shes, from the bottom of his heart that everybody
should utter it.

"My brother," said Joseph, in 1803,[12126] "desires that the necessity
of his existence should be so strongly felt, and the benefit of
this considered so great, that nobody could look beyond it without
shuddering. He knows, and he feels it, that he reigns through this idea
rather than through force or gratitude. If to-morrow, or on any day, it
could be said, 'Here is a tranquil, established order of things, here
is a known successor; Bonaparte might die without fear of change or
disturbance,' my brother would no longer think himself secure.... Such
is the principle which governs him."

In vain do years glide by, never does he think of putting France in
a way to subsist without him; on the contrary, he jeopardizes lasting
acquisitions by exaggerated annexations, and it is evident from the very
first day that the Empire will end with the Emperor. In 1805, the five
per cents being at eighty francs, his Minister of the Finances, Gaudin,
observes to him that this is a reasonable rate.[12127] "No complaint
can now be made, since these funds are an annuity on Your Majesty's
life."--"What do you mean by that?"--"I mean that the Empire has become
so great as to be ungovernable without you."--"If my successor is a fool
so much the worse for him!"--"Yes, but so much the worse for France!"
Two years later, M. de Metternich, by way of a political summing
up, expresses his general opinion: "It is remarkable that Napoleon,
constantly disturbing and modifying the relations of all Europe, has
not yet taken a single step toward ensuring the maintenance of his
successors."[12128] In 1809, adds the same diplomat:[12129] "His death
will be the signal for a new and frightful upheaval; so many divided
elements all tend to combine. Deposed sovereigns will be recalled by
former subjects; new princes will have new crowns to defend. A veritable
civil war will rage for half a century over the vast empire of the
continent the day when the arms of iron which held the reins are
turned into dust." In 1811, "everybody is convinced[12130] that on
the disappearance of Napoleon, the master in whose hands all power is
concentrated, the first inevitable consequence will be a revolution."
At home, in France, at this same date, his own servitors begin to
comprehend that his empire is not merely a life-interest and will not
last after he is gone, but that the Empire is ephemeral and will not