himself, "and moral
laws and those of propriety do not apply to me." (Madame de Remusat, I.,
204, 206.)--Note again (II., 350) his proposals to Corvisart.--Such are
everywhere the sentiments, customs, and morality of the great Italian
personages of about the year 1500.]

[Footnote 1202: De Pradt, "Histoire de l'ambassade dans le grand-duche
de Varsovie," p.96. "with the Emperor, desire springs out of his
imagination; his idea becomes passion the moment it comes into his
head."]

[Footnote 1203: Bourrienne, II., 298.--De Segur, I., 426.]

[Footnote 1204: Bodin, "Recherches sur l'Anjou," II., 325.--"Souvenirs
d'un nonagenaire," by Besnard.--Sainte-Beuve, "Causeries du Lundi,"
article on Volney.--Miot de Melito, I., 297. He wanted to adopt Louis's
son, and make him King of Italy. Louis refused, alleging that this
marked favor would give new life to the reports spread about at one time
in relation to this child." Thereupon, Napoleon, exasperated, "seized
Prince Louis by the waist and pushed him violently out of the room."--"
Memorial," Oct.10, 1816. Napoleon relates that at the last conference
of Campo-Fermio, to put an end to the resistance of the Austrian
plenipotentiary, he suddenly arose, seized a set of porcelain on a stand
near him and dashed it to the floor, exclaiming, "Thus will I shatter
your monarchy before a month is over!" (Bourrienne questions this
story.)]

[Footnote 1205: Varnhagen von Ense, "Ausgewahlte Schriften," III.,
77 (Public reception of July 22, 1810). Napoleon first speaks to
the Austrian Ambassador and next to the Russian Ambassador with a
constrained air, forcing himself to be polite, in which he cannot
persist. "Treating with I do not know what unknown personage, he
interrogated him, reprimanded him, threatened him, and kept him for a
sufficiently long time in a state of painful dismay. Those who stood
near by and who could not help feeling a dismayed, stated later that
there had been nothing to provoke such fury, that the Emperor had only
sought an opportunity to vent his ill-humor; that he did it purposely
on some poor devil so as to inspire fear in others and to put down in
advance any tendency to opposition. Cf. Beugnot, "Memoires," I., 380,
386, 387.--This mixture of anger and calculation likewise explains his
conduct at Sainte Helena with Sir Hudson Lowe, his unbridled diatribes
and insults bestowed on the governor like so many slaps in the face. (W.
Forsyth, "History of the Captivity