aveled in Italy in 1805;
published "Corinne" in 1807; returned to Germany in 1808;
and finished "De l'Allemagne," the first edition of which
was destroyed, probably at the instigation of Napoleon, who
became her bitter enemy; exiled from France by Napoleon in
1812-14.

OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE[47]

General Bonaparte made himself as conspicuous by his character and his
intellect as by his victories; and the imagination of the French began
to be touched by him [1797]. His proclamations to the Cisalpine and
Ligurian republics were talked of.... A tone of moderation and of
dignity pervaded his style, which contrasted with the revolutionary
harshness of the civil rulers of France. The warrior spoke in those
days like a lawgiver, while the lawgivers exprest themselves with
soldier-like violence. General Bonaparte had not executed in his army
the decrees against the emigres. It was said that he loved his wife,
whose character is full of sweetness; it was asserted that he felt
the beauties of Ossian; it was a pleasure to attribute to him all the
generous qualities that form a noble background for extraordinary
abilities....

[Footnote 47: From "Considerations on the French Revolution." This
work was not published until 1818, three years after the exile of
Napoleon to St. Helena. An English translation appeared in 1819.]

Such at least was my own mood when I saw him for the first time in
Paris. I could find no words with which to reply to him when he came
to me to tell me that he had tried to visit my father at Coppet, and
that he was sorry to have passed through Switzerland without seeing
him. But when I had somewhat recovered from the agitation of
admiration, it was followed by a feeling of very marked fear.
Bonaparte then had no power: he was thought even to be more or less in
danger from the vague suspiciousness of the Directory; so that the
fear he inspired was caused only by the singular effect of his
personality upon almost every one who had intercourse with him. I had
seen men worthy of high respect; I had also seen ferocious men: there
was nothing in the impression Bonaparte produced upon me which could
remind me of men of either type. I soon perceived, on the different
occasions when I met him during his stay in Paris, that his character
could not be defined by the words we are accustomed to make use of: he
was neither kindly nor violent, neither gentle nor cruel, after the
fashion o