ons, Talleyrand,' said he. 'You are
always practical, cold, and cynical. But with me, when I am in the
twilight, as now, or when I hear the sound of the sea, my imagination
begins to work. It is the same when I hear some music--especially music
which repeats itself again and again like some pieces of Passaniello.
They have a strange effect upon me, and I begin to Ossianise. I get
large ideas and great aspirations. It is at such times that my mind
always turns to the East, that swarming ant-heap of the human race,
where alone it is possible to be very great. I renew my dreams of '98.
I think of the possibility of drilling and arming these vast masses of
men, and of precipitating them upon Europe. Had I conquered Syria I
should have done this, and the fate of the world was really decided at
the siege of Acre. With Egypt at my feet I already pictured myself
approaching India, mounted upon an elephant, and holding in my hand a
new version of the Koran which I had myself composed. I have been born
too late. To be accepted as a world's conqueror one must claim to be
divine. Alexander declared himself to be the son of Jupiter, and no one
questioned it. But the world has grown old, and has lost its
enthusiasms. What would happen if I were to make the same claim?
Monsieur de Talleyrand would smile behind his hand, and the Parisians
would write little lampoons upon the walls.'

He did not appear to be addressing us, but rather to be expressing his
thoughts aloud, while allowing them to run to the most fantastic and
extravagant lengths. This it was which he called Ossianising, because
it recalled to him the wild vague dreams of the Gaelic Ossian, whose
poems had always had a fascination for him. De Meneval has told me that
for an hour at a time he has sometimes talked in this strain of the most
intimate thoughts and aspirations of his heart, while his courtiers have
stood round in silence waiting for the instant when he would return once
more to his practical and incisive self.

'The great ruler,' said he, 'must have the power of religion behind him
as well as the power of the sword. It is more important to command the
souls than the bodies of men. The Sultan, for example, is the head of
the faith as well as of the army. So were some of the Roman Emperors.
My position must be incomplete until this is accomplished. At the
present instant there are thirty departments in France where the Pope is
more powerful than