, that when Bonaparte put himself at the head of
affairs, he had formed the plan of universal monarchy: but I
believe that his system was, what he himself described it a few days
after the 18th Brumaire to one of my friends: "Something new must
be done every three months, to captivate the imagination of the
French Nation; with them, whoever stands still is ruined." He
flattered himself with being able to make daily encroachments on the
liberty of France, and the independence of Europe: but, without
losing sight of the end, he knew how to accommodate himself to
circumstances; when the obstacle was too great, he passed by it, and
stopped short when the contrary wind blew too strongly. This man, at
bottom so impatient, has the faculty of remaining immoveable when
necessary; he derives that from the Italians, who know how to
restrain themselves in order to attain the object of their passion,
as if they were perfectly cool in the choice of that object. It is
by the alternate employment of cunning and force, that he has
subjugated Europe; but, to be sure, Europe is but a word of great
sound. In what did it then consist? In a few ministers, not one of
whom had as much understanding as many men taken at hap-hazard from
the nation which they governed.

Towards the spring of 1800, I published my work on Literature, and
the success it met with restored me completely to favor with
society; my drawing room became again filled, and I had once more
the pleasure of conversing, and conversing in Paris, which, I
confess has always been to me the most fascinating of all pleasures.
There was not a word about Bonaparte in my book, and the most
liberal sentiments were, I believe, forcibly expressed in it. But
the press was then far from being enslaved as it is at present; the
government exercised a censorship upon newspapers, but not upon
books; a distinction which might be supported, if the censorship had
been used with moderation: for newspapers exert a popular influence,
while books, for the greater part,