r agencies, there was an
important section who believed we were putting our money on the wrong
horse. This idea was not confined to the poorer classes. Many of our
best and wisest statesmen were strongly opposed to this policy of
hostility against him.

He had starved in the streets of Paris, sold his precious books and
other belongings to provide the means of buying bread to sustain
himself and his much beloved brother Louis, who in after years behaved
to him with base ingratitude. He suffered dreadful privations during
the keen frosty nights, owing to the want of fire, light, and
sometimes sufficient clothing. No wonder that he thought of ending
his woes by plunging into the Seine.

But a glimmering of light came and lifted him out of a numbing
despair. He was made to see in his hour of trial that lassitude must
cease, and that he was meant for other things, and in order to
accomplish them he must be strong and audacious. Fate, fortune, and a
mysterious Providence found in him an indomitable chief whose genius
was intended to change the face of Europe. Like all big men who spring
from obscurity and the deadliness of poverty, and are launched on the
scene to create order out of tumult and chaos, his enemies, in the
nature of things, were both numerous and prolific. At the outset he
adopted the method he so often thundered into his soldiers when on the
eve of battle, viz.: "You must not fear Death, my lads. Defy him, and
you drive him into the enemy's ranks."

One of the charges made against him by serene critics who have been
desirous of showing his weak points is that he was too careless and
forgiving towards the squabbling nest of paid and unpaid murderers who
prowled about in disguise, thirsting after his blood. It is certain
that he carried clemency to a fault in many instances, and this no
doubt contributed to his undoing; but at the same time there is ample
proof that he knew well enough where his foes were to be found, and
whenever the dignity and safety of the State were imperilled, he was
not slow to punish. His habit was not weakness, but only a too
careless regard for his own personal safety.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Montholon, "History of the Captivity of Napoleon," p. 326. The
editor says he is indebted for these details to the official accounts
published at the time by the French Government.

[2] This was the name given to Napoleon by the Arabs. "Kebir" means
"great" (Montholon, vol. iv. p. 245).

[3] T